xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP) Review

[amirm]

This is a review and measurements of the xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP). It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $209.

If you are not familiar with this class of device, they are a touchscreen music player with built-in battery, DAC and headphone amplifier. This way you don't have to drain the battery in your phone to play content. Usually they are big and bulky devices but here, X5 is fair bit smaller than a mobile phone and brings elegance to touch and feel. I did not have time however to play with its functionality -- only enough time to run a few tests on it.

Here is the I/O connections:

xDuoo X5 DAP Measurements
Plugging in the device to Windows over USB generates a prompt to configure the device as a DAC or storage device. I selected the former and ran my usual dashboard as if it is a USB DAC:

Performance is disappointing on multiple fronts. Not only do we have high noise and distortion levels, one channel is much worse than the other. Combination of noise and distortion (SINAD) sinks the X5 rating even if we just compare it to portable dongles:

Fortunately it has more power than many of them although I would like to have had more:

Conclusions
As a rule, DAPs bring disappointment when it comes to performance and the X5 is not an exception. We can't even clear CD quality audio or match the noise and distortion of some of the cheapest USB dongles you could buy. So buy them because you don't want to tax your phone's battery and need more power than many dongles can provide.

I can't recommend the xDuoo X5 DAP.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

 

[amirm]

Reserved for @RickS to kindly post the specs.

Specs​

Power source

• Built-in 3.7V/2600mAh lithium polymer battery
• 10 hours playback, 3 hours charging time

Screen

• 3.5-inch IPS high-definition display (480×800 pixels)

Storage

• Supports microSD cards up to 1TB (FAT32, EXFAT, NTFS)

Supported formats

• DSD: DSD64-256 (DSF, DFF, ISO)
• WAV: 16-24bit / 44.1k-384kHz
• AIFF: 16-24bit / 44.1k-192kHz
• FLAC: 16-24bit / 44.1k-192kHz
• APE: 16-24bit / 44.1k-192kHz
• MP3: 16Kbps-320Kbps
• WMA, OGG, M4A, AAC

Bluetooth

• Version: 4.2
• Functions: Input, Output
• Codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC

Outputs

• 3.5mm unbalanced headphone output: 200mW (32Ω, THD+N < 0.001%)
• 4.4mm balanced headphone output: 270mW (32Ω, THD+N < 0.001%)
• 3.5mm line out: 2.0Vrms

 

[welwynnick]

Thanks for the review Amir.
It's not for me, but the flat-topped structure of the FFT harmonics looks suspiciously like it's clipping somewhere along the line.

 

[Koeitje]

Looking at the measurements I was like "maybe this is an old model", but it seems to be a 2025 model. Just use a dongle with your phone, or buy a second phone and use a dongle with that.

 

[amirm]

It's not my thing, but the flat-topped structure of the FFT harmonics looks suspiciously like it's clipping somewhere along the line.

One channel is much worse than the other, indicating some kind of analog issue.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Even ignoring the poor performance (and how could they get it so wrong?), I really can't see any use for these things when my iPhone + Apple adaptor sounds great with IEMs, has lots of storage, and is always with me.

 

[AudioSceptic]

One channel is much worse than the other, indicating some kind of analog issue.

Just wondering, but in the SINAD comparison chart I think you used the average of the 2 channels; wouldn't it be more representative to use the worse?

 

[Bob101]

Who is this for?

 

[Tell]

Seeing this I just wish I had a modern phone in this size.

 

[amirm]

Just wondering, but in the SINAD comparison chart I think you used the average of the 2 channels; wouldn't it be more representative to use the worse?

I can't change my protocol or others would cry foul.

 

[JSmith]

Yeah this is poor/mediocre... a shame for the member who sent it in, but thanks for the testing Amir.


JSmith

 

[renaudrenaud]

Just buy a battery... And go for some 20$ dongle with beautiful measurements.

 

[Roland68]

Even ignoring the poor performance (and how could they get it so wrong?), I really can't see any use for these things when my iPhone + Apple adaptor sounds great with IEMs, has lots of storage, and is always with me.

This is always a personal decision for the user/buyer. Even if you don't see any benefit in it, it's different for many others.
If there were no demand and no users/buyers, these devices and manufacturers wouldn't exist; it would regulate itself.

I think it's a shame that the xDuoo X5 has such poor performance. I had hoped that the xDuoo would perform better.
Perhaps something would change among manufacturers if there were more of these tests.

 

[Deus]

I wish to see Hiby R3 Pro II review here
Any chance?

 

[Kaiju]

Another Monday! *sigh

Sony give your DAP's!

 

[AudioSceptic]

This is always a personal decision for the user/buyer. Even if you don't see any benefit in it, it's different for many others.
If there were no demand and no users/buyers, these devices and manufacturers wouldn't exist; it would regulate itself.

I think it's a shame that the xDuoo X5 has such poor performance. I had hoped that the xDuoo would perform better.
Perhaps something would change among manufacturers if there were more of these tests.

Yes, of course, but I wonder how many "audiophiles" assume that they must have a dedicated DAP because a smartphone is "just" a general purpose device? After all, we have seen many overpriced dedicated devices favoured by the audiophile community do badly in objective tests.

 

[Roland68]

Yes, of course, but I wonder how many "audiophiles" assume that they must have a dedicated DAP because a smartphone is "just" a general purpose device? After all, we have seen many overpriced dedicated devices favoured by the audiophile community do badly in objective tests.

I believe these audiophiles only make up a small portion, and only in the upper price range.
I would consider xDuoo and the X5 to be more in the mainstream market for HiFi/audio enthusiasts.
However, it's actually questionable whether a manufacturer like A&K could still exist without the audiophile component.

But one shouldn't ignore a certain fanboy community, both for DAPs and for manufacturers; that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the audiophile topic.

For me, it's simply the fundamental separation between listening to music and using my cell phone. Often, my cell phone isn't even nearby when I'm listening to music, or I don't want to be distracted by it. I don't always have my cell phone with me either.
For all other occasions, I have a Qudelix-5K for my cell phone.

 

[Bob101]

I believe these audiophiles only make up a small portion, and only in the upper price range.
I would consider xDuoo and the X5 to be more in the mainstream market for HiFi/audio enthusiasts.
However, it's actually questionable whether a manufacturer like A&K could still exist without the audiophile component.

But one shouldn't ignore a certain fanboy community, both for DAPs and for manufacturers; that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the audiophile topic.

For me, it's simply the fundamental separation between listening to music and using my cell phone. Often, my cell phone isn't even nearby when I'm listening to music, or I don't want to be distracted by it. I don't always have my cell phone with me either.
For all other occasions, I have a Qudelix-5K for my cell phone.

I too made the distinction between devices and their purpose for a long time. One box does one thing, when and where I want it to. Sounds like a purposefull tool...
With any Android cell-phone, it takes only a few steps to transform it into a Bluetooth DAP for my headphones that won't alert me of anything until I'm done listening and want to be notified. It's not the same, but good enough for me
I used to carry a powerbank on my commutes to and from work. Now I know I can do a full day of listening to my BT headphones, making 1 hour of phone calls plus one hour of browsing for the day when the battery is at 60% in the morning.
And then some.
I still carry the powerbank, but over the past few years I have only used it to occasionally recharge my headphones when I hadn't been paying attention to their charge.

 

[pavuol]

"The DAP days are over."
[mr. darko, 2018]

 

[GWolfman]

"The DAP days are over."
[mr. darko, 2018]

I’ll bite my tongue about that guy…

Btw, I’ve heard that HiBy rewrote the Android audio pipeline for their (higher end only?) DAPs, so they should have better performance (as stock Android isn’t very audio-performant).