XDUOO XQ50 PRO 2 Bluetooth Receiver Review

[ehabheikal]

Does this turn on automatically when plugged or do i need to press on? All my other equipment is on one extension and tun on together.

 

[aatoma]

Does this turn on automatically when plugged or do i need to press on? All my other equipment is on one extension and tun on together.

I would say so. It is connected to a USB socket in my car and turns on when I power the dashboard

 

[hyfynut]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the XDUOO XQ50 PRO 2 BT receiver and DAC. It was kindly donated by an overseas member and costs US $89.
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As you can instantly see, XQ50 Pro 2 has this wonderfully informative display that shows the codec in use (LDAC), sample rate (missing a zero as it should be 41000), bit depth and even the file name of what is playing. Can't tell you how useful this information is. In the process of getting my Samsung to use LDAC, I would constantly see that another codec was being used until I found the right place to change it. For diagnostic purposes alone, this is worth having. Here is the back side:

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You have a choice of internal DAC with RCA output or using either Coax or Toslink S/PDIF to an external DAC. Power is provided using USB-C but no power supply is included. I used my USB port built into my monitor and I suggest you do the same (using one on a computer) to avoid creating ground loops (Toslink would be immune).

XDUOO XQ50 PRO 2 BT Receiver Measurements
Let's start with the internal DAC measurements using LDAC as the Bluetooth codec:
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As I expected performance is pretty poor. Distortion is quite high although it goes down if you lower the volume (SINAD goes into low 80s). Fortunately noise performance is good:
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Nice to see digital output nearly matching ideal response. Jitter test shows a number of unwanted spikes:
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Let's run the dashboard with digital out:
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Performance is naturally quite a bit better. For a realistic application, let's test with Topping D70s. This is its performance driven by my analyzer:
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Now with XQ50 PRO 2 as the source:
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There is only a tiny hit which considering we are compressing the test signal, is not bad at all.

I then ran the jitter test again. Unfortunately I picked the wrong target DAC as the D70s doesn't have good jitter rejection over Toslink. Going with that anyway, we see that the XQ50 PRO 2 makes things much worse:
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Another DAC with better Toslink interface would do better.

Conclusions
While I wish the performance of the XQ50 PRO 2 was better, I really, really like its diagnostic information. I test many DACs with Bluetooth built in but none provide the critical codec choice which has a massive effect on audible (and measured) performance. Assuming you use an external DAC, you still get near "wired" performance so on that front, the job is done.

I am going to recommend the XQ50 PRO 2 Bluetooth adapter/converter.

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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/

I'm not seeing the measurements for the Coax digital connection?

 

[formdissolve]

So if I'm reading this right, I can use the digital out and have nearly transparent LDAC transmission to my DAC? I've been considering the Topping BC3 for $70, but for $20 more I can get that cool screen and COAX out (which is nice because the optical port on my DAC is already being used).

 

[Lemanss]

So if I'm reading this right, I can use the digital out and have nearly transparent LDAC transmission to my DAC? I've been considering the Topping BC3 for $70, but for $20 more I can get that cool screen and COAX out (which is nice because the optical port on my DAC is already being used).

yes

 

[Saponetto]

So if I'm reading this right, I can use the digital out and have nearly transparent LDAC transmission to my DAC? I've been considering the Topping BC3 for $70, but for $20 more I can get that cool screen and COAX out (which is nice because the optical port on my DAC is already being used).

It's exactly the way I was using this device.
Great performances, high satisfaction.

 

[digititus]

No screen at all

It looks like the screen displays only volume level and few informations. The peq functions are interesting but if you have dirac not so much.

The BR13 displays codec as well

 

[Saponetto]

Ops. I did it again...
just got another XQ-50, going to be optically plugged to my E50.
Lots of fun for Sunday!