XiangSheng DAC-01A Tube DAC Headphone Amplifier

[zzag]

I've just bought a Quad QSP power amp and now i need a pre amp or DAC pre amp I was having a look at the

XiangSheng DAC-01A Tube DAC Headphone Amplifier

what do you guys think? I will need 3 inputs from a cd player, TV and laptop.

zagg

[struth]

its not strictly speaking a pre although v/c can be wired into circuit via 2 jumpers (i wouldn't turn vc up more than 2/3 this way or it will distort a bit.). it has analogue and digital inputs and with a good valve in is superb. I still use mine with the vena i have.

[zzag]

I am struggling a bit here, I have bought a Quad QSP (great).😀. Anyway I need a DAC pre amp would I be better buying the Said DAC and a passive pre or doing something else?

[Lawrence001]

Probably not if you want 3 inputs unless they are Usb, coax and optical, some dacs have once of each and they are selectable from the front. Others take the first signal they can find in a certain order, but if you only have one source switched on at any time it doesn't matter. Not sure what inputs the Xiang Sheng has though.

Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

[struth]

The xs has 2 analogue in and 3 digital.. It also has 2 analogue outs.
Again its not ideal as a pre but can be used that way. I used to and its fine as long as u don't listen to music very loud.

[zzag]

The xs has 2 analogue in and 3 digital.. It also has 2 analogue outs.
Again its not ideal as a pre but can be used that way. I used to and its fine as long as u don't listen to music very loud.

Struth, With you having experience with the XiangSheng DAC-01A Tube DAC Headphone Amplifier what pre amp would you match with it keeping in mind i have just bought a Quad QSP power amp. Or if you were me would you go a different way. I see you have a Vena 2 which is an integrated why is that your choice, how do you hook that up with the mono blocks, is the vena better than an older Quad pre amp in your view?

[struth]

Vena is in pre amp mode. Works well.

[zzag]

Vena is in pre amp mode. Works well.

Thanks

[Intenso]

My 2p's worth is that the Xiang Sheng is a great budget DAC but not a decent pre where in my system it sounds harsh.

I would say look elsewhere for a pre...

[zzag]

Thanks intenso

[User211]

I would agree with the jumper in preamp mode there a loss in quality of output I didn't find subtle.

[struth]

It's marginal if you don't have to go past a third. After halfway it starts kicking in. Very system dependant as to how well it will work in pre mode, but a handy extra. After all it's really a dac headphone amp

[meBob]

Hello zzag,

Jandl100 was kind enough to loan to me for a demo, it went up against my Beresford Caiman SEG. I only got to listen to the SS side with no preamp or vale function, it had problems.

It's a very nice sounding dac, that I found on my system a slight nudge on the warm side of neutral, it was a pleasant and musical/analogue kind of sound, not flat or clinical. Having been inside the the dac I found it to very congested with components and not much space for them to breath and also the caps looked of lesser quality. You also have to be careful buying one; there's a few different manufacturers of them with varying quality.

Another dac but more expensive is the new Caimen SEG with a usable and upgraded pre, load. of positive reviews with very few negative.

[mikeyb]

My 2p's worth is that the Xiang Sheng is a great budget DAC but not a decent pre where in my system it sounds harsh.

I would say look elsewhere for a pre...I would say the same, once I drove my Xhiang Sheng a bit harder it grated, I know others haven't had this issue but with my Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP power amp I didn't like it at decent volume, I know you can tube roll but in the end I sold both the Xhiangs I tried.