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Showing 1 of 7 reviews about:
Drop + xDuoo TA-84 OTL Tube Amp/DAC
collin123
7
Mar 30, 2024
checkVerified Buyer
It has too many issues
The biggest issue it has is there's a hum that plays through the headphones. It hums even with nothing but a power cord and headphones connected to it. The only way I could mitigate it is pushing down the preamp tubes. After pushing them both down, it got much quieter, but was still there. It would come back once I quit pushing them.
Another issue is the volume knob had a ton of friction, so it was really hard to turn. It had a rubbery feeling when turning it, like it was turning against a rubber piece.
Another issue about the volume knob is channel imbalance. This may be related to the friction when turning it. When I'd turn the volume down, it would usually be quiet on one side. I would have to turn it down one notch then back up to get them to be balanced again. This was much worse on the lowest 15 or so percent of the volume dial, but it happened everywhere.
My unit also had an issue with the input selector switch. When I'd have it set to one input, I could sometimes hear sound from the other input. The sound from the other input was slightly muffled, but it was very audible. I even used it for like 10 or 15 minutes with it on the wrong input at one point, and I didn't even know. I just figured the recording I was listening to had an issue. Switching to the other input then back would fix it.
My next complaint is one that has affected all the tube amps I have tried, but I'll mention it here too. When it turns on, it makes a loud pop. It also does it when you change the input.
The last issue I had with this unit is the tubes seemed very microphonic. Both sets of tubes are affected but the preamp tubes are much worse. I first noticed this when I accidentally touched one while I was wearing headphones plugged into it. I think this may be related to the humming I talked about in my first complaint. It's so sensitive to noise, moving slightly would sometimes cause a pingy tube noise from the slight movement of the headphone wire plugged into the amp.
A nitpick is it's really loud. Xduoo amps always seem to be loud, and it's no different here. Be careful when using it.
I ended up returning mine. I was excited for this amp to come out, and I waited months for it, so I was disappointed that it had these flaws. If they fix these flaws, or if you get a unit without them, I think this would be a good amp.
Edit: I should also say I was using HD600 and HD6XX headphones.
(Edited)
feverfive
24
Apr 10, 2024
collin123Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
LOL
a1tered5tate
16
May 17, 2024
collin123My volume pot works well throughout the range, no issues at the low end and with an external attenuator on the high end, there were no channel imbalance issues.
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