Performance

The XS is a neat little thing that is easy to take with you on the go. Its only downside is that it requires a source of power, and its current draw is a bit too much for most Android phones. Our Samsung Galaxy S3 recognized the XS through an OTG cable, and it worked alright with in-ears but clearly does not suit bigger headphones.

The DacMagic XS does the trick with a desktop or laptop. It is a clear upgrade over any on-board solution and works well as a dedicated DAC for other devices. We had it feeding our O2 by JDSLabs, which lead to great results. Using it on its own works incredibly well, especially for normal headphones and in-ears. Super high-end headphones like the HiFiMAN HE-500s cannot be run directly off the XS, but most other headphones sound great out of it. The background remains pitch black to even those with sensitive hearing, which is nice.

It is on par with the ODAC in terms of DAC performance as they both sound transparent and work without much of a hassle. The DacMagic XS also works in USB 2.0 mode, which means its sampling rate can go up to 192 kHz if need be. As explained in Xiph.org's explanation of sampling, its ultra-high sampling rate is obviously a mere marketing ploy.

The XS does have a small driver suite in which you can tweak some latency parameters. While I could not hear the difference without unnaturally extreme settings enabled, there might be some performance to gain here if you are into tweaking.

With really good masterings, the XS is a quick ticket to a great listening experience. Our UE In-Ear Reference Monitors (UE IERM) and Personal Reference monitors paired up well with the XS, and the range of volume control suited both in-ears and fully sized headphones well.

Powering the QPAD QH-90 headset was not an issue, and the sound quality was almost identical to what was achieved with the O2 and the AudioQuest Dragonfly. Like the Dragonfly, the XS does not have enough power for the extremely hard-to-drive headphones, but normal ones, like the QH-90 or Sennheiser PX-200 IIs, sound great out of it. It is definitely a handsome step up in terms of performance if you previously used an on-board solution. Its small size makes it a smart way to upgrade the sound quality of your laptop as it does not take up much room.