Introduction

xDuoo is an audio brand operated by the Shenzhen xDuoo Technology Co., Ltd. (Yidu) company, that started out as an ODM (original design manufacturer) for various companies before launching its own brand nearly a decade ago. The brand has become synonymous with headphone and speaker amplifiers in particular, especially with the use of tube preamp/amplifier stages, in addition to audio players, portable DAC/amps, as well as cable accessories in the HiFi audio space. The last couple of years have seen xDuoo step more into the PC audio side with DAC/amplifier combo units using solid state and/or tube output stages. Today we examine its latest such offering in the form of the xDuoo TA-22, and thanks to SHENZHENAUDIO for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp!


The vast majority of headphone and speaker amplifiers today use fully solid state designs with the goal of reproducing an analog signal as cleanly and accurately as possible. Indeed, you will have noticed that everything covered to date from the likes of TOPPING, FiiO, S.M.S.L, and essentially every other brand has been a solid state device. You get the best measurements from reviewers who have access to expensive audio analyzers and you are also guaranteed excellent, non-colored sound from DACs and amplifiers at very reasonable prices too. Tube amplifiers, also referred to as valve amplifiers in some countries, are more old-school in approach and have a somewhat romantic association to them. These were left by the wayside for a while before undergoing a resurgence in the high-end audio scene with the emergence of flagship class headphones that cost multiple thousands of dollars. The general mindset has been that a tube amplifier is only really worth it in a similar price range yet that has not stopped Asian brands from coming out with products that cost far less. The xDuoo TA-22 is a combination DAC and tube amplifier that is one such example and we will take a closer look at it—both inside and out—in our review to see how it fares against the solid state competition. As usual, we begin with a look at the product specifications below so be sure to click the image twice to fully open it and go through all the details.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

The product box for the xDuoo TA-22 may look like a shipping box but it comes inside the actual larger shipping packaging that itself has weather-resistant coating and seals around it. I know it works because it was delivered to me during one of the wettest days of the year here and the product box was in immaculate condition, as seen above. It's plain cardboard with the company logo and product name on it along with contact info for the company and the Chinese website. Open the box to reveal a multi-language quick start guide going over the initial setup and usage of the product, as well as a warranty card to complete the paperwork section. There's a thick foam sheet to help protect the rest of the contents during transit, removing which reveals an accessory box on the side and the TA-22 itself inside another thick foam compartment and a wax paper wrap to keep it pristine during the unboxing stage.


xDuoo seems to like this type of unboxing because the accessory box effectively replicates it! There's a thin foam sheet placed over thicker foam trays, as well as a cardboard lining with other accessories underneath. This is where we start to see how tube amplifiers deviate from the norm and require minor assembly and how some of the more serious companies offer tube cages to help prevent heat burns from the hot tubes in use. xDuoo supplies two shaped aluminium frames that no doubt go over the tubes; this is less practical but does end up more aesthetically pleasing.


The xDuoo TA-22 uses two 12AU7 miniature nine-pin medium-gain dual triode vacuum tubes, and these are also referred to as ECC82 tubes in Europe for those keeping tabs. It's a fairly popular tube used in the audio space and these particular tubes even come xDuoo-branded, given how much the brand loves to use them in its products. I would like to say the tubes are impressive but some of the pins were not aligned and the internal connections are haphazard to say the least. It's nothing that will be a dealbreaker nor will they cease operating anytime soon, but let's just say there are better versions of the 12AU7 out there.


Rounding off the unboxing experience is the final set of accessories including a power cable from the AC mains, which happens to have the UK adapter for my TA-22 review sample. The lack of a power supply means the TA-22 has an internal transformer, which is nice in keeping things more manageable on the outside. We also get a premium sleeved USB data cable which unfortunately still goes from USB Type-B to Type-A to where it's obvious xDuoo is using Type-B connectivity on the TA-22 instead of the Type-C that the audio world is still vehemently slow to adopt. There's also a 3.5 mm to 6.35 mm (1/4") single-ended adapter plug as well as a Bluetooth antenna indicating wireless Bluetooth connectivity on top of the expected wired inputs.