ONKYO Hi-Res Digital Audio Player DP-X1A
by people ...
Product Specifications
- Sound tuned for the Audiophiles
- Twin DACs and Amps for Balanced Audio
- Universal Music Support
- Connect, Stream, and Cast
Supports MQA, Tomorrow’s Hi-Res Technology
Product Description
Sound tuned for the Audiophile High quality mobile audio should not be outrageously expensive or difficult to use. While there are now many DAPs around to choose from, the DP-X1A delivers the best balance of immersive high-fidelity reproduction and everyday practicality. Lightweight, compact, and ruggedly made, the DP-X1A brings joy to your life with an adaptable and future-focused feature set that makes routine daily activities something to look forward to.
Twin DACs and Amps for Balanced Audio Twin SABRE DACs (ES9018K2M) and amplifiers (9601K) are laid out symmetrically and served by separate capacitors. Connect your headphones via 2.5 mm (3⁄32”) 4-pole output to enable Balanced Audio Output with both DACs and amps employed simultaneously. Two modes are available: BTL, to increase driving power, and ACG mode for enhanced stability. Both modes offer a tangible increase in headroom and spatial dimensionality. Whether used in balanced or unbalanced mode, transparent audio reproduction gives insight and dynamic response you just can’t experience with a smartphone.
Universal Music Support The DP-X1A supports MQA, DSD 11.2MHz/5.6MHz/2.8MHz, FLAC, WAV, ALAC, and AIFF up to 384kHz/24bit*, and plays all popular compressed audio formats. Use dual-band Wi-Fi® and a hotspot to get glitch-free streaming from app downloads via GooglePlay to get unlimited music streaming.
Connect, Stream, and Cast Dual-band 5 GHz/2.4 GHz Wi-Fi® supports streaming from on-demand music services. Bluetooth® and aptX® wireless technology lets you mirror content from DAP to a home audio system, wireless speaker, or car stereo. Both headphone jacks serve as line outputs, meaning you can access almost half a terabyte of music on virtually any hi-fi.
Product Reviews
Happy Customer with a few gripes.
I’ve had this product for a week and really enjoy it, but there are a few issues:-the android software has a lot of bloatware. this is a music device, why is google docs on here?Disable all these apps in order to conserve battery life.-the other issue is incredibly weird customer support. Don’t bother contacting Onkyo USA (I just called today, Jan 27th, /2017) I was told they know absolutely nothing about this product.-With other music devices, there are a few customer support workers that review threads and discuss with the customers what issues they can fix, onkyo does not do this.-Does NOT come with any type of case or screen protector… Premium products usually provide one or the other. and the cases available are expensive ($50+)-Battery life, it’s decent, but there seems to be no “sleep” function in which after a certain time of inactivity, it shuts off.-The “iTunes”-esque program called X-DAP that you have to install to properly sync your files.. it’s a pain, it’s clunky, and I feel bad for the person that got forced to code it.Now, onto some nicer things to say:-Once the bloatware is disabled, I can get about 12 hours of streaming on Spotify (extreme quality).-the android functionality is very very smooth. I used to own a FiiO X7, and this was definitely not the case, they had a much harder time implementing android into their device.-3rd party android app support. This device (though not recommended) can do everything.. you can check email, facebook, watch movies on it (no speaker though), read news, etc. It’s a jack of all trades. but be warned, battery will suffer.-Balanced input!! I’m going to be trying my HD6XX with this soon! Will updateSOUIND QUALITY <— 99% of the reason why you’re reading thisI’ve run the Fostex X00 and the Senn HD6XX through the standard input, and I am impressed. Some are saying that the Dual DAC implementation does not work with 3rd party music apps, but my eyes don’t hear a significant difference! Neutron’s player sounds just as great as Onkyo’s.The X00 an 6XX shine in these, though if you have a 6XX, which is 300ohm, decently sensitive, I’m gonna suggest using the balanced output.I can only compare this to my iPhone, PC, and FiiO X7, which I can say, the X1A sounds clearer, and definitely more lush. I keep having those moments where I stop what i’m doing and just listen to the music in my ears and think “now that sounds beautiful”.So is this product for you?Well, if you enjoy android’s interface, and want 3rd party android apps that work smoothly, then this is for you.If you’re looking for a player and you’re just focused on sound quality, then there are better options for you.
Five Stars
This sounds amazing. Would highly recommend.
Outstanding sound
I bought this device a couple of weeks ago and I coupled it with a Sennheiser IE80. The sound is outstanding, very detailed, with a lot of depth and a good balance of bass, mid-range and highs. Diana Krall’s “The girl in the other room” or “Stepping Out” or Keith Jarrett “Standards” in HD 96⁄24 are simply wonderful and make the Onkyo DP-X1A worth the hefty price tag.I didn’t use the Onkyo application on Windows. I simply copied my music on a couple of 128GB SDHC, plugged them in, set the device in auto sync and voila!A few negative points that have no impact on the sound:- Why load the device with applications that have nothing to do with music (Google Docs, sheets etc.). For that I have my phone or laptop…- For the price or even for a small added cost, it would be great to have a jacket and screen protector
Five Stars
This is a great product. Real audiophile would like the excellent audio.
Great device, needs some tweaks after purchase.
I recently got this device, yesterday, and I really like it. The main reason why I’m even bothering to review is to make sure people know what to do to improve battery life and usability of the device. First I’ll review, then I’ll go over what I mean by optimizing.Pros:+ Very fast user interface. With over 500Gb of music on this thing, I can navigate things quickly.+ Not too much cruft installed. It’s a pretty well stock version of android.+ Bluetooth support is awesome. I like streaming music, say from Amazon, and there’s few/no skips in streaming when also using bluetooth.+ 64Gb of memory. I thought they were 32Gb, but mine was 64Gb. Nice surprise.+ Android - I can’t emphasize this enough. Going with a standard version of Android is awesome. Means anything that works on your cell phone can work here, too.+ Management pretty good, intuitive, works with the data transfer client.Cons:- Multi-processing capabilities of the device is a little rough. Not enough processors. I found this out because I was downloading music from Amazon, streaming music too, and playing over bluetooth. Was a bit much for it.- Overheats, really bad initially, cooling not great. If you’re setting this up, downloading a lot, and setting stuff up - this thing will get really warm, and programs start to crash. This isn’t really a problem after initial setup, but something to beware of.- No internal speaker. A light con, but sometimes I like sticking my phone in my pocket, and listening to music while walking around. Having a speaker would have been kinda nice, but it’s really only a very minor con.- No case or screen protector included. This device is very expensive, and doesn’t include any way to protect it. You’ll spend 50-130 in accessories.- Battery life is a bit lacking, compared to other units. I owe this to android, as well as the lack of a deep sleep (the Fiio X5 does this well, wish this was done here).Looking at this, you may be wondering why I gave this 5 stars when the # of cons and pros are about equal. In short, because with my expectations. That being, this is an audio player - NOT a video player, youtube player, game player, study tool, etc, this thing works incredibly well. Many of the cons can be taken care of pretty easily, and generally only last while setting the unit up for the first time.So onto optimization. This is really important. Because it uses the stock version of Android, there’s a lot of google crap installed, that can’t easily be uninstalled. I strongly suggest you disable them. To do this, go into settings then “Applications” then scroll to the right til you see “All”. This should be done before you install any new apps, and before auto update happens. You can scroll through the list, select an application you want to disable and click on it. From there, there’s a button called ‘Disable’. Again, I went into this with the notion that this device is my audio player, not my calendar/email/etc helper. I have a cell phone for those. So I disabled:Address BookCalendarCalendar SaverGoogle SheetsGoogle SidesGoogle DocumentsGoogle DriveGoogle HangoutsHomepage VideoMapsContacts (All variants)ChromeGmailGoogle Play game/news/books/music/movie & TVGoogle+Google AppText to SpeechKeepTalkbackYoutubeWith those disabled, there’s a lot less running in the background. Less RAM is taken, less background processes. All this means less CPU, which means less energy consumption. There’s also various battery apps out there to help put the machine into ‘Deep Sleep’, that may be useful.
Onkyo DP-X1A was significantly better than a old AK120 I had before
Onkyo DP-X1A was significantly better than a old AK120 I had before, the operation is simple and smooth, the big screen is nice and presenting ample information regarding the track and has a very nice progress indicator.Most importantly, the sound coming from the unit is so detailed and clear, and the oversampling feature, made my old collection of MP3 sounded far better than ever before, I am hearing minute details of instrument and voice like never before.The balanced output produces music with so much more clarity and stage, it is such a wonderful experience and I am rekindling all my music in a new way, I am really impressed with everything.
Three Stars
everything is great except battery life… hardly getting 2 hours
Battery life issues-returned unit
Returned unit, 2 hours battery life when advertised as 16
Digital Audio Player (DAP) that strikes the perfect balance of versatility, sound quality, and price.
This is hard to beat for the price in comparison to more expensive DAPs out there (AK for example). Let me back-track. High quality sound is somewhat subjective.
Five Stars
Good device as the price too. Recommend it
So glad I chose this Onkyo
My Pono is on it’s final legs and it appears there is no more support, so I started looking for a replacement and selected this even though there weren’t a lot of professional…
Nice hardware, but …
Good sound. Use of stock android though gives an unnecessarily confusing and cluttered user experience.
Wanted so much to love this device but the one shipped to me did …
Wanted so much to love this device but the one shipped to me did not work. The OS crashed every few minutes and then would take ages to restart, only to crash again.
Great sounds, good battery life
Here is my take after a month of use:1) Sound is awesome and totally lived up to expectations.2) Streaming over Tidal is great.
I absolutely love my new Onkyo music player
I absolutely love my new Onkyo music player, It is the newest addition to my car stereo. Thanks Apple for discontinuing the ipod classic and allowing me to discover other music…
Wonderful sound, terrible battery, recommend buy
comments powered by DisqusIt sounds fantastic, even on ordinary Bose in ear pods. Apple music also sounds great. Haven’t got hold of original high resolution music due to country limitations.
