xDuoo DP-10

Product links: https://www.fiio.com/k13r2r Headfi.org: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-k13-r2r.28471/ Pros: Killer looks and design Build is top notch Compact and versatile for desktop or travelling The sheer number of connections (including mini AES and I2S) and playback scenarios Interface and remote app is intuitive and easy Multiple and huge storage options Cons: Price maybe when comparing to other streamers Touchscreen is a tad small for larger fingers (but phone app assists here) Nothing else comes to mind   Verdict - This little guy isn’t cheap. But what you get for the money is, I have to say, very impressive! It really looks the goods (like a Dap on steroids!) and it is extremely versatile. Who’s it for? Well my comparison above showed it sounds great when paired with a quality Dac/amp, so it’s a great compact desktop setup. And it’s portable and travel friendly too. Just not in your pocket……. The M23 is the completely portable unit (pocket sized). It is small enough that you can easily take it away on vacation or business trips. It fits (by design) with the xDuoo XD05 Pro (which is a beast!!), so very compact to take anywhere in a suitcase. I am away from home at the moment writing this, and I brought it alongside the K13 (and M23 for comparison). It sits anywhere there is usb or mains power. I have really enjoyed my time with this little fella and the only minor gripes I had were a small touch-screen (for my fat fingers….) and the language change in Tidal (which was my fault). I’m struggling to think of anything else to whinge about. This guy is NOT going anywhere anytime soon!!

The good folks at xDuoo have kindly sent out the DP-10 Streaming Transport for review with no expectations of a positive review – and that’s exactly what they’re getting. I’m excited about this review. As it is a transport, I get to play with the new Fiio K13, as well as choose any headphones/iems I wish. It retails for $999 USD. I like to add on all my reviews – I’m listening with my ears, not yours. I’m listening with my gear, not yours. I’m listening with my love of audio, and not yours. YMMV….. Gear: For the review, I have it hooked up to the new Fiio K13 R2R Dac/amp (review next) and I will use a rotation of headphones/iems. Unboxing and first impressions: It’s a simple black box with a picture and name of the unit on it. Open up and there 2 screen protectors (thoughtful), 2 usb cables (1 B-A and 1 fancy orange quality looking C-C). Power cord, 2 antennas and an instruction booklet wrap it up. Nice start. The unit itself is sexy!!!!!!! It can rotate from Landscape to Portrait – versatile. It’s small, but it’s chunky (like aunty……never mind!) A fold-up touch screen is great. The 5.5 inch screen is tiny for my fat digits but I manage (after miss-hitting a few times). That’s my problem though. And I/O – wow!!!!!!! This is one multitalented beasty!! According to the specs, the DP‑10 supports everything short of telepathy: local files, cloud streaming, LAN, DLNA, AirPlay, Bluetooth 5.4, USB drives, SD cards, M.2 SSDs, and even CD playback and ripping. Yes, CD ripping. In 2026. Somewhere, a 2003 iPod Classic just shed a single tear……. Playlist: I will play a plethora of songs, using it predominantly as a streamer (Tidal). The Important Stuff: I downloaded the Play Remote App, scanning the QR code. Very handy as I sit a few feet away from the gear, and I’m VERY lazy!!! You can do everything on the app that you can on the touch screen. I love it! Under the Hood we have a Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A55 + 8GB RAM. That’s some decent power and I have never once thought it slow or laggy. It runs Android 14, so only 1 version shy of the latest. That’s pretty good for something that does so much and under 10 Benjamin Franklins!! Connectivity? Well the DP-10 has every bloody output except a toast slot….. USB? Yes. Coax? Yes. Optical? Of course. AES? Naturally. HDMI? Why not. I²S? Absolutely — because audiophiles love a good cable format that 90% of the world has never heard of. It’s beyond me but I know it’s impressive! If this thing had any more outputs, it would honestly qualify as a small recording studio. From the website, we learn that this thing is pretty damn pure. It utilises independent ultra‑low‑noise LDOs for each module, Jitter‑grade crystal oscillator, a hierarchical power supply, and an Android SRC bypass with self‑developed algorithms. What does mean in laymen’s terms?? Who knows (well apart from xDuoo!). But it sounds fancy. As for storage, The DP‑10 accepts: MicroSD (up to 2TB) USB drives External HDDs M.2 NVMe SSDs up to 4TB You can stockpile your entire collection of the native Australian Thornbill Acanthiza’s different mating calls on this thing, and STILL have room for some Ozzy Osbourne (vale Ozz-Man!!)…… And it’s onboard filing system auto scans and sorts. You can search by album/track/genre quickly, so no laborious sifting through files. People I spoke to said this was a great feature. And as mentioned, you can also rip CDs from the DP-10. Plug in a USB cd drive and away you go, storing all your music in one space. Damn this thing is flexible. Just like Uncle Samwise’s arm after 17 pints…it seems to find itself around anyone’s waist at the local pub…… Now the user interface. My thick digits struggled but it was ok (and that’s where the phone app came in handy too). As an interface though, I loved it. It was easy, intuitive and menus were a breeze to navigate in and out of. Tidal, Spotify, Quobuz, Apple music, Amazon and a suite of others already come preinstalled. I use Tidal, so got straight into that. As I said, it was quick, responsive with no lag or issues. The only small problem I had was accidentally swapping to Chinese language in Tidal somehow (don’t ask…) and that was fun. But I was able to somehow get back again after a few clicks and a reset. But how does it sound??????? Well it’s a transport of course but it still has clocks, power supplies, power rails, cables and internal thingamajiggys that effect sound overall. I used it predominantly with the Fiio K13 R2R and that was a great match. The sound was smooth but very detailed, and open sounding – the Fiio K13 is a lovely little unit! Tonality wise, everything was balanced. Deep bass, just-right mids and clean and resolving treble. Soundstage was great. On Make Us Stronger (which I know very well), the staging was all around me, as it is on good headphones and quality components. It was punchy, deep and exciting. On Battle Beast’s King For A Day, this fast-paced cacophony stood up to my JM Audio XTC 2.5s and the DP-10/K13 combo, with ease. The JMs are an excellent headphone with huge bass, fast pace and great staging and placement for closed backs. This song sounded awesome on them. I swapped to the new Sivga Egrets and listened to Iron Man by Black Sabbath. Staging again was excellent and detail and resolution were clean, punchy and dynamic. Timbre is natural – The O-man’s vocals are lifelike and Mr I’s down-tuned guitars sound bloody amazing. A quick comparison: I compared the DP-10/K13 combo to my trusty Fiio M23 Dap. For this, I used the (review soon) ArtPical Lunar Ring iems (noice!). There wasn’t a huge difference in sound quality to my ears, but the R2R Dac from the K13 was just a hair smoother. It still provided excellent detail and resolution, but it was a bee’s elbow smoother and maybe warmer. The M23 was a tad more dynamic, punchy and resolving, but the DP-10/K13 combo had a slight wider (not so much holographic) soundstage presence. I am NOT going to choose a winner here as a good chunk of the sound came from the K13. The DP-10 definitely played a part, but it was a minor role, not centre stage acting. I loved both and both have different use case scenarios.