Welcome to Darkvoice 2.0 - Xduoo TA-26

Anyone can tell me why this wouldn’t pair well with Beyerdynamic headphones? It thought it would be a perfect combo given that the amp is warm and the beyer is bright .. did I miss something ? 🤯

Lately, your reviews have been terrible, and you seem half-deaf as well. Your personal preferences don't contribute to giving objective opinions. It's also quite obvious that you only like something if it has a topping sound, while tube-based setups have their own charm. As a reviewer, you should be able to objectively discuss them without letting your personal tastes come first. Maybe you should quit this already.

Ta22 or ta26. That's where I am right now

That is interesting that you say the sound on the dark voice changes from day to day. I’m sure you have considered warm up time to get the system up to optimum temperature,

I wonder if it is worth taking the power off there grid, try a battery source to see if the performance becomes more consistent.

I was thinking to get the TA-20, but it is sold out on Amazon U.K., maybe I should put down a few extra coins and get a Tor Roger instead.
The only valve/tube product that I own is a Yaqin phono stage with a valve output too, so I’m running valve on the output stage too

What tubes would be recommended please? I expect to use it primarily as a tube preamp and listen on my speakers. Thank you

How does the TA-30 compare to the TA-26?

hi nice review.... what economic dac do you recomend for Ta-26 ? thxks !

It is fugly...

I don‘t know. Both sound like a compromise. And you still need a DAC. I would rather send some more and get a WA8 or WA6.

If the Darkvoice is objectively bad, then what would you suggest as an alternative amp, if i have Beyerdynamic T1s?

Things can sound different day to day because human hearing is not consistent. I got rid of my TA-26. It didn't produce smooth warm sound traditionally found with tubes and it wasnt as clean and articulate as a Topping. No, it sounded about the same as pluging into a vintage SS reciever. Maybe a touch of warmth and smoothness with average detail. Same thing when used as a pre, didn't warm up or add really any smoothness to my miniDSP.

How does the TA-26 compare to Schiit tube amps??

Has anyone tried the ta26 with the Sennheiser HD58x? Is that a good combo?

Guys do you checked that with hifiman headphones? Worth trying?

Can't beat a $150 Darkvoice tho

My Darkvoice hums like crazy with anything other than the stock tubes. I’m going to have to get the TA-26 aren’t I? 🤑

Hey Josh. I’m not sure if you’ve been asked the question yet. Will you be doing a review on the xDuoo TA-10R hybrid amp? It seems to be an all in one and every underrated amp.

Thanks for the upload. I wanted to try the darkvoice but on a fence due to the horror stories I am reading about it's performance. I may try to check out xduoo.

Recommended aftermarket tubes for this amp?

I've been waiting for a new Darkvoice for a long time. I just wasn't comfortable getting an amp which made it's introduction ca 2010, maybe earlier. And I figured, as soon as I get a Darkvoice a Darkvoice Mk II would come out. So I wait and see. This TA-26 is interesting. Thank you Joshua for yet another review helping to keep me informed!

Edit: I have the xDuoo TA-20. The stock Chinese tubes provided seem to only serve the purpose of delivering the device in working order. I don't think the stock tubes are really meant to be used. So of course I have other NOS tubes in my TA-20 and I love it. As I prefer to keep my DACs and amps separate I'm not much interested in the combo devices. I like products like the TA-26 amp-only.

My darkvoice is already 6 years old and no
Issues.. and i own ha300 cayin and woo audio wa22.. the dark voice with right tubes damm very hard to beat..

Will my Hifiman Sundara work well with Xduoo TA-26 ?

Nice video!

I'm interested to hear your opinion on a bottlehead crack. I know its a DIY project and the two amps in the video are plug and play. Im just curious about comparisons with other high end headphones and the crack.

Finally bought the TA-26 on black friday after looking for a dark voice. Now waiting on Apos to ship it.

I purchased this amp. There is a loud low pitched humming through both left and right with and without input connected. Anyone know why and what to do about it? I am assuming it is related to the tube?

Which headphone amp should I buy: Xduoo TA-26 or xduoo mt 604?

it can be used an as low power integrated amp with the correct speakers???

Pretty generic sounding review. Sounds like you browsed over a couple reviews on Google, then compared it with the amp you actually have knowledge of (the Dark voice) and then gave us this 10 minutes of swill. Do better bro. Take the time needed to do your own proper research.

Hey guys, I got the unit and I love the sound, but even without tubes it is quite loud. There is a hum coming from the power supply area. Is that normal?

As always, very much appreciate the video and advice! If you have the time and access to the tech it would be awesome to see a review of the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone addition (real mouthful). It seems too good to be true but finding a high quality near endgame style amp/ dac is high on the list currently and with it's ability to easily integrate so much streaming while maintaining a super clean aesthetic would be tops. Certainly no worries and greatly appreciate your work. Cheers mate !

Where would anyone recommend buying tubes? I've seen some dedicated tube sites when searching but is there anywhere specific that's known to be trusted/relevant to audiophiles

Question will the preamp of the Xduoo TA-26 work well with the drop thx aaa one amp. I have read that the output impedance xduoo ta-26 is more than the input impedance of drop thx one amp so could that be a problem?

IDK if its just me, but all the amazon links are going directly to the amazon home page instead of the product.

pleas try out the Blue Mix-Fi headphone!

why do we need tube amps ??
how diff can it bring compared to the schiit amps ?

To add to my other comment can we get a multi-bit vs R2R dac explanation and comparison?

what dac did you use with it?

Mr. Joshua have u ever tried decware torii planar amp and preamp.tell me what's u opinion in it. ❤️👍..are monoblock amps are better for headphones.which company monoblock for headphones..

so, realistically, could i use this as an amp while using my fiio e10k as my dac? or would i need a dedicated dac?

I have a question. Would be a reasonable to buy Topping A30pro with D50s? Thx in andvance.

So is this amp still not really a good choice for low-impedence headphones? (around 60 ohms) Is there a tube amp that achieves good tube saturation for headphones that aren't 250+ ohms? And isn't the freaking WA-33 lol

Your production quality is top notch Josh !! Its pleasing to watch your content

Just got mine yesterday. Has a hum. Wondering if that will go away after the tubes burn on?

none of your links work!!!!

If what you say about the darkvoice sounding slightly different everyday is true, (I feel the same way about mine, sometimes the same song(s) will sound a little different the next day, maybe it depends on current room temp?) since this is the case how exactly reliable is a sound comparison between these two? This may be unfair comparison sound wise. Like is it not possible that the Xduo also has the same sound signature inconsistencies that the darkvoice has?

Huge fan of grey here, my favourite nuance is rat grey.

I'm not sure half a watt will be good with my planar. My 5 watt amp works well.

I'm running Gustard A18 -> Darkvoice 336SE -> Focal Clear MG Pro and... guys. Seriously the DV336SE is not only a great amp, it's siiiiilk. It's so pleasant to listen to over a boring linear THX AAA 789, which is the only other truly capable amp I personally have to compare it to. There's nothing clinical or accurate about the sound but it's wonderful with emphasis in the bass extension and just knocking down sibilant frequencies without knocking them out.