xDuoo X10 II – Bluetooth Digital Audio Player With Nothing Lost

Let’s talk about how I listen to headphones, earbuds, and speakers: I own many digital players, different model smartphones, and tablets in several formats. Today my great friends at Linsoul electronics sent over the xDuoo X10 II digital audio player with up to 256 GB’s of TF/Micro SD storage capacity, Bluetooth in/out, digital optical, coax, and AEX/USB outputs. This makes for a very flexible and amazing sounding playback device.  It’s got a small footprint but a big sound: let’s take a closer look!

In the Box

The xDuoo X10 II digital audio player is quite a mouthful so I’ll be calling it the xDuoo or DAP from here out. The retail box is white printed with the above graphic and a lot of detail on the device printed on the back cover. Inside you will find a second black storage box which contains the xDuoo DAP, a nice leatherette case, and a bunch of cable connections sure to help you find a way to connect this well designed DAP to anything from a professional PA, almost any soundbar, surround sound system or audiophile home system. The device has all of its ports on the bottom of the DAP. From left to right you will see the USB/Coax output which utilizes a USB 3.0 C1 connection, the AES connection jack, and an optical/coax jack which not only supports the included Digital Optical cable, it also can utilize the included 3.5 mm Coax jumper. Realize except for the USB charging cable, the majority of these adapter cables are 6 inches or less in length. The USB/USB connectors are more like 3 inches long and are meant to be used between the DAP and your Android Smartphone. When connecting to a PC with the USB connection you can playback as an SPDIF signal. The xDuoo DAP supports DSF, DFF, ISO formats as well as FLAC, APE, WAV, ALAC, AIFF, and DXD lossless music files. Yes, it plays MP3 files and WMA files. Don’t worry: the engineers at xDuoo have really made an amazing multi-format digital audio player which is easy to operate no matter if it’s hardwired to your system, or you are using Bluetooth to a set of wireless TWS speakers or headphones/earbuds. The xDuoo DAP supports up to 256 GB of storage using an SD card. The included xDuoo X10 II Instruction manual is more of a pamphlet in nine common languages, and as a nice gesture, two screen protectors shields are included with the warranty card. Let’s look deeper.

Easy As Pie

The first item is to fill the xDuoo X10 II DAP with audio files. I have a test micro SD card which contains MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, and other file types.  The card slot is on the left side of the device: Note: like many devices, my stubby fingers don’t mesh well with the card slot, so I used a small tool to install/remove the card. Press and hold the power button: a green LED will light along with the welcome screen. The xDuoo DAP contains a 2.4 inch IPS high definition full-view full-color screen to browse your files and run through the various menus. You can see the main menu options which include Music browser, Music settings, My Music, System settings, Bluetooth settings, and at the very bottom: Music Playing.  The face buttons are “Back” Play/Pause, >>> forward, and <<< back. There is also an “MFB” button which in certain modes opens menu screens. For example: when playing music, you tap that button to access a submenu with Random play, repeat, Car mode, Favorite, Create or add to playlists, and other useful items on an icon-based menu at the bottom of the display screen.  Each menu has oodles and oodles of choices which I will discuss in some detail later. To add your music on your card: Use the >>> or <<< buttons to curse through the screens, choose Music Browser, then press play/pause to select. Use the cursor buttons to choose “Update the music library” and the xDuoo will quickly add your music files to the database. The amount of time will depend on the size of your card, and the number of files. You can also use the Bluetooth utility to convert incoming BT signal to SPDIF/USB for direct connection to your high-end audio devices or desktop computer.  With Android model smartphones: you can use the included USB OTG cable to easily transfer music files directly. 

Small Package Big Sound Great Utility

From the first button push, the xDuoo had me hooked. The screen lit up, I found my music files, loaded them, and then took a look around. I could look at or play all of my files as a whole or by Album, by Artist, by Genre. Create playlists and favorite lists. Look at and review recent plays.  The manufacturer claims 15 hours of playtime. I’ve been using it at the company pool, the commissary, and around the office off and on for 3 days and I still have 70% battery life. If the screen happens to time out while you are supposedly picking out music, just click the power button and the main screen will light up. Once you get used to using the >>>, <<<, back, and Play/Pause buttons to curse around and select screens, the xDuoo is really quick and instinctive to pick out what you want to hear or have the entire 256 GB of music playing randomly. Just remember that up is back and down is next and you’ll be fine. When paired to TWS speakers, the speaker function controls have remote control of  volume, play/pause, >>>, and <<<. Other functions may be accessible depending on the speaker model/manufacturer. You can also control the DAP’s functions using your smartphone using the HiBy Link App. If you aren’t happy with the equalization of the speakers or your sound files? The xDuoo X10T has the ability to utilize a 10 band equalizer with 8 preset curves such as Rock, Classical, Jazz or Metal, and you can create your own custom settings and save them. When accessing your files on this very flexible and fun to use DAP a bit of warning: Depending on your experience during the Napster years, you might find out that you have some very interesting and very erroneous metadata including incorrect album covers, band names, or even song or album titles. If that’s the case buy the bloody track you goof!  Artists have to eat, too.  The xDuoo X10T II supports Bluetooth in/out, APT-X Bluetooth transmission. Besides having a great Bluetooth transmitter, this DAP can also convert incoming Bluetooth audio tracks into SPDIF/USB for increased fidelity when connected directly to your high-end platform.

A Sound Investment

Compared to an average Mp3 player, the xDuoo X10T II is an extremely flexible, handy, and while it’s a bit more expensive: the xDuoo X10T II is a fun audiophile level digital audio player with the ability to play and store 1000s and 1000s of high quality, and completely lossless audio files as well as broadcast custom equalized Bluetooth signals to your favorite high end headgear,  insane audiophile home setup, or your favorite pair of TWS speakers at the beach or pool. It’s not waterproof, so use the leatherette case and enjoy the 15 or more hours of what makes you happy.  Using the Carplay option you can connect to your car’s sound system via Bluetooth. This kit comes with almost every cable you will ever need to connect this powerful and comfortable in your hand DAP to whatever setup you desire. Just really short versions of those cables. The xDuoo can also convert incoming Bluetooth from other devices to high-quality input signals to keep the party hopping no matter your needs. With the correct metadata, you can access album covers and song lyrics as well as the usual artist and album information. The xDuoo T10 II is so user-friendly that the boot screen says WELCOME and the shutdown screen says SEE YOU SOON. Because the xDuoo X10 II knows: you’ll be back. 9.5 stars for a great DAP and thanks as always to our good friends at Linsoul Audio!! See you soon!!

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

Additional Images:

Specifications:

• Product: XDUOO X10T II
• Formats: DSF, DFF, and ISO format,  FLAC APE WAV ALAC AIFF and DXD HD lossless music formats, PCM 384KHz/32Bit, MP3, WMA and more.
• Body material: CNC aluminum alloy shell with a matte surface
• Battery capacity: 2400mah/3.7V
• Charge time: <3H (fast charge)
• Playtime: up to 15H
• CPU: INGENIC x1000
• Extended memory: TF/micro SD cards, maximum 256GB
• Adapter: 5V/2A or above; or use the cellphone adapter
• Size: 103mm*54.3mm*15.2mm
• Weight: 130g

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