Qudelix-T71 USB DAC Headphone AMP (BAL 2.5&4.4mm 8VRMS, UNBAL 3.5mm 4VRMS)

Love this dac/amp. It replaces a Topping desktop headphone amp and I love the portability it offers. It has both 4.4mm and 2.5mm balanced inputs and parametric EQ if you want to tweak the sound further. Wonderful sound quality with plenty of power for most headphones (I'm using it to drive HiFiMAN Ananda Stealths and Meze 99 Neos).

I’m new to the whole “audiophile” world. I decided to take a leap of faith bcz this device is not cheap. Now im in love with it. Makes my music so much more crisp and powerful. It has its own equalizer but you have to use the Internet Browser and install an extension. This extension has a huge amount of customizations that i don’t even know where to start. I’m using it will my Sennheiser 650 headphones. They make such a perfect team. The battery last quite a long time. The only downside is that it does not have Bluetooth but it’s ok because using the cable you are getting the full and clear music straight to your ears without any loss of quality.

I came from a Qudelix 5k. Honestly I was hesitant to "upgrade" as there is no Bluetooth on this model, and I know the 5k has an acoustically transparent DAC. Its still 5 stars. The multichannel is incredible. I love using my headphones for movies now. I do have problems with the browser extension connecting. I hope they work on this in the future.

Be careful i paired it with the iem and the iem stopped working before year had passed

The T71 is a very capable DAP. I'll quickly cover some of the specs. Can do 384kHz/32bit, but on my Galaxy S25 Ultra, I was able to get 192kHz/32bit when streaming from Amazon Music HD...a limitation of Amazon Music and not the device. This has four ESS 9219 DACs, each pair of two powered by its own Amp. The 9219 DAC chip has been around for about 5 years, but it still holds its own. It has an internal battery, so you can use this with your phone without draining the phone's battery. It supports both 4.4 and 2.5 balanced connections, as well as 3.5 unbalanced. First, I had to install an applet/extension on my Edge/Chrome browser to update the firmware. After updating the firmware, I played around with some of the EQ settings and found that I liked the Focal Elegia EQ. There is an EQ for almost every headset out there, and the Elegia EQ worked with my headphones. Then I uninstalled the browser extension. I don't plan to use this on my computer, since i have a Peachtree desktop amp and Schitt Bifrost/Asgard stack. I'll be using the T71 with my phone and tablet. So how does it sound? I tested the sound using a multitude of headsets from Focal, Sennheiser, HiFiman, Sony and Audio Technica. I also tried some IEMS from Sony and Aful. I can safely say these will power all of the above, even the more demanding planar headphones. The sound is pretty similar to my Fiio BTR7. BTR7 has two 9219 DACs, as opposed to the four 9219s in the T71. I A/B tested these headphones using both the BTR7 and the T71. Both have a very low noise floor, so you won't hear any audible hissing or buzzing. As far as sound quality, both are very similar. If I really focus and quickly AB swap them back and forth, I'd say the T71 is the bit more revealing and has a wider soundstage, but you really have to listen for it. Listening to both at Flat EQ, 192kHz/32Bit, streaming amazon, the differences are minor. Both devices EQ well, so you can really modify the sound to your liking. I think the Fiio BTR7 is a very apt comparison to the Qudelix T71. Both use the same dac, with T71 having 2 more chips. What the Fiio has that the Qudelix doesn't is Bluetooth support. BTR7 supports LDAC and the entire suite of AptX codecs. This is a VERY important feature for me. I frequently will stream music from my phone to my BTR7 around the house via LDAC and listen to musical bliss on some of my full-sized cans. You don't have to tether the phone and DAC via usb-c. Just stick the BTR7 in your pocket and run the cable inside your shirt, and you'll be able to do stuff around the house without having a bulky phone in your pocket. Yes, there is a slight quality downgrade from PCM to LDAC, but man does it multiply the BTR7 use cases 10-fold. What the Qudelix does that the BTR7 doesn't is support 7.1 audio. I really haven't figured out why 7.1 matters in a headphone DAP. I did try the 7.1 setting on the T71, and it sounded more digitized to me. Think what it's like when you turn atmos mode on your phone, and you'll get a good idea. Yes, it widens the sound a bit, but you trade soundstage for sound quality imho. For gaming, binaural audio via stereo will give great directional audio without needing surround sound setting...so i'm flummoxed. Not saying there isn't a use case, but I haven't figured one out. If you don't own another dap and think you can use the 7.1 mode, then definitely give this a shot. I support what Qudelix is trying here and look forward to their future endeavors. But personally, I get a lot more use out of the BTR7 and its support for both PCM and Bluetooth. LDAC/AptX HD isn't as good as PCM, but they are both very useful and great-sounding alternatives when you don't want to be tethered to your phone, laptop, tablet, etc.

This little (and cheap) unit replaces amps and DACs multiple times more expensive - the picture shows the T71 on top of the (now) obsolete hardware it replaced. The Chrome extension control program is comprehensive and allows downloads of PEQ settings for hundreds of specific earphones using the Oratory PEQ database, this is so much more convenient that setting the parameters yourself (which can be done also) like in Topping Tune or JDS labs control software. Incredibly, it does not seem that other reviewers are using this feature - if you are not going to EQ your specific phones, buy something else. There is plenty of power - even for Modhouse Argons, well known power hogs - and the Ether CX can attain hearing damaging volume (don't try it longer than a few seconds). My only quibble is that because I use it as a replacement for my previous desktop devices, its light weight and small size (albeit well made) makes it slide around the desk surface too easily. I also don't like the flashing lights that have different functions. I would like a larger desktop version with feet, real controls, and of course blue tooth LDAC. Such a unit would crush the JDS Element IV ($550) for example. HIGHLY recommended. BTW: it comes with a one year warranty that is processed by the control software (it keeps track of the first day of use and then gives you 364 more days - a great idea). No need for proof of purchase documentation or other paperwork. Thus, I don't understand the experience of the reviewer who claimed to get a more limited warranty (??!!)

This thing is amazing! I bought it mainly for it's 7.1 multi-channel sound capability but man, this makes 2 channel audio sound fantastic. I've been listening to my collection of music using a Hifiman HE-5XX and enjoying my collection all over again. The various equalizer settings are my favorite feature. It really opens up the sound stage.

I want to give it higher reviews but I just can't. In terms of sound quality, it works, it's a dac and amp combo. Nothing super special, which you want. Other than that it's a nightmare. It's not Bluetooth enabled but wants Bluetooth on when wired to a phone or mobile device. If it's already wired via USB I have no clue what Bluetooth would be necessary for at all. Software issues out the ass. When using the mobile app, it will just randomly stop detecting the dac. The dac works fine, but no controls via the app, which makes me question why it's even a thing. Along with the software issues, it will just randomly pause your music sometimes. Had this happen at work, accidental touch will pause my music, so I'll go to unpause and the instant I put my phone to sleep, it pauses again. Only happens with this dac. Another issue, you HAVE to turn off the setting to turn screen on at music events, ie a new song plays. This is because just like with it randomly pausing your music when you put your phone to sleep, it'll pause your music damn near everytime a new song comes on or you leave your music app for any amount of time. In terms of its Value, it's pretty bad. It's buggy as hell on mobile, which kinda defeats half the reason why you'd get a mobile dac in the first place. If all you're doing is using it for a laptop, it's great. But that's like half my use-case. The other half is constantly having to unplug and replug it in, restarting it, or constantly switch between using Bluetooth and not using it. Which is already dumb for a device that doesn't use Bluetooth and already has I/O via the USB connection.