THX Onyx Portable Headphone Amplifier: High Resolution Audio DAC for Smartphone/PC/Home Audio - THX AAA - MQA Renderer - Direct Stream Digital (DSD) - ES9281PRO - Magnetic Cable Management

Tl;Dr: Great portable amp and DAC. Makes any pair of headphones sound even better, but it eats up battery life like crazy on your cell phone. A more in depth review: I originally got the Razer THX Onyx to pair with my KZ zs10 Pro IEM's (in ear monitors) because I wanted something that can take advantage of the full range that those earbuds offer (7hz-40khz). The THX Onyx did not disappoint at all, especially with a sound range to match (10hz-40khz). Both go beyond the normal sound range the average human can hear. Because of that it definitely enhances the sub bass range and adds more punch and "feel" to music that is bass dominant like "Barbie Dreams" by Nikki Manaj or "Freaks of the Industry" by Digital Underground. Mids and highs sound just as wonderful. Listening to jazz or blues, you can hear all the subtle nuances In a raspy voice or the crash of the cymbals. Listening to an artist like Massive Attack sounds really good. Because of the zs10 Pro's low impedance (24ohms), I had to turn the volume down by almost 1/2 of my normal listening volume. The amplifier in the THX Onyx is wonderful. I tried it with a pair of generic earbuds and they made those sound even louder too. Lastly, I tried it with my wife's Razer Kraken headphones because those are notoriously low sounding when using them with a cell phone. It definitely brought the volume up considerably for those. The DAC circuit decodes at higher sampling rates (32bit/384khz) then just your average USB C to 3.5mm adapter (24bit/96khz). Listening to Master Tracks on Tidal opens up a fuller range of sound to enjoy. Unfortunately Tidal's Master Tracks are not encoded that high (32bit), So although they are MQA certified, it is still at the lower 24bit level. So I have yet to enjoy the THX Onyx to its fullest extent with true MQA sound files. My one and only problem with the THX Onyx is that it eats up the battery life on my cell phone rather quickly when it's plugged in, even if I am not listening to any music. On my Google Pixel 6, I can literally watch the battery percentage drop at a rate of 1% approximately every 2 minutes. If I am watching a movie, which this is absolutely wonderful for, and start off with a full charge, my battery is around 50% when the movie is finished. That prevents me from binge watching any series unless I have a USB C splitter which I have yet to find out if it would even work with the THX Onyx and have my phone plugged in charging. To be fair, I tried it with my wife's OnePlus 9 and my daughter's Galaxy S21. Both had the same high battery drain while using the THX Onyx. It is to be expected though when using a portable amplifier/DAC that draws its power off of the USB port. Plugged into a computer, it would not be a problem at all since a computer it's usually plugged in. I have not checked the battery drainage on a laptop that is unplugged from its power supply. All in all, it is a great and wonderful addition to anyone needing a portable amplifier/DAC. A little pricey for some people but it is still less expensive than some other portable high end amplifier/DAC's out there, not to mention the frequency range it encompasses.

Disclaimer: I am not an audiophile, musician, or sound engineer. My review is for general users. Received on December 24th. Have been using for only one day. Since Apple Music has introduced Hi-Res Lossless music, I want to fully experience the marvel. I bought this mainly for Apple Music. I use Sony IER-M9, iPhone SE (2020), and MacBook Pro (16 inch, 2019). Healthy: If you read simplified or traditional Chinese, you can see that at the end of the instruction manual, there are two tables indicating the level of harmful substances in Onyx. The level of lead exceeds the safety limit in the circuit board, but I will never open up Onyx to touch the circuit board, so I am fine with this. All externals of Onyx, including the package, paint, metal case, rubber wire, etc. are under the safety limit for all harmful substances. I am happy to see this. (I tried FiiO Q3. The accessories of Q3 had a high level of lead exceeding the safety limit. I assumed that accessories referred to the supplied cables. I returned it.) Size: I love Onyx because it is the smallest DAC I have tried with THX. I intend to use Onyx mainly with my iPhone. It is important to have a small size. Of course, Apple’s lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor is also smaller than Onyx, but it can only do 24-bit 48 kHz sampling without THX. I find a few smaller dongles from Amazon that can also do 24-bit 384 kHz sampling, but again they do not have THX. Most importantly, some reviews say that these dongles have crosstalk between channels. Crosstalk: None. It is absolute silent in the other channel when I test one channel with low and high volume setting. Furthermore, the electronic static noise is zero when there is no music. (I tried iFi hip-dac2. The crosstalk was so severe that I returned it.) Sound quality: Ironically, when I listen to a lossless music with M9/THX Onyx vs the default, build-in speakers of my MacBook Pro, I can hear more details with the default speakers (set at 24 bits, 96 kHz) than M9/THX Onyx (set at 24 bits, 192 kHz, yellow LED). For example, I can hear the unintentional background noise in the studio during recording with the build-in speakers but not with M9/THX Onyx. When the musician slides his fingers on the strings of a guitar, the sliding is also more pronounced with the build-in speakers than M9/THX Onyx. Perhaps THX Onyx filters out some details? I then unplug M9 from THX Onyx and plug M9 directly to the 3.5 mm audio out (set at 24 bits, 96 kHz) on my MacBook Pro and got similar results. The default, build-in speakers of my MacBook Pro still provide more details than M9. Perhaps the 3.5 mm audio out loses some details? Just to be fair with M9, the bass of M9 is stronger than the build-in speakers. Lastly, I plug M9/THX Onyx to my iPhone. Yes, I have a lightning to USB camera adapter from Apple. THX Onyx LED changes color according to the sampling rate of different songs. M9/THX Onyx performs similarly as the two forementioned conditions. THX: Onyx has THXAAA-78. It is the highest level within the Frontier series. Frontier series is for mobile, audiophile devices. For comparison, FiiO Q3 also has THX, but it is THXAAA-28, the lowest level within the same series. Conclusion: I am happy with this purchase.

enough power to drive my HD 660s with only a few clicks up on the volume, and sounds clean , slightly on the cooler side of netural, but that's not always a bad thing , bought on sale for $150 , and I'd say its worth it , sounds as good if not better than the dragonfly red to me

Tested with Ultimate Ears Live CSX, for context this a $2,400 IEM. Are they worth buying? Yes and No. I'll make this simple for the broader audience, without getting too technical and me sounding like I'm summoning Pokémon's and Yugioh cards: - It regulates your audio during high frequencies, gives you a static and white noise free experience - Makes your highs and mid's crystal clear while boosting high frequencies to perfection - Lows are decent, an AudioQuest DragonFly still better for a punchier bass - No Equalizer at $200 price range, it's not acceptable, compared to a cheaper competitor like the Quedelix 5k Worth the price tag? Unfortunately, no... they are other options at this price range where you can spend a little more and get a LOT more. I'm referring to the Questyle M15. To summarize: I don't want to sound like they are terrible or bad. What this dongle DAC does is scary good. But if I'm going to spend $200, I'm expecting more than just an audio boost 10-15db and audio clarity. The TXH Onyx to me is an Apple dongle on steroids. Nothing more.

Había leído reseñas sobre este que si es un buen dac solo que al inicio solo se podía comprar en la pagina de Razer pero no mandan a Mexico. Me esperé, esperando que algún dia lo pongan en Amazon para vender. Y lo vi y lo compré. Aquí es mas barato con respecto a la tienda de Razer. La verdad si ayuda a mejorar el audio de youtube, spotify, si es que tenes archivos en mp3 tambien los mejora. Ya si tienes Tidal o un servicio de streaming de musica con calidad premium se escucha muy bien.

Like the title say, I've been using the dac with the akg earbuds that came with my note 9 about 4 years ago and the sound is amazing, feel like a new pair of headphones. I tried the same song with the buds connected directly in audio jack and then through the razer dac and the différence is staggering. This usb c dac makes the audio on my phone so much better, can't listen to anything without it now. I'm not a pro audiophile now so I can't really tell how it compares to other brand, but it definitely works. The only downside is that the volume and play/pause controls on the headphones don't seem to work anymore. The microphone works well tho. Tried only on android.

Nochmal gekauft, einwandfreie Retoure war super günstig + schnell geliefert. Bester Klang endlich auch am PC & Handy für Klinken-Höhrer! Echt heftig mit Pioneer DJ HDJ-X10 Kopfhörer am Laptop zusammen mit der THX Spartial app. Fantastisch und überzeigend auch am Handy mit gleichem Kopfhörer. Achtung, der Produkthinweis stimmt 100%: Warning! High Volume! Eher nix für einfache Kopfhörer. Besser ab und zu auch mal die Lautstärke ein wenig reduzieren :) Lieferung nach 5 Wochen war lang, das Warten hat sich voll gelohnt.

Love the product so much, I use it on my latest iPad Mini 6 with USBC connection

Eventualmente, si quieres reproducir MQA tendrás que comprar la app USB Player Pro con Perfección de Bits activado porque no te dejará con Tidal. Llevo ya medio año con el Onyx y vaya que funciona.