Surfans X10 Portable DAC AMP Review – Edge Of X
Surfans X10 is a 79 $USD portable DAC AMP for driving earphones and portable headphones with a ES9028Q2M DAC at the core, ES9603Q amplifier and with a very low THD. Today we will review X 10 and see how it fares in today’s market.
Introduction
Surfans is a popular brand of entry-level audiophile electronics, being best known for their DAPs which are some of the most popular in their price category. This is the first time the company made a DAC AMP, so it will be interesting to see what type of sound and tone they went for.
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Build Quality – Design – Subjective Usage
Build Quality – Surfans X10 is a minimalistic dongle DAC AMP with multiple sharp edges, very slightly rounded edge designs, and with one type-c input at the bottom, two headphone outputs at the top, or on the right side, and two buttons. Both the face and the back of the DAC AMP have symmetrical looking glass panels, with an edgy, cool X design for the whole DAC AMP. I feel like it looks very premium, and well designed.
Design – On the inside, X10 comes with Ceramic capacitors, LDO regulators and has analog – digital separation for improved accuracy and sound quality.
DAC – At the core, we have an ES9028Q2M DAC which is part of the more professional, high-grade DACs available in dongle DAC AMPs. It is paired with an ESS ES9603Q Amplifier, which is also a good unit, allowing the X10 to decode files up to 384 kHz / 32 Bit. Those two together offer a driving power up to 522mW which will theoretically be more than enough even for quite hard to drive headphones.
Battery – There is no battery inside of the X10 and it draws current from your phone. X10 can get quite hot, and this also means that it draws a lot of power from your phone, so the almost half a watt of power is no joke, it needs to source it somewhere.
Outputs – You have your choice out of two headphone outputs, either a 3.5mm single ended output or a balanced one 4.4mm output. There is a difference in power between them, but while the balanced output has more power, it also has more noise too, so single ended usage does make sense for most people who run sensitive IEMS. I found that the high gain and low gain does not affect the noise level too much, just the volume control, so it is less of a gain or the gain is very clean.
Sound Quality
Pairings – While Surfans X10 is not necessarily a powerhouse nor do they sell it as such, I have paired it with a multitude of IEMS and HEadphones I reviewed recently, including Faith Audio E1000, Lily Audio Genesis One, KBEar Cepheus, Crosszone CZ-10 Enhanced, TinHIFI T7, NFAudio NE4, Sivga Peng, Crosszone CZ-8a Enhanced, Soundz Flame, Dunu Vulkan 2, Moritz Aura, Hiby Digital Yume, HIFIMAN Audivina LE, Westone Mach 80,BQEYZ Winter II, Fosi Audio IM4, Aune AC55, iBasso Cookie Ti Jr.
Against all odds, the X10 has a ton of driving power, fairly low noise with sensitive IEMS, has good control even quite loud, although it won’t drive Lily Audio Genesis One or extremely hard to drive headphones. Still, it is perfect for an Ananda Nano or some harder to drive planars. It matches really well with dark or bassy sounding headphones.
Overall Signature – Surfans does not really have a house signature and it is always a surprise to hear their products, each bears a new tuning and a new sound. This time we are reviewing one that is really sharp, bright, crisp and powerful, wide but unforgiving. X10 has a strong texture revealing
Bass – We start with a fast and textured bass that gives music speed and accuracy, but is not extremely deep with most headphones and IEMS. If you pair X10 with a headphone or IEM that is already quite dark, it balances out the darkness, but if the headphones were neutral it does not give them more body. Bass is very punchy and clean, very little distortion, but it also has quite enough depth and kick if the song calls for it. I find it great for EDM and Dubstep, but because there is quite a lot of brightness and a sharp treble, I would recommend it less for rock and especially metal as it can get fatiguing there.
Midrange And Vocals – X10 has a bright and sharp vocal range that emphasizes female voices slightly over male voices, as there is more upper midrange presence than there is lower midrange, and also it sounds extremely detailed, crisp and sharp, textured and bright. It is perfect for certain J-Pop, J-Rock but can be abrasive and fatiguing for certain styles like metal especially. It surely makes up with resolution for what it lacks in refinement.
Treble – Top end is clearly the focus on the tuning of the X10, with a sharp, bright treble that is open and adds a lot of air along with shimmer to the sound. It is impressive and with commercial music, it gives sound a bit of sparkle and shine, but it can be overpowering for technical death metal and death metal in general.
Dynamics And Textures – Dynamic range is on the more compressed end of things as X10 brings loud and quiet closer together, realising a special kind of resolution that can feel harsh for certain music. The texture also is very strong, evident, and it feels like if you are pairing it with entry-level IEMS and earphones, you will love the final sound, but it will sound better with entry-level IEMS that struggle with definition than with flagships.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – As I state from the start, X10 does not struggle with maximum volume and can achieve impressive max volumes, yet it does have a tiny teeny bit of noise with very sensitive IEMS like Campfire Ara. Generally, I feel like it was made for headphones, especially hard to drive headphones rather than sensitive IEMS.
Soundstage – X10 sounds wide, and well separated for each instrument individually, but directionality is not overly strong and it does not separate well between background and foreground, rather mixing the two together and giving music the feeling that all music is coming in the same layer, a wall of sound. It is great for certain styles, thrash metal and post hardcore / emo, but well for pop and J-Pop, but does not pair well with symphonic and classical.
Value – Conclusion
Surfans X10 costs very little relative to the market and nowadays a good dongle DAC AMP can run you over 200 USD, but X10 is just 79 USD. This being said, it delivers an impressive performance with a wide and sharp clarity, so it has a high price performance ratio and a good value.
At the end of the day, X10 has a uniquely sharp, bright and textured sound, but it is great for a multitude of scenarios from playing games to enjoying music, especially with warmer or bassier sounding headphones and IEMs, and i can easily recommend it if you want to balance some dark sounding transducers, or if you want a really bright, crisp and sharp sound with a strong texture.
PROs
- Very high maximum driving power
- Quiet background with IEMs, at least with most IEMS
- Strong texture and details, very good revealing abilities
- Small and ergonomic to carry around
- Zero USB DAC delay, so it works well for games and watching videos / movies
- Price and value are both very good
- Wide soundstage
Cons
- Very sharp and bright tuning will not be for everyone
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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