Luxsin X9: The Desktop DAC-Amp That’s Shamelessly Overqualified

High-end audio is littered with boxes promising the moon, usually delivered with marketing copy thicker than your grandmother’s meatloaf. But every once in a while, something arrives that’s actually worth its swagger. Enter Luxsin’s X9, the precocious freshman DAC-amp that seems a bit smug about having cracked the code. And honestly? It has every reason to be.

Luxsin, the ambitious sister brand of Zidoo’s widely praised Eversolo line, clearly learned from its sibling’s successes—and missteps. Notably, the company is hyper-responsive to feedback, delivering regular firmware updates that integrate user suggestions almost in real-time. This kind of nimbleness in a traditionally sluggish industry deserves at least a grudging nod of approval.

The X9 ($1,099) doesn’t just bring specs, it practically flaunts them. Anchored by AKM’s flagship AK4499EX DAC and AK4191 modulator, Luxsin pairs a state-of-the-art digital heart with a gloriously nerdy R-2R relay volume ladder, previously only whispered about in dark corners of audiophile forums. Channel matching within a nearly ridiculous ±0.05 dB margin, distortion lower than the chance of getting decent Wi-Fi in a hotel room (-120 dB THD+N), and a jitter rating so low you’d need NASA-grade gear to measure it properly. This isn’t your typical high-end “trust us, it sounds great” affair—it’s backed by cold, hard data.

But numbers alone don’t earn bragging rights in 2025. Thankfully, Luxsin understood this and stuffed the X9 with exactly the kind of flashy, clever features that make gear-heads quietly giggle. Like real-time headphone impedance detection, plug in those notoriously finicky Sennheiser HD-800s and watch it automatically calibrate the gain to save you from eardrum annihilation. Or the absurdly comprehensive headphone EQ library (2,500 profiles!) pre-loaded and ready to make even your cheapest cans sound suspiciously high-end. Add crossfeed presets and a soundstage slider capable of virtually repositioning musicians on stage, and you’re left wondering why nobody else thought of this first.

The X9 also gleefully crosses traditional boundaries, offering bass management with twin subwoofer outputs, adjustable crossover slopes up to a frankly unnecessary 48 dB/octave, and HDMI-ARC integration for those who refuse to let their Netflix binge sessions suffer mediocre sound. The 4-inch touchscreen, responsive enough to shame several smartphones, is the cherry atop an already lavish sundae.

Yet perfection remains elusive. Wi-Fi is permanently on, and Ethernet is curiously absent, an oversight that feels like arrogance or optimism. Firmware updates arrive regularly, sometimes weekly, reflecting youthful ambition rather than mature stability—but let’s face it, in an age when products evolve rapidly post-launch, this proactive cycle of listening to feedback and releasing improvements via firmware is quickly becoming the new normal.

Despite these quirks, the Luxsin X9 emerges as genuinely thrilling in a segment too often marked by incremental boredom. Tonally it’s clean yet slightly sweet, pleasing both purists and romantics. Paired with serious headphones or feeding a high-end amplifier, it’s startlingly transparent yet never sterile. It may be the first desktop DAC-amp to justify ditching multiple specialized boxes entirely, something even dedicated gear obsessives might grudgingly admire.

Bottom line? Luxsin’s X9 struts around with well-earned confidence, raising an amused eyebrow at the competition as if to say, “Oh, were you trying to do something interesting?” It’s not flawless, but frankly, this might be as close as desktop hi-fi gets to genuinely interesting again.

Ready to upgrade your setup? American buyers can find the Luxsin X9 exclusively at Eversolo’s official U.S. distributor.

Technical Specifications:

• DAC: AKM AK4499EX with AK4191 modulator
• Op-Amp: OPA1612
• Volume Control: Fully balanced R-2R relay ladder, 0.1 dB steps, ±0.05 dB channel match
• Headphone Amp: TI TPA6120A2, 920 mW at 300 Ω (balanced)
• DSP: AK7739, XMOS XU-316
• Headphone Profiles: 2,500+ preloaded EQ profiles, Harman target compensation
• Impedance Auto-Detection: Real-time impedance check and gain adjustment
• Sound Customization: Crossfeed, adjustable soundstage width and depth
• Subwoofer Outputs: Dual RCA with 40–300 Hz crossover, up to 48 dB/oct slope
• Display: 4-inch 1080p IPS touchscreen with blackout and auto-standby
• Visual Feedback: Customizable real-time VU meter
• Architecture: Fully differential balanced path from input to output
• Control System: RTOS with OTA firmware updates and remote support
• Chassis: CNC-machined aluminum, 15° incline, diamond-cut edges
• Connectivity: USB-B, USB-C, HDMI ARC, Toslink, coaxial, RCA analog input
• Outputs: Balanced XLR, RCA pre-outs, dual subwoofer outs, 6.35 mm SE, 4.4 mm and XLR-4 balanced HP outs
• Formats Supported: PCM up to 768 kHz/32-bit, DSD512, DoP64
• Bluetooth: BT 5.0 (SBC, AAC)
• THD+N: -120 dB
• Dynamic Range: 133 dB
• Network: Wi-Fi 6 (always on), no Ethernet port