# Practical Devices XM6 (Overview and First Impressions) - Head-Fi TV, Episode 002



## jude

​   
  The second episode of Head-Fi TV was just uploaded.  This episode is a feature overview and early first impressions of the Practical Devices XM6.
   
  Unbelievably, I neglected to mention the XM6's price in the video.  The XM6 is priced at $395.00.  The Wolfson WM8741 DAC upgrade option is $42.00.  The AD8397 DoubleCat opamp/buffer option is $22.00.
   
  Products mentioned in the video:
   

 *Practical Devices XM6* portable headphone amplifier and USB DAC
 *Sennheiser HD 598* headphones
 *Sennheiser HD 800* headphones
 Grado HF-2 headphones (no longer available, but were sold exclusively by *TTVJ*)
   
  The video ran a few minutes longer than the 10-minute maximum we're going to try to stick to (per episode)--I'll work on being more concise.  The focus is a bit off on the closeups--sorry about that (we'll work on that, too).
   
  Again, we hope (and fully intend) to get better at this over time.
   
  Thanks to *joe* for working with me on these videos--couldn't do it without him.
   
   
   

_Head-Fi TV Episode 002 _produced by Joseph Cwik and Jude Mansilla

   
   

  Also, we may occasionally include a Q&A segment in future episodes of Head-Fi TV.  If you want to submit any questions (or comments), you can do so via email to tv@head-fi.org


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## bcasey25raptor

would you say its worth it for the $400 price tag. i have the shure srh840 should i just stick to a fiio e7 or udac? thanks. i want a usb dac as my sound card is bad on my laptop.


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## maverickronin

Quote: 





bcasey25raptor said:


> would you say its worth it for the $400 price tag. i have the shure srh840 should i just stick to a fiio e7 or udac? thanks. i want a usb dac as my sound card is bad on my laptop.


 
  You could check out the XM5.  Its got most of the same features for quite a bit less.  I'm going to buy one or the other pretty soon myself.


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## Novalis

Great vid!
   
  I'm already making excuses for myself on why I need one.


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## Fin1211

hey jude(get it-hey jude hahahh). Was wondering how it compares to the mini^3, since this is available with the same opamp as the mini3. Thanks!


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## TakashiMiike

lol Gray-doe made me chuckle


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## The Larch

Great vid and all that, I am glad that we did not have to see an un-boxing, I always find those rather dull. I would just like more info on the products.
  I was just mad because I could not put a darn comma in my post.      o


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## winma

Head-fi tv's episodes are getting better!! after watching this vid..i feel like buying the XM6.


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## Frankie K

Nice review, I thought about buying this amp about a month ago, nice feature's, upgradeable and is well worth it. I remember they where doing a special at that time with thier interconnect thrown in. Check it out on thier site You never know. And Jude I liked the Godzilla theme, It's Zilla taking on Head-Fi, Oh No there's no place to go, here come's Godzilla!   
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




   Keep up the Great Work.


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## HK_sends

Great video, Jude. So far it seems your impressions track with mine. I wish I could have gotten the DAC chip upgrade, but I don't think James had decided to offer upgrades at the point he offered the XM6 to me (several months before he put it on his site).

Still, I think it's a pretty good little piece of kit. It's now my only portable.

Cheers!
-HK sends

P.S. - Can you make the Head-Fi TV episodes a new category on the forum? I didn't even know about them until a poster on my thread pointed it out.


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## LFF

Great job Jude!


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## deadhead12

Quote: 





hk_sends said:


> P.S. - Can you make the Head-Fi TV episodes a new category on the forum? I didn't even know about them until a poster on my thread pointed it out.


 

 I second this.  Especially if this is going to become a regular thing, which I hope it does.


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## shipsupt

Why is Jude always featured in the still screen shot?


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## balderon

Great job Jude. Will we see you endorsing and wearing Head-Fi apparel soon?


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## GreatDane

YouTube needs an "extras" button...I wanted to see the dubbed version in outtakes. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



   
  After 10 episodes could there be a bloopers bonus? 
   
  Thanks Jude, nice job.


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## AngelWho

Sounds like a great bit of kit.  I am especially fond of the built in media controller.  Seems like a sweet spot of a portable amp. - ALR-


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## 129207

Hey Jude! Looking good!  
   
  I like how you just keep on rambling on without an edit or a cut inbetween. That's some serious stream-of-conscious talking skill there. Not that many "uhh"'s in there either. Good job! Can't wait to see you evolve into a venerable talkshow host. 
   
  The XM6 looks like a good alround solution for someone needing a portable amp/dac but it's questionable if you can't find better solution in that price segment. $470 (with upgrades) gets you quite some interesting amp/dac combos. They don't give you the flashlight though. That alone is worth an extra $100 right? RIGHT!?
   
  Which microphone are you guys using? Could it be a Zoom product? Also (sorry for nitpicking, I work as a video artdirector) you could dramatically increase the look of the video with some slight colour-grading and a better composition. Now the video looks too tungsten to me and the composition cluttered. Again, this is just me nitpicking. Disregard anything I say.  Anyhoo...
   
  Great video!


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## RAFA

Thank you jude, I love Head-Fi TV 
   
  If I would have the choice, the D12 would be my portable DAC/Amp choice.


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## shaunybaby

I have been searching on youtube for somthing like this, but to no success and then pops up your first episode!

 great stuff can,t wait to see you reveiwing some desktop amps...... maybe the ''csp2+''?


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## Griffinhart

Love my XM6. Though, if you don't particularly desire a Wolfson DAC, I think an XM5 is better for the budget.
   
  XM6 is also pretty awesome as an external soundcard for PCs, though it runs kinda warm for me (though I haven't had any actual issues with it yet).
   
  Sometimes my foobar playback skips a bit though, dunno if that's the fault of the XM6's DAC, of the harddrive I'm reading the music off of, or of my foobar settings.

 -- Griffinhart


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## Frankie K

I thought the 6 was an upgrade from the 5?


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## mangler

Nice video! Can't wait to see more of these!!


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## WhiteCrow

Quote: 





takashimiike said:


> lol Gray-doe made me chuckle


 

  
  that's how it's pronounced.


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## GreatDane

Quote: 





frankie k said:


> I thought the 6 was an upgrade from the 5?


 


  You are correct,it is.


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## bloki

Entertaining and informative. Thanks.


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## aLm0sT

Very nice. Looking forward to your CLAS review.


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## Armaegis

I was trying to add the XM6 tag to this thread but apparently it's not in there. Also, all the Practical Devices products are mispelled "pratical".


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## Frankie K

Quote: 





armaegis said:


> I was trying to add the XM6 tag to this thread but apparently it's not in there. Also, all the Practical Devices products are mispelled "pratical".


 

 Yeah I have the same situation with DecWare ZH1, I think We hav eto go and do it Ourselve's!


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## Frankie K

Quote: 





greatdane said:


> You are correct,it is.


 

 I remember reading up on this model and thought about getting it before settling on DecWare ZH1, Happy to report I'm very satisfied!


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## chinesekiwi

XM6 is insanely feature pack, maybe even too feature packed that it might confuse the user. Definitely like some of the features though, must say. Yeah early days yet on this vlog, needs editing Jude!


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## jude

Quote: 





chinesekiwi said:


> XM6 is insanely feature pack, maybe even too feature packed that it might confuse the user. Definitely like some of the features though, must say. Yeah early days yet on this vlog, needs editing Jude!


 

 Yes, I know.  Most of all, conciseness needs improvement--I knew this one ran too long, but we went with it, rather than re-shoot it.  I'll get better at that.
   
  And we also need to improve on proper camera focus, especially for closeups.  The camera we've been using has a very small viewfinder, and we're running its iris at f/2.6, so we have pretty thin DOF on closeups.  We're changing cameras soon, so that should help with that.
   
  But, yes, that XM6 has a lot of features--_a lot._  Once you get used to them, though, they're very easy to use.  And, when I switch to another portable amp, I find myself still reaching behind it for the media controller.


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## KuKuBuKu

oh man...xm6 looks soooo ugly... but the features seem really nice.


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## Frankie K

Quote: 





kukubuku said:


> oh man...xm6 looks soooo ugly... but the features seem really nice.


 

 Beauty is in the eye's of the beholder, it's what's inside that count's!


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## KuKuBuKu

Quote: 





frankie k said:


> Beauty is in the eye's of the beholder, it's what's inside that count's!


 
  can't disagree with that.


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## Landis

It's awesome to be able to get a visual in-depth review-- amps and DAC sizes can be very misleading in photographs, not to mention a lot of reviews won't go over every single feature and what the actual function is.

 After a few more episodes I say you pitch the podcast to a webTV site like Revision3.


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## ansmi

Quote: 





kukubuku said:


> oh man...xm6 looks soooo ugly... but the features seem really nice.


 


  get the color besides black might help tho


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## Griffinhart

A thing to mention - the XM6 runs warm if you're using USB input. Not _hot_ - I can still hold it and such like without discomfort - but I don't remember the XM5 ever getting warm running from USB.
   
  -- Griffinhart


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## Armaegis

Maybe the Wolfson dac runs hotter?


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## maverickronin

Its more like the Wolfson DAC is extra.  The XM6 actually has the same TI DAC chip as the XM5 but the XM6 doesn't use the TI's DAC function.  The TI is an all-in-one USB transceiver, DAC, and amp on a chip.  The XM5 bypasses the amp functionality and uses its own much better amp circuit.  The XM6 bypasses the TI DAC as well.  It takes the the digital I2S stream from that TI USB chip and sends it to the SRC192 upsampler and then on to the WM847X for conversion into audio.  That's the conclusion I came to after studying the circuit board and the datasheets from TI and Wolfson anyway.
   
  Long story, short.  The XM6 has way more crap packed into it so it makes sense that it would run warmer.


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## Armaegis

I'm curious then, wouldn't it make more sense to use just a dedicated usb transceiver chip rather than the all-in-one chip?


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## maverickronin

It might. I'd assume he went with it for reasons based on tooling and what there were already stocks of. It must have worked out cheaper to use that TI chip for some reason or else why would he have picked one with extra features that aren't needed in this application? Since that SRC192 is in the middle of the transceiver and the DAC, and (I think) reclocking everything, it shouldn't have any effect on SQ.

But then I'm not actually an expert, even if I do play one on the internet, so I could be wrong.


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## Mach3

Hi Jude,
   
  Any chance of doing a shootout between device alike, iBasso D4 & D12, RSA predator, headamp pico slim etc.SUBMIT Thank for the lovely video review btw!


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## zorin

Jude, thanks for your reviewing  work . Any chance of you posting a comparison, soundwise, of XM6 to the heavyweights of the portable amp world like Alo Audio National or Continental ? Or possibly Lisa L3 or SR-71A ?


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## travisg

I owned a XM6 and i thought it sounded horrible. Might have been a faulty unit, but maybe not.


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## Makiah S

Quote: 





zorin said:


> Jude, thanks for your reviewing  work . Any chance of you posting a comparison, soundwise, of XM6 to the heavyweights of the portable amp world like Alo Audio National or Continental ? Or possibly Lisa L3 or SR-71A ?


 
   
  Quote: 





travisg said:


> I owned a XM6 and i thought it sounded horrible. Might have been a faulty unit, but maybe not.


 
  Yea who knows... sound is subjective but here I am again looking up a prodcut because the add was catchy [well that womens face was pretty so...]
   
  Non the less... don't think I'll ever own one so long as the O2 Dac exists. Although the combo feature is neat... off to other threads to read more about it


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## zorin

*


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## zorin

[size=17.77777862548828px]WhiteCrow[/size] 
Quote : "that's how it's pronounced." [Gray-do]
   
It is pronounced ' grado' as in 'gradual'. We do not say 'graydual/greydual'. It would be 'graydo' [pronounced] if letter 'y' followed letter 'a' [written as "Graydo"] but it is not the case.


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## Pruikki

Why 480p ?
  ist it 2005?
  or old video?
   
  1080p from now on, or 720p possible?


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## joe

Hi Pruikki!  
   
  The early episodes were shot on a Canon XL-1, so that's the reason for the lower quality.  Newer episodes, however, are in 720p.


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## Poltergeist8108

I have the XM5 variant and am not that happy with it. Mostly problems with the volume pot. Had it replaced once and it has become noisy once again.
  Sound quality is ok, nothing stellar. I like my Headstage Arrow quite a bit more.


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## Rmoser

Got a UHA-6S MkII for out and about and a RSA SR71. Let the XM5 go. Not bad, but....
   
   
  Rob


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