Cost-effective improvement for low cost CD players or older audiophile equipment.

Generates considerable digital/electrical noise which seriously interferes with FM reception and since there is no off-switch, this can be a problem. This digital noise also seems to produce some high-frequency harshness in associated equipment. Cable filters around the power plug at the back of the unit reduced this somewhat.

At $99.00 (plus cost of an interconnect) this was an effective upgrade for lower cost and older CD players to give them a longer lease of life. It was even better with some filtering of the power cord.

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Just regular CD players. It did not improve the sound on my CEC 5100Z.

For the price of US$99,It work pretty well with my Marantz CD-48. It definitely works better than a CD player without a external DAC. It look good too!

After compare with a 20 bit DAC, it does make a difference and not as clear as the higher bit DAC.

Overall, It's definitely worth it for a 99 dollars product and it does provide a clear and good sound.

(working toward Audiophile) Well, guys i.e. everyone else I've heard from, I have to disagree. I got an X-ACT for $99 from AA and hooked up to my H/K 7600. One word- bright. While most things improved slightly, especially bass and extended decay of instruments, it sounded like the band was 20ft away and the cymbols were in my face. If it weren't for the brightness, it would be worth $99, but all things concidered, I prefered the player alone.I now have a CAL Gamma, which has it's own shortcommings, but when you talk about musicality, the Gamma destroys the X-ACT. The Gamma may sugar-coat, but the X-ACT is offensive.
Maybe I got a lemon (it was B stock) or maybe my H/K is pretty good to start with. *shrug* p.s. I listen to rock/ alternative.

cheap!

a little bright, poor dynamics.

i got this free from a friend. when used in place of an cheap CD player's DAC, it does gives a fair bit more clarity, however, when coupled with a decent CD player, it doesn't offer much advantage.

the DAC is too slow, unable to cope with fast dynamical change. also a little bit too bright, making listen uncomfortable.

but for $99, may not be a bad deal.

The X-ACT is a basic $250 non-HDCD DAC. 18 bit resolution. Toslink and Digital RCA input, stereo Grade A analog output. I use it in conjuction with a Yamaha RX-V992 receiver and Yamaha 765 changer (highest end model). Cables used: typical Toslink, Kimber Hero, and PBJ. After breaking in for a week, the X-ACT dramatically improved the soundstage, dynamic, and detail in comparison to Yamaha's Probit system. Some might say that the sound is not as natural as Yamaha's but the detailed sound more than makes up for it. One problem, the DAC is designed to work better with a tube buffer such as MF X-10D, otherwise it might sound a bit too bright. If you're thinking about getting one, I suggest pairing it with a Z-Man ASE. The ASE is built much better than the X-10D and it costs about the same. Currently Audio Advisor is offering demo X-ACTs through their webpage at $99 each. That's pretty cheap for a mint condition X-ACT (at least the one I got). 4 stars for the performance with ASE. 5 stars for the value.

I purchased the X-Act as an experiment when I saw they were being offered for $99 by Audio Advisor. I currently run a CAL DX-1 into a Krell KAV-300i driving Martin Logan Aerius spreakers. I seriously doubted that the X-Act would sound close to the DX-1 and expected there to be a notable degredation in sound when using the X-Act rather than the DX-1 internal processor...I was wrong. After serveral nights burning the unit in, I did a lenghty A/B comparison using a diverse mix of music to include: Frente, Enya, Nirvana, Garbage, Pink Floyd, Sting, and Seal. The differences were subtle to say the least. To make a long story short, here's what I found. The X-Act was brighter and more forward than the DX-1. The DX-1 was able to articulate greater suibtleties than the X-Act (the high hat in Sting's "Sister Moon", ...Nothing Like the Sun, MOFI UDCD 546). Finally, the X-Act seemed to lend less air but more space to the sound stage which was probably a function of its brightness. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this great bargain to anyone who has a sub $500 CD player/changer with digital output. You will be hard pressed to find differences in A/B comparisons with better units, especially during casual listening, and the X-Act will surely bring the sound of low to mid end CD player/changers knocking on high end's door. Gets four stars for value.

I've had the X-ACT for 2 months. In that time I've been going through my entire cd collection and doing some A/B comparisons with just the straight analog output of my Sony 450z CD player and the X-Act.
My tastes run the gamut of music styles (except for country, I think that music damages brain cells, hearing ability, and electronic components:)
The music styles I listened to were Jazz (Miles Davis), Classical (Bach, Beethoven, Strauss, Chopin), Classic "rock" (Led Zep remast, Pink Floyd), Recent "rock" (soundgarden, STP, Alice in Chains, Jerry Cantrell, Scott Weiland, Metallica), and the Grateful Dead (I don't think they have any kind of classification).

The Classical music sections played cleaner through the X-Act when compared to the Sony output. I could pick out individual instruments in the orchestra.

Jass certainly had more(for lack of better words)"atmosphere" and "flavor". The delicate sound of cymbal brushes were crystal clear through the X-Act. Cymbal brushes through the sony output were almost non-existent!

For the classic and modern "rock", vocals were clearer, dynamics were more apparent, and overall quality of sound was better through the X-Act.

Grateful Dead...........just sit back, relax, and let Jerry and the guys take you on a journey through musical culture and ambience(with the X-Act). GD through the sony outputs was horrible when compared to the X-Act.

I was skeptical at first when using an outboard DAC. That all changed when I did instant A/B comparisons. At $99 for the X-Act, upgrading a lower end CD Player should be mandatory for better sound.

Speakers used: Magneplaner MMG's

Tom Stoppleworth

I purchased the X-ACT at the HI-FI'98 show for $99. An immediate A/B comparison to the output of my SANSUI XD-317 CD player proved very satisfactory for the CD Player. The tonal balance and dynamics were identical. Later comparisons proved the X-ACT to possess a satisfying deeper bottom end and the X-ACT to be more authoritative all across. The mids have a delightful liquidity and the high end is clear but not overwhelming. Please forgive me if I don't word this right but due to the increased digital resolution (a couple of bits over my CD-player 's internal DAC.) the X-ACT is able to render textures and harmonics with increased detail doing an extremely decent job at resolving complex musical passages . The X-ACT posses a clearer mid-bass area than my CD player's original output stage which sounds slightly forward and blurry by comparison. Staging is wonderful and the X-ACT also brought in more air into my music system. I'm using the X-ACT with the X-10D buffer. Coming back from the Hi-Fi'98 show and then listening to this combo (X-ACT/X-10D) proved to be extremely satisfying. No, it's not state of the art sound, but it definitely takes you a step inside the door of real Hi-Fi sound. The X-ACT / X-10D combo allows me to listen to my CD's with the great confidence that I have a top notch D/A section. This time the whole turns out to be much much greater than the sum of its parts. Great Value, Highly Recommend it for entry level-mid level Fi. Related equipment: SANSUI XD-317 CD PLAYER, MUSICAL FIDELITY X-ACT, MUSICAL FIDELITY X-10D, KIMBER KABLE OPTILINK INTERCONNECT, CARVER-TFM 55 AMP, TARA QUANTUM REFERENCE MKII INTERCONNECT, MONSTER CABLE m1000i INTERCONNECT, ORIGINAL MONSTER SPEAKER CABLE, DBX SOUNDFIELD V SPEAKERS.

I am currently in the process of upgrading/replacing my audio system. I recently purchased a Meridian 501 pre-amp and 555 Power amp. The next step I had not been able to decide on was whether to replace my Rotel RCD-950 CD Player or my Boston Acoustic A60 "big bookshelf" speakers (circa 1989). After seeing Audio Advisor's $100 price on the X-Act (a little deceptive - <$200 w/ cable) and reading all of the "this is pretty good" reviews I decided to take a chance.
Well, now I know, I will be replacing my speakers next. The X-Act DAC was just what I needed until I can afford that Meridian 508 CD Player (or some such product). It seems to have tamed the surly Rotel beast. The Rotel 950 has always seemed to have good detail (a world better than my Yamaha experience-high end-to low end, is there no end?), but it really gets pretty bright and brassy on the highs and (I thought this was all speakers) it also doesn't setup the soundstage very well. The sound seems to come "directly" from the speakers.

Well, what has happened since the X-ACT DAC? The highs have been tamed quite a bit (new speakers with good tweets will tell the tale), the sound stage has opened up significantly, bass "seems" more articulate and the music has a much more supple, smooth feel/sound to it. The frequency response seems to have smoothed out a bit, I don't feel like increasing the volume only increases certain parts of the music. I don't remember what the recommended break-in period is, but most of this was in the first few hours. I am curious to see where all this goes after this thing gets comfy.

Which cables are you people using on the digital side (I got the Kimber X-DAC Especiale) and on the Analog Output (Synergistic THC)? I may trade-in my THC's for the next step up and see if anything happens other than the sucking sound coming from my check book.

When are they going to sell a Musical Fidelity "anti-jitter" Jug (if they use that they should pay me or maybe some free gear...)?

now, off to the speaker page ... Sonus Faber, B&W, Vandersteen, Dynaudio, Vienna Acoustics...hhmm...small room (12x13), choices choices choices...

My rating ??? In regards to performance, a 4 so far (5's should be hard to get). But when it comes to value, I gotta say a 5. Even if I had that Meridian 508 I would buy one of these for $100 just to play with it...or plug it up at my buddy's house and sell it to him for $500 when he hears what it does for that old Yamaha Carousel thing I sold him last year...hehehe

(REM - Document - The One I Love, Michael Stipe is "humming" through the musical CODA thingy (I have no idea what it is really called), I thought that was interesting, considering I had heard that song a million times in the past, but never on a decent system + I forgot to get tickets when they were playing in the cafeteria when I was in college...)

Fun things to do...go to Circuit City and ask if they have any Macintosh CD Players..."uh yeah, sure we do, but they come with a computer and stuff...are you familiar with Sanyo?"

For years I had stuck to LP's and cassettes rather than submit to the artificial sound of CD players I had heard over the years.Even expensive models sounded pale and airy.Recently,I purchased the X-ACT from AA along with an AMC CD9 player and Kimber CoAx cable.With the protection of a 30 day money back I figured whats the risk.Well, I'm glad I did.Although I would not pronounce the sound as LP equal(I question if any CD player is),it is definately as close as I've heard,especially from a sub $400.00 set up.A-B comparisons showed that across musical tastes(R&B, Rock, Jazz, Latin)it consistantly out performed stock sound.Bass was more pronounced,midrange had presence and definition while the highs were brighter without sizzleing out at loud volume.For the budget listener who knows what true reproduction sounds like you can't go wrong.I give it a four only because I assume a pricier CD-DAC combo must sound even better,but for the money you couldn't find a better value.Worth hearing.