xDuoo xDuoo MT604 Balanced Headphone Tube Amplifier
The xDuoo MT604 brings tube warmth, muscular bass and an expansive soundstage to balanced headphone rigs without the usual cost. Soundnews highlights its authoritative drive and spacious presentation, while Prime Audio Reviews praises its rich, smooth voicing and potent hybrid output. It is a characterful match for full-size dynamics and planars.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
87/100
Build Quality
88/100
Features Usability
87/100
Value for Money
95/100
Pros
Delivers a warm, smooth and richly musical presentation with fuller mids, weighty bass and fatigue-free treble.
Produces an unusually open, airy and layered stage with convincing imaging for its price.
Its approximately 2W balanced hybrid output drives demanding full-size headphones and planars with strong bass authority.
Exceptional value for a compact, fully balanced tube-hybrid amplifier.
Cons
High residual noise and excessive gain make it a poor partner for sensitive IEMs and highly efficient headphones.
The relaxed, rolled-off upper treble sacrifices some microdetail, transparency and outright speed.
Balanced-only inputs and outputs exclude single-ended headphones, while separate left/right volume controls require manual channel matching.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 87/100
Reviewers hear an engaging hybrid presentation built around richer mids, substantial bass impact and unusually expansive imaging for the price. It combines strong slam and musical warmth with generally good clarity, though the softly rolled treble and audible noise with very sensitive headphones limit its all-round neutrality and refinement.
Transparency Resolution
89/100
Prime Audio Reviews found the stock-tube sound transparent, retaining detail despite its added richness, while Cheap Audio Man described a striking sense of realism and newly apparent instrumental nuances. Soundnews was less convinced by the top end, reporting that some treble information is glossed over rather than fully resolved.
Tonal Balance Musicality
94/100
The MT604's main appeal is its sweet, smooth and emotionally involving tube-inflected voicing. Soundnews praised its fuller bass and midrange, sweeter guitars and gentler voices, while both other reviewers similarly heard added warmth, body and musical character without troublesome sharpness.
Dynamics
92/100
Soundnews calls the amplifier hard-slamming, toe-tapping and able to keep up when dynamics become demanding. Prime Audio Reviews also credits the solid-state output stage with speed and power, reporting confident drive with a wide range of headphones.
Noise Floor
76/100
Soundnews reports persistent noise through very sensitive desktop headphones, including at low volume, so this is not the quietest choice for highly efficient loads. The supplied reviews do not report hum or noise problems with less sensitive full-size headphones.
Headphone Compatibility
83/100
Prime Audio Reviews found its approximately 2-watt output sufficient to drive nearly any headphone comfortably, with especially strong planar bass performance. However, it is balanced-input and balanced-output only, and the reported noise with highly sensitive headphones makes it less universal than its power rating suggests.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
88/100
Prime Audio Reviews describes the sandblasted aluminum chassis as solid, nicely built and free of tube ringing when moved. Soundnews also notes the ventilated aluminum-sheet enclosure, designed to let heat escape; the reviews offer little detail on long-term durability.
Features Usability
87/100
The MT604 provides XLR and 4.4mm balanced inputs, plus both 4-pin XLR and 4.4mm balanced headphone outputs, with a 4.4mm line output also noted by Cheap Audio Man. This is useful balanced connectivity in a compact unit, but there is no single-ended headphone connection, digital section, gain control or remote, and owners without balanced headphones cannot use it.
Value for Money
95/100
At $169, all three reviewers regard the MT604 as unusually compelling. Soundnews says it punches well above its weight, Prime Audio Reviews calls the balanced tube configuration exceptionally affordable, and Cheap Audio Man considers it completely worth its asking price.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
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Specifications
- Input Interface
- XLR and 4.4mm balanced inputs
- Headphone Output
- Balanced headphone output
- Output Power
- 2000mW
- Dimensions
- 17.0 x 10 x 6cm
- Weight
- 0.55Kg
Manufacturer's Description — xDuoo
Fully Balanced Hybrid Tube Headphone Amplifier.
MT-604 brings 6J1 x 4 tube stage, 2000mW headphone output power, XLR + 4.4mm balanced connectivity and Class A amplifier architecture into one fully balanced hybrid tube headphone amplifier. It is built for listeners who want a focused xDuoo experience with practical everyday control.
Engineered for Performance
Tube Stage
Four 6J1 tubes support the balanced hybrid architecture.
Headphone Listening Power
Confirmed power supports demanding balanced headphones.
Balanced Connectivity
Balanced inputs and outputs keep the signal path consistent.
Amplifier Design
A transistor Class A stage supplies the output drive.
Balanced Drive. Four-Tube Character.
MT-604 brings 6J1 x 4 tube stage, 2000mW headphone output power, XLR + 4.4mm balanced connectivity and Class A amplifier architecture into one fully balanced hybrid tube headphone amplifier. It is built for listeners who want a focused xDuoo experience with practical everyday control.
What Powers It
Designed for practical everyday listening.
2000mW output supports the product's confirmed headphone drive.
Designed for practical everyday listening.
Designed for practical everyday listening.
Designed for practical everyday listening.
Designed for practical everyday listening.
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
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Authorized dealers for xDuoo xDuoo MT604 Balanced Headphone Tube Amplifier
- A1 Futureshop — online and in-store — North Rocks, New South Wales, Australia (website)
- Apos Audio — online and in-store — Oakland, California, United States (website)
- ARK Audio — online and in-store — Borensberg, Östergötlands län, Sweden (website)
- Audeos — online and in-store — Żywiec, Województwo śląskie (website)
- Audio essence — online and in-store — Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (website)
- Audio Magic - EU — online and in-store — Wola, Województwo mazowieckie, Poland (website)
- AUDIOPHONICS — in-store — Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (website)
- Bloom Audio — online and in-store — Gibbsboro, New Jersey, United States (website)
- Elise Audio — online and in-store — Paddington, England, United Kingdom (website)
- Headphone Zone — online and in-store — Laxmi Industrial Estate, Maharashtra, India (website)
and 8 more verified dealers