Douk Audio U10 Mini Tube Headphone Amplifier HIFI Stereo Preamp for Home Speaker

So it may be silly to be in love with a small tube buffer headphone amp but goodness this device is so fun and sounds so good. I just recently bought a good pair of headphones, Kiwi by Linsoul, and I tried a different headphone amp did not like it so I took a chance on this rather inexpensive device. I had a couple of improvements in the tube department so I added those listen to it for a few days and then added two new op-amps. Lme49720. They have a lot of clarity and they work beautifully with the tubes. Currently listening to Fleesh, a great Brazilian band and their tribute album to Marillion. Beautiful. Thank you Douk.

having worked as a professional sound design and music composer in video games for 20+ years, i was a bit skeptical that for the low price (about $45) this device wouldn't do much or sound decent at all. but honestly, afaikt so far just about everything i've sent through this sounds better! warmer, more rounded (especially the digital synths), slightly fuzzy around the edges (in a pleasent way). obviously if you send a crappy quality mp3 or internet streaming(usually low fi 128kbps) this won't improve garbage compressed audio much. but if you have .wav or .flac, this will surely add something special when listening to those lossless quality files. tbh, i feel i could run my stems or mixes through this during a mixing session and get a really nice tube drive sound. for certain personally projects i feel i could even run the masters through this to add a nice 'little something extra' analog, since i tend to work mainly 'in the box'. ive even been able to power this via the usb c(with a 4x usb a hub) from my laptop and then fed audio from the same laptop through this. there was only a subtle ringing tone when i turned the volume all the way up. but i just crank the output volume on the laptop and kept the volume knob on this tube amp down, and the ring is not noticeable at all. ymmv there, as i read some others got terrible noise when they tried this kind of setup. i love that it's usb powered and you could easily take it on the road. the tubes sticking out do seem quite fragile obviously, and get a bit hot (probably normal behavior) so im aiming to be extra careful if i need to pack it or move it after heavy use, by letting it cool down completely first. overall id say this thing is a great deal and pairs will with my koss pro4aa's. sounds quite warm and lovely and has a nice look and feel (the volume knob is smoooth). really glad i bought it!

I had to return the first one as the front plugs did not work. One of them worked every 10th time it was plugged in, suggesting faulty wiring. I received a replacement and it has worked fine so far. I use it plugged into a phono preamp to listen to CDs as my tube amp doesn't have a headphone plug. The sound quality is excellent.

This headphone amp is cheap, small and looks good. But most importantly, it works great with power hungry headphones! You just need a 5v 2 amp cube or usb power source, which is not included. Once turned on, wait a few minutes until the tubes get warmed up. Tubes are exchangeable with other compatible tubes of your choice if you want to experiment with variations of it’s warm sound. Packaging is very simple, just a brown cardboard box with no bells and whistles. Don’t be fooled by it!

Update: Second time turning it on, and it refuses to send an audio signal out, even after letting it warm up for 15 minutes. This was plugged into a USB port on a desktop surge protector. The U10 definitely produces a bit heat and as well as a bit of a smell. Sometimes that's normal for new electrics, however considering it appears to have died on me, that likely was the warning sign something went wrong with this device. Possible fire risk. Be warned. - - - I honestly did not know what to expect with this amp. First time using anything with tubes in it. I have an HE400se and an HD700 which could have benefitted from more juice. The HD700 in particular were supposed to lose a bit of their harshness with a tube amp. Unfortunately, with the Douk Audio u10, it is the opposite. The audio became a bit harsher and with less resolution. It actually sounds worse than just plugging it into my computer or the GSX1000 in stereo mode. Some are saying the quality of the audio is clean, but its definitely getting a bit dirty in the process and not in a good way. The headphones I tested it with were the HD700, HD598, HE400se, V-Moda Crossfade, KPH30i and EPOS H6pro. So while I find the audio quality WORSE after using this amp, it can clearly cover the more demanding headphones out there. Can't say I recommend this, but keep in mind that is due to my limited experience with this kind of Amp. As I am mostly on the computer, I use the GSX1000 as both the DAC and Amp. Including the Douk to the chain did not help much.

Pros: Excellent sound quality, lots of volume/power, makes all music sound a little warmer and sweeter, brings out details, less listening fatigue, good stereo separation. Packaged well, arrived in great condition. Build quality is great. Cons: No included power supply, only a USB to DC cable (I do not recommend to use a PC USB port (dirty /noisy power and often not enough amps), you WILL need to purchase a separate power supply or need to make sure the USB power source you are using can actually output the required amps and volts cleanly otherwise you will get issues with distortion or it just won't turn on, my power back could not supply the appropriate voltage/amps over USB A but could over USB C. Other comments: the little light up plastic insert is silly, and completely unnecessary, I would rather there be no led light at all, I may open it up and remove those LEDs. Also I sort wish it had a little cage or bars to protect the tubes from accidental damage or impacts, but that isn't a por or con just a opinion.

Great amp! Upgraded the tubes. Sounds great.

Decent for the price. Does what it's supposed to do. Plenty of power for full-sized headphones. Usb power source is kinda short. A lengthy wall plug would of been better.

I'm a music lover who never took the headphone road, but as a retirement gift, I got a nice pairs of B&W headphone. I used them with my cell phone for a few months and decided to get a headphone amplifier. The U10 had good review, the price was right and the opamp and tubes swapping was a big plus. The tubes were replaced with nice GE 5654 and the opamp replaced by some discret AKLIAM AK05 (need some extension). The result was so good that I bought some wired headphones, the Hifiman Edition XS. I now enjoy very much what I hear. I don't feel the need to upgrade the headphone amplifier. Note: with the tubes and opamp I use, the U10 is almost dead silent, no background noise. If you get a bad copy, just ask for a replacement, it worth it.

Embalagem excelente, entrega no prazo. Ótimo equipamento, sonoridade muito boa. As vozes, os instrumentos musicais, apresentam-se com nova roupagem!

El producto no es malo sino que está acorde a su precio, es más yo creo que está sobrevalorado. Yo lo devolví porque el sonido que brindaba no me convencía. Muy plano y con falta de agudos por lo que la experiencia auditiva no era la mejor.

Almost perfect a real giant killer of a head phone amplifier. But it's also really easy to mod and that's the real gem because it's so cheap to do so. First the russian old stock tubes. But driving my HD800S this little amp falls apart when the music gets busy. Test track hans Zimmer pirates of the Caribbean. Why because it needs more power lots more. As 5v 2A only gives 10W. But I now have 5V and upto 40W available. Now it has plenty of head room hughe soundstage. Next op amp upgrade. I love this it sounds better than something 10 times the cost highly recommend.

Make sure you have some idea of why you are using this, and make sure you have a proper low noise power source 5V and >2A