AudioEngine, the Texas-based independent audio company known for its sound-first engineering, just released the HXL, a powerful headphone amplifier and DAC that is compact, portable, and doesn’t require any batteries or charging.
Overview
The AudioEngine HXL is a 32-bit portable balanced headphone amplifier and DAC that delivers powerful, high-fidelity sound straight to your phone, tablet, or computer. It connects to your device directly through USB-C and pulls its power from that device. It doesn’t have any internal batteries, and no charging is needed to use it.
This hybrid amplifier and DAC is out now, retailing for $169 on Amazon and Crutchfield. As with all other AudioEngine products, you get a 3-year warranty with the HXL, a 60-day test period, and US-based technical support.
Design and connectivity
The keyword here is small and compact. The AudioEngine HXL can fit easily in your pocket, and it can be mistaken for a USB dongle; that’s how small it is. It was designed to work out of the box with no setup required, just plug in your device and enjoy the sound.
It has a CNC-machined Aluminum chassis with a 60-step digital hardware volume control, and one single-ended 3.5mm output and one 4.4mm balanced output.
The headphone outputs have enough power to be used with most headphones, with the 3.5mm output delivering 2.06 volts RMS and the 4.4mm output delivering 4.09 volts RMS. It also has a very low nominal impedance, which doesn’t go higher than 0.5 ohms.
The amplifier and DAC sections
Inside the chassis, there are dual CS43131 DAC chips, which can handle audio formats up to 32-bit/384 kHz for PCM files and DSD256 natively. Powering the outputs is an LME49726-based headphone amplifier. This chip is known for delivering 32-bit precision with very little distortion.
Why no battery?
AudioEngine made a deliberate choice to skip the internal battery, and it’s actually one of the HXL’s smartest features. By drawing power directly from your device via USB-C, the HXL eliminates the extra work of managing another device’s charging cycle. There’s no battery monitoring, no degradation over time, and no extra weight or space.
Phones, tablets, and laptops can easily provide the 120mA the HXL needs during playback, and since you’re already connecting via USB-C for audio anyway, it’s a one-cable solution. The result is a lighter, more reliable device that’s always ready to go when you are, just plug in and play. For a portable DAC/amp that you’re using while connected to your device anyway, a battery would just add bulk without providing any benefits.
Further information: AudioEngine
Key features
- SA9312 + Dual CS43131 DAC chipset for true balanced audio
- Supports PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz and native DSD256
- 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm single-ended outputs
- Drives headphones from 10Ω to 600Ω impedance
- LME49726-based amplifier with 0.0002% THD+N
- 132dB SNR on balanced output, 125dB on 3.5mm
- USB-C powered (no batteries required)
- 60-step digital volume control
- Plug-and-play
- Anodized aluminum construction
- 3-year warranty and 60-day audition period
Technical specifications
- DAC: SA9312 + Dual CS43131
- PCM Support: Up to 32-bit/384kHz
- DSD Support: Native DSD256
- Outputs: 4.4mm balanced, 3.5mm standard
- SNR: 132dB (balanced)
- THD+N: 0.0002%
- Volume Control: 60-step digital
- Power: USB-C bus-powered (120mA active)
- Dimensions: 48 × 15 × 10mm
- Price: $169
- Warranty: 3 years