Douk Audio Bluetooth Tube Preamp: HiFi Stereo Preamplifier Receiver | Headphone Amp | USB DAC | Tone Control for Home Theater, Desktop Listening (P1)

This is an amazing affordable little pre-amp with great sound and tonal features, i.e. the volume, bass and treble control are spot on. I strictly use it as a pre-amp, not as a headphone amp, although it can do that too. I find the looks stunning and love that I can switch the lighting from a tub-glow-like amber to a blue. It works decently over Bluetooth but I use it mostly with the RCA inputs. MAC>>DAC>>RCA>>Douk P1>>RCA>>Power Amp>>Speakers. The small size and low price should not diminish the fact that this little pre-amp can hold it's own against many much pricier options. I've tried many other pre-amps and DACs with built-in pre-amps to connect to my variety of power amps (both tube and solid state), and this Douk P1 never disappoints me. Every time my main pre-amp (Schiit Freya+) breaks (5+ times in a year so far) and I have to send the Freya back to Schitt for repairs, I take out the little Douk P1 to replace it and every time I am amazed. Obviously it only has one RCA input and one RCA output, but it always works. I did add a iFi linear ("silent") power supply (wall wart style) to further enhance the sound but the standard power supply seems to work fine too. You can also buy new tubes for it quite easily if you like tube rolling, but in my opinion the standard tubes sound great and last a very long time as they're not getting very warm. Amazing little until, probably value for dollar (and practicality) the best purchase I made on my audiophile journey so far!

This tube stage pre is under $100, looks nice and sounds quite good. hard to fault it as long as it is reliable. zero noise even when gains are all maxed out. bluetooth quality is about as good as it's going to get for bluetooth. range is good. depth of sound is decent, separation is decent, bass / treble controls work well, feel of knobs is not cheap. warmer sound, pleasing. good test is Stevie Ray Vaughan Riviera Paradise, Tin Pan Alley and Little Wing, Tidal Master quality over bluetooth. Really far far better than i expected. Some grain noticed in upper mids with the stock tubes- this grain faded a bit within 1st hour of playing (burn in), but still a slight bit remains- some may like it, it has a tad of nostalgia sound and reminds me of my 50's solid state magnavox console stereo that I restored. I just ordered some new better quality GE tubes and that should be the final perfect touch. Really though nothing bad to say about it- what you get for the small size and low price is pretty respectable. plus it can be used as a USB DAC from PC and looking forward to testing that out. keep in mind I am an "audiophile" by hobby- my reference system is all Theta Digital pre/pro/amps and BG Radia LA800 line array speakers. does this small tube pre compare at all? no. lol. but for $99 I am definitely pleased with it. For my test setup, running this tube pre with two Jamo small 75w monoblock amps and a pair of 90's JBL Pro III monitors with it. fantastic.

I tend to be impressed with Douk Audio products, having used a variety of different model head amps and DAC's in the past. I purchased both the earlier version of the P1 (with Chinese tubes) a year ago, and I found that by just changing out the stock tubes with GE-based varieties, the sound improved substantially. I also found fault with that earlier model, specifically, with the headphone jack. which is only a 3.5 version. The problem with this particular headphone jack is that most 3.5" cables have too short of a connector on the end, and when inserting those into the P1, full contact may not be made - thus you may only get sound out of the left channel, or when jiggling the cord and connector, static may erupt. But the sound coming from the RCA jacks - when using an external DAC (a quality one) - is glorious. Now enter the newer P1 where they supposedly made some circuitry changes and Douk now also provides you with the GE tubes to begin with. I purchased this one also and my new review is based on the new (so called) improved version. 1. Let's talk sound using the RCA outputs: a. When listening with the interior DAC: The DAC that comes with this newer P1 is the same one that came with the previous version P1. It is a 24 Bit 192 kHz version - your standard fare. It sounds like most other 24 bit models - nothing special, yet it does a very good job with sound-staging (has a more laid-back quality to the sound-staging) and is quite neutral. If you are just using this as an all around combo DAC and headphone amp, then you won't be disappointed (except for that 3.5MM headphone jack). b. When listening with an external DAC attached: For my listening, I attached the Schiit Modi 3E DAC to this P1 and the sound quality was characterized by a much forward, overall dynamic sound quality. The Schiit has 32 Bit 192 kHz decoding (max). The sound with this external DAC could best be characterized as "lively," yet with all the tube characteristics you may be looking for. 2. Connector flexibility: Now the key to remember here is that if somehow you are lacking on inputs on your amplifier (or powered speakers), which usually means only one set of RCA inputs - then you're in luck with the P1. What I mean here is that you can switch back and forth between the interior DAC and the external DAC that you may attach - yet you still only wind up using one set of RCA outs to your amplifying devices. You just switch back and forth on the front of the P1's panel by switching to USB (for the internal DAC) or RCA for the external DAC (since you are connecting the external DAC to the P1 via RCA cables). A very flexible arrangement to be sure. The P1 is a very attractive preamplifier/headamp/DAC unit with gold toned control knobs, and you can switch back and forth on the front of the panel with the lighting on the tubes (blue or yellow). Not that this is a big feature, but at night, one may choose with the glow style here. So I really love this P1 for RCA output music - but the 3.5 MM headphone jack on this P1 leaves much to be desired - connection-wise. Why Douk didn't just put a 1/4" headphone jack in there is beyond me as there is plenty of room from what I can gather. I would have easily given this P1 five stars due to sound quality and low pricing - but the headphone jack is a huge let-down for me, thus I assigned it 4 stars. The way to get around this headphone jack is to purchase an adapter off of Amazon, which is a simple 3.5" to 1/4" jack adapter. This adapter's 3.5 MM end is long enough to make full contact with all the P1's receptors. Once you plug that adapter into the headphone jack, then connect a 1/4" plug into the other end, the sound improves substantially. I strongly suggest that everyone purchasing P1 (whether the older version or the newer one) also get this adapter. Here is the link to that adapter (the 3.5 mm end of the adapter is seemingly longer - which is good): https://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Copper-Headphone-Adapter-6-35mm/dp/B07MLNR2YM/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3QHZRQU8MQO37&keywords=3.5+MM+to+1%2F4%22+headphone+cable+adapter&qid=1663598611&sprefix=3.5+mm+to+1%2F4+headphone+cable+adapter%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-5 Enjoy, and do remember that reviews are subjective, and your mileage may vary (YMMV) - but overall, this P1 represents tremendous value (except the headphone jack part of it). Have a great day!

Didn't know what to expect but was very pleasantly surprised! Great sound and build quality for the money, not really tube like sound in my system (I am currently using Dared MP 7, Musical Paradise MP 301, MP 303, Dynaco ST 70) but extremely musical with the stock 6J5 tubes. On tone bypass mode the top end is ever so slightly rolled off, midrange a bit laid back but warm, not quite lush sounding (compared to all tube), bass is satisfying, but the sound is very well balanced and enjoyable! Maybe there's a hint of tube sound, enough to take the harshness out of digital. Bass and treble controls fine tune the sound without degradation. Adds authority and rounds out the sound perfectly for my Grado SR325e and SR80s while taming the sibilance. Streaming Spotify using the USB DAC, Marantz CD5000 through the RCAs, Samsung Galaxy S10 via Bluetooth through an Adcom GFA 555, Klipsch RM51s and absolutely pleased with my purchase! Tube sound? Not really, it's more of a tube buffer and maybe the tubiness is diminished by the solid state equipment downstream. But really great sound overall for the price? Definitely! Retro chic look rounds out the experience. Update: liked it so much I've ordered another one! Changed the tubes to GE 5654W for better detail and connected the preamp to a first gen netbook streaming Spotify through the built in DAC, vintage 70's Yamaha integrated amp and Klipsch RM 15 speakers. Update: sadly after a few hours one of the tubes stopped glowing and the left channel died.... The other tube glowed much brighter than normal with lots of distortion in that channel.... Interchanged the two tubes and the issues changed sides too. Definitely the tubes... Swapped in the GE 5654 tubes I got off eBay for $5 and the pre-amplifier is singing again. The pre-amplifier is excellent... just the tubes are problematic. I've had similar problems with Chinese tubes so not a surprise. I have no doubt that Amazon would have looked after me very well but I had the tubes anyway and it was a cheap fix.... Actually upgrades the sound. For me, this experience in no way diminishes my impressions of the pre-amplifier. Love it!

Showed up after around a month. It worked very well and sounded amazing with my HE4xxs. However, within the first day of use, the vacuum tubes that came with it broke. I have no clue if it was due to a fault with the vacuum tube or a handling error on my part.

Soy un audiófilo principiante y este dac preamplificador es una maravilla. La música la hace cálida por el uso de los bulbos. El soundstage y la imagen son increíbles, claro con una bocinas de nivel intermedio. Me hizo recordar cuando mi abuelo me dejaba ocupar su modular fisher 350 y podrías disfrutar de un buen acetato. Este equipo en conjunto con unas buenas bocinas y buenos audífonos, lo hacen un equipo divertido. En pocas palabras, no dudes en comprarlo. Añado las diferentes configuraciones que se logran cuando se usa como DAC. Espero les sea de utilidad mi reseña.

A unique looking piece of audio gear. If you don't mind it, and need a Dac/Pre/and even head amp this thing is good out of the box. A true bargain if you wait for a Sale. Has digital and lots of SE input/output connections(RCA/3.5mm) so is easy to connect externals, even comes with USB and optical cables. Looks great on the desk, liked it so much I upgraded with Ifi 12v power, Sparkos Op amps, and Mullard EF 95 tubes to make it 5 stars now imo.

No soy audiofilo. Pero he tenido oportunidad de escuchar diferentes amplificadores y dispositivos. Es curioso como este dispositivo, aparentemente modesto, logra enaltecer el audio de grabaciones, incluyendo mp3 en formato estándar. Al parecer se logra mediante un sutil efecto de reverberación por los bulbos, logrando la "calidez" que tanto se menciona. Es evidente dicho efecto, siendo grato al oido. No se podría comparar con un amplificador digital HD para FLAC u otro formato sin pérdida, ya que en realidad tendrían distinta aplicabilidad. Pero definitivamente lo recomiendo. Comento también que cambié los bulbos por otros que tanto se mencionan, y en lo personal no noté una radical mejoría. Pero es cuestión de apreciación.