Dynaudio Focus XD 30 Review

Dynaudio’s home audio product line is extensive, including traditional passive two-channel speakers, high-end home theater systems, and desktop Bluetooth speakers. The Focus XD series is listed in the digital line category, which means that it can receive digital signals, process the signals with the built-in digital-analog decoding and amplifier circuit, and then transfer signal to the driver unit directly. And today I will review the Dynaudio Focus XD 30 speakers.

The Focus XD series can receive wired digital signals and can be used with Dynaudio’s own wireless transmitter, the Connect box, to form a wireless connection combination, which can handle up to 24bit/192kHz digital signals.

Design

The Focus XD 30 I review is a floor-standing speaker among the Focux XD product lines. The other two are the larger Focus XD 60 floor-standing speaker and the Focus XD 20 bookshelf speaker. The Focus XD 30 is of moderate size, 98 cm in height and 18.5 kg in weight.

The advantages and disadvantages of active speakers are very obvious. The advantage of the built-in amplifier circuit is to help users save the budget of buying an amplifier, saving money and space and saving trouble. There is no need to worry about whether the amplifier and the speaker are matched with each other.

The configuration of the amplifier circuit is carefully designed. The amplifier and the driver unit must be designed to fit for each other’s physical and electronic characteristics. It can be said that they are a customized match to form the most perfect combination.

The shortcomings are also very simple. The speaker and the amplifier circuit are always tied together, which means that the overall sound has its limitations. It is impossible to improve the sound performance by replacing one of them individually. If you want to upgrade the speaker one day, there is no room for it. And for those who like to adjust the system, refine it to get a better performance , there is hardly any room for it, meaning there is less fun.

Focus 30 XD floor standing loudspeaker is equipped with Dynaudio’s famous 28mm soft dome tweeter and 17cm MSP midrange woofer. It adopts a 2.5-channel design with crossover points at 4000Hz and 300Hz. There is a bass-reflex hole on the back, and the response frequency is 29Hz~ 24kHz. You can see the EQ adjustment options and placement position switch on the back panel for its built-in DSP processing. The corresponding EQ adjustment can be selected according to the wall placement, standard placement, or corner placement.

It has a 3 x 150W digital amplifier circuit. The design of the active speaker unit and the amplifier circuit are carefully matched by the original factory. Each group of the amplifier circuits corresponds to 1 unit, which can accurately transmit the signal frequency and time without worrying about power.

The DSP (digital signal processor) used by Focus XD has been studied for a long time. The design team did not use DSP to cover up the hardware design defects but used DSP to enhance the hardware after confirming that the hardware design is perfect. For example, to further develop its potential, DSP can do things that cannot be achieved by analog crossover circuits. It can cut frequency signals very accurately and is not affected by traditional analog crossover circuits.

You can also set compensation for the speakers in different spaces. The environment’s performance makes the sound transmitted to the human ear still the sound that the original music wants to express, and better results will be achieved through firmware updates in the future.

The amplifier circuit is also better optimized, such as the limitation when overloaded, low distortion, good signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic level, and even deeper bass at high volume.

Active speakers like Dynaudio Focus XD 30 are very user-friendly, and the settings are straightforward. As long as you connect the power cord, you can connect and play with the digital input or the analog input. If you want to achieve wireless playback and omit the connection cable between the equipment and the speakers, add the Dynaudio Connect box. This small wireless transmitter can provide you with more user experience for the Dynaudio Focus 30 XD Active Speaker.

Although the Dynaudio Focus XD series can be used when there is no Connect box, at least one more signal cable is needed to connect to the speaker. If the speaker is not far from the source, there will be no problem like a streaming network player. But if there is a distance between the two, it needs to be long wired. The back of the Focus XD series speakers provide coaxial RCA digital input terminals and analog input terminals. If your digital equipment does not support coaxial RCA output, it will be more challenging to match. But if you add the Dynaudio Connect box, it’s completely different.

Dynaudio Connect box is a signal receiver and a wireless transmitter. In addition to receiving digital and analog signals from various sources, it can also transmit the signals to Focus XD active speakers in a wireless frequency way. What are the advantages of this? First of all, your speakers are not subject to placement restrictions because there is no need for wires from the source to the speakers, only the necessary power cords for the two speakers.

The second advantage is that the Connect box itself provides diverse signal receiving terminals. In addition to the coaxial RCA digital input, there is also optical TOSLINK digital input, often used with home consumer audio-visual equipment, such as TV set-top boxes and Blu-ray Player, PS4, Xbox, etc.

It also provides a USB digital input, which can be combined with a computer, and a set of two-channel RCA analog input, which can be connected to existing DAC, CD turntables, vinyl systems, etc. And more importantly, the Connect box is smaller than your set-top boxes and WiFi router, easy to put anywhere, and takes up no space at all.

Setting

For the setting, set one of the speakers as the master speaker and the other as the slave speaker. They will be automatically paired after power on. And then see what the ID setting behind the Connect box is. There are a total of A, B, and C. For 3 groups, press the corresponding id to the speaker with the remote control, then the speaker and the Connect box will be connected on the same channel.

You can see 4 groups of Line, Opt, Coax, and USB on the remote control, and you can switch the signal source according to the way the signal source is connected to the Connect box. For example, I connected the CD player to the Connect box with a coax cable and connected the Mac Mini to the Connect box with USB to switch between these two sources to listen to music.

Sound Performance

Listening to the album “BAD” by Michael Jackson. The sound presented by Dynaudio Focus XD 30 has a very clear rhythm and dynamic sense. The sound is not muddy, and there is no blur between each sound. Some characteristic performances, compared with traditional passive speakers, are clear and clean between words. The speaker EQ is selected as Neutral instead of against the wall or corner.

This choice logically means that the Dynaudio Focus 30 XD Loudspeakers themselves will produce more bass. The low frequency is actually very sufficient in the room to involve the interaction and distribution of the base unit, amplifier circuit, and DSP crossover. Regardless of the energy, speed and impact is outstanding performance.

Then listen to my favorite jazz, “Jazz at the Pawnshop.” Dynaudio Focus XD 30 performs very well for the affinity and flexibility of live performance. First of all, the sound is accurate and clear, and it is not restricted or restrained when playing the instrument.

The sound and atmosphere of the background of the pub are also very obvious. It is easy to have the feeling of being here and listening up close. The details of the performance, the audience’s dialogue, the percussion of the cups and plates are all clear. The sound is so vivid and realistic. Listening comfortably and lazily, playing the whole album makes people want to listen to it repeatedly.

Listening to the fifth track of the album “Martha Argerich Debut Recital” – <Jeux d’eau>. This version was played by Argerich. Through the sound of Focus 30 XD Wireless floor standing loudspeaker, you can feel the strength of the player’s performance.

Although this song does not require a lot of playing strength, each note’s fullness is audible, the sound field is also quite condensed, the fluency of the notes string together is quite natural. When the phrase is played toward the higher pitch, the piano’s sound is quite solid and interprets it through the performer.

Conclusion

Dynaudio Focus XD 30 is a small floor-standing speaker with a slender appearance. Compared with the floor-standing speakers I have listened with in the past, it is really balanced and outstanding.

Internal protection is done very carefully, using more flexible materials to protect the speakers’ inside surroundings. The all-black Focus XD 30 is the most visible at first glance by its tweeter, 28mm soft dome tweeter. The gloss with a touch of texture makes the all-black speaker less monotonous in appearance.

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Focus 30 XD Specs

• Analogue Inputs: 1 x RCA per speaker
• Digital Inputs/Outputs: 1 x RCA input 1 x RCA output
• Wireless: Accepts up to 24bit / 96kHz (Connect Box)
• Frequency Response (±3dB): 29Hz – 24kHz
• Box Principle: Bass Reflex Rear Ported
• Crossover: 2.5 way DSP Based
• Crossover Frequencies: (300), 4000Hz
• Woofer: 17cm MSP
• Midrange: 17cm MSP
• Tweeter: 28mm soft dome
• Specification sheet for Focus XD part 1
• Amplifier Power: 3 x 150W
• AC Power Input: 100-240 V 50/60Hz
• Standby Power Consumption: < 0.5W
• Maximum Power Consumption: 200W
• Weight: 18,5kg / 40lb
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 198 x 980 x 307mm/ 7.8 x 38.6 x 12.1in
• Dimensions with feet/grill (W x H x D): 256 x 998 x 328mm/ 10.1 x 39.3 x 12.9in