⌈ ONIX, once a British brand, is now owned by the Chinese brand SHANLING. This one, in turn, is owned by Shenzhen Shanling Digital Technology Development, a joint venture specializing in research and development, production, marketing and sales of audio products. The company was founded in 1988 and showed its first product, a stereo amplifier, later that year. Its main office is located in Shenzhen, and the factory is located in Dongguan. ⌋

THE MANUFACTURER’S WEBSITE gives us the following information:

If you turn your gaze to the south of London on the map of the British Isles, you will find a small seaside town named Brighton. A famous holiday resort in England and known by many as the capital of British music and art. The soul of creativity. In the 1980s, ONIX was born here; more → HERE.

It was there that Onix Audio was founded. Its origins date back to 1979, when Tony Brady, who was studying at Brighton Technical College, began designing power amplifiers in a warehouse next to Brighton Pier. As we read in the company's biography, his friend Michael O'Brien “was shocked” by the amplifier's small size and enormous power. At the time, Michael was already a manager at Rogers, a famous British audio brand, and “immediately understood the potential of Tony's creations,” after which he joined Brady.

Its first models, launched in 1981, were the OA20 and OA21 integrated amplifiers. They attracted attention with their high-end power supply, a thing not at all taken for granted in those days. The company was building high-end amplifiers, as well as an interesting radio tuner, but at the end of the 1980s it started having financial problems and in 1990 the shares, then wholly owned by Adam Worsfold, were transferred to Onix Electronics Ltd., and a year later sold to its new partner Michael O'Brien, who by then had the Rogers brand, a manufacturer of speakers.

It was then that a lot of interesting products were created, including (in 1993) the brand's first ever Compact Disc CD33 player. As you can see, the company was in no hurry to adapt this technology, as was another British manufacturer - Linn. The latter, let's recall, presented its first product with the CD logo, the Karik transport, the same year as Onix. All these efforts, however, did not help the company regain the market, and, after changing its name in 1997 to Kendal Electronics Ltd., the same year it was dissolved and later closed down.

It could have been an unpleasant ending to the story, had it not been for the fact that in the same year the company was bought by Mr Pu Hsao Hsiung from Taiwan Sound Art Co. It was more about his hobby than his main business. His efforts led to the next generation of devices with this logo. Passion alone, however, was not enough, so in 2002 the rights to the name were purchased by the Chinese company Shanling, formerly known for OEM production, which began building devices in its factories in China.

In 2008 Onix products changed their appearance – It was then that they received the characteristic gold-plated knobs, used in the company devices to this day. Francesco Pace, who distributed the brand in Italy, got down to it. Since he was extremely pleased with the sound and internal construction, and not quite satisfied with what he saw on the outside, he helped the company design a new look. The redesigned products entered the market in 2008, and Pacetech, Francesco's company, became Onix's representative for all of Europe.

And again, there was a hiatus, in which the company was present in Asia and the US, but not in Europe until 2023, when at the High End 2023 exhibition in Munich, Onix returned to the wider international market with new products. There is a chance that it will last longer.

▌ DSD over PCM

THE STORY OF THE ONYX BRAND REMINDS US OF THE FATE of many other British audio companies. Fascinated by them, audiophiles in Asia, mainly in China, Japan or Taiwan, kept the memory of their past successes. And sometimes they tried to return to them. Let's recall in this context the International Audio Group (IAG), another Chinese company that owns well-known and established audio brands such as Wharfedale, Castle Loudspeakers, Audiolab, Luxman, Mission and Quad. In 2020, IAG literally resurrected the Leak brand. We can grumble that it's not in Europe that these speakers and these electronics are made, but the truth is that if it weren't for investors from China, there would have been no trace of the aforementioned brands long ago.

This makes it all the more of a cry over spilled milk that subsequent generations of devices from these brands seem to become better and better in every respect. They are getting better and better made, and offer the latest technical solutions, regarded in the US and Europe as the domain of the high-end. And the latest products from Onix Audio go even beyond that. I have the impression that we are entering the times that had been announced, but have seemingly been distant, in which the most important solutions and developments will be proposed by Chinese, Taiwanese and Indian brands, etc., and not by the West, or Japan

Such a product, to some extent a breakthrough, is the Zenith XTS20 SACD transport. First of all, it is a Super Audio CD transport, and not a CD one, which we have got used to (more about the terms ‘transport’ and ‘mechanics’ → HERE). These types of devices have been known in audio for a long time, but they have always been included with a DAC from a particular company, never presented separately.

In this context, let us recall brands such as: → ACCUPHASE, dCS, Playback Designs, Esoteric, → BRICASTI https://highfidelity.pl/@main-1466&lang=en or → CH PRECISION ˻PL˺. This is because the problem is how to transmit DSD signal – Philips and Sony have never licensed a commercial standard of this type. In studios it's trivial, as we have several different ways to choose from. Ayon Audio used them in its equipment (3 x BNC). However, in home audio, crazed by anti-piracy paranoia, such arrangements have never taken place.

For the first time, however, we get an SACD transport that can work with any DAC, which supports the DoP or DSD-over-PCM formats on its digital RCA inputs - optical ones or AES/EBU. As dCS, one of its proponents, once wrote, the idea was to “accommodate” DSD signal in signal that looks like PCM:

It involves taking groups of 16 adjacent 1-bit samples from a DSD stream and packing them into the lower 16 bits of a 24/176.4 data stream. Data from the other channel of the stereo pair is packed the same way. A specific marker code in the top 8 bits identifies the data stream as DoP, rather than PCM. The resulting DoP stream can be transmitted through existing 24/192-capable USB, AES, Dual AES or SPDIF interfaces to a DoP-compatible DAC, which reassembles the original stereo DSD data stream COMPLETELY UNCHANGED.

⸜ What is DoP (DSD over PCM)?, → DCSAUDIO.zendesk.com, accessed: 29.05.2025.

As you can see, the idea was simple, although it required some work. It was proposed in 2011 by dCS and developed jointly by three engineers: Andreas Koch (Playback Designs), Andy McHarg (dCS) and Rob Robinson (Channel D). The announcement of its original version 0.1 took place on January 20th, 2012. Over the course of three months, the format was refined, allowing, for example, DSD128 and higher signal transfer. Gordon Rankin (Wavelenght Audio) and Michał Jurewicz (Mytek) also participated in the work on the last two stages, that is, 1.0.1 to 1.1.

DoP was a way to send DSD signals over USB to DACs that did not accept “native” signal of this type. Over time, it was expanded to include the S/PDIF connection standard, on RCA and BNC sockets, and in Toslink, as well as AES/EBU formats.

With the advent of DACs accepting this type of signal, now up to DSD1024, it seemed that the idea was headed for the “obsolete” shelf. This is because it turned out that the additional operations performed on the signal - at the transmitter and receiver – affected sound, making it worse. This was “pure” DSD signal, and yet the “native” transmission method offered clear advantages. I expressed this vividly in 2018, writing an article titled DoP – diabelska alternatywa (Eng. DoP – a devilish alternative), more → HERE ˻PL˺.

But perhaps I should have waited for engineers dealing with digital technology to point out the biggest problems, namely noise, and start solving them one by one. And, perhaps, we have been waiting for audio from Asia, which is not afraid to reach for solutions that have been abandoned in Europe for some reason, but have great potential, to mention I2S or DoP. Thanks to the latter, we can finally play SACD discs with any D/A converter we choose, as long as it supports this technology.

▌ Zenith XTS20

THE ZENITH XTS20 IS A WONDERFULLY DESIGNED, and at the same time really nice device. You can see that a high-class design studio has been working on the design. Its elegant black case has distinctive grooves on the walls and a gold knob with which we control playback. Let me remind you that this was originally Sony's idea, unfortunately rarely used by other companies. The chassis is made of, as we read, “a resistant aluminum alloy” in a process of “precise CNC machine cutting.” At the same time, the device is slightly smaller than “regular” products and measures 320 x 240 x 72 mm.

It is a very interesting product. It is a top-loader transport, in which the disc is placed directly on the motor axis and pressed with a small wheel. It has a slightly better method of centering than the popular Philips CD-Pro2 transport wheels, resembling the wheels of SUOS' CD-Pro8 transports, but it's still plastic. From the top, the whole thing closes with a glass plate with an aluminum handle. Not coincidentally, this is deceptively reminiscent of Ayon Audio's devices.

The device plays SACDs, CDs (including CD-R and RW), but also decodes MQA-CDs; more about this technology → HERE. We can decode the full signal, only a part of it (Core) or send the signal without decoding - it all depends on which D/A converter we use. As many as six (!) digital outputs are available: I2S (CD, SACD DoP), optical, coaxial, AES/EBU, BNC (CD, SACD DoP) and USB (CD).

The first of them is made on an HDMI socket and is preceded by an FPGA chip, which solves the problem of its lack of standardization. The transport allows selection of one of ten different pinout modes, making it compatible with almost all converters equipped with I2S input. Recall that this link transmits the left and right channel signals and the master clock separately. In S/PDIF, everything goes in one string and requires “stripping” at the output, which causes errors. Chinese manufacturers are eager to use I2S, even though there is no standard for its transmission. The two most popular ways are RJ45 (Ethernet) and HDMI, guaranteeing access to high-end cables.

The device is equipped with a 3.4-inch, colorful touchscreen. The information on it is really well laid out, with large numbers and smaller auxiliary indications. There is also room for CD and SACD logos - hurray! And only the MQA-CD logo is displayed at the top, making it way too small. The knob we mentioned controls the drive, as does the remote control that comes with the system. This one is familiar from many other devices, with lots of buttons, but it's solid and nice.

The technical side of the device is also interesting. It is based on the Sanyo HD870 drive and a MediaTek MT1389EE DSP chip. This drive reads CDs and DVDs - and a SACD has the physical structure of the latter. What's more, it can also decode video from DVD discs. Here, in DSP, only audio is decoded – not only PCM and DSD signals, however, but also MQA. The exact same set-up is used by Ayon Audio in its CD-35 and CD-35 II players. The difference is in the software - the Austrian company uses StreamUnlimited, while the DSP in the Onix is programmed by Shanling engineers.

The whole thing is powered by a sizable Talem transformer and a lot of voltage correction circuitry; the power supply uses very good Elna Silmic II capacitors with silk electrode liners. This is an exceptionally well-designed and built device and only the feet can be replaced with better ones in the future – such as Divine Acoustics → KEPLER EVOLUTION or Franc Audio Accessories → CERAMIC DISC HYBRID.

▌ THE LISTENING SESSION

THE WAY WE LISTENED • The Onix Audio Zenith XTS20 transport was tested in a “High Fidelity” reference system. From the RCA output, the signal was sent via an Acrolink Mexcel 7N- DA6100 III cable to the input of the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition player; this unit accepts DoP signal on all inputs. I performed a separate test using a Mytek Liberty II D/A converter and an Onix XDA20 converter. I received the latter conditionally, as it was a pre-production version, with yet untargeted software. I used a Wireworld Silver Starlight 52 HDMI cable for the I2S connection, and you can find the results of the brief listening session below.

The transport stood on the top carbon shelf of the Finite Eemente Pagode Edition II rack on its own feet. It was powered, along with the Mytek and the Onix DACs, by a system: an AC Acrolink Performante NERO EDIZIONE cable (№ 1/15) → Essential Audio Tools Myni AC strip → Essential Audio Tools Current Conductor S cables.

» ALBUMS USED IN THE TEST ⸜ a selection

⸜ CHET BAKER, Chet Baker Sings, Pacific Jazz/Jazz Images 83312, CD + book ⸜ 1956/2021.
⸜ DEREK AND THE DOMINOS, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs, ATCO Records/Polydor UICY-40004, Platinum SHM-CD ⸜ 1970/2013.
⸜ HANK MOBLEY, Soul Station, Blue Note/Audio Wave AWMXR-0001, XRCD24 ⸜ 1960/2010.
⸜ ORNETTE COLEMAN, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Atlantic Records/ORG Music ORGM-1081, SACD/CD (1959/2013).
⸜ KENNY BURRELL, On View At The Five Spot Cafe: The Complete Masters, Blue Note/Universal Music LLC UCGQ-9098, SHM-SACD ⸜ (1960) 2025.
⸜ THE WHITE STRIPES, Elephant, Third Man Records | V2/Analogue Productions CAPP 150 SA, SACD/CD ⸜ 2003/2023.
⸜ MAURIZIO POLLINI, DANIELE POLLINI, Schubert, Deutsche Grammophon UCCG-45108, UHQCD/MQA-CD ⸜ 2024.

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EVERY TIME I publish a review of a CD or file transport, when they show how great the differences are between these types of products, I get the feeling that everything has already been said, that it's “done”. That is, everyone understands that one transport does not equal another one and the quality of sound depends on them as much as on D/A converters and every other component of the audio system. And the only problem is that few engineers have any idea how such changes should be measured.

But no, every time the satisfaction that fills me after doing a good job (that's how I usually think of it), it collides with the subsequent “revelations” on the Internet, judging the “impossibility” of such a distinction. This is stupid and harmful. This is because it moves the discussion back to the level of the sandbox, while we are in a place where the digital reaches the level reserved for the analog, and in some respects surpasses it. This is a place we need to imprint on, polish, and not return to the level of a three-year-old.

Listen to Onix's Super Audio CD transport. Its comparison with an identical transport in an Ayon Audio player shows significant differences between them, even though it is, after all, identical mechanics (!). But there are also differences between the Onix and all the CD transports that played in the system. One could say that the S/PDIF link is to blame, which would be in favor of the SACD player, inside which the signal between the transport and the integrated “DAC” is sent via short cables with I2S signal. This is true. But it could also be said, in favor of the external transport, that its mechanical and electrical isolation from the DAC and a separate power supply work to its advantage. And that would also be true.

However, when you compare a number of different transports against each other, you will hear the same thing I did with the XST20. Namely, that this is sound based more strongly on the extremes of the band than that in the Ayon device. This is sound with which CHET BAKER's voice from the album Chet Baker Sings had a stronger, more clearly defined body because of it, and the percussion plates, in most of the tracks on this album – for example, in ˻ 2 ˺ It’s Always You – played with brooms rather than batons, and thus doubly hidden behind the vocals, were clearer and closer to me.

And that, the perspective from which we view events, is the first thing we will pay attention to. Onix's transport presents sound sources near us. I thought it was the Ayon that was so intimate that all other transports, except perhaps CEC devices, slightly diffuse sound and move it away, but it turns out that it is not the case. The tested transport goes in the other direction. It brings the planes closer, while clearly defining all the elements that are on the soundstage.

It also worked out very well in the case of ˻ 2 ˺ I Looked Away, a track opening the album Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs by DEREK AND THE DOMINOS. Clapton's guitar overture at the beginning, which is joined in a moment by the percussion, was set deeper in the stage with the Ayon device and softer. Also, the tambourine entering after a few seconds for a moment, shifted to the left side of the axis, and it was warmer and darker.

Onix showed the whole track in a more dramatic way. That is, it fuelled everything with a stronger dose of energy. It did not overheat the treble but, nevertheless, showed it more strongly. With the Ayon device, the sound was more patinated and calmer. In my opinion, this disc and this version, the 2013 Platinum SHM-CD, with material prepared from DSD files ripped without correction from a master tape, is more similar to what I heard with my SACD player.

But it wasn't that the Onix sounded worse because of it. Interesting, but while the Austrian device was more faithful to the letter of this recording, the Chinese-made SACD transport was closer to its spirit. Because, after all, it is rock, right? And if it's rock, especially from the 1970s, and the album was released exactly in 1970, then it has to be feisty and powerful, and at the same time immersed in the fumes of hallucinogens, another permanent member of the bands of the time. And it was with the XST20 that I heard it more clearly. The duality of the music of the period was more strongly evident.

I HEARD SOMETHING VERY INTERESTING WITH THE XST20 when I played the first sounds from ORNETTE COLEMAN's album titled The Shape of Jazz to Come. This is a SACD, released in 2013 by ORG Music and, in my opinion, one of the best digital versions of this material, or maybe even the best one. And it was with it that I heard another feature of the Onix transport, after energizing the musical message and strongly presenting the foreground.

It's all about clearly differentiating the volume of what's happening close to us and the sounds at the back of the stage - the Ayon shows all plans in a strong, big way. It's a player, and now I hear it mainly as a transport, giving the message a scale that is hard to find elsewhere. The Onix does it differently. The foreground is explosive and powerful with it, and the planes further away from us are less saturated and smaller. It is neither better nor worse, but different. But maybe that's why Onix's message isn't annoyingly intrusive, which happens with products playing music in an overly enthusiastic way.

Instead, it is perfectly balanced in its presentation. When Coleman's alto saxophone and Don Cherry's cornet enter, spread across the channels, in the seventh second of the aforementioned track, it was a smashing, powerful experience with the Onix, there was might in it.

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IT WAS ALSO SIMILAR – it's all about power and might – with the aforementioned KENNY BURRELL'S and ART BLAKEY'S CD. It had a strong dense sound with the tested transport – explosive sound. It was not as well shaded and differentiated as what I heard from the Ayon. This is a prerogative of the player from Austria, and only the best devices from Esoteric, CEC, Accuphase, CH Precision or dCS are able to show something similar, sometimes – better.

So, it was enough for me to hear the very beginning of the opening track from the album Elephant by THE WHITE STRIPES duo, ˻ 1 ˺ Seven Nation Army, to learn that it is a serious product. The device deepened the sound of the bass and pressed it down slightly, so small sounds associated with sliding on the neck, etc., were not as clear as with the Ayon. The Onix also deepened the withdrawal of some of the bass from around 300-400 Hz, making everything sound a bit more stifled. Not that it was bad, but just like that - more contoured. On the other hand, the energy was transmitted with it faster, stronger, without brightening the sound and without opening it up unnecessarily.

▌ Conclusion

THE ONIX TRANSPORT is an inexpensive device. Made better than the Ayon, yet clearly cheaper than its own CD transport. But it outputs DSD signal understood by many DACs. That's why I see the XST20 as favored by all systems except the top ones. This is a transport that plays with enthusiasm without going beyond good taste. It tightens up the bass part and shows the treble more clearly, but without brightening it up.

This is a device which emphasizes the foreground and shows it in its entirety. Further planes are clear, but smaller. This differentiation results in an energetic message, which is very well differentiated and never the same. It works superbly with both CDs and SACDs – and it played phenomenally with the latter. And yet there is also the possibility of decoding MQA discs, which I also did.

It is an addition, but a cool one. Thanks to it, MAURIZIO POLLINI's piano from the album Schubert, with MQA Studio 24/88.2 signal, was delicate and silky, but also legible. So was the pianist's singing at the end of the third (and then seventh) minute of Molto moderato e cantabile from Piano Sonata No.18 in G, D.894.

I strongly recommend it. ●

» An affiliate link to an online store can be found in the text → CD JAPAN

▌ Technical specifications (according to the manufacturer)

Dimensions (including base): 32 x 24 x 7.2 cm
Weight: 5.2 kg
Screen: 3.4-inch Touch Screen
Power supply: 25 VA Talema transformer
Disc support: SACD, CD, MQA-CD
Digital audio outputs:
• I2S: CD 44.1 kHz, SACD DSD64
• optical/coaxial/AES/EBU/BNC: CD 44.1 kHz, SACD DSD64 DoP
• USB: CD 44.1 kHz

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THIS TEST HAS BEEN DESIGNED ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES adopted by the Association of International Audiophile Publications, an international audio press association concerned with ethical and professional standards in our industry, of which HIGH FIDELITY is a founding member. More about the association and its constituent titles → HERE.

→ www.AIAP-online.org