iBasso D2-Viper (Pictures, Impressions, and Reviews): Read the Rules!

Pics to start off

Sounds great so far. Still letting it burn in (with my new Ultrasone 780), before I post any impressions. Looks great though. Hard to believe it was only $200.

Not really happy with the 780s right now (where's the bass?), and highs kind of sharp. Hopefully burn-in will make the bass appear.

My image sound so much better with the D2. Sharper bass, bigger soundstage, etc.

Will post more impressions after burn-in.

P.S. Its really hard to get pictures posted with the 97k size limit!!

Did it come with a USB cable?If so what type?

Just got mines less then an hour ago! can't believe how small it is.

It comes with a cheap generic cable.

Thanks for the information.

Whats the price?

199 plus shipping, which tends to be fast.

Well I'm pretty much a noob lol and this is my first amp, but soundstage has increased greatly for me, there's quite a bit more bass, and I'm hearing things I haven't heard before.

Sorry if I'm no help

Also the DAC part works great, setup in less then a minute and its 100x better then my onboard laptop soundcard.

Oh yea there's a popping sound when you turn it on and a similar popping sound when you change the gain. Is that normal?

some amps tend to have that, it is just like a sudden rush of "electricity" kinda thing and makes a pop.

if u use really high end iem with like ipod headphone jack, whenever u turn it on, it will make a "pop" too.

Jeez those are some nice pics, what camera + lens? Those pics make it look even better and I have one Shipping was quite fast. Packaging was cheap but the D2 is really small and looks nice. Will update on sound later

I spent a couple of hours listening time last night, Zune 30 with predominantly 192kbps WMA rips.

I said this in an earlier post, and I'll say it again, this thing has some really nice detail and separation. I'd go so far as to say it is a "crisp" sounding amp, not really warm, but certainly with a nice bit of low mid and bass. I do not have any particularly current-starved headphones, unless you count de-podded (w/33ohm resistors) IM716's, but this had no trouble driving any phone I threw at it, including SR60's, KSC75's, PortaPro's, the 716's, and various other IEM's. Gobs of power for my purposes, so far.

I don't love the gain switch, but it is relatively docile in terms of how it colors the sound, which I do like. It is just that, a gain switch.

Someone else said they noticed more detail in the music than they had previously, and I think I agree with that. Especially listening to something like the Dave Matthews Band last night, I noticed detail like the percussive pick on guitar string sound that frankly never really stood out before. Could be I just wasn't listening I suppose, but nonetheless, it was noticeable.

The gain switch does provide a nice "pop" when you switch it on. I have no headphone noise whatsoever from the volume pot, however it has a significant audible "click" when turned on. Nothing wrong in the least with that, I'd say it feels like quality.

I plugged the D2 into my XP work PC and it recognized it immediately. I didn't spend anytime listening via the DAC however.

Overall build quality is fine, not great. Overall the unit construction and presentation (that font and faceplate reminds me of 1970's era Kustom PA Amps) seems a little chintzy to me, but then again, the unit only costs a couple of bills, and I'd rather have the quality on the inside, than a pretty box on the outside.

The blue LED will literally light up a dark room. For those of you on the coast give us your impressions for use as an impromptu lighthouse or beacon. I suspect it will work just fine.

I have a GoVibe 6 and a ZeroAudiocraft at home to compare. The GV6 is warmer, and does not have quite the "umph" that the D2 has. The ZA is not that much different than the D2, to be honest. The ZA does not appear to have the same soundstage, but the overall color is similar, with crisp highs, and full low-mid. Probably not as much bass with the ZA however, at least to my ear.

I'm looking forward to spending a good deal of quality time with the D2 the next few days. Overall, initial impressions are that it is a terrific value, with excellent overall sound.

Order Date: Saturday March 1st, 2008
Shipping Date: Sunday March 2nd, 2008 (according to their file)
Shipping Method: UPS
Arrival Date: Thursday March 6th, 2008 12:32 PM Eastern

Pictures!!! (everybody loves pictures)




As you can see, the packaging wasn't crazy amazing, but then it was secure, everything was there, the styrofoam worked well, the box was intact, nothing was broken.
Once I open the box, the power adapter, usb cable, manual and leather case was right under the 1st layer of styrofoam. Right under the leather case, is the VIPER

It works right out of the box, no charging needed (I'm guessing they personally test each one before packing it). I plugged it directly into my Samsung YPP2.

Right when you turn it on, there is a "click" sound, not a pop, but like a wheel click. This basically tells you that your D2 is "on". I did not hear any popping sound like the 1st reviewer.
When you turn off the D2, there is a "pop" sound, same with going from low to high gain. This sound resembles... when you are on an airplane and your ear pops. I am not worrying, I'm not really gonna use the high gain, and when turning it off, it isn't loud.
LED - wow, this blue light is hella BRIGHT. I can say, if you look into it, u can blind urself. I do not have the chance to "light my room" yet, since it is still midday, but I can see it happening. The back red LED isnt as bright, but its there for sure.

1st Impression: (Amp for YPP2)
There is not much hissing (right now I'm using friend's Apple In Ears, will be doing another review when my SuperFreQs arrive). It is "there" but then you only really notice it when you turn the knob up a lot, basically to volume that is NOT suitable for me.
When you listen to the music, the hissing basically is covered by the music, so you will not hear it at all (even at the bare minimum volume). This really is impressive because I'm gonna say this now: I'm not gonna be listening to silence, so the hissing is out of the question.

Sound - Maybe it is just me, but then I wasn't throughly appealed by the "increase" of the music quality, maybe this is because I am using the headphone jack of the player. I, like the other users, notice an increase in performance in the lower end, the bass is cleaner, sharper (in terms of "right on") In terms of the higher end, I have not noticed anything yet, its because I'm not using decent IEMs, so i dont blame the D2.

1st Impression: (Amp + DAC for Macbook) USB
Hissing, it is still there, but this time, it is even quieter. Won't go to much other than "if you concentrate, it'll be there, if u listen to music, it'll be gone"

Sound - This is where it "hit me dead smack with a wad of 100$ bills". I was really impressed with the sound from the D2 using the USB input. I was actually surprised with the sound... coming from the FLAC of the Ultrasone CD. Man, I feel like crying, I'm hearing a lot more than what I've heard with my SuperFi 3's plugged into the headphone jack on my mac, YES, even with Apple In Ears... I swear, I can hear the foot taps of the musicians, and their swallowing. amazing. The lower end is a lot more crisp than not using anything at all (or comparing to using my logitech z10 through usb as a dac and then plugging my headphones into it). From using this on my mac, I actually hear a difference in the higher end of the spectrum. It feels a lot cleaner. (refer to track 5 of the cd) I can even hear the piano player making noise when he plays, pretty amazing. I hear a lot more details, such as the person sitting in the 5th row of the audience that keeps fidgeting and making his chair squeek.

I will be slowly updating each bit by bit.