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Which iBasso amp to buy?

post #1 of 23
11/14/09 at 5:51am
Thread Starter 
Hey all
I just recently purchased a 3rd gen 32GB iPod touch to use with some crappy earphones portably and have decided to keep my Walkman X1060 at home with my Westone UM3X and Grado SR-225 with a $40 or so interconnect. I was just wondering, which of the iBasso amps would i be best off with the Walkman X1060 playing .wav files?? I won't be using my amp with my computer, PS3 or a CD player, as that would defeat the purpose of the Walkman. I have been looking at the T3 and D4, but there is a T4 for $10 cheaper than the T3 . The D4 is a bit over my unfound budget (willing to get it if it's worth it, D10 is too much for me), but supposedly the T3 is just as good, just no (dual)DAC, which i won't be needing(??) coz im using a Walkman, not a computer. So pretty much T3, T4, P3+ or D4 (D2 isn't in their league i've heard). Looking forward to your responses
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post #2 of 23
11/14/09 at 7:16am
Thread Starter 
UPDATE: I can afford the D10 but I won't need it, just to give you my price point, roughly $275USD as I also need to get an iPod LOD (test iPod), 3.5mm interconnect and a 1/4" to 1/8" connector to use my Grado's.
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post #3 of 23
11/14/09 at 7:47am
To be honest, the T3 pairs up very nicely with iems, but when i use my MS1's, which i gather are very similar to SR225's, the P3+ wins hands down. The extra drive and power just fills out and compliments the MS1's very nicely. I will look at my configuration tomorrow, but it is one of the combo's available with the P3+ chip set you receive as part of the P3+ package from iBasso. If you want great sound from your Grado's from an iBasso amp with no DAC, then go the P3+.
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post #4 of 23
11/14/09 at 7:50am
Thread Starter 
Would a Graham Slee Voyager be even better than any of these? It's still within my price range . So T3 if I really want to use the amp wherever I go (90% of the time no) or the P3+ for best overall amp for my walkman with UM3X and SR-225. So how would the Voyager do against these?
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post #5 of 23
11/14/09 at 10:27am
iBasso choices boils down to:

If you need Optical input: D10
If you use computer USB input: D4
If you have no need for the above and like to roll opamps: P3+
If none of the above: T3 (Excellent basic amplifer, better than T4)
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post #6 of 23
11/14/09 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 
Hmm D10 would seem pointless unless I was going to use my PS3. I don't think I will be using my computer as a source unless I could sell my walkman x1060 for almost the same price as what i paid for it. I guess P3+ it is? I wanna use my walkman x1060 with a pure silver cable going from the headphone out (no line out, came with a cable that connects to the Sony version of iPods Line Out, but no noise comes out when i connect to amp ). So T3 is almost same as P3+ in my situation?? What about Graham Slee Voyager?
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post #7 of 23
11/14/09 at 11:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stang View Post
Hmm D10 would seem pointless unless I was going to use my PS3. I don't think I will be using my computer as a source unless I could sell my walkman x1060 for almost the same price as what i paid for it. I guess P3+ it is? I wanna use my walkman x1060 with a pure silver cable going from the headphone out (no line out, came with a cable that connects to the Sony version of iPods Line Out, but no noise comes out when i connect to amp ). So T3 is almost same as P3+ in my situation?? What about Graham Slee Voyager?
actually x1000 has a lineout but you have to make a own or modify the cable.
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post #8 of 23
11/14/09 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
Oh well. I have absolutely no knowledge on how to do that not would i have the skills to make it, hopefully in the future there will be cables for it.
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post #9 of 23
11/14/09 at 1:21pm
hey stang, im also looking to get an amp/dac for my 780, and since you are locating in melbourne as well. Where about would you purchase the amps you mentioned?
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post #10 of 23
11/14/09 at 5:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ding96 View Post
hey stang, im also looking to get an amp/dac for my 780, and since you are locating in melbourne as well. Where about would you purchase the amps you mentioned?
I ordered the T3 online last Friday, and I expect that it will be at my office in Brisbane some time this week : they come from China and people in Europe have reported 4 day delivery times - thats better than I get from Perth to Brissie.

Postage came to 17 USD - with our dollar so strong, there has never been a better time to buy kit. All up, the T3 is costing me a little over 150 AUD - go into Audiophile in Melbourne and ask the owner what he can sell you for $150 ....
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post #11 of 23
11/14/09 at 7:07pm
Thread Starter 
Well I would love to purchase from around my location but I don't know of any audio stores. I will be buying from online, this forum or iBasso website, ebay doesn't have much.
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post #12 of 23
11/14/09 at 9:26pm
What about the D3? it seems to be a step up from the D2 and seems like a pretty good portable amp, and is considerably cheaper than the D4, around $219 I believe. The only downside is that the iBasso website lists it at temporarily out of stock, which is why I think it is removed from their site's main menu, but you can still search their site and find it, or google it and get this link here.

iBasso
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post #13 of 23
11/14/09 at 9:32pm
Thread Starter 
I actually didn't know about the D3 . The D4 is $219USD on their site. I would get the D4 right now if I had a use for the (Dual) DAC(s). I don't have a need for a DAC AFAIK because I'm using my Walkman X. I Think it's either the iBasso T3, RSA Tomahawk or Graham Slee Voyager. Does anyone which one I should pick? I just want the best sound quality that I can get from an amp under approx $250usd. The Tomahawk and Voyager are the same price from where I see them, where as the T3 is half the price. I will gladly pay the premium over the T3 to get a better amp.
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post #14 of 23
11/14/09 at 10:08pm
Good point, I can't seem to find out which op amps the D3 and D4 use, but they have the same DAC's, just the D4 comes with double the DAC fun. Though if someone can find the opamps or differences in the circuit that might be good to know. I know the P3 and D3 and D2 are all supposedly fairly different from each other. The D3 has a different circuit layout than the P3 so even the same opamps in both sound different, though I believe the final conclusion is that the P3 and D3 rock, and it is just a matter of preference.

Also the D4 seems to only use one 9V battery and has far lower battery life than the D3.
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post #15 of 23
11/14/09 at 10:14pm
I can recommend the T3. Still burning it in. It's tiny and cheap and does wonders with Shure 530!
Since I got the T3 I never use the EQ/Bass and BBE settings on Cowon players, there's no need
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