Toucan and Boomslang (IBasso Audio) Balanced Review Thread - Page 8

I guess the TTVJ Slim becos of its tube-like signature.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitargeek 

JH13- toucan/ ttvj slim/ protector/ ALO Rx?



I'm pairing my JH13s with an iPod Nano 4G and the result is a very bright sound. which amp offers a mellow/warm sound? heard that the toucan can offer almost everything that the protector can.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulybatz 

I DECIDED ON THE SILVER PAIR!

THEYLL BE SHIPPING TODAY!

congratulations on a fine decision.

congrats! i'd like to hear more impressions about the balanced dac before I pull the trigger on the combo. I totally would've gotten silver had I kept my HF-2s :)

For those asking for synergy with Grado I just tried an RS-1 using the Grado 1/4" to 1/8" adapter and the RS-1 sounded very good out of the Toucan Amp. The source was the Boomslang DAC fed from a cheap Philips DVD Player.

i used my HF2 balanced through the db1/pb1 and it sounded great. didnt try it SE'd .

well i never had any of the amps you named. plus its hard to compare to RSA amps and whatnot because this is a amp DAC combo. if you look at the pb1/db1 as a single unit then yes i think theyre better than any of the portable amps ive owned (shadow, p51, pico slim).  ill save any comparisons to desktop amps for those with more experience.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jalo 

Mraroyo and debitsohn, thanks for the above posts. However, when you say the "dbi/pb1 sounded great" that really didn't do anything for me or to those who are curious about this combo. How great "art thou"? Is it Protector great? is it Pico Amp/dac great? is it Lisa III great? Is it Stepdance great? Is it Ibaso D4 great? Anything can sound great, some people think the Apple ear bud coming out of iphone sounded great. Without any measure of greatness, I really don't know how great the combo sounds. I am not asking for any full review or anything like that. But it would help to understand the level it is at if you can compare some attributes to other know amp or dac. Thanks.

As all comparisons are subjective, considering the variety of musical genre's and different phones involved, I can  state my opinions based on my comparisons using Sony SA5000's, AKG K-340's, AKG K-501's, HE-5LE's, and IEMs Yuin G1A and Westone ES3X, all balanced. 

The DB1/PB1 combination provides a level of performance that previously was not possible in a portable package.   It can effortlessly drive all of my phones and is truthfully the only amplifier that I have heard that provides palpable bass that one can feel as well as hear. 

As far as comparisons to other portables, the Toucan is, IMO, the best performing amplifier that iBasso has yet introduced.  I have owned most of the Xin amps, all of the iBasso portables, the Decware Zen and the RSA Protector.   From the standpoint of output power, accuracy of imaging and overall tonal accuracy, to my ears, the fully-balanced Boomslang/Toucan combination tops the list.

I found that for driving my collection of balanced phones, my preference is the iBasso combo.  I have since sold my Protector. 

I hope these subjective opinions are of some help to you, as I have not done any measurements using my test equipment.  I don't believe that test measurements will show any significant differences.  The human ear is probably one of the most discriminating test instruments one can use.  The only problem is that everyones ears are not calibrated the same!

Ron

 

While at the Fort Myers Meet on July 24th that Ron (HiFlight) hosted I had the pleasure to listen to the Toucan with various of the cans mentioned by Ron. Since I have also listened to the Toucan in SE mode with the Audio Technica ATH-ESW9, Head Direct HiFiMAN RE252, and UE TripleFi 10. I find the sound out of the Toucan to be amongst the best (top tier) portable amp I have heard and I am looking forward to obtaining a balance cable for the UE TripleFi 10 as well as buying an iRiver H120 or H140 to put the Toucan/Boomslang through the "balanced" testing.

Does anyone have thought yet on the Boomslang vs. another (semi-) portable balanced DAC, the Apogee Mini-DAC?  It is what I currently have and its awesome....just a tad big sometimes.

Thanks,

Jim

Until someone actually compares the SE output of other DACs to the balanced output of the Boomslang in combination with the PB1, any opinions would only be speculation.

I have connected my transformer-coupled MagiDAC through my Toucan and it sounded great.  Can I hear a big difference between it and the Boomslang?  Not so much tonally, but IMO, the accuracy of the imaging is better in the fully-balanced system.  Hearing a very accurate soundstage with superb imaging, while admittedly a psychoacoustic rather than measureable difference, greatly increases my enjoyment of my recordings and streaming music. 

Ron

Is the Toucan really $229 for a balanced ss amp?  I was looking for a balanced ss amp no greater than $200, this might work. 

Some people seem to look down their noses on the iBasso.  Not me I'm just getting by.

I have a $50 indeed amp that I hooked up to my computer that sounds great to me.

Cheapo ears for a cheapo budget, can't get any better than that.

lol