The iBasso D12, dual dacs . images . new Sysconcept optical cable . . Topkit by HiFlight. . - Page 33

I agree that bypassing the iPod DAC is a significant improvement in sound quality. I have tried feeding the D12 with optical and USB from my Mac and was quite impressed with the sound but for some reason my most 'ohh yeah' moment has been when using the Algorythm solo. This then feeds the d12 an anologue signal but it has more top end air and detail than I have previously heard from the d12.

For example I used to think that iems couldn't get close to the imaging of a good set of cans but since adding the CLAS that gap has closed significantly. And all this with just using cheap, but nice quality fiio interconnects. My Piccolino connects are due in a week.

The D12 sounds really well balanced, fast and tight in it's current set up with the Hiflight opamp kit.

How do other users find the D12 in sound quality compared to say a RSA 71b or Alo RX mk2?

In the opinion of the people in this thread, is the build quality in the D12 good enough to last several years? or is this a short term piece of electronics?

Hard to say, the D12 hasn't been out very long, but it's an excellent question!

I haven't seen any reliability issues on any D10 threads.

Perhaps a few people can comment on their long term experience with iBasso stuff in general??

 

I personally think that you would have to mistreat the ibasso for it to last less than at least 5 years. It is well built. Even the batteries could be unplugged and replaced. I basso gets too marks in my opinion.

Anyone know how the D12 measures up against some dedicated units, such as the Yulong D100 or the Matrix Mini-i?

 

I'm still using my old iBasso D1 (with TopKit from HiFlight, which provides marvelous sound), which needs to be serviced (the battery won't charge), but I can't bear the thought of having to wait several weeks to get it back after shipping it back to China, and I don't know whether it would be a better investment to get the D12 or a reasonably priced desktop DAC/amp in the meantime.  I use them with the Denon AH-D2000.  Thoughts?

Edited by Packgrog - 9/16/11 at 7:44am

Has anyone had experiences with unique melody and opamps.  I am ordering up a Merlin from UM Global.

Hey there,

I think you should be OK, D12 is rated at 110 milliWatts at 32 ohms.

The AH-D2000 is a 25 ohm headphones, sensitivity is 106 dB/milliWatt, they sound like very efficient headphones, so you should be able to get more than enough volume.

The D12 is a very good sounding piece of kit for the money so you should be OK!

The Yulong and Matrix are obviously not portable units so it might be a bit unfair to compare them to the iBasso D12.
 

 

 

I have owned a D10 for two and a half years and, since I am the second owner, it has been humming along longer than that.   No performance issues -- build quality is solid IMO. At the very minimum, you get what you pay for with iBasso.  I wouldn't sweat it.
 

 

Thanks guys, do you think there will be an appreciable difference between using the D12's optical vs the D6's USB input from my Macbook? (my primary source). Keeping in mind the primary phone is Westone 3's with ocasional Grado usage.

 

Beautiful amp/DAC. I would love to try this.

I would think that the D6 would do a better job of driving the Grados as it puts out twice as much voltage and 6 times as much power into 32 ohms as the D12 so you would get substantially more headroom with the D6 amp.
As for USB vs. optical, I'm sure you can find all kinds of opinions in these forums.
An interesting combination might be the D12 as a DAC driving the D6 as an amp.

Thanks
 

 

Grados are fairly sensitive, you don't really need all that headroom... though I think the D6 and D12 have the same gain settings anyways. I suppose clipping would be more likely on the D12 if you tend to max your volume all the time on high gain, though I've been using my D10 without issue. 

 

I would personally lean towards the D12 to use the optical. Sound quality debate aside, I find the usb connection sometimes gives me noise/groundhum from the computer power supply.

I use optical from my MBP to my d12 with dummy buffers and hiflight topkit opamps and after the 1 o'clock position it starts becoming to loud to listen to comfortably.  Sounds great on my 325is.

Trying out opa2228 with AD8532 as buffer. I reckon everybody should try it. Warm and nice.

 

Has anyone tried to replace the battery with higher voltage ones? Really limited selection on low voltage opamps