kkcc said:

I personally rate dx90 higher than ak120 in overall SQ, but if specifically paired with my 1plus2, I can understand why ak120 could be the better choice. Afterall Gavin did develop 1plus2 when he was using primarily ak100/ak120 as his portable source at the time.

Having said that, 1plus2 was the only IEM I have that seems to favor the ak120. For my jh13fp, re600, tg334, asg2, w4, er4s, re400 I like them with dx90 over ak120.

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bluebear said:

I wouldn't say a DAP is a failure because it does not offer a flat/neutral signature to pair well with multiple cans/IEMs. That would come off as saying DAPs like FiiO X3/X5/HM901 with balanced card etc. fail because they are all slightly warm like the AK120. Not to mention Calyx M is the least neutral I have heard which would make it epic fail according to how you define a good DAP. It depends more of the individual's usage patterns. For e.g. there are many like me who only listen primarily to only 1-2 preferred TOTL IEMs and rarely bring along multiple headphones to switch around while changing music tracks. Finding the best pairing DAP for that one favourite IEM is more important than a completely neutral DAP to play around with multiple headphones. As long as the right DAP can pair with the right IEM, it can still sound more awesome than a neutral DAP. Otherwise if our goal is just to listen to how the music sound, everyone will be only using neutral DAP+neutral amp+neutral IEM. Bringing a stack of DAP + amp may also not be ideal for some who wants to travel light.

Again your statement that the bass of AK120 never sounds right with your JH16 is just reinforcing my point that completely neutral DAP is not the only solution. If you are not using JH16 which is bass heavy but a more neutral IEM, you will probably think AK120 is fine. I also like my AK240 over my AK120. Yes, AK240 is much more neutral than the AK120 but that is not the reason why I like it more. It is because it's SQ is much better. Similarly, even though AK100 MKII is more neutral than AK120, I find it slightly more grainy.

Another reason I can guess is probably the difference in individual's music genre collection. I also tend to prefer bass quality from dynamic drivers which IMO is more smooth, richer and natural than the bass produced by BAs. I find most BA bass tend to be more digital and dry no matter how many low end drivers are tuned to reproduce it.

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headwhacker said:

   
That is why I never was a fan of Fiio. DX50 + Rockbox is still my reference for a neutral DAP. However, DX90 beats it in resolution, clarity, imaging and soundstage, though not completely neutral, it is very, very close. I bet Rockbox will make it completely neutral. 
 
On both DAPs my JH16 has that huge punchy bass but much clearer and detailed on DX90. My T1 sounded bright as it should be and still delivering the right amount of bass
 
AK120 never sounded right not because of the sound signature. It was because it made my JH16 bass thin which is quite the opposite why I got JH16 in the first place. This doesn't make sense right if AK120 is suppose to be warm.
 
In my opinion a flat/neutral DAP pairs easily with phones with different signature and should behave as expected. A warm phone will most likely sound warm with a neutral DAP. A bright phone will sound bright.

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bluebear said:

   
I see where you are coming from. I haven't encountered this issue with AK120 before making bass thin. It is slightly warmer than DX90 so I don't see how it does that. Maybe what you mean is it makes the bass less energetic? Definitely didn't happen when I tried out the Roxanne demo unit at Jaben. I will bring it along next time I visit Jaben and ask them to let me try their JH16 demo with my AK120.

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bluebear said:

   
I see where you are coming from. I haven't encountered this issue with AK120 before making bass thin. It is slightly warmer than DX90 so I don't see how it does that. Maybe what you mean is it makes the bass less energetic? Definitely didn't happen when I tried out the Roxanne demo unit at Jaben. I will bring it along next time I visit Jaben and ask them to let me try their JH16 demo with my AK120.

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goodvibes said:

  I wish Rockbox would incorporate 24 bit codecs for devices that can utilize them.
 
I didn't think the DX90 was overall better than my old AK120 until it had considerable run in and even now I couldn't guarantee it without one to compare. It started out detailed and you could tell it would be good but lacked texture and air and got better with time as it gained harmonic structure, dried out and lost any sense of holding on to energy, to where it was bit dry but had sans any sonic issues. It's now getting a correct kind of color and texture. I also think it now sounds best at high gain as Jamoto does. I really like it but wouldn't mind a touch more sparkle. Well see where it ends up.
 
I wonder if the unit Bluebear auditioned had a a lot of music (as opposed to just on) hours and at which gain position.
 
I believe Gavin had his 1+2 done long before he had an AK120. He 's also got a huge stable of DAPs etc. and was a fan of the RWAK120 along with an outboard amp so his 1p2 was not voiced for a stock AK120.

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caruryn said:

  What about after 1000 hours? Will it beat Chord Hugo?

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poob73 said:

   
According to jamato8 it's pretty close:
 
"I am using the JH13 Pros and having so many hours on the DX90, the sound has such impact, I don't think I have heard the 13's sound better, even out of the Hugo."
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/714421/the-dx90-by-ibasso-please-post-just-your-reviews-and-sound-impressions/795#post_10527024

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caruryn said:

  I was kidding.I don't expect it to beat a $2400 dac 

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nc8000 said:

About 12-14 hours give or take

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caruryn said:

  I was kidding.I don't expect it to beat a $2400 dac 

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