DX200=Affordable High End Audio. Dual ES9028Pro dacs. AMP1, AMP3, AMP5, AMP7 & AMP8 ***Firmware support now up for AMP9***
Jan 27, 2017 at 8:10 AM Post #3,256 of 22,021
  In reference to a previous question about battery life playing 24/192 AIFF/FLAC and 2.8 /5.6 DSD files only, battery life has been 4.5 - 5.0 hours over several charge / discharge cycles with the following settings:
 
Mango OS
Low gain
Vol. setting: 60
No EQ
Balanced TRRS 2.5
Shure SE486 iems
 
Questions for Paul@ibasso:
1. Is there already screen protector applied? (It looks like there is)
2. Is it PET or  TPU material?
3. Can it be removed without damage to the screen? (I would like to use a tempered glass one instead).
 
Thanks in advance.

wow that bad?
i was considering changing my nwmw1a for the dx200 because i really like the option of using it as a dac for the pc...
but it s main job is to be a DAP and in order to do that it need a decent battery life
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 8:19 AM Post #3,257 of 22,021
  wow that bad?
i was considering changing my nwmw1a for the dx200 because i really like the option of using it as a dac for the pc...
but it s main job is to be a DAP and in order to do that it need a decent battery life

 
If you see the file formats used that members only been playing Hi-Res 24/192 and DSD which are going to demand higher power consumption. Myself getting around 7-8 hours with 16/44 FLAC, pretty certain Mimouille is getting around these amounts as well.
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 8:35 AM Post #3,258 of 22,021
I also managed to spend a good half hour or so auditioning the DX200.

I think I was on the Pure Mode, and didn't realise that there was another mode that I could try. I'm coming from an Onkyo DP-X1 balanced, and I only auditioned the balanced jack

Some brief impressions:
The first thing that struck me was the openness of the staging. It has a 3D sounding stage with excellent width, depth and height. I was listening fresh out of the box and I felt there was a mild haze over the mids and bass wasn't as tight as I thought it could be. I believe this will change after more hours. However, in spite of this, I found the DX200 very rich and full sounding even though the staging was very expansive. Left right stereo separation was excellent, as was imaging of instruments in 3D space. Bass sounding pretty linear with good speed and attack without feeling lean. Vocals were clean and yet bodied, and mids and treble had great timbre. I was also impressed with the detail retrieval and resolution that it produced, it was easily the best sounding dap I've heard my customs out of (the other being a stack). It is definitely a step above the DP-X1 in terms of detail resolution, spaciousness of stage and realism. Looking forward to auditioning again after it has had some burn in time.

Some minor quibbles - in pure mode there is some lag in the UI, and while I was scrolling through my tracks I accidentally selected tracks to be played. However, I believe that this can be easily addressed with a software update by iBasso. Card reading was speedy and only took a few minutes with a 128gb card. Also, because the amp section is presumably very powerful, there was slight hiss with my customs (but that being said this will probably only occur to the most sensitive of iems), but it becomes a non issue when music is playing.
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 8:39 AM Post #3,259 of 22,021
I also managed to spend a good half hour or so auditioning the DX200.

I think I was on the Pure Mode, and didn't realise that there was another mode that I could try. I'm coming from an Onkyo DP-X1 balanced, and I only auditioned the balanced jack

Some brief impressions:
The first thing that struck me was the openness of the staging. It has a 3D sounding stage with excellent width, depth and height. I was listening fresh out of the box and I felt there was a mild haze over the mids and bass wasn't as tight as I thought it could be. I believe this will change after more hours. However, in spite of this, I found the DX200 very rich and full sounding even though the staging was very expansive. Left right stereo separation was excellent, as was imaging of instruments in 3D space. Bass sounding pretty linear with good speed and attack without feeling lean. Vocals were clean and yet bodied, and mids and treble had great timbre. I was also impressed with the detail retrieval and resolution that it produced, it was easily the best sounding dap I've heard my customs out of (the other being a stack). It is definitely a step above the DP-X1 in terms of detail resolution, spaciousness of stage and realism. Looking forward to auditioning again after it has had some burn in time.
Which tracks did you listened to?
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 8:58 AM Post #3,263 of 22,021
In reference to a previous question about battery life playing 24/192 AIFF/FLAC and 2.8 /5.6 DSD files only, battery life has been 4.5 - 5.0 hours over several charge / discharge cycles with the following settings:

Mango OS
Low gain
Vol. setting: 60
No EQ
Balanced TRRS 2.5
Shure SE486 iems

Questions for Paul@ibasso:
1. Is there already screen protector applied? (It looks like there is)
2. Is it PET or  TPU material?
3. Can it be removed without damage to the screen? (I would like to use a tempered glass one instead).

Thanks in advance.


I was expecting it to have at least 7-8hrs with those settings. It dont even have high gain and EQ on.
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 10:27 AM Post #3,265 of 22,021
I think the only DAP that has long battery life is Sony DAP.
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 10:31 AM Post #3,267 of 22,021
i think you forgot about Cowon. They are the top brand for DAP battery life. :)

I would like to try one if I had chance. In my country there is no authorized dealer for this brand.
 
Thanks for the info.
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 10:39 AM Post #3,268 of 22,021
Astell & Kern AK300 vs iBasso DX200.
 
I think we need to view this mini comparison from multpile angles to be fair.
 
Areas like design are important to people, I feel deep down despite AK300 being slightly harder to hold with its sharpish corners (especially without the case) AK have developed some extremely appealing/modern looking players, I do prefer the appearance of AK300 personally overall, it does look closer to what a player should in 2016. Looks aside, I feel the iBasso is easier to wrap your hand around and hold without feeling awkward, especially when accessing the volume wheel and side controls. DX200 has very similar form factor to a (thickish) smartphone which leans in favour for an everyday device, but remember its quite a bit larger than the AK300 (see photo) .Sometimes when you hold an AK unit you can't help feel if you're doing it incorrectly or the units going to slide out of its case unless babied but it will fit inside most pockets. Visually yes, it won me over on day-1. The AK players are well designed.
 
We need to consider DX200's amp modules, full Android capabilities, web browsing, (not that I would) installing apps (even Angry Birds if you're crazy enough), this gives the iBasso a huge advantage in features and versatility at roughly the same price, AK300 does have Tidal to be fair but so can DX200! As much I think AK300's UI is pretty consistent without any bugs its also quite simple looking, straight forward, while the Android mode DX200 player is faster, more colourful and I  personally feel the swiping motions on DX200 are quicker to use than a back arrow located onscreen. Overall, I can't call an 'obvious' winner on the user interfaces but would lean on the appearance and speed of DX200's Android player, especially those swiping motions. It really is quite fast to use.. I must add though DX200 will need the ability in future firmware for on-screen volume adjustments within the app (we must have this soon).
 
 
And the sound...
 
AK300 has a unique house sound with a slight warm tilt to its mid-range, its relatively flat overall which doesn't lend any favours in energy but its timbre and atmosphere makes it sound quite classy, expensive to some degree, I'll always like that about the AK. it does however, always sound too relaxed for me, overly smooth around its mid-range and lacks high levels of detail. DX200 has a very big advantage for people who prefer resolution, clarity, and high energy presentations, AK300 has the kind of mid-range I'm always turning up the volume trying to achieve detail levels my DX90 can practically do, what you end up with is a slightly veiled or under-performing (call it what you will ) mid-range that's lacking vibrancy.
 
As an example, if you've ever plugged a portable amp into a source and thought it sounded a bit smoothed over, lacking transparency or missing detail this is how AK300 sounds to me with my Tralucent IEMs, like there's always a light veil over the sound, and it simply cannot keep up with DX200 in this regard. Soundstage wise and air AK300 can hold ground, also its layering but its just missing so much energy and authority compared to DX200 its a little laughable.
 
(I'm not sure what I'll do with my AK300 atm, its volume wheel is partly faulty, it sounds too relaxed for all my current IEMs and apart from looking pretty awesome and getting used from USB Audio out to my Tralucent DAC doesn't have much of a life here)
 
My DX200 has about 20-30 hours on it, so things would have only improved from here. When we consider DX200 is being compared to other flagship players its not really surprising this is the case. What's more interesting is these two players pricing, they're both around the same price in USD yet one strongly pulls away reaching into a higher realm.
 
 
 

 
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 10:44 AM Post #3,269 of 22,021
Nice mini review.
 
Jan 27, 2017 at 10:51 AM Post #3,270 of 22,021
What's the point of a "pure" mode that can't be used?
But fair enough, let's wait and see. Time will tell.


I imagine the reason for having a player only mode,is that it could save battery power,there are less apps with the potential to cause errors and thus, rather ironically at the moment, a more stable platform for the user.

I'm sure the lag will soon be resolved.
 

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