[lin0003]

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I already have the DX100. I can wait.

Same here

 

[GiantTree]

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the dx50 is made out of plastic right? or at least the mock up ?

The top and button of the mock up is aluminum.

 

[Retrias]

Oh thanks, I would hope for aluminum casing , but i guess half plastic and half aluminum is fine, I just like the nice touch the aluminum gives to some daps/phones

 

[FatmanSize48]

I'm fine with half and half as plastic is lighter than aluminum.

 

[LarsHP]

Regarding compability of future (larger) microSD cards, ClieOS wrote this in the FiiO X5 thread:
 
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SDXC comes in two standards: the current one we are using is the 3.0 version that also define SDHC. With 3.0 standard, SDHC and SDXC have the same pins configuration and power requirement. The difference is, SDHC uses FAT32 for formatting while SDXC uses exFAT. However, FAT32 supports up to 2TB, same as exFAT, so you can format a SDXC card with FAT32 and the SD reader itself should not know the difference. However, exFAT is a Microsoft thing so if you plug a FAT32 formatted SDXC card into a Windows PC, it will always ask you to reformat it back to exFAT - this is Microsoft way of trying to trick people to stick to exFAT. With a compatible card reader however (like the one inside X3), even a Windows PC will allow read/write on FAT32 formatted SDXC card. So in theory, X3 should support up to 2TB of SDXC card, right? Well, not so fast.
 
At current stage, the reading/writing speed of v3 standard is enough (SD is max'ed around 256GB while microSD is max'ed around 64GB). But once we move toward 1TB and 2TB, the reading/writing speed will likely not be fast enough. To solve this, the version 4.0 will replace the current version 3 standard. With version 4 card, it will requires extra pins and different power requirement. V4 card reader will be backward compatible to V3 card, but the V4 card will not work on V3 reader. So the simple truth is, though iBasso claims the DX50 is future proof, it really isn't - if the future 2TG SDXC card is V4 standard, neither DX50 or X3 will be able to read it. At this point, no one really know when V4 standard will be used, so claiming future compatibility is mostly just a wishful thinking.

 
In other words, it is uncertain if the DX50 will in fact be able to read a future - say 256GB or even larger - microSD card. When the 128GB microSD cards come out (which I expect won't be in the distant future) we will see if it sticks to the current date standard or if it will step up to the new 4.0 standard and thus be able or unable to be used in the DX50.

 

[ClieOS]

The good news is that no company is interested in SD 4.0 at the moment, as almost all of them are still into SDXC standard. There are early 4.0 spec that is also compatible to 3.0 spec, by actual combining to 2 separate controller inside one card. Don't know how well that will go or whether it will even make it to the market. SD 4.0 is supposed to start taking over market in 2011, yet no manufacturer is releasing any actual products so far. At this point, we might just as well just skip over SD 4.0 and move to 5.0.

 

[Theogenes]

Interesting stuff. Seems like a pretty bad gaffe on the part of the Fiio engineers and/or marketing guys though. 

 

[thegrobe]

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Interesting stuff. Seems like a pretty bad gaffe on the part of the Fiio engineers and/or marketing guys though. 

How is that a gaffe on Fiio's part? They have only ever promised delivering current technology. IBasso on the other hand are making claims for "2TB" capacity which according to ClieOS is "wishful thinking"

 

[zzffnn]

I found iBasso to overly optimistic, and potentially misleading, in claiming support for 2TB microSDXC. In reality, the microSD slots in Fiio X3, X5, iBasso DX50 and any current gen slot player are of the exact same type (i.e., what ClieOS referred to as V3 standard). Meaning if iBasso DX50 can support 2TB microSDXC, Fiio X3 / X5 and every current slot player can support 2TB as well.
 
I said the following 2 weeks ago in this thread, yet it seemed that few understood my comment. Just note that if hardware of SDXC/microSDXC is changed (e.g., >= 512GB cards may adopt v4/v5 standard), none of the current gen slots/media players may provide support. 
 
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I am confused about DX50's claim of "2TB" microSDXC support. 
 
2TB is just the theoretical storage limit of SDXC, assuming that hardware is compatible. Current gen 128GB (and maybe 256GB) SDXC can be formatted to fat32 and used in any current portable device with SD card slot. But there is no guarantee that future SDXC cards will have the same hardware; any change in pin setting or power consumption can easily render current SD slots unusable. 

 

[Sorensiim]

There is nothing misleading AT ALL.
 
The current microSDXC standard supports up to 2TB cards. Ibassos implementation supports exFAT, so any card following the standard will be supported. This includes 2TB cards which are theoretically possible. Impractical with current transfer speeds, but possible. I, for one, applaud Ibasso for adding exFAT support, unlike the DX100 which tops out at 32gb (unless you format your 64gb cards to FAT).

 

[zzffnn]

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There is nothing misleading AT ALL.
 
The current microSDXC standard supports up to 2TB cards. Ibassos implementation supports exFAT, so any card following the standard will be supported. This includes 2TB cards which are theoretically possible. Impractical with current transfer speeds, but possible. I, for one, applaud Ibasso for adding exFAT support, unlike the DX100 which tops out at 32gb (unless you format your 64gb cards to FAT).

 
Are you sure iBasso DX50 supports exFAT? Please provide credible source. 
 
exFAT is just a file system though. We should not assume that pin setting, power consumption and hardware spec will remain the same (remember, the largest commercially available SDXC is currently 256GB -- we are assuming things beyond that -- future 2TB support is just a theoretical assumption without considering any potential hardware change). Those hardware will likely change, in fact, to provide faster processing / transfer speed and make things realistically usable. 
 
I will be really glad though, if iBasso DX50, Fiio X3 / X5 can realistically work with 2TB microSDXC cards (what is the point of a 2TB claim if it is not realistically usable). I may stop my portable upgrade path right there   Edit: I will stop this 2TB discussion herein to avoid further distraction or unnecessary arguments. 

 

[Marburger]

who needs realistically 2tb of music on the go? i can not imagine how long will it take to listen to 100 gb of music. p.s. i have seen too the 2tb sdxc support on their website. But i think it is more for the marketing purpose. For me usability matters first.

 

[Sorensiim]

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Are you sure iBasso DX50 supports exFAT? Please provide credible source. 
 
exFAT is just a file system though. We should not assume that pin setting, power consumption and hardware spec will remain the same (remember, the largest commercially available SDXC is currently 256GB -- we are assuming things beyond that -- future 2TB support is just a theoretical assumption without considering any potential hardware change). Those hardware will likely change, in fact, to provide faster processing / transfer speed and make things realistically usable. 
 
I will be really glad though, if iBasso DX50, Fiio X3 / X5 can realistically work with 2TB microSDXC cards (what is the point of a 2TB claim if it is not realistically usable). I may stop my portable upgrade path right there   Edit: I will stop this 2TB discussion herein to avoid further distraction or unnecessary arguments. 

***...
 
There is a standard called microSDXC. It defines how the cards are shaped and how they work. You know, things like pin setting, power consumption and hardware spec. That standard also says the cards should be formatted with exFAT file system when they're bigger than 32gb. The DX50 will support cards up to 2TB, thereby exFAT. All these things are standardized, which is why we call it a standard. It's also the reason that Ibasso can claim support for 2TB cards, as they know their player will support them once somebody actually manages to cram that much storage into that small space. So, Ibasso has made no false claims at all. The only problem is that so far, 64gb micro SDXC are the largest financially viable cards. Once Sandisk & friends figures out how to increase the data density 32 times the current level, Ibasso will be ready. Because their player supports the standard.

 

[Sorensiim]

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who needs realistically 2tb of music on the go? i can not imagine how long will it take to listen to 100 gb of music. p.s. i have seen too the 2tb sdxc support on their website. But i think it is more for the marketing purpose. For me usability matters first.

I carry 2x64gb in my DX100 (onboard + micro SD) but I could probably trim that to fit within 8+64gb if I needed to. I'd be happy to see a 64gb version of the DX50 though.

 

[CraftyClown]

I have maybe half a terabyte of music in my collection, of which about 200 gig is mastering quality or 24 bit. If all of my collection was to be upgraded to mastering quality that would definitely start getting close to the 2TB mark.
 
I would love to have the ability to carry my entire collection around  

 
Let's be realistic though. They've been talking about getting a 128gig micro sd card out there for a few years now and no one seems any closer to getting there.
 
I think this is just clever marketing on IBasso's part. They are using the maximum capability of the technology as a marketable specification. Nothing wrong with that, but it could be seen by some as misleading as Joe public will be blissfully unaware that a 2TB micro sd card may well never occur within their lifetime! lol
 
Interestingly IRiver took the other route with the AK100 and only announced specs that matched what they had tested the device with (32gig fat32) despite the fact the device was capable of using a 64gig card. It has also been revealed today that the AK100 is capable of accepting exfat cards with a slight firmware tweak.