[H20Fidelity]

Thanks for this, mine was the same, I've fixed it up. (mine was purchased from an Australian store late last year)

 

[howdy]

 
I bought my DX90 in early May, in H.K.  The pin is covered by tape.  After I cut the tape, and used a sharp pin to expose the golden pin, I see that it is spring loaded.  i.e. I can push on it, and it will pop back out again.  Thinking about this, I assume that iBasso engineers had a good reason to ground the back cover.  I believe this is to create a Faraday cage/shield, to ground the EMI that is present in the player.  I saw another reader's comment about the digital  circuits in other players having metal shields covering them, but noting that this was not present in the DX90.  This golden ground pin may be an essential part of the design, to absorb the EMI by sending it to ground.  Without this, the EMI may bounce around, and build up, and have a major impact on the electronics. 
 
Another finding is that there is a notch in the back cover, so that the edge of the cover will not catch on the pin, but the notch allows the cover to slide over the golden pin.  There is another common defect here, that the back plate is anodized, so there can be no electrical connection between the pin and the back cover.  This is a common failing in the manufacturing process, that this small detail is overlooked, making the grounding scheme ineffective.  All that is needed is to tape the spot where the pin needs to make connection, before anodizing the metal.  Then peel the tape off afterwards, to expose the bare metal.
 
I used a push pin to scrape the anodization off the area where the pin should ground the back cover, and this I believe is what the engineers meant to do, to ground the metal back cover plate, to reduce EMI.
 
I believe the above is essential to do, to implement the original engineering design.
 
I did the above, and also put new silicone earbuds on my IE800, to create a better seal. (Audio Technica ER-CKM55L works well, I find, for many earphones.  For the IE800, they are fitted onto a IE800 small earbud shaft, with the original earbud removed.)  I did this without thinking that there would be any changes in the SQ, from these very minor changes.  Better bass extension with the better earbud seal, I expected.
 
What I experienced was a major SQ change.  Bass extension that I had not heard before, with impact and speed, and "slam", and more micro details and textures, with major improvements in "stage".  Repetetive bass lines which I had though boring, became mesmerizing.  In short, a lot of music was more involving, and had that "toe tapping" urge.
 
The only reason I can think of for these major changes is that the proper grounding is "sinking" the EMI that was previously polluting the processing, and the overall SQ.  Getting rid of it allowed the circuitry to work without handling the noise.  Kind of like cleaning up the AC with a regenerator, or filtering out the noise.  These kind of changes have a major impact on everything.  Deeper background, micro details are not masked, more power available for the Bass, etc.
 
So, for such a minor, no cost change, which just needs a little work, I think this is a must do.  If you get some or all of the improvements which I'm seeing, great.  Even if you get much less, you will still be doing the right thing, to ground the back cover properly.  And maybe you'll get some good SQ improvement.......Anyways, what do you have to lose?  And I would be very curious to see if anybody else observes improvements.


 

 

this was an issue with the DX50 as well, i had to cut the plastic around the pin to expose it more so the spring would push it out more making contact with the back plate.

 

[uli87]

   
I bought my DX90 in early May, in H.K.  The pin is covered by tape.  After I cut the tape, and used a sharp pin to expose the golden pin, I see that it is spring loaded.  i.e. I can push on it, and it will pop back out again.  Thinking about this, I assume that iBasso engineers had a good reason to ground the back cover.  I believe this is to create a Faraday cage/shield, to ground the EMI that is present in the player.  I saw another reader's comment about the digital  circuits in other players having metal shields covering them, but noting that this was not present in the DX90.  This golden ground pin may be an essential part of the design, to absorb the EMI by sending it to ground.  Without this, the EMI may bounce around, and build up, and have a major impact on the electronics. 
 
Another finding is that there is a notch in the back cover, so that the edge of the cover will not catch on the pin, but the notch allows the cover to slide over the golden pin.  There is another common defect here, that the back plate is anodized, so there can be no electrical connection between the pin and the back cover.  This is a common failing in the manufacturing process, that this small detail is overlooked, making the grounding scheme ineffective.  All that is needed is to tape the spot where the pin needs to make connection, before anodizing the metal.  Then peel the tape off afterwards, to expose the bare metal.
 
I used a push pin to scrape the anodization off the area where the pin should ground the back cover, and this I believe is what the engineers meant to do, to ground the metal back cover plate, to reduce EMI.
 
I believe the above is essential to do, to implement the original engineering design.
 
I did the above, and also put new silicone earbuds on my IE800, to create a better seal. (Audio Technica ER-CKM55L works well, I find, for many earphones.  For the IE800, they are fitted onto a IE800 small earbud shaft, with the original earbud removed.)  I did this without thinking that there would be any changes in the SQ, from these very minor changes.  Better bass extension with the better earbud seal, I expected.
 
What I experienced was a major SQ change.  Bass extension that I had not heard before, with impact and speed, and "slam", and more micro details and textures, with major improvements in "stage".  Repetetive bass lines which I had though boring, became mesmerizing.  In short, a lot of music was more involving, and had that "toe tapping" urge.
 
The only reason I can think of for these major changes is that the proper grounding is "sinking" the EMI that was previously polluting the processing, and the overall SQ.  Getting rid of it allowed the circuitry to work without handling the noise.  Kind of like cleaning up the AC with a regenerator, or filtering out the noise.  These kind of changes have a major impact on everything.  Deeper background, micro details are not masked, more power available for the Bass, etc.
 
So, for such a minor, no cost change, which just needs a little work, I think this is a must do.  If you get some or all of the improvements which I'm seeing, great.  Even if you get much less, you will still be doing the right thing, to ground the back cover properly.  And maybe you'll get some good SQ improvement.......Anyways, what do you have to lose?  And I would be very curious to see if anybody else observes improvements.


 

 
Thanks for bringing this up
 
I also got my DX90 early on, and as expected, there was no gold pin showing when I took off the back cover. I took a needle and punctured the tape, revealing the golden pin. I see that Lurker0 did not mention anything about the scratch on the back cover, or anything that has to be done to it though.
 
You shouldn't have changed the tips on your IE800, now we won't know what the jump in SQ came from

 

[MaitreH]

Hello to anyone.
 
I would like to ask Paul ( of Ibasso ) some questions and suggest some things for the next firmware :
But, first I have to say that I like to listen all my music ( about 3000 songs ) in randomize mode, but very often I like to listen to a particular song. So I use very often “search mode”.
After this song, I’m going back to “all my music” and listen randomly. But sometimes, it’going to a song that I don’t really want to listen but I would like to listen to a song by the same artist, or which is in the same album.
 
-        For that, an old Sony NW-HD5 was perfect You should find and try it. The firmware was very simple, but very convenient. For example, it allowed to navigate into your musique, artists albums, tracks, etc... and to return to previous file very easily. Moreover, when you find the track you want to listen, the next track could be a track choosen randomly in all the music, it is very convenient). On DX90, next track is inevitably in the same directory ( usually the same album so, if you have classified your SD like this : Artist/album/tracks). On this Sony ( and others I think ), there were two randomize mode : on all music or … not ( is it clear ? )
-        Why DX90 doesn’t memorize the previous song when you listen to music in random mode ? in Random mode, if you press to “previous track” or “next track”, it’s the same…
-        The player could play music, when starting, like a cowon, or even a hifiman ( no ? ).
-        It should display all track name or Artist name or album name, even if file is too long.
-        Does the DX 90 displays lyrics, if there are in music file ?
 
Sorry for my bad English.
 
H.

 

[nc8000]

Artist, album and track names are displayed in full, you just need to scroll it.

Lyrics are not displayed.

Random mode is of no interest to me personally as I always play one complete album from start to finish.

 

[shane55]

Artist, album and track names are displayed in full, you just need to scroll it.

 
Sorry, that's not true (on my device, anyway). Even when scrolling long titles, they stop and do not contain the entire title. And if music Info is selected, long titles are truncated there as well.
There is obviously a limit to the length the device displays.

 

[HiFiChris]

 
[...] The player could play music, when starting, like a cowon, or even a hifiman ( no ? ). [...]
 
 

 
Please don't add that feature. But well, if you do, let us decide whether or not in the system settings.
Auto Resume really bothers me on the FiiO DAPs.
 
I only like this feature for sports and I neither use the iBasso nor the FiiO for that purpose as they're too big and heavy.

 

[nc8000]

Sorry, that's not true (on my device, anyway). Even when scrolling long titles, they stop and do not contain the entire title. And if music Info is selected, long titles are truncated there as well.
There is obviously a limit to the length the device displays.

You must have extremely long titles then

 

[Kerouac]

You must have extremely long titles then

Maybe some titles like this?
 
Regretting What I Said to You When You Called Me 11:00 On a Friday Morning to Tell Me that at 1:00 Friday Afternoon You're Gonna Leave Your Office, Go Downstairs, Hail a Cab to Go Out to the Airport to Catch a Plane to Go Skiing in the Alps for Two Weeks, Not that I Wanted to Go With You, I Wasn't Able to Leave Town, I'm Not a Very Good Skier, I Couldn't Expect You to Pay My Way, But After Going Out With You for Three Years I DON'T Like Surprises!!
 
Artist: Christine Lavin
Album: Future Fossils

 

[nc8000]

Maybe some titles like this?


 


Regretting What I Said to You When You Called Me 11:00 On a Friday Morning to Tell Me that at 1:00 Friday Afternoon You're Gonna Leave Your Office, Go Downstairs, Hail a Cab to Go Out to the Airport to Catch a Plane to Go Skiing in the Alps for Two Weeks, Not that I Wanted to Go With You, I Wasn't Able to Leave Town, I'm Not a Very Good Skier, I Couldn't Expect You to Pay My Way, But After Going Out With You for Three Years I DON'T Like Surprises!!


 


Artist: Christine Lavin

Album: Future Fossils

That is one long title, but why would anybody need to see that entire title on a dap screen ?

 

[Kerouac]

 

  Maybe some titles like this?
   
  Regretting What I Said to You When You Called Me 11:00 On a Friday Morning to Tell Me that at 1:00 Friday Afternoon You're Gonna Leave Your Office, Go Downstairs, Hail a Cab to Go Out to the Airport to Catch a Plane to Go Skiing in the Alps for Two Weeks, Not that I Wanted to Go With You, I Wasn't Able to Leave Town, I'm Not a Very Good Skier, I Couldn't Expect You to Pay My Way, But After Going Out With You for Three Years I DON'T Like Surprises!!
   
  Artist: Christine Lavin

Album: Future Fossils

That is one long title, but why would anybody need to see that entire title on a dap screen ?

I really don't know the answer to that question.
Btw, the above was only the result when I googled for ''longest songtitle'', I don't know the song itself...

 

[shane55]

You must have extremely long titles then

 
Some are fairly lengthy... especially classical, where the composer (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), DOB & DOD (1756 - 1791), Name of piece (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), title of movement (Singt dem großen Bassa Lieder), etc. are all included unless you do some parsing.
AND... more, like the orchestra and director / conductor: Georg Solti - Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
or
e.g. Yo-Yo Ma - Cello, London Symphony Orchestra w - Edward Elgar Cello Concerto, Op. 85 - I. Adagio; Moderato, Lento; II. Allegro Molto

 

[nc8000]

Some are fairly lengthy... especially classical, where the composer (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), DOB & DOD (1756 - 1791), Name of piece (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), title of movement (Singt dem großen Bassa Lieder), etc. are all included unless you do some parsing.
AND... more, like the orchestra and director / conductor: Georg Solti - Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
or
e.g. Yo-Yo Ma - Cello, London Symphony Orchestra w - Edward Elgar Cello Concerto, Op. 85 - I. Adagio; Moderato, Lento; II. Allegro Molto

In my opinion that is clearly a misuse of the song title, substantial parts of that belong in the artist and album tags, but I do realize that tagging is a highly personal preference

 

[shane55]

In my opinion that is clearly a misuse of the song title, substantial parts of that belong in the artist and album tags, but I do realize that tagging is a highly personal preference

 
Oh... I agree.
The problem is that there is a huge inconsistency in the recording industry when it comes to this. Often they don't know what to put where, what is the artist? Is it the composer, the orchestra or the conductor... or the soloist? Minor debate going on about this, and the whole thing stinks and so they just jam as much info into the tag as possible. And some albums are tagged all hodge-podge as well. If it's an album of American Masterpieces and it has Stravinsky, Ives, Copland, etc... They all become part of the 'Album' title. Then there are the 'pieces'.
How about the name of the piece? If it is a movement in the piece, do you include the whole composition name each time, with the movement notation (Andante) afterwards? What if there is more than one 'Andante'?
 
Classical presents such a s#*tload of tag problems, it's really not fun.
 
Often it's just too much of a PITA to go through and edit all the titles.
 
But the DX90 should be able to accommodate them, regardless of length.

 

[nc8000]

Yes tagging classical is a pain. I normally go with the composer as artist, the name of the piece as album and the names of the movements (or numbers in operaes) as track titles but this is clearly a compromise and there are many recordings that dont lend themself to this style