iBasso DX160 - The listening experience only gets better and better. ******NEW FW 1.09 - link 1st page.******
Dec 15, 2019 at 2:35 PM Post #1,909 of 7,008
Has anyone listened to tidal offline on the dx 160. Does it go through Androids resampling?

Yes it’s about 90% of my use case and it works flawlessly, Master are correctly sampled up to 192Khz and it sounds amazing :D iBasso implementation of working around android native downsampling is perfect.
 
Dec 16, 2019 at 2:04 PM Post #1,912 of 7,008
I'm in a little dilema so I'm going to speak out loud here, or rather type out loud. I'm looking to get a DAP for portable use. I already have the E1DA 9038s to connect with my phone.

But then it gets a little troublesome to keep fiddling with things connected to the phone all the time, especially while walking around.

So i have shortlisted iBasso dx160, Fiio MK11 pro & Astel&Kern Kann. The dx160 is the cheapest of the 3 that I have narrowed down but from all that I have heard and read it seems to be pretty good. Would I miss anything if I go with dx160 instead of any of the other 2.

Thanks in advance.
 
Dec 16, 2019 at 2:19 PM Post #1,913 of 7,008
I'm in a little dilema so I'm going to speak out loud here, or rather type out loud. I'm looking to get a DAP for portable use. I already have the E1DA 9038s to connect with my phone.

But then it gets a little troublesome to keep fiddling with things connected to the phone all the time, especially while walking around.

So i have shortlisted iBasso dx160, Fiio MK11 pro & Astel&Kern Kann. The dx160 is the cheapest of the 3 that I have narrowed down but from all that I have heard and read it seems to be pretty good. Would I miss anything if I go with dx160 instead of any of the other 2.

Thanks in advance.

I haven't heard those two DAPs (MK11 Pro and Kann) myself, so I can't answer your question directly.
However, the general consensus seems to be that in terms of sound quality, iBasso's DX220 flagship is at least on roughly equal terms with those two DAPs - many would rank it much higher, especially with AMP8 or one of the modded AMP8W or AMP8EX units. Of course, some might prefer one of those other DAPs because we all have different tastes and preferences.
However, I'm talking here about what seems to be the general consensus on some threads and reviews I've read.

Now, I own both DX220 with the default AMP1 Mk II and also a modded AMP8W that was previously a regular AMP8).
What I *can* say is that the DX160 is only very slightly behind those. I listen to both, but the DX160 gets the majority of my listening time, simply because it's so much more portable, sleek, slick, fast and gorgeous to behold :)
[Edit: after some extensive A/B critical testing of the DX160 vs DX220, I feel the difference between them is greater than I previously thought - full review hopefully tomorrow - however the DX160 is still excellent and all my other comments regarding its portability, speed and so forth remain unchanged!]

Since you specifically mentioned buying a DAP for portable use, I'd be looking at the DX160 over either of the alternatives you suggested, if portability (weight and size) are going to be factors in your decision.

Hope this helps :)
 
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Dec 16, 2019 at 3:37 PM Post #1,914 of 7,008
AudioMoksha

I bought the dx 160 for my wife, she wants to basically have a better ipod touch, thats what the dx160 is. I installed pandora and tidal on it for her and youtube.

I bought a sony walkman. NO fills, just sound quality with my own music. Even has a lock button. Sound quality to me is number one. I dont care about streaming. I have my own libarry. Im coming from a ibasso dx50 and 80. Love just how simple they were. The new players have so many features. I just want the best sound.

Just my two cents.

musicguy

 
Dec 16, 2019 at 9:03 PM Post #1,915 of 7,008
I'm in a little dilema so I'm going to speak out loud here, or rather type out loud. I'm looking to get a DAP for portable use. I already have the E1DA 9038s to connect with my phone.

But then it gets a little troublesome to keep fiddling with things connected to the phone all the time, especially while walking around.

So i have shortlisted iBasso dx160, Fiio MK11 pro & Astel&Kern Kann. The dx160 is the cheapest of the 3 that I have narrowed down but from all that I have heard and read it seems to be pretty good. Would I miss anything if I go with dx160 instead of any of the other 2.

Thanks in advance.
Yes i agree with @Layman1 about DX160 being the no brainer for a portable setup because of its footprint. I dont think HeadPhoneZone has stock as yet or do they have it now? Or are you getting it from somewhere else.
 
Dec 17, 2019 at 3:55 AM Post #1,916 of 7,008
I finally got the hear the DX160 today, and compare it to the Hiby R6 Pro.

I checked the Wifi / BT was connected, and listed with player paused, and whilst playing music, and couldn't hear anything untoward on the DX 160.

I also discovered that if you headphones have a mic on them (like on my B&W P7W), that the sound is intentionally crap, so as to discourage you from using them, as it would be perverting the pure audio coming out of the unit.

So, agreeing with the sales guy, that this probably wasn't the unit for me, ... I asked him if he'd had any returns here in Singapore.

Firstly, they've sold waaaaay more of these that the R6 Pro, and only had one defective unit so far, ... but nothing to do with hiss / interference etc.

I was pretty impressed with the sound out of it -- honestly I couldn't tell the difference between that and the R6 Pro!

There was quite a big difference in weight tough, as the R6 Pro was the stainless steel version! It was like holding a tank in my left hand, and an iPhone in the other. Super solid, .. but probably too heavy to be lugging around in your pocked all day.

Anyway, ... so from my small test - sound quality was great - and no noise / hiss to be heard.

bro do you have impressions on soundstage and seperation, r6 pro vs dx160

compared to my m11, r6 pro killed the seperation for me
 
Dec 17, 2019 at 4:57 AM Post #1,917 of 7,008
The truth is that when it comes just to the SQ, u cant buy a better DAP than Dethonray dtr1. For 550 dollars u re getting the sound quality from the price level of 1500-2200 dol. But u have to sacrifice all the android features, no bt, no wifi, no touch screen, no balanced out (it doesnt need BL to be honest). So ask yourlself if SQ is the most important thing to you. Honestly, u cant buy really great sounding DAP with android for less than 1600 euros. The implementation of all the cuircuits, the whole package of hi grade components in such a small boxes, need high level of engineering. And that is expensive.
 
Dec 17, 2019 at 7:06 AM Post #1,918 of 7,008
Hestia,thank you very much for this advice! Like many others I couldn't get my windows 10 laptop to recognise the player and was on the point of buying a new short cable. It would be so much easier if there was a proper, comprehensive manual available. Instead of leaving their customers fumbling in the dark ibasso really need to sort a manual out ASAP.
 
Dec 17, 2019 at 7:54 AM Post #1,919 of 7,008
Apologies for the dumb question, but can DAPs like the dx160, r5, etc... create/modify/use playlists? Does it take a separate program or editor? I'm coming from the ipod world, and playlists (or something similar) are an important part of the user experience for me.
 
Dec 17, 2019 at 9:14 AM Post #1,920 of 7,008
bro do you have impressions on soundstage and seperation, r6 pro vs dx160

compared to my m11, r6 pro killed the seperation for me
bro do you have impressions on soundstage and seperation, r6 pro vs dx160

compared to my m11, r6 pro killed the seperation for me

Sounds like Singapore doing better than UK then with Five used dx160 currently being sold on eBay...from one distributor..
 

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