[keanex]

 
The Good: Dual micro-SD slots; Ease of navigation; Use as a DAC; Multiple audio output options; EQ and gain options.
The Okay: Touch-screen responsiveness is spotty; Some touch functions aren’t intuitive; Overall user experience is just okay; Sound quality; Power output.
The Bad: No search functionality; Price to quality ratio; No built-in memory.
Tonal Balance: N/A, EQ functionality makes it variable.
Cost: $348
 

Reviewing Process

I’ve had the DX80 as my portable media player for approximately 3 months now. I’ve used it mostly as a standalone portable device, while using it through the Aux in my car, and with the FiiO E17k. I’ve used the DX80 almost exclusively with my MeeAudio P1 and my Shozy Zero IEM.
 
While I feel comfortable sharing my opinion on the DX80, this is just one man’s view and nothing beats personal experience. Always try before you buy when possible as experience always trumps reviews. Thanks iBasso for the review unit.
 

Build Quality

Overall feel is high-quality when held and handled. Mostly metal in construction with solid feeling buttons and input jacks. The micro USB input is slightly off-center and a bit too recessed for my liking, making for me having to double-check to verify the USB connection. The micro SD slots also feel a bit too recessed - I find it a mild pain in the butt to insert and remove them. Overall this feels high-quality, lacks the full polish of a device at this price though.
 

Features & Functionality

Physical
Physically the DX80 offers SPDIF out, line-out, headphone out, and the ability to be used as a USB dac. This gives the DX80 some versatility in its use. While I have no use for anything other than the line-out and the headphone out, others will potentially see value in these. Dual micro-sd slots are a welcome addition, making for a lot of room for high-quality MP3 files or for a sizeable amount of FLAC files. Unfortunately iBasso has provided no internal storage, which is disappointing when looking at the price. The DX80 also features a decently sized touch screen which looks decent, and functions decently overall, but it’s sluggish and a pain to use on start-up.
 
Battery life seems just okay, I’m neither impressed or upset with it. iBasso rates it as 13 hours of playback, but I think that’s a bit generous. It must be rated that length at conservative settings and usage. On top of the battery life, the charging speed feels pretty slow. Specced as 3 hours with a 5V 2amp charger, or 8 hours through computer USB, I’m not sure what’s common, but it feels far too long in usage especially with fast charging being available on many USB devices now.
 
Lastly the DX80 is somewhat bulky, not in height or width, but in thickness. Form fitting jeans will show a bulge in the pocket and also cause some unwanted physical button presses - iBasso please add a way to lock the physical playback buttons. I’d be okay with a slightly larger body height and width wise if it meant for a thinner device.
 
Software
On the software side of things the interface is rather easy to navigate, at least from the perspective of an Android user. My friend, also an Android user, and I had no problems quickly figuring out the interface without any guidance. Some nuances took a little longer to figure out, but overall I think it’s a pretty simple interface to navigate. The interface is divided up into three main screens. By swiping to the left-most screen the user is able to choose from a variety of sorting options in order to choose what to listen to: All Music, Directory, Artist, Genre, Album, or playlist. I think all are pretty self explanatory, and making playlists in the DX80 is an easy task.
 
The center most screen is the “Now Playing” screen which shows cover art, allows for the current song to be quickly added to a playlist, and with a swipe down, it allows for some playback options: Gapless playback, USB settings, Digital Filter, Gain, and Shuffle/Repeat/Normal playback selection. Maybe a bit redundant though since those options are available in the next screen.
 
The last screen is far right and functions as the settings screen. EQ, L/R Balance, Gapless Options, Gain Options, and various other settings are available here.
 
The manual does a good job of explaining the functionality, and how to navigate the interface, so if you find yourself confused just read the manual, or “RTFM” as they say.
 
I find myself disappointed though that the digital filter option is forced on. Having to choose between a “slow roll-off” or “sharp roll-off” neither of which I’d like to have on at all for what it’s worth. Quick impressions for me felt that the sharp roll-off felt a little leaner and a tad punchier in the lows, and that slow roll-off sounded a tad more mellow. Could be sighted bias based on the names though, so take it with a grain of salt.
 
Despite the UI looking rather decent and being somewhat easy to use, I find it feels dated when compared to the various music apps on Android, or even Google Play Music. UI is huge in deciding between DAPs and I’m not impressed with the UI offered here. It works, but it lacks polish - which seems to be a common theme here.
 

Power Output & Impedance

The DX80 is specced at 0.1 ohms output impedance and, well actually I can’t find any output power specs. The DX80 handled the MeeAudio P1 well, though some songs I maxed out the volume and gain on them. They’re rather difficult to drive overall, but they show the limitations of the DX80 in power output being somewhat weak.
 

Sound Quality

Overall sound quality is decent, but disappointing for the price that the DX80 sits at. Compared to my Clip Zip and Clip+, I feel the DX80 sounds noticeably better in the way of clarity while offering more power. That’s something that should be expected given the price difference though, but the DX80 does have some grain itself and sounds a tad more congested than the Clips in sighted listening AB tests. I’m hesitant to talk about the sound signature of the DX80 because it has an easy to use EQ, but overall I find it slightly warm and relaxed without any EQ using the slow roll-off filter.
 
I feel satisfied using the DX80 without an amplifier with most IEMs, though it benefits from even a modest budget amplifier such as the FiiO E17k. Music sounds more lively, sounds a bit cleaner, and offers more power. This leads me to believe that iBasso skimped on the amplifier section in favor of putting dual-DACs in the chassis. This is a bit disappointing to me as it means for more bulk to an already bulky device.
 

Conclusion

The DX80 is a DAP that I enjoy using as my daily driver, but do I like it $300 more than the Clip series? I can’t say that I’d recommend it given the price discrepancy. I’m not sure I even like it over the convenience of using Google Play Music on my Nexus 6P at this point. The DX80 lacks polish and has far too many compromises for a device that costs this much - from the UI, to the weak leaning amplifier, to the lack of internal storage. This is a pretty disappointing offering from a company that has been making DAPs for as long as iBasso has. Without regard for price the DX80 is a nice unit, but once the price is revealed I expect a much more polished unit and this isn’t that.