The Ibasso DX50 is a $239 baby brother to the $830 DX100. Smaller, less powerful, with less onboard storage (8gb vs. 64gb) and using a Wolfson WM8740 24Bit DAC Chip opposed to the ESS Sabre 9018 desktop-class DAC chip in the DX100. However, with a nice onboard amp and a crystal clear analog lineout, the DX50 is quite a bargain and flying off the shelves. Lots of owners means lots of questions, answers and useful tips. This FAQ is created as an attempt to answer some of the most common questions without having to dig through (at the time of this writing) 338 pages with 5057 posts.
The official product page
DX50 using USB OTG. Image stolen from Anakchan's post here.
A company called Meenova has created an absolutely tiny microSD card reader for OTG use that works very well with the DX50 without adding as much bulk as a USB OTG cable + pendrive setup.
Meenova packaging
The DX50 with the Meenova card reader inserted.
Images provided by Musicheaven
Another, more expensive option for adding more storage is using an SD to MicroSD adapter like this. This will allow you to use full-size SD and SDXC cards, available with up to 128gb of storage space. Be sure to protect the fragile cable on these adapters as they are not meant to be exposed like this.
Image stolen from cooperpwc's post here.
Oh yes you can! The DX50 features a crystal clear analog 3.5mm lineout straight from the WM8740 DAC chip. Adding an amp can improve detail retrieval, soundstage, and add raw power.
Image stolen from Sorensiim's post here.
Images stolen from msromike's post here.
The Ibasso DX50
The official product page
- Bit Perfect, Support up to 24Bit/192kHz
- WM8740 24Bit DAC Chip
- Built-in 9V Voltage Swing Headphone AMP
- 2.4" IPS Screen(320*240) with Capacitive Touch Screen, Bonded by OCA
- Up to 24Bit/192kHz Mini Coaxial Output
- 3.5mm Headphone Output, and Line Out
- Three Physical buttons (Rewind, Play/pauses, Forward) on The Top Panel.
- 256-Steps Digital Volume Control
- 8GB Onboard Flash
- Support SDXC and SDHC MicroSD card, up to 2TB (In theory, currently the largest available microSD cards are 64gb)
- 3-Setting Gain Switch
- Audio Formats Supported: APE, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, OGG, MP3
- User Replaceable Battery(Compatible With Samsung Galaxy S3), 14hours Play Time.
Frequency Response: 20Hz~20KHz +/-0.2dB
S/N: -109dB +/-3dB
THD+N: 0.003%
Output Level: 1.5V rms (1kHz 0dB)
Headphne out:
Frequency Response: 20Hz~20KHz +/-1dB
THD+N: 0.004% (32ohm load)
Output Level: 1.2V(Low gain), 1.7V(Mid gain), 3.1V(High Gain)
S/N: -103dB +/-3dB(Low gain), -106dB +/-3dB(Mid gain), -108dB +/-3dB(High Gain) (32ohm Load)
Output Impedance: <0.5ohm
Battery Life: 14hours
Battery Charge Time: 3hours with AC adapter, 5.5hours with PC USB port
Case dimension: 2.52W x 3.98L x 0.67H (inch), 64W x 100L x 17H (mm)
Weight: 146g or 5.15oz
- WM8740 24Bit DAC Chip
- Built-in 9V Voltage Swing Headphone AMP
- 2.4" IPS Screen(320*240) with Capacitive Touch Screen, Bonded by OCA
- Up to 24Bit/192kHz Mini Coaxial Output
- 3.5mm Headphone Output, and Line Out
- Three Physical buttons (Rewind, Play/pauses, Forward) on The Top Panel.
- 256-Steps Digital Volume Control
- 8GB Onboard Flash
- Support SDXC and SDHC MicroSD card, up to 2TB (In theory, currently the largest available microSD cards are 64gb)
- 3-Setting Gain Switch
- Audio Formats Supported: APE, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, OGG, MP3
- User Replaceable Battery(Compatible With Samsung Galaxy S3), 14hours Play Time.
Specifications:
Line out:Frequency Response: 20Hz~20KHz +/-0.2dB
S/N: -109dB +/-3dB
THD+N: 0.003%
Output Level: 1.5V rms (1kHz 0dB)
Headphne out:
Frequency Response: 20Hz~20KHz +/-1dB
THD+N: 0.004% (32ohm load)
Output Level: 1.2V(Low gain), 1.7V(Mid gain), 3.1V(High Gain)
S/N: -103dB +/-3dB(Low gain), -106dB +/-3dB(Mid gain), -108dB +/-3dB(High Gain) (32ohm Load)
Output Impedance: <0.5ohm
Battery Life: 14hours
Battery Charge Time: 3hours with AC adapter, 5.5hours with PC USB port
Case dimension: 2.52W x 3.98L x 0.67H (inch), 64W x 100L x 17H (mm)
Weight: 146g or 5.15oz
FAQ Index
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Charging
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Transfering music and supported files
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Expanding storage
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Scanning
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Playback
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Updating firmware
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Using an external amplifier or DAC
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Is my DX50 dead?
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Bugs?
How do I charge the DX50?
The DX50 is charged via MicroUSB. Either using the included MicroUSB cable to connect to a USB port or a regular MicroUSB smartphone charger. If you connect the DX50 to a computer, playback will stop as the internal storage as well as the MicroSD card is mounted as USB storage on the computer. If you connect to a standard USB charger in a wall socket, the DX50 can be used for playback while charging. 2A chargers will not harm the DX50, only charge it faster.How do I transfer music to the DX50?
Music is transferred using simple drag-and-drop, simply copy the files to it without the need for special programs like iTunes. You can connect the DX50 to your computer and transfer music to the internal 8gb memory and the microSD card via USB, or simply use a card reader to transfer files to the microSD card - this latter method is quite a bit faster as the DX50 seems to be limited to USB 1.1 transfer speeds.Which music file formats are supported by the DX50?
Just about every single commonly used format: APE, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, OGG and MP3. Embedded artwork is supported.Can I just dump all sorts of files on the DX50 like a USB drive?
Yes, but don't do that. For the best possible experience make sure you don't transfer .cue and .m3u files to the DX50. They are not (yet) completely supported and will result in all sorts of bad behavior, from the scanning just stalling to entire albums that just skip from track to track without playing. If you want to make sure that you only have music files on the unit an easy solution is to connect the microSD card to your computer and search the card for "*.*". This will result in everything on the card being displayed in the search result. Sort the results by file types and delete everything that isn't either music files, cover art or folders.My computer doesn't recognize the DX50!
Turn on the DX50 before connecting it via USB.Should I tag my music files?
Yes, always, even if you don't have a DX50. A great program for doing this in Windows is Mp3Tag which can be downloaded free of charge.My DX50 doesn't find all my music while scanning!
Assuming your file names and tracks are in order, unplug your microSD card and re-insert it - twice. (FW 1.2.2) to trigger a scan. Please note that the Auto power off function is disabled while scanning so the DX50 doesn't shut itself down mid-scan. Should the DX50 repeatedly fail to completely scan your music, perform a factory reset. Go to settings -> Advanced -> Factory reset. The DX50 will now reboot into recovery mode and reset to factory defaults. This will wipe the music database completely and initiate a new scan after rebooting. Should the DX50 not initiate the new scanning, unplug and re-insert the microSD card.Can I swap microSD cards while the DX50 is running?
Yep, no problem. Make sure you let the DX50 finish scanning after inserting a new card. While the DX50 is scanning, auto power-off is disabled.Why can't I see my entire song title on the home page? Why doesn't it scroll?
It does! Just drag your finger across the title. Scrolling is manual rather than continuous.I have a question about music playback...
Well, you're not the first.Why can't I see the entire title of the song that's playing?
If the song you're listening to has a long title, some of it might not fit in the display of the DX50. The DAP won't automatically scroll the title, but you can swipe the song title to reveal the missing bits.Gapless is not working and the first second of every song is missing!
Gapless is working just fine, but you've just experienced a bit of "Engrish". When gapless is set to "Close" it actually means "Off". This is because these words are the same in Chinese and they simply picked the wrong translation. Set it to 5 or 10 seconds and you'll be enjoying your music without gaps and without missing the first second of every song.It takes two seconds for my DX50 to react, should I return it?
Nope, don't do that. Sadly, there is a small lag (0.5 seconds with 16/44.1 material, 1,5 seconds with 24/192) when pressing the pause or previous/next buttons. This is by design and a tradeoff for avoiding any nasty pops in your headphones.Can I add even more storage?
Yes you can, but it won't be pretty. The cheap and easy solution is to use a USB OTG cable to add a USB pendrive. Please note that the DX50 will not index music stored via OTG and you will have to access your music via the "directory" option rather than having it sorted by artist/album etc.DX50 using USB OTG. Image stolen from Anakchan's post here.
A company called Meenova has created an absolutely tiny microSD card reader for OTG use that works very well with the DX50 without adding as much bulk as a USB OTG cable + pendrive setup.
Meenova packaging
The DX50 with the Meenova card reader inserted.
Images provided by Musicheaven
Another, more expensive option for adding more storage is using an SD to MicroSD adapter like this. This will allow you to use full-size SD and SDXC cards, available with up to 128gb of storage space. Be sure to protect the fragile cable on these adapters as they are not meant to be exposed like this.
Image stolen from cooperpwc's post here.
Should I update the firmware? How?
Ibasso is hard at work ironing out bugs, adding features and generally improving the firmware of the DX50. To update your DX50, follow these steps:- Download the latest firmware, currently 1.2.8. Either from Ibasso or from a mirror (Faster).
- Unzip the file you downloaded and transfer the update.img file to the internal memory of the DX50
- On the DX50, eject your microSD card for good measure (purely optional as the firmware impacts the internal memory only).
- Go to Settings -> Advanced -> System Update and click OK .The DX50 will now reboot into recovery mode and start updating the firmware. When completed, the DX50 will reboot.
Power off the DX50
Press the "Volume up" button just before pressing the "Power" button and then HOLD THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY
The DX50 will now boot into the recovery menu. Use the volume buttons to navigate the menu up/down and select "Factory reset". Use the power button to confirm your choice. - Go to settings -> Advanced -> Factory reset. The DX50 will now reboot into recovery mode and reset to factory defaults.
- When the DX50 has finished booting back up, insert your microSD card again. The DX50 will now initiate a scan to update the music database.
Can I use my DX50 with an external amp?
Oh yes you can! The DX50 features a crystal clear analog 3.5mm lineout straight from the WM8740 DAC chip. Adding an amp can improve detail retrieval, soundstage, and add raw power.
Image stolen from Sorensiim's post here.
But the lineout is variable, is it a true lineout then?
Yes, the lineout completely bypasses the Internal amp of the DX50. It just so happens that Ibasso has implemented the volume control in the digital domain, directly on the DAC chip. This ensures a perfectly controlled 255-step volume setting with zero channel imbalance or potmeter noise - just like they did on the $830 DX100. This also means that you can control the volume of the lineout. For best results, turn it all the way up to 255 when you are using an amp. Should your amp be too powerful for use with your IEMs or sensitive headphones, feel free to lower the volume on the DX50. Congratulations, you just added 255 more gain settings to your amp!Can I use the DX50 with an external DAC?
Oh yes you can! The DX50 features a 3.5mm digital COAX output allowing you to use an external DAC of your choice. This will allow you to digitally connect the DX50 to your home setup for use as a transport only or to use a balanced portable DAC like the Ibasso DB2 for instance.Images stolen from msromike's post here.
OMG I think my DX50 just died!!
So, your DX50 no longer responds to anything and all you get on the screen is a triangle with an exclamation mark in it? Don't worry, you're not out of luck, just out of power. Recharge your DX50 and you'll be fine
