[LCMusicLover]

Thanks for the info on the times we can expect some information. I actually live in Jersey, which is a small (9 x 5) mile island between England and France.

I should probably hold off on the CB13, with the IT04 coming out.

@Darren Cotter:

I don't know about SQ vs CB13, but I will say that the aesthetics of CB12 are very nice (for $110/£87 less). Looks nice, very supple, with not even a whisper of microphonics. It's the only cable I've been able to use while riding my bike on a windy day without hating.

 

[jamato8]

Since updating to the latest FW and using the AMP2, AMP1 is also great with the latest FW, the dynamic increase and "life" to the music has really surprised me. It is like the DX200 has been unleashed. The bass seems to go lower and is very well controlled, doesn't intrude into the lower mid but maintains a wonderful line. Transparency has increased as has layering and overall depth and width. I hear more hall reverb and decay. I find that I am using a lower volume because the dynamics, being very natural, require me to play music a little quiet or the peaks are too loud, much like in live music, where you have true quiet moments and explosive dynamics. I don't have another DAP now that can match this.

 

[twister6]

Thanks for the info on the times we can expect some information. I actually live in Jersey, which is a small (9 x 5) mile island between England and France.

I should probably hold off on the CB13, with the IT04 coming out.

Well, that sounds like more fun than New Jersey place I'm from

 

[davidmolliere]

First impressions from amp2 are every bit of what I have read, especially about musicality and that's fresh out of the box I bet it will grow sweeter as it burns in
I bet it will pair beautifully with reference or analytical IEMs, I have tried them first with the Flares PRO and that's a very sweet match.
I'll see but I am not sure it will pair as well as amp1 with the Vega given its character.

Will check but I think amp2 would be short on power with the Elear (this one might like amp4 although amp1 is powerful enough to drive them well).

Since updating to the latest FW and using the AMP2, AMP1 is also great with the latest FW, the dynamic increase and "life" to the music has really surprised me. It is like the DX200 has been unleashed. The bass seems to go lower and is very well controlled, doesn't intrude into the lower mid but maintains a wonderful line. Transparency has increased as has layering and overall depth and width. I hear more hall reverb and decay. I find that I am using a lower volume because the dynamics, being very natural, require me to play music a little quiet or the peaks are too loud, much like in live music, where you have true quiet moments and explosive dynamics. I don't have another DAP now that can match this.

Well said!

 

[jamato8]

First impressions from amp2 are every bit of what I have read, especially about musicality and that's fresh out of the box I bet it will grow sweeter as it burns in
I bet it will pair beautifully with reference or analytical IEMs, I have tried them first with the Flares PRO and that's a very sweet match.
I'll see but I am not sure it will pair as well as amp1 with the Vega given its character.

Will check but I think amp2 would be short on power with the Elear (this one might like amp4 although amp1 is powerful enough to drive them well).



Well said!

AMP2 should work fine with the Elear unless they are much harder to drive than the Utopia. I listen with the Utopia all the time now and use them around 100 with the AMP2 and that leave 1/3 of the volume range to go. Way more than enough headroom with the amp. I listen to a lot of live music and that is my barometer, not recorded music and this gets much of the way there. No it isn't a speaker system or live but on well recorded music, it is like a live feed now, so very open and layered. A wonderful flow and ebb to the music and that Is what it is all about.

 

[CracKinGDucK]

First impressions from amp2 are every bit of what I have read, especially about musicality and that's fresh out of the box I bet it will grow sweeter as it burns in
I bet it will pair beautifully with reference or analytical IEMs, I have tried them first with the Flares PRO and that's a very sweet match.
I'll see but I am not sure it will pair as well as amp1 with the Vega given its character.

Will check but I think amp2 would be short on power with the Elear (this one might like amp4 although amp1 is powerful enough to drive them well).



Well said!

I am sure AMP2 will pair with vega pretty well especially it is said it is similar to Tia Fourte.

Tia Fourte in amp2 is better IMO than in amp1, it plays its musicality to the best possible way.

 

[seamon]

I am sure AMP2 will pair with vega pretty well especially it is said it is similar to Tia Fourte.

I don't think Vega and tia are even in the same leasgue. Vega is at par(to me below) the U12/A12 at best. The biggest complaints of the Vega imo is that it's not airy and the bass overpowers the mids somewhat. Also Treble and sibilance issues. The biggest complaints of the U12/A12 is the utterly fked up Treble.

tia forte improves improves on both of these. They just have everything you want.

 

[davidmolliere]

I am sure AMP2 will pair with vega pretty well especially it is said it is similar to Tia Fourte. Tia Fourte in amp2 is better IMO than in amp1, it plays its musicality to the best possible way.

Hmmm, first listen with the Vega confirms my impressions that it would not be the best match (for my taste). I actually had to turn down the volume to half what I use with amp1 as the bass and lower mids were overpowering, and the single ended output of amp 1 is roughly equal to amp 2. I have not heard the Tia Fourte but from trusted comparisons I gather Tia is airier and overall more balanced even if it's still also a colored presentation (like a much refined U12 with treble sparkle).

Next will be trying out the Elear but as it shares some of the Vega's aspects not sure about it (given what I have read on the Utopia vs Elear, not surprised amp2 would be a good match).

I don't think Vega and tia are even in the same leasgue. Vega is at par(to me below) the U12/A12 at best. The biggest complaints of the Vega imo is that it's not airy and the bass overpowers the mids somewhat. Also Treble and sibilance issues. The biggest complaints of the U12/A12 is the utterly fked up Treble. tia forte improves improves on both of these. They just have everything you want.

As usual our perception regarding U12 vs Vega differ, but Vega is so polarizing (love it or hate it) with its unique (bold?) tuning. Yes, Vega is not airy or doesn"t have the biggest soundstage but that can improve quite a bit and DX200 with amp1 is very good in that respect the Vega "breathe" and find a bit more balance (all of this, with balanced output). On the upside, nothing I have heard beats Vega's physicality (the Elear does a pretty good job of being an "open back brother" of sorts there, except bass is less overpowering than Vega and treble have less sparkle). Vega bass are tremendous but I wouldn't say they overpower the mids when properly powered.

I don't know about Tia, it sure is not in the same price range
I am wary of "same league" stuff, each IEM has a strong suit and some like Vega have a singular (unique?) tuning which makes comparisons tricky... but Tia is one of a kind technologically that's for sure.

But back to amp2 : it's amazingly musical, I just love it!

 

[seamon]

Hmmm, first listen with the Vega confirms my impressions that it would not be the best match (for my taste). I actually had to turn down the volume to half what I use with amp1 as the bass and lower mids were overpowering, and the single ended output of amp 1 is roughly equal to amp 2. I have not heard the Tia Fourte but from trusted comparisons I gather Tia is airier and overall more balanced even if it's still also a colored presentation (like a much refined U12 with treble sparkle).

Next will be trying out the Elear but as it shares some of the Vega's aspects not sure about it (given what I have read on the Utopia vs Elear, not surprised amp2 would be a good match).





As usual our perception regarding U12 vs Vega differ, but Vega is so polarizing (love it or hate it) with its unique (bold?) tuning. Yes, Vega is not airy or doesn"t have the biggest soundstage but that can improve quite a bit and DX200 with amp1 is very good in that respect the Vega "breathe" and find a bit more balance (all of this, with balanced output). On the upside, nothing I have heard beats Vega's physicality (the Elear does a pretty good job of being an "open back brother" of sorts there, except bass is less overpowering than Vega and treble have less sparkle). Vega bass are tremendous but I wouldn't say they overpower the mids when properly powered.

I don't know about Tia, it sure is not in the same price range
I am wary of "same league" stuff, each IEM has a strong suit and some like Vega have a singular (unique?) tuning which makes comparisons tricky... but Tia is one of a kind technologically that's for sure.

But back to amp2 : it's amazingly musical, I just love it!

I did try the Vega with DX200 AMP1 but still didn't find the improvements to be enough.

I thought Elear was a bit jumpy across the midrange like it's desperately trying to grab your attention. Utopia on the other hand, sounds like a boxed perfection. My impression is Utopia sounds like a 3D box(pretty big) around you and it does everything perfectly within that box. It's much more refined than Elear.

The thing about tia is that it has no shortcoming. With all other IEMs, you feel that maybe it's not airy enough but everything else is perfect, not enough bass, not enough Treble sparkle but everything else is perfect and you make a compromise with it because it's almost perfect. The tia removes this almost aspect as in you have no complaints after hearing it.

 

[seamon]

Just updated the firmware to the latest, I can confirm, the imaging becomes much more "3D".
Previously, for my LCD 3, DX200 could now keep up with the Grace Design M920 wrt 3D imaging, now it's pretty close though I'd say M920 is still better(obviously)

 

[thevanquished]

Update on issue with importing playlists:

I have manually created a playlist on the device and pulled it out just to see what kind of format it is using. Here is what i found:
- it is using linux separators (i.e. / instead of \)
- it is not in extended m3u (no headers)
- seems like the paths to your music will need to be in the format of /storage/2529-11E6/<musicpath> (you might need to check if 2529-11E6 is valid for your device as it might be random)

Question to @Paul - iBasso, why do we need to preface our music paths with /storage/2529-11E6/? This is not intuitive at all as i would have never known that my SD card is 2529-11E6, that is not even the name of my SD card... Please provide the necessary feedback to your developers to either change the way playlists are imported (maybe add in the first part of the paths for us during import?) or to change the way playlists are read so that we do not need to include the first part of the music paths.

Thank you very much.

 

[397324]

Hi All

I've just ordered an AMP2 and therefore can't use the CB12 or CB13. Can you guys recommend aftermarket cables I should shortlist for my IT03. My budget is up to £200.

I'd prefer something from Europe but would consider one from the USA for the right cable.

Thanks in advance.

Darren

 

[LCMusicLover]

Hi All

I've just ordered an AMP2 and therefore can't use the CB12 or CB13. Can you guys recommend aftermarket cables I should shortlist for my IT03. My budget is up to £200.

I'd prefer something from Europe but would consider one from the USA for the right cable.

Thanks in advance.

Darren

Fiio L26 (or such) would let you buy balanced cables and use them SE. I use one with my IT03/CB12 and my m1060s with my Shadow home rig.

Advantage is that if you later go back to balanced you don't have to re-cable again. (Wait 're-cable again' might be redundant.)

 

[davidmolliere]

I did try the Vega with DX200 AMP1 but still didn't find the improvements to be enough.

I thought Elear was a bit jumpy across the midrange like it's desperately trying to grab your attention. Utopia on the other hand, sounds like a boxed perfection. My impression is Utopia sounds like a 3D box(pretty big) around you and it does everything perfectly within that box. It's much more refined than Elear.

The thing about tia is that it has no shortcoming. With all other IEMs, you feel that maybe it's not airy enough but everything else is perfect, not enough bass, not enough Treble sparkle but everything else is perfect and you make a compromise with it because it's almost perfect. The tia removes this almost aspect as in you have no complaints after hearing it.

I haven't heard the Utopia, tuning is different from the Elear aside from the technicalities from what I have heard but again like comparing Vega and Tia, not the same price range (at all).
So you went and got yourself both, or just a listen?

I for one don't think any IEM at any price range will be everything to everyone, what music you listen to, what preferences you have, what stack you own etc will be a major factor.
I sure would love getting the Tia or the Utopia (if their tuning fits my taste) but I am not there yet in terms of how much I want to spend on gear.

Now back on amp2 after a few more hours on them : wow, first thing is depth I think it gets much better than amp1 in that department (but yes it's not as wide)... overall more 3D, the dynamics and micro dynamics are reminiscent of what I loved so much about the WM1A

 

[397324]

Fiio L26 (or such) would let you buy balanced cables and use them SE. I use one with my IT03/CB12 and my m1060s with my Shadow home rig.

Advantage is that if you later go back to balanced you don't have to re-cable again. (Wait 're-cable again' might be redundant.)

Thanks for the suggestion. I did think of using a converter but never got around to Googling it.