iBasso D16 Taipan

IBASSO D16 TAIPAN DAC AMP
IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, I has been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAC AMP- IBASSO D16 Taipan DAC AMP.

DISCLAIMER-
The IBASSO D16 DAC AMP is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and IBASSO AND SANDEEP in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it . Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO D16 TAIPAN DAC AMP

PACKAGING-
This is what I call a premium package. The entire thing is packed in a black soft leatherette and is wonderful to touch. The inside has iBasso D16 Taipan, charging cable, USB-C to USB-C OTG Cable, USB-C to Lightning OTG Cable, 2x coax/OPT cables, 2x pouch bags and an beautiful user manual. The pouches are made up of leather with velvet inside which makes it a wonderful case to take the iBasso Dac-amp. It also has another pouch for the cables (black velvet). I loved the packaging a lot this time, even the insides are also softly padded and has velvet.

BUILD-
Ohh it’s a big boy and has some heft to it. There is a case also provided that fits wonderfully with the dac amp and has holes for ventilation too. There’s two volume wheels and one of them is stepped attenuator, so easily changes in volume using the first wheel and then the bigger one for finer increase to ge the perfect volume. Then comes the display it’s a gorgeous display and I love it. The connectors are also really great and have good hold over the headphone wires. The back has the other ports and a on and off switch.
Ohh I did forget about the cables, they are braided and have good fit and heft to them. I liked their build quality, and they will resist time and some twisting for sure.

SPECIFICATIONS-
4.4mm LO:
Output Level: 3.3Vrms (DAC Low Gain) 4Vrms (DAC High Gain)

• THD+N: -120.4dB(0.000095%)@1kHz AES17-20K A-wt
• DNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
• SNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
• Crosstalk: 135dB
• Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB

3.5mm LO:

• Output Level: 1.65Vrms (DAC Low Gain) 2Vrms (DAC High Gain)
• THD+N: -118dB(0.00012%)@1KHz
• AES17-20K A-wt
• DNR: 120dB AES17-20K A-wt
• SNR: 120dB AES17-20K A-wt
• Crosstalk: 133dB
• Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB

4.4mm PO:

• Output Level: 4.2Vrms (AMP L Gain + DAC H gain)
• 6.8Vrms (AMP H Gain + DAC H gain)
• Output Power: 1125mW+1125mW@32 Ω THD+N<0.5% THD+N: -117dB(0.00014%)@1KHz
• AES17-20K A-wt 6000 Load
• DNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
• SNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
• Crosstalk: 131dB
• Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB

3.5mm PO:

• Output Level: 2.1Vrms (AMP L Gain + DAC H gain)
• 3.4Vrms (AMP H Gain + DAC H gain)
• Output Power: 640mW+640mW@16Ω THD+N<0.5%
• THD+N: -114dB(0.00014%)@1KHz
• AES17-20K A-wt 600 Ω Load
• DNR:118dB AES17-20K A-wt
• SNR: 118dB AES17-20K A-wt
• Crosstalk: 130dB
• Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB

OUTPUT- 4.4mm balanced, 3.5mm single ended; 4.4mm LO and 3.5mm LO


CHARGING: 2.5hours and battery life as per my testing : 8:30 mins with just blon bl03 (3.5mm SE output). The DAC and charging options are different, so while charging it can also work as a dac, very useful as after few years when the battery dies you can use it as a desktop dac with LO to amp.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS
SENNHEISER HD558 (modded)
This is the oldest headphone in my collection and has been modded with a 3.5mm jack and the inner ear foams are removed. It sounds great for what it costs and ages. The usual sound is more enhanced and thicker and has warmer tonality. The presentation is much better and much more around the vocalists and the head stage is more 3D instead of 2 dimensional. The bass and subbass are tighter and have a rumbling experience. They do go deep in the sub-bass region and have some rumble. More defined notes though overall and definition is more. Power requirement is only 25 in high gain.

BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300R
Beyerdynamic TYGR 300R is a mostly flat to neutral headphone and has an energetic and sharp treble experience. This headphone is best suited for D16. The treble is much more refined and upper mids glare also reduced especially in songs where the trumpets and saxophones scare you suddenly. The presentation is quite good and has 3D presentation around the singer. The notes are much more thicker contradicting the leaner presentation of the notes. The bass though is much more impactful and subbass rumble a bit more defined and goes deep. It runs Tygr very much like a desktop amp and I like the presentation. Power requirement is High gain and 45 on the volume.

HIFIMAN DEVA
Deva is the only planar headphone in my collection and boy does it shine with the D16. The notes are much thicker and well defined overall. There is more spacing among the notes of the instruments and also among the instruments. The placement is much better overall in the head stage and the notes structure is more refined. Bass is more impactful and subbass rumblier. The vocals are much sweeter and probably shorter in the height of the headstage. The treble is also energetic and lacks the ting of the treble region which makes it much more beautiful to listen to. Power requirement is High gain and 56-60 on volume wheel with the secondary wheel turned to 3 o clock from zero.

FOCAL CLEAR
Upper mids handled beautifully, more cohesion in the notes, thicker notes and warmish tone and treble more beautifully done with full of energy and loving the thicker bass and sub-bass. But the tonality is slightly on the thicker side, but cohesion is on point. I would love a little wider signature that could accentuate clear. But one thing that is much better is the placement of instruments which are wonderfully done and not at all feels congested. Its fun to listen to in this but it’s a bit too much warm for my taste. Power requirement is High Gain and 38 on the volume wheel and turned to 2 o clock from zero.

ZMF AEUTEUR
ZMF aeuteur is an difficult to drive headphone and requires a bit of power to do its best. I loved the larger presentation and more cohesiveness among the instruments. The aeuteur is a slightly more matured headphone where energy is there but to bring out everything it requires a lot of power. While D16 handles them well, there is more thicker sound but not so much in the height of the notes in the headstage which felt lacking a bit. The bass and sub-bass impact had increased and also the sub-bass was more wonderful. This requires a little more powahh for sure it felt like. But for the portable factor this thing did quite well.

IEMS-(This can easily power iems so not an issue at all)
BLON 03
The oldest among all my iems. It’s a very versatile iem. Adding D16, added a big amount of definition to the notes, there was also improvement in the notes thickness and the presentation was great. I loved the bass impact and extension and this made it a wonderful listen.

PENON FAN
Penon fan is a highly dynamic iem with a tangy treble flavour and slightly leaner notes. This with D16 is a combo made in heaven, it encounters the leaner notes and makes the notes thick and more defined in the body of the notes. The treble is also more controlled, but still retains the energy. The bass impact is more and sub-bass is more rumbly and beautiful to listen to.

QOA ADONIS AND WYVERN
The Adonis is warmish iem and with D16 it becomes a bit too thick for my tastes. There is no cohesion issues or the instruments being put one over the other, but they are very near to each other with the thicker notes. This makes it bit uneasy to use. But then comes the bass and sub-bass which you would love in this iem.
Then comes the smaller brother the wyvern, what this lacked is the dynamism of the notes and the depth of the notes. D16 handled this very well and also tamed the energy a bit overall and refined it as notes much more structured and wonderfully placed all throughout the small stage. I loved the presentation here and would definitely recommend.

DITA AUDIO M
Dita loved the pairing with D16. Something in the iem just had its own switch on. The notes were thicker and wider too. But the separation was maintained in the notes and also between the instruments. There was much better and impactful bass response and also the upper mids were much sweeter. A little more zeal into the treble section and this would have been golden.

Overall-
Very versatile, able to power most things, adds more surrounding presence to the instruments. There is more placement accuracy to the instrument’s presence. Wider stage and energetic bass and sub-bass. Subbass has more extension and more rumble. Treble energy but that feel is slightly decreased along with the upper mids, and notes are thicker. There is more tonally warm to neutral tone depending on the music producing instruments at the end of the ears. Notes are more defined and detailed with this as source.

VERDICT-
Definitely recommended if you got a slightly warm to treble heavy iem. The power and musicality would enthrals you for sure. This thing can work also as a desktop amp dac with power coming in so it will useful even when the battery is gone. So a very versatile product, hence highly recommended.

Do you remember how you felt when you made certain leaps in this hobby? Years and years ago, I stumbled upon some Shure SRH1540's. Then scored a $250 pair of Pioneer SE-Monitor5 (ugh, I had no idea what I had at that price). It was, though, a literal "revelation" of what was possible in personal (consumer?) audio. There was no turning back.

Then, after a bout with skin cancer, and a skin graft behind my ear, I moved to in-ear only (also timed with needing glasses). I started, as many do, with Blessing, then SA6. After a number of buy/sell adventures, I decided to take a bigger bite and purchased a U12t. Another one of those "moments" when I was awestruck by what was possible. With that, I learned a valuable, and hard, lesson of this hobby...you have to spend "chunks" to get the real upgrades you're looking for. I know, I know. There may be exceptions, and most of us try to "hack" this via the used market here on head-fi. Again, the U12t meant no going back.

I tried a lot of side-grades, but the u12t became my consistent "re-purchase"...it was a standard. Then, the Volür was released. I still have it. I've never owned anything this long in this hobby. I've thrown cables, tips, dac/amps at it, and have never been disappointed in the Volür, but I was still compelled to squeeze what I could out of them.

Enter iBasso's D16 Taipan.



At the retail price of $1400, and a used price of around $1000, besides stacks when I used headphones, it'd be the most I'd dropped on anything for IEMs (they don't "need" much) amplification. IT is COMPLETELY OVERKILL...and it is ENTIRELY GLORIOUS!

It is the most naturally euphoric auditory experience I have ever had in this game...bar none. No stacks. No other portables (I've used H7, Q7, Q15, DC Eilte, W4, etc) and no other stacks (Gustards, Schiits, Toppings, Earmen) have ever impressed me as much as this little block has.

While I wouldn't say the Taipan has a "color" it is the best combo of (and stay with me here) technicality, analog, natural timbre, and power I've ever heard. I'll put it like this, I truly, truly feel like I could not ever get more out of the Volür than with this rig, and that's what I was incessantly searching for. Look, this is a very personal, subjective, and even romantic pursuit for us all. So, there's no way to discount how a link in your chain makes you feel. You "need" that draw.

I could not recommend the Taipan more. I know my Volur really, really well. I know it leans warm with bass quantity and quality. Still, I can tell through the sound, that even more neutral IEMs or HPs will not be treated harshly. We have all read reviews that it says something like (of great gear) "it presents the music as it was intended" blah, blah. The purpose of this "review" was to simply point this one thing out in the form of a question and answer:

IF, LIKE ME, YOU'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING TO HELP YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR IEM OR HEADPHONES...SOMETHING TO REALLY SHOW YOU WHAT YOU HAVE...SUCK IT UP...SAVE...AND GET A TAIPAN.

Later on, you could even add an Osprey, to complement your DAP with raw power that's not going to color the alternate source. In the mean time, grab yourself another one of those moments when you knew without a doubt you took one of those leaps, and you will be glad you did.

Now I also have the entire top stack from iBasso at home, which consists of the DX320 MAX Ti, PB5 and D16. In terms of design and dimensions, it fits perfectly with the PB5. The leather case is the same color and material. Only the DX320 MAX Ti with its brown case does not quite match the stack visually, but the dimensions do.

The D16 comes with everything you need for connection. As with the PB5, the cables are of very high quality. To connect to the DX320 MAX Ti, you can use the included USB-C to USB-C cable or the coax cable. With both connection variants, I can see a minimal improvement in direct comparison in coax operation. I therefore use the coax cable. With a stated runtime of 9 hours, I get a good 7 hours of playtime. By pressing and holding the OLED display and the smaller rotary control, which serves as a digital volume control, you can access a menu in which the inputs and outputs can be set and the gain level for the DAC part and the AMP part. The outputs can be configured as pure lineout outputs, e.g. to operate the D16 on a stationary chain. The OLED display also shows all settings and information on the data rate currently being played and the battery status. With the PB5, I would also have liked an OLED display to show the battery status. The large volume control is responsible for the volume of the amp section. So you can control the DAC and amp section separately.



The D16 is a 1-bit discrete DAC that uses an FPGA master 2.0 specially developed by iBasso, which achieves measurement values that are currently the measure of all things in the portable segment. The D16 is somewhere between a Delta Sigma DAC and an R2R DAC and combines the best of both worlds. Of course, measured values are not everything, it should also sound good. In addition to the very elaborately designed DAC structure, the amp structure is also not without its drawbacks. A similar architecture to the DX320 MAX Ti is used here. The power is a whopping 1125mW+1125mw@32Ohm. You can drive anything with it except perhaps a Susvara OG and 1266 TC. The D16, on the other hand, can drive the Unveiled.

I eagerly compared my new reference, the brand new PMG Audio APX SE directly on the DX320 MAX Ti and then on the D16 fed by the DX320 MAX Ti via USB. The incredibly good measured values are directly reflected in the edge definition and separation of individual instruments. The D16 raises the already reference-like instrument separation of the DX320 MAX Ti even higher. Incredibly, it beats my DX320 MAX Ti here. At stage size, the ROHM DACs of the MAX Ti are still somewhat more holographic and deeper. Nevertheless, the D16 has a very large stage image.

Tonally, the D16 is absolutely neutral and free of coloration. Overall, it is a touch brighter than the DX320 MAX Ti. The bass of the DX320 MAX Ti is a touch harder in its attack and stronger in the low bass. Both are detailed and at the very highest level.

In the mids, the D16 is absolutely real and free of coloration. This is one of the most natural tunings I have ever heard, everything seems strikingly real. Very neutral usually means a little too thin. Fortunately, this is not the case here. Instruments are given an analog character that always has enough fullness. The DX320 MAX Ti counters this with slightly fuller mids.

The treble presents everything, really everything, effortlessly from the recording. Thanks to the sharpness of the edges, this is even easier than with the DX320 MAX Ti, which is a little silkier in this area. But nothing is annoying with the D16. Despite the seemingly infinite high-frequency range, it never gets into the harsh range.

With most IEMs, I still prefer direct operation with the DX320 MAX Ti. However, there are a few exceptions and these are usually the warmer IEMs. A Multiverse Mentor sounds stunning directly on the D16. The holographic stage imaging becomes even more tangible and the strong bass range seems more controlled. The rather bright IEMs, on the other hand, cut a better figure directly on the DX320 MAX Ti.



But stop, there was something else? What happens if you use the entire stack consisting of DX320 MAX Ti + D16 + PB5? Oh my God, the APX SE plays better than in direct operation on the DX320 MAX Ti. What the D16 lacked somewhat and the DX320 MAX Ti has, namely the stronger bass range and the smoother treble, is now provided by the PB5. The stage also gains in size in all areas and now plays as big as with the ROHM DACs directly. Imagine the DX320 MAX Ti reference sound in which everything is even sharper and there is a little more bass overall! The Ambient Acoustics MAD 24 plays in a different league in this 3-way combination. Absolutely holographic stage imaging and this edge definition paired with the fullness of the individual sound elements is simply awesome! Of course, this is a stack that you can't really consider when you're on the road, but for at home or in the garden it's probably one of the best portable systems you can buy at the moment. Sensational what iBasso has achieved here with the 3 devices. Two years ago, I wouldn't have thought such a mobile sound possible. But with the D16 alone, you can certainly upgrade any mid-range DAP. I think the price of 1500€ is absolutely fair for this brilliant sound, considering the prices charged by the competition today. If you already own a PB5, I can only advise you to put the D16 in front of it