Wow man! What a review, congrats!
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samandhi
Fantastic review! Very thorough, concise, and objective (as can be in a subjective hobby). I do like that you try and remain as neutral as possible overall.
Out of curiosity, why did you choose Amp12 with the DX300 for a comparison? Why not the stock Amp11.2? From what my ears hear, the Amp12 card gives just what you described, where the stock amp does not (closer akin to what you are describing about the Amp11.2S card).
Out of curiosity, why did you choose Amp12 with the DX300 for a comparison? Why not the stock Amp11.2? From what my ears hear, the Amp12 card gives just what you described, where the stock amp does not (closer akin to what you are describing about the Amp11.2S card).
voja
@samandhi DX320+AMP11Mk2s vs DX300+AMP12 had the same sound characteristic differences that the AMP12 had in comparison to AMP11Mk1 on the DX300. I'm not sure if what I just wrote makes any sense, but for example, AMP12 had a significantly more balanced sound, more natural mids, much more refined lows than AMP11Mk1. AMP11Mk1 was a very energetic, fun-sounding amp module, but not as accurate as AMP12. DX300 MAX had the same differences, but on another level... and now DX320+AMP11Mk2s has the same differences, but not to the extreme of DX300 MAX.
It's awfully difficult to get my thoughts together and make it make sense, but the differences between iBasso DAPs and amp modules (speaking for the DX3xx series) share similarities! In other words, the differences occur in similar fields and share similar quality differences.
It's awfully difficult to get my thoughts together and make it make sense, but the differences between iBasso DAPs and amp modules (speaking for the DX3xx series) share similarities! In other words, the differences occur in similar fields and share similar quality differences.
voja
@samandhi Part 2 of my answer:
If you read my DX300 MAX review, you probably can recognize similarities between the comparison of DX320 vs DX300+AMP12 and DX300 MAX vs DX300+AMP12. I think that if I used the AMP11Mk1 for the DX320 comparison, it would make the DX300 look very bad. I also had to take into consideration the price difference between the two.
If you read my DX300 MAX review, you probably can recognize similarities between the comparison of DX320 vs DX300+AMP12 and DX300 MAX vs DX300+AMP12. I think that if I used the AMP11Mk1 for the DX320 comparison, it would make the DX300 look very bad. I also had to take into consideration the price difference between the two.
samandhi
Thanks for the reply. You answered the question in the first sentence. You apparently had the Amp11.1 rather than the (later replaced) Amp11.2 for the DX300 (which is the one I was referring to comparing with the Amp11.2S for the DX320). I have never actually heard the Amp11.1 card, but I have read that it is not near as good as the (newer) Amp11.1 card in the DX300. 
