Best honest review I ever read and agreed 90 %  . don't pay attention to others guy. keep writing reviews of your own style.

I do agree with this review. I had dx90 for a week and returned it. I havent hear any improvements comparing Note 3 - not US version or sound card on motherboard Asus maximus hero VII. I did use PSB M4U1. If there is some improvements, which you can hear after 100x listening the same song and maybe there you will listed some small difference, thats not difference for me. I am not listening to equipmrnt, but music.

Well I can agree with little that was written. And since we all hear differently, we all have the right to hear what we hear. How this review could be so different from so many others is interesting. I listen to he DX90 on a daily basis and I also listen to live music. Tonality and dynamics of the DX90 are excellent and for me, I do hear a difference between the DX90 and lesser daps and that of my computer or iPad. Enjoy the music and I find the DX90 gets it right.  

This review remind me of another one about the Xiaomi piston 2 earphones. The guy was yealing about some conspiracy theory and vomit his rage instead of an objective criticism. He gave them like zero or 1 star. The problem with this kind of review is the lack of relativity, and the negative impact in the overall review score. It can cause doubt in the head of some potential buyers by creating a ''paranoid syndrom about an evantual clown hype''. If he give 2 or 3 stars I will take this more seriously, but from what I read he surely have a defective unit or listen his music with earphones trough coaxial out (hehe). Anyway, the Dx90 is superb but need some burn in and good headphones-earphones match, and Xiaomi piston is a good match too! Wich can look ridiculous because they cost 20 boxes. For myself, I will wait more than 100 hours of listening before writing a constructive and honnest review that will help other to do a rational choice. If I write my review after 5 hours of listening the Dx90 I'm pretty sure it will have been negative cause human are such emotional mammal.

THe DX90 is nothing like your review. Do you even have one?

I like this review .

I feel just about the same as the reviewer here with my newly purchased DX90.  A/B with my iPod touch shows no significant sound differences using my 7520s and lossless source material.  Firmware is a disaster and I have tried both Mango 2.2.0 and Rockbox... assuming you want a better then iPhone experience, this is not it.  Battery life is quite low considering my touch is less then a third the bulk and lasts easily twice as long on a charge.  The fact it doesn't just sync with iTunes is another issue since my library is managed on there and with only 128G memory I need something that will fill it with random tracks from my library or for example least listened to tracks, etc.  Database sync took it almost half an hour using Mango and then still delayed around 5 seconds on every switch between playlists of menus.  I am seriously considering returning it to Amazon, for the price I would expect much more in terms of both firmware capability and sound quality.  It sounds nothing like my desktop setup.

So.....from what I read, the unsatisfied bunch are IPOD preachers...hum...and confort freak as well as technophile in the worst sens. They do not have objective ears and feel betray when a trend isn't about a continuum of MAC interface. I mean, when we talk about an audio source, the change in quality is subtle and immense at the same time, it's all about the freedom of a music univers and for some listeners it isn't necessary at all because the type of music or quality of it will NOT benefit from this, in fact, it can sound more bad. Some track do not impress me on my DX90, but when I go back on my ipod touch they are simply unlistenable even if I use the Fiio E7 amp with it. Other tracks like chamber jazz or classical became effortlessly magnificent. Why? Cause the mastering was perfect and the file quality too. Let's just be OBJECTIVE and admit that the quality of the product is excellent and the amp and dac are factually of high quality and for the rest that go in our ears SUBJECTIVNESS take the place and let's kind of be humble about it. For me, the objective part that deceive me about DX90 it's is battery life. But opening it and changing the battery for a full one take less than 1 minute...don't buy one already cause of a battery pack charger that can charge the DX90 3 times even when I listen music at the same time.

so... actually it is not so.  when your library is over 25k songs and you are used to a certain user interface quality having a device which does not sound any better then what you have already which also answers phone calls and lets you run thousands of apps and has a battery life that eclipses said costly DAP and has a functional and complete ui does give one reason to prefer it without being labeled a preacher or freak... but carry on and keep being rude to all who you don't know or agree with.

HAHAHAHAAA. Is this true .
I'm about to buy one, now I change my mind .

I am sorry you had issues with the DX90. Your observations are different from many users and our team we use here for sound impressions. We are always happy to work with owners and are dedicated to resolving any issues. Best regards, Paul

The comments are pretty funny. There are people even saying MP3 320kbps! First, you can't compare Macbook Pro and Mac Minis as they all sounds mushy. iPhone 6 is better but still thin sounding and lack of dynamics. Sansa Clip+ is better than them in dynamics, but not detail. Now I have the original DacMagic and this is the detail and neutrality that I'm expecting.

The question is, will the DX90 satisfy me or am I expecting too much for a portable?

Really, it doesn't have any difference compared to the bloated and uncontrollable bass, robotic sound coming from a Macbook Pro?

I wouldn't describe my MacBook Pro Retina Display's headphone output as having "uncontrolled bass, robotic sound," not by a long shot. The headphone out is actually pretty decent with my K701.

Well I don't a Retina MBP but that's how it sounded on my Late 2012 Mac Mini and Macbook Pro I bought in 2013. Bass are uncontrolled and bloated for sure, and details are poor, that why I never bother listening with them anymore. Comparison using Vsonic GR07BE, GR06, SoundMagic E10, Sennheiser MX470, HD238. Audio out compared to CA DacMagic, Onkyo SE-U55SX, Sansa Clip+, Colorfly C3.

Is this guy real?  Are we positive he's not just a corporate shill for Apple, Sandisk, or Fiio?  Lol.

Not sure about that, but from one of his photos I can see the frustation was a real one.

Very funny indeed !! I purchased a X5II but I preferred the DX90 over the FIIO. The Shop I was in was out of stock and for a good reason, IBasso discountinued it ! If I had met this guy earlier I would have traded it ! His impressions are to be respected, as much as those who make creasy enthousiatic audiophoolish claims... I am a sceptic, that why I decided to get my ass to a proper boutique to check if it was worth it. And the jump from my Sony Z1 compact was quite a surprise, and a good one. Nothing like a 10 times hifi set-up but what an improvement ! So my question is : What recording was he listening to ? was the recording and mastering properly made, escaping from the "loudness war"? The source is important but not as much as the recording and the headset. I could go on for ever but my point is : there no such things as poor reviews at least when they appear honnest. And by the way I do agree with the 400h burnin time...

... And for @robin1990 there is no such thing as being objective when giving impressions, unless it's just a list of graphs.

The DX90 is nothing like this review. Did you really reviewed one or a broken one? For it's money it is one of the best, I tried several and this one scores very high with value for money. The thing I don't like is the screen size, could be bigger. I use it with Shure se425's and AKG720's, very nice combinations.