[vwinter]

I helped develop some Android based software in the past, it seems the DX-50 might be running on a 4.0 platform and I do have experience with that.  Without video evidence of exactly what happened prior to and after the event, there isn't squat anyone can do to help diagnose the problem.  Play the Sherlock Holmes card and try to gather those who had an instant jump from low to high output together and see if they had anything in common.  What batch is their unit from, what type of file was playing, was the unit paused, did they properly upgrade the firmware, are they near any strong wi fi signals, did they get something sticky into the volume button without knowing, could the battery be faulty and hiccuping voltage, did you accidentally push another button while raising the volume, or vice-versa, has the player been dropped or tampered with at all, are there any loose jacks or buttons on the unit, did the screen flicker or dim prior to or after the freeze?  With some of these questions definitively answered, I ( or some other devs I know ) might be able to confirm it is a hardware problem or the software.  If it is a software problem, then it is just in need of an update.  If it is a hardware problem...well that is not good.

Based on what I know about the general platform this DX-50 was built on, there is no power attenuator or dialing system hard coded in a way like a volume knob would be.  You can't just crank it up to the max output in an instant, it has to be gradual or else it won't register with the software.  I do not know what iBasso did in their design but the removal of such an important safety device such as " enabling the device to instantly jump up to max volume just like a pc volume would do with the click of a mouse button " seems like something that would not be overlooked.  I could be wrong.  Without seeing the problem first hand, all I can do is sit and wait for someone to post a video of the entire event so I can see it, or wait for iBasso to respond and confirm this dreadful problem.

Nice post.

If that kind of code would have to be removed, I'm thinking corporate espionage or a vindictive coder. :veryevil:

Another poster here earlier said it was indeed gradual, but quick. That jives with the failsafe you mentioned.

 

[k3oxkjo]

   
Point was that it could cost them financially and in reputation. This should be job one and any other bugs take a back seat. It's also very different if you bump your own head or somebody else gives it a whack.

 
I don't doubt that it is a main concern. But if you can't verify the problem in house, or get enough info as to the circumstances when the problem occurs in the field, you can't troubleshoot it until you do. Serial numbers of affected units, what kind of file was playing (FLAC, hi-rez, etc.) how the volume buttons were pushed (continuous or multiple pushes) and so forth could all be possible clues and could be valuable info for Ibasso.
 
Maybe someone who has had this problem multiple times should contact Ibasso and offer, upon receipt of a replacement, to send their volume problem prone unit for examination by the factory.
 
Personally, I haven't had this happen despite pretty heavy use since I received the unit...
 
Kevin

 

[CantScareMe]

  The iBasso DX50 player freezes constantly and cannot play music correctly. It almost made me go deaf.
 
My DX50 came running on v1.16, the newest firmware. When I was listening to some tunes, I simply pressed the volume-up button a few times, the audio instantly jumped to 255 (max value) from 180. The unit then froze at 255 volume and kept blasting music into my ears. I was unable to volume down, or pause the player. I had to yank my IEMs out of my ears to avoid further damaging to my ears, take the battery out of my DX50 and force-restart the player.
 
This happened multiple times since the 3 days that I have owned the player. It was playing regular old 320kbps .mp3 files when it did this. No doubt this thing has caused damaged to my hearing, as well as damage to my IEM's.
 
And this is only the tip of the iceberg for software problems. The UI is as terrible as the AK100. When I reviewed the AK100 I said that the AK100's UI is worse than any Made in China POS there was. Now I have been proven wrong by iBasso. If you want to experience UI hell, purchase either one. 
 
Hardware defects - the player has parts loosely put together. It creaks when I hold down the bottom part of the player, like if the pieces were coming loose.
 
When I got my Fiio X3, I thought it was ugly and had terrible UI (I mean, which idiot though it logical to press UP to skip track?). So I ordered the DX50 right away, thinking it would be much better. My conclusion now that I have both - X3 is light years ahead of the DX50, in build quality, sound, and UI. 
 
iBasso needs to just quit. Before they get a lawsuit on their hands. Or include a warning in their packaging that says "the player may choose to play at max volume for no reason other than our fail. May cause permanent hearing loss". 

 
I'm someone who's very sensitive to volume. 
 
That's ridiculous from Ibasso. 
 
The Ibasso thread is full of users who have payed hundreds to literally be beta testers. Clearly it was an unfinished product when it was released with the lingering question being - when will it be finished? I was waiting for this to come, but now I've almost completely lost interest. 

 

[k3oxkjo]

   
I'm someone who's very sensitive to volume.
 
That's ridiculous from Ibasso.
 
The Ibasso thread is full of users who have payed hundreds to literally be beta testers. Clearly it was an unfinished product when it was released with the lingering question being - when will it be finished? I was waiting for this to come, but now I've almost completely lost interest.

 
 
I was a "Beta tester" on early CD players, DVD players, SACD players, LCD TV's, Ipods and Iphone, none of which were "perfect" when they came out. The company who manufactures our multi-hundred thousand dollar Broadcast Audio Consoles we use on my job have been here for at least 6 updates/bug fixes so far. Welcome to real life. Sorry...
 
Kevin

 

[goodvibes]

If they don't sell them, consumers also get mad at them. The problem is that these things get announced early with projected sell dates to generate interest away form other products and then expectations of potential buyers puts pressure on Ibasso to sell them something. 

 

[rawrster]

it might just me be but I would rather wait than have a faulty player and be the beta tester for a product I'm paying for

 

[k3oxkjo]

it might just me be but I would rather wait than have a faulty player and be the beta tester for a product I'm paying for

 
 
Yeah it's just you, LOL.
 
Actually, it reminds me of the JH-3a debacle. JH Audio kept having to delay shipping to try and get things right and folks went nuts here. Now in this case, they had taken significant $$ on pre-orders, so I understand more, and JH Audio communication was, to be generous, spotty. But when the unit finally came out, it seemed like everyone had lost interest here on Head-fi due mostly, I believe, to the long delay. When it was vapor, tons of posts. By the time it finally came out? Virtual silence...
 
The bottom line is the customer wants to get the product and, to stay in business, the manufacturer has to start getting product out the door. A small company just doesn't have the resources that Apple or Sony have (though their products still come out flawed from time to time, too...) so teething problems are bound to occur. I guess if stuff like this makes you crazy, just don't ever be an early adopter. To me, Ibasso has worked to fix the problems fairly diligently and mine has worked OK for me. But I don't mess with Playlists, random play or fancy search/sorts. I was happy with just Album list, that did all I really needed, though the Artist view is appreciated. So I may not be the typical consumer (he said with an awesome level of understatement...)
 
Kevin

 

[CantScareMe]

   
 
I was a "Beta tester" on early CD players, DVD players, SACD players, LCD TV's, Ipods and Iphone, none of which were "perfect" when they came out. The company who manufactures our multi-hundred thousand dollar Broadcast Audio Consoles we use on my job have been here for at least 6 updates/bug fixes so far. Welcome to real life. Sorry...
 
Kevin

 
Having read the threads on the dx50, this is a bit different. We're talking about major problems bordering on faulty. Like the CD player that can't play a full CD's, or the TV that can't display a picture for half an hour without flickering. Actually, it's not like that at all. If I had experienced what the OP had, it's entirely possible (as I have v sensitive hearing) that I would have sustained permanent hearing damage. I'm dead serious. 
 
I guess Ibasso are lucky there's plenty of enthusiastic folk here on headfi that will, not only free of charge, but at cost, do what the R&D department should have finished.  

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Who else had their DX-50 instantly jump from 180-255?  If I missed anyone posting that information, I apologize.  I've not seen anyone else state they had their unit instantaneously change from a low volume output to maxed out, yet multiple times as well.   If you are implying that I don't care about the issue, or that I feel it isn't a serious issue...you are exceptionally wrong.  
 
Visually document the problem for others to actually see it happen.  You took my intention as a dissmissal of the event even though I clearly stated otherwise.  The intent was to allow other potential buyers to make an informed purchasing decision based on hard evidence of a potentially serious problem.   Don't be lazy, document your serious problems well so others can see the problems and can have important information on the product they might want to buy.  

Please read this post below, it doesn't instantly jump like the OP has suggested. I should know, I'm one with the issue and have monitored how it occurs, also have read more than several members who have the exact same problem in the bug thread. I try to explain to people it does NOT instantly jump to maximum volume, then the page pushes on someone quotes the original text and off the thread goes again thinking the wrong things. I would go through the bug thread and find other users who have the same thing happen in the same manner as me but I really can't be bothered, this thread just runs rampant with different views because people only read the last page and not the entire thread.




http://www.head-fi.org/t/683768/avoid-please-for-your-hearing-stay-away-from-ibasso-dx50/15#post_9847192
 

I'm in no way trying to defend iBasso here, as I'm also experiencing the issue. However, I want to clarify when the volume does go haywire it doesn't instantly go to max volume as the OP suggests.

The bug only kicks in when you're adjusting volume levels and can get stuck either surging up or down. When the bug occurs it starts surging about 6-7 steps at a time with 1 second intervals between each surge and will continue this pattern which ever way it became stuck (up/down). And thankfully so, because this at least allows time to pull the headphone jack out "if" your headphone jack is easily reachable. It can get stuck both ways, going up or down and will randomly do so, but it's not an instantaneous burst to maximum volume as been suggested. Depending where your volume was set it can take a good 4-5 seconds to reach max or minium. 

 

[k3oxkjo]

   
Having read the threads on the dx50, this is a bit different. We're talking about major problems bordering on faulty. Like the CD player that can't play a full CD's, or the TV that can't display a picture for half an hour without flickering. Actually, it's not like that at all. If I had experienced what the OP had, it's entirely possible (as I have v sensitive hearing) that I would have sustained permanent hearing damage. I'm dead serious.
 
I guess Ibasso are lucky there's plenty of enthusiastic folk here on headfi that will, not only free of charge, but at cost, do what the R&D department should have finished.

 
My unit works OK, I suspect most of them do, certainly I have seen nothing as serious as the problems you described above with CD or TV, I personally couldn't call the DX-50 at all "faulty". It plays my music files beautifully. Some samples of the DX-50 may be faulty, however and I understand the frustration of people who have gotten defective players.
 
We don't know the nature of a lot of these reported "problems", which ones are legit and which are not, which ones are universal problems, which ones are due to particular unit or units. I'll tell one on myself. I thought I has a file that the DX-50 wouldn't play on one of my USB flash drives. Turns out there actually was no file in the folder, due to a error I made transfering the file. Of course, I could have said "the unit won't play all my files" if I had shot first and asked questions later.
 
Some of the problems here have been due to non-standard or excessively long file names. Some may be corrupted files. Some may be operator error. Some may be people not following the "Readme" text in the update or deleting the update file once the updates are completed. Some are from people who want the unit to work the way they want, not the way it was designed (I run into this commonly on my job) or want features not available (at least yet) in this unit. Some are real problems and need to be attended to. Ibasso seems to be doing that.
 
Let me say this again. NO SMALL BOUTIQUE COMPANY CAN HAVE THE R&D RESOURCES OF AN APPLE OR SONY. It's just not economically possible. If stuff like this gets you wired up, do not buy products from small companies, at least as an early adopter.
 
BTW, just for my own curiosity, I cranked up my unit to max on my AKG K3003 iem's, (in Lewis Black voice: FOR SCIENCE! IT WAS FOR SCIENCE). It was quite loud, of course, but no louder than many rock concerts I have attended where the time of exposure is much longer. I am using my unit on low gain to limit the max volume, just in case. Now, it's not to say it isn't important for Ibasso to work this out, just to say that I wouldn't expect hearing damage given normal human reaction times.
 
Note that I have never had the uncontrolled volume problem myself, (even while I tried to make it happen by rapid button pushes etc) in common with many others. But I recommend anyone worried about the volume issue a) Run the unit on low gain b) Pause the player when adjusting the volume up and make sure it stopped where you wanted it to, then unpause the player (at least till there is confirmation that the problem has been solved).
 
Do I mind being one of the early adopters/beta testers? Nope. For what it does and considering what I paid, I am good with that.
 
Kevin

 

[Makiah S]

 
Please read this post below, it doesn't instantly jump like the OP has suggested. I should know, I'm one with the issue and have monitored how it occurs, also have read more than several members who have the exact same problem in the bug thread. I try to explain to people it does NOT instantly jump to maximum volume, then the page pushes on someone quotes the original text and off the thread goes again thinking the wrong things. I would go through the bug thread and find other users who have the same thing happen in the same manner as me but I really can't be bothered, this thread just runs rampant with different views because people only read the last page and not the entire thread.




http://www.head-fi.org/t/683768/avoid-please-for-your-hearing-stay-away-from-ibasso-dx50/15#post_9847192
 

 
Thank you for the update on that! 

 

[laon]

   
Let me say this again. NO SMALL BOUTIQUE COMPANY CAN HAVE THE R&D RESOURCES OF AN APPLE OR SONY. It's just not economically possible. If stuff like this gets you wired up, do not buy products from small companies, at least as an early adopter.
 

It's good with that kind of excuse they can sell half assed products like these, at least to really patience people like the lots here and some poor unsuspecting one, but I got the feeling that if they really want to success they got to change that. 
 
@H20Fidelity
Maybe OP got different kind of bug than you? What makes you think his claim is wrong?

 

[H20Fidelity]

  It's good with that kind of excuse they can sell half assed products like these, at least to really patience people like the lots here and some poor unsuspecting one, but I got the feeling that if they really want to success they got to change that. 
 
@H20Fidelity
Maybe OP got different kind of bug than you? What makes you think his claim is wrong?

 
Maybe, just maybe you want the bug to be how the OP states? and me saying it's different takes away some of your buzz?

Maybe, I have read the bug thread from start to finish and have had conversations with the others experiencing the issue exactly like me.

Maybe, you can read it too, because I'm not going through to find example of 40 pages wasting my time.

Eat your heart out.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/680472/dx50-bug-list-wish-list-fix

 

[laon]

   
Maybe, just maybe you want the bug to be how the OP states? and me saying it's different takes away some of your buzz?

Maybe, I have read the bug thread from start to finish and have had conversations with the others experiencing the issue exactly like me.

Maybe, you can read it too, because I'm not going through to find example of 40 pages wasting my time.

Eat your heart out.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/680472/dx50-bug-list-wish-list-fix

 
I've read the post in this thread even before I posted here but have no desire to read all that thread and I know that you and other had those bug but you can't claim that OP is wrong because his issue isn't exactly like you. I don't see the logic.

 

[H20Fidelity]

.