[HiFlight]

I received my D12 earlier today, and of course I had to promptly give it a listen via my H120 optical input.  As always, I wanted to hear what it sounded like out of the box with no burn-in.   I am pleased to report that it sounds superb.  iBasso stated that the D12 should sound better than the Toucan when using SE phones, and I am inclined at this point to agree with them. 
 
The sound is detailed but smooth, no sibilance at all that I have noticed thus far.   Soundstage and imaging is very 3-dimensional.   Tonality is spot-on, without emphasis on any part of the audio spectrum.  Bass is deep and tight. 
 
No, I have not run thru all of my phones yet, only my silver-recabled OK1's and PK1's so far. 
 
I notice a couple of things...the finish is very attractive, and overall the player has excellent fit and finish.  The new case makes it a breeze to open...no longer necessary to slide the board out of the case...just remove 4 screws and the top lifts right off, exposing the opamps and battery.  The battery is very easy to remove, should it become necessary, as it has a small plug similar to that of cordless telephones.
 
Don't ask me what the opamps are, as iBasso has painted the tops of the L/R opamps one color and the buffers another.   Will I be rolling opamps in this?  I doubt it, as the SQ sounds, to my ears, as what I would strive for with my Topkits.  
 
I also notice that there seems to be more of a difference between the two gain settings than is the case with my D10 even though both are rated +3 and +10.  The gain switch has also been moved from the left side of the case to a position between the Aux In/Out and volume control. 
 
Below are a couple of hasty pictures I took, just so you can get an idea of the internal layout and the front faceplate.   Dimensions are identical to my D10. 
 
Another "Well Done, iBasso"
 

 
 
 
 

 

[mrarroyo]

Nice going Ron, hope you enjoy it.

 

[johangrb]

I also received my D12 today and agree with your comments. Out of the box with my ATH-ES10 is a vast improvement over my previous D10. The bass is yummy, detail is good for portable. The silver finish matches my Macbook Pro perfectly.
 
 
All round a good buy - highly recommended. 

 

[wuwhere]

That's very nice.

 

[flargosa]

build quality looks solid.

 

[furyagain]

Anyone tried using 300ohm headphones with D12??
Like hd600 or hd800

 

[Randius]

Even though right out of the box, it sounds better than D10, can it be further improved by rolling opamps?

 

[LevA]

Quote:

Even though right out of the box, it sounds better than D10, can it be further improved by rolling opamps?

Hiflight Quote "Will I be rolling opamps in this?  I doubt it, as the SQ sounds, to my ears, as what I would strive for with my Topkits"
 
 I gather while there is the option of modifications through opamp rolling to suit your personal preferences and matching with your HP, I think overall he is saying that you probably wont get a major improvement than what is already supplied with the amp. especially when you consider the cost that will involve for slight improvement, it probably is not worth it...
then again this is head-fi so who knows...I doubt people here will let well enough be... 

 

[HK_sends]

Looks really nice!  I hope they will release it in black as well.
I would love to try it out.
 
 
Cheers!

-HK sends

 

[solidsnake]

solid looking device

 

[debitsohn]

i never owned the d10. i had the toucan and boomslang.  the d12 arrived today. built well. looks great. a little bigger than i was expecting. i thought it would be similar to the toucan.  havent tried it with the t1 or the t50p (out on loan), i have tried with my IEMs and to me, it sounds good but not wow for me at this point.  not sure if i was expecting too much but when i heard the toucan i was wow'd.  im sure it will hit me sooner than later! beautiful product

 

[Randius]

Quote:

Hiflight Quote "Will I be rolling opamps in this?  I doubt it, as the SQ sounds, to my ears, as what I would strive for with my Topkits"
 
 I gather while there is the option of modifications through opamp rolling to suit your personal preferences and matching with your HP, I think overall he is saying that you probably wont get a major improvement than what is already supplied with the amp. especially when you consider the cost that will involve for slight improvement, it probably is not worth it...
then again this is head-fi so who knows...I doubt people here will let well enough be... 

Oh please, I DID read hiflight's comment but it appears he only claimed the sound from stock opamps in D12 sounds like those from D10/D4 + topkit. Thus I am wondering if the D12 can be further improved with opamp rolling (if anyone is doing it) or doing so will merely result in a change in sound signature.

 

[HiFlight]

Quote:

Hiflight Quote "Will I be rolling opamps in this?  I doubt it, as the SQ sounds, to my ears, as what I would strive for with my Topkits"
 
 I gather while there is the option of modifications through opamp rolling to suit your personal preferences and matching with your HP, I think overall he is saying that you probably wont get a major improvement than what is already supplied with the amp. especially when you consider the cost that will involve for slight improvement, it probably is not worth it...
then again this is head-fi so who knows...I doubt people here will let well enough be... 

Yes, exactly what I meant!   While I doubt that the actual sound quality and imaging can be significantly improved by rolling the opamps, there is no question that one can change the overall sound to suit ones preferences.  Whether this would be considered an "improvement" over the stock opamps can only be decided by the user. 
 
Objectively, I doubt whether one could improve opon the measurable specifications of the stock D12, but subjectively one can certainly change its personality by changing opamps, keeping in mind the limitations imposed by the 5v power supply. 
 
It is certainly a credit to the designers of todays crop of portables that the performance differences between desktops and portables is becoming less and less. 
 
Considering the fact that iBasso is a company of less than a dozen employees, this is even more remarkable!   Perhaps the US government should send an envoy to iBasso to study how they can so effectively combine excellence of design and efficiency with superb customer service! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

 
Considering the fact that iBasso is a company of less than a dozen employees, this is even more remarkable!   Perhaps the US government should send an envoy to iBasso to study how they can so effectively combine excellence of design and efficiency with superb customer service! 
 

Agreed.  I've been spoiled by Ray Samuels over the years and Ibasso does it right as well.
 
I'm happy with mine as well.  If I chose to be anal/picky...the only complaints I could come up with so far:
 
-  A little channel imbalance on the low end with IEM's.
-  An overly bright white LED.
-  The front jacks are not perfectly centered in their ports.
-  The optical cable does not "click" into place like on my D10.
-  The opamp kit is sparse compared to the original D10's..but this may be good news as we may not need them.
-  I didn't get any rubber feet or the manual. 
 
On the flip side I'm glad they not only applied some sound improvements, but "fixed" the gain switch and made the case more user friendly.
 
I've never thought my D10's amp side  sounded that great with RS-1's.  The D12 does a good job in this regard and makes the RS-1's very enjoyable without having to reach for another amp to connect to it's DAC. 
 

 

[massax]

Hi, i just got the d12 , sounds nice, especially the dac, kills all noise so super as a soundcard. . This is my first portable amp so I really dont know what to expect. I use Turbine coppers.I have some hiss noise at higher volumes when i use the phone out connected to my laptop. Connected to my Cowon J3 no noise at all. But then the lowest gain doesnt give much difference,  the highest expands the soundstage and makes the bass and treble come more out. The bass and soundstage i love, but sometimes the treble gets a bit sharp. The more i listen, amped to my J3, i gradually adapt to the new sound. The SQ  depends a bit on the song and the eq on the J3.

And how do i step by step replace the opamps with the ones they send me?

Thanks in advace