[Greeink]

Fellow Headfier's,
 
Hopefully I'm posting this in the right area, if not, moderators please feel free to move this. Anyways..I'm having some sort of problem with my D4 Mamba, just this very moment I've been using my Mamba DAC, while watching a movie. I was using my Beyers, when suddenly the audio just.. well.. sort of 'fazed' out. I'm left with no audio from music playback, video or not. The only thing I'm hearing is your typical faint 'white noise.' Just to be sure I plugged my Beyers into another source, and they seem to be working just fine. Usually I'll get this sort of experience, the fazed out audio, when my volt battery is dying... but I've been only using it in 'USB' mode, so the battery itself was not being used. I'm getting all lights on the Mamba. Tried several USB ports, to no avail.......
 
Suggestions?

 
EDIT:
- Changed Battery
- Used different Source, iPod, getting sound Mamba - Aux/Headphones - iPod
- Sound card working fine (desktop speakers play audio)
 
 
Thanks,
Greeink

 

[Greeink]

Bump.
 
I'm in the assumption that it is of  the DAC portion of the iBasso, as there is audio through portable sources, and not when connected via USB. Capacitor issue perhaps? Something blown?
 
Not looking to send it overseas, and be stuck with a ton of shipping charges. I'm not a veteran of this audio stuff, but it does seem to be a fairly simple fix essentially?
 
Recommendations on where/who to talk to about repairs?
 
Thanks,
Greeink

 

[estreeter]

Old news - it's almost certainly the mini-USB connection, a known troublemaker with this amp - you will have to ship it back to iBasso. I didn't bother - just kept using it as an amp until I upgraded at the beginning of 2011.

 

[Greeink]

I appreciate the reply estreeter. I'm fairly new into this world, so I wasn't aware of the common problem... What a shame. Is it something that iBasso is only to take care of? Or could I possibly find resolutions here in the states? Thanks.

 

[estreeter]

I guess someone who is good with electronics might be able to fix it, but I suspect that its cheaper for iBasso to simply swap the PCB out. If its under warranty, that will probably be your cheapest option - if you had a friend who was that good with electronics and willing to work for peanuts, chances are you'd have a fully kitted out B22 instead of the D4. 

 

[Greeink]

Unfortunately I'm about 9 months outside the warranty, thus I will have the privilege to spend the shipping costs to China... which, as many would know, is ridiculously pricey. So, here I am looking for those who are able to do such a job - My searching endeavors have begun.
 
Yuck.

 

[baffler]

I had a similar problem with my D4. Playing audio from via the USB connection suddenly stopped working even though the D4 was powered on and all the lights were on. I tried with different USB ports on my PC, different USB cables, different computers and nothing. Playing audio via the AUX IN connector from iPod / mobile phone worked fine so it looked like the problem was on the DAC side.
 
I sent my D4 back to iBasso for repairs when this problem occurred. They said the problem was in the USB port and they changed it. After this the D4 worked fine for a couple of months before having the same problem again. This time they changed some transistor and the device worked fine again. For a few weeks.. that is. After the third time I sent the D4 back to iBasso they changed the whole PCB and even reimbursed my postage costs. This all happened withing the 1 year warranty period. Now the warranty has expired and I'm hoping I don't run into any more problems with the D4.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

After the third time I sent the D4 back to iBasso they changed the whole PCB and even reimbursed my postage costs. This all happened withing the 1 year warranty period. Now the warranty has expired and I'm hoping I don't run into any more problems with the D4.

And that is what I predicted a couple of posts back - I believe this to be a design fault, as it doesn't appear to happen with the same monotonous regularity on their other DAC/amps.
 

 

[Greeink]

As noted, this does seem to be some fault of the design.... So.. it does seem unreasonable that this isn't taken care of, even outside of the manufactures expense. I've had a buddy of mine come forward and specified that he as well, had an issues with a USB connection on his iBasso (mind you now the same model).
 
Talk about irritating, I'm sure iBasso won't budge on covering any sort of costs though.

 

[mrarroyo]

Have you contacted iBasso to see if they would fix your unit for free? You may still have to cover the S&H costs.

 

[Greeink]

I was told that it'll be a $15 charge or so, "or possibly free"..... a-l-r-i-g-h-t...? Yes, I would have to cover for shipping... but I'm not looking to spend a fortune on shipping, which I'm assuming that it will be.

 

[baffler]

Shipping from Finland to China costed about 20USD. First time I sent my D4 back for warranty repairs I did the mistake of sending it as a normal letter. It took 5 weeks, probably spending most of that time in the customs in China border. The next time I sent it as a registered letter and it was delivered in a week.

 

[baffler]

Seems like they've changed some capacitors in the D4, probably because of this very problem:
 
http://www.ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=44
 
"We use Nichicon MUSE FX capacitors instead of the UTSJ capacitors on output coupling position on this batch."

 

[Greeink]

I find that to be an interesting move on their part. To me, they're essentially telling us that the other capacitors had some sort of issue with the board/amp itself... does it not?
 
This really wants me to push for them to cover the shipping charge on my unit... but I'm sure I'll have very, very little luck with something like that.
 
Besides, my AMP still works just fine out of my portable device... just the USB connections, so it couldn't possibly be the capacitor eh?