Hi all!
Vince was kind enough to loan me his modded 220MAX(ex) for a few weeks to get my impressions.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Michael Arnopol. I'm a professional jazz bassist and speaker designer. I play bass on all of the Patricia Barber recordings until after 2010. (with the exception of one). I also have recorded and toured with may other top jazz artists. I've had the fortune of recording with many top recording engineers. I've retired from touring 10 years ago and have started a company that makes the best loudspeakers for bassists.I was asked to be a beta tester for the Jerry Harvey JH13's ten years ago. I just mention this stuff to say that I have a lot of experience with hearing what instruments and voice sounds like acoustically and recorded by top engineers.
I definitely don't have the experience with as many high end headphone products as most of you. But--fortunately--at 65 I still have most of my high frequency hearing. (Yayy!!!) I've been happy with the JH13's for ten years, but a year ago I got back into headphone listening with a vengeance. As a relatively poor jazz musician I was able to put together funds by selling one of my best electric basses that I rarely play these days. I bought a Tansio Mirai Zodiac (12 ba's per side) and an Audeze LCD i3. I liked the i3 so much that I sold it and got an i4. After getting and selling a Monoprice Monolith portable dac and a Xudoo 05 plus I settled on a iBasso DX220 and picked up an amp8ex. Very happy camper.Until hearing the 220 MaxEx.
I borrowed a hugo 2 from one friend and a A&K sp2000 from another for comparison.
I'm a soundstage and layering guy.Which is why I love the i4. Of the standard Iem's I've heard the Zodiac stands out in the same department.
I think that part of the genius of the Maxex is the power supply. The biggest drain on a power supply is reproducing the low end. I also make a stand-alone power amp for bassists. I use the IcePower 1200 watt amp module. 1200 watts RMS into 4 ohms. Class D amps can put out a lot of power, but don't have much power reserves. The burst power is about 1250 watts. I've hotrodded the power supply (it's ok with Ice) with an 8200uf cap on each side. The burst power is now something like 1500 watts. The front end of an electric (or upright) bass note can be 6db higher than the "meat" of the note. Each 3db increase requires double the power. Since watts are relatively cheap these days, I can take advantage of lower efficiency drivers. (longer excursion and lower fs) so--if my normal volume level is 400 watts, the peaks can demand 1600! So--the bass now sounds more effortless and with a nice, noticeable bass drum like kick at the note beginning. I'm just saying this to illustrate the strengths of the power supply in the Maxex. Just saying 8 volts does not take into consideration the ability to effortlessly provide that because of potential headroom of dedicating power to different parts of the DAP.
A product of this I feel is the avoidance of the problem of what I'll call "dynamic density congestion" To illustrate, I listen to some African artists like Angelique Kidjo and Salif Keata. They use large bands, lots of electric bass, and lots of background vocals. With most electronics, when the music gets quite dense--and with a lot of bass--the background vocals tend to lose separation and can be bright and shouty. Not so with the MaxEx. For the first time I can not only pick out different background vocalists, but I can hear the difference in timbre between vocalists.
Back to bass--
Much more important to me than bass quantity --is bass quality for me. When someone says that something has a "huge low end"---I go running. The most important quality of bass--for me-- is the note envelope. That meaning how a note begins (which I talked about previously), how it develops (just the right amount of note "bloom") and most importantly---how it stops. Most gear of all types fail in the stopping mode. There is usually an "overhang" of notes. One note is still going when another one starts. I go nuts when I can't discern the different pitches. I test audio gear not just with what sounds great--but with what is problematic. I can't stand how Rudy VanGelder recorded bass. (the Blue Note catalog and others) I'll catch a lot of crap for saying that. Only the gear with the best note envelope reproduction can allow me to follow the pitches of the bass on Blue Note recordings. I've never heard anything close to the MaxEx in that respect. Whereas with most gear--at best--the bass is pretty blurred--with the MaxEx--I can actually hear the air between notes. Every recording I listen to---I'm hearing bass pitches that previously eluded me. Oh wow!! That's a D flat he's playing! I've always wondered! I really feel that this is due to the collaboration between Ibasso and Vince. Vince did some super cool mods to the power supply. The bass quantity is right on the money. The bass is just so powerful and effortless. Extension is amazing. Usually when there is a lot of bass extension--it can obscure what's happening above it. Not so here. I rarely listen to any recordings I've done. But I went back to Patricia Barber's "Ode to Billy Joe". Just me and Patty. Some top gear get the timbre right. But with the MaxEx I could feel myself pulling and releasing the string. I felt like I was listening to my bass acoustically. Never experienced this with any other gear. Again--thanks Ibasso and Vince--you've made a bass player really happy!
Mids---
The MaxEx is the most tubelike piece of solid state gear I've experienced. Not as much in the bass---to me that is where tubes fall short. But the mids are the meat and potatoes of music. It's where the essential experience lies. That's where tubes have few equals. I'm not saying that the MaxEX is the equal of a Manley tube amp---but it's the closest I've seen a piece of SS gear get. Liquid and effortless. I know that this is another place where the genius of the Ibasso engineers and Vince collaborating have knocked it out of the park. It's the lack of accentuated highs with the liquid mids keep making you want to listen more. With most high end audio gear I find that I'll go back and forth between tracks once I've heard how it performs at certain feats. Know what I mean? With the MaxEX I find myself unable to stop listening to an album. It just draws you in like I rarely experience.Both male and female vocals have the right amount of weight. Never shouty, never reticent. Much more like tubes than my 228ex.
Highs
To me--this is where tubes can come up short--in high end extension and micro detail. The MaxEx retains that tubey illusion but you can hear all of the detail. It doesn't draw attention to itself, but if you lean in to listen---it's all there.High end on acoustic instruments is not spectacular. Cymbals do not sound like they are presented with most gear. There is not this big "sizzle" and wash of sound that I usually hear.With the MaxEx I hear cymbals and the overtones of acoustic instruments as I'm used to hearing them acoustically I don't think that it's Ibasso forcing its concept of treble--- it's just that I think they got the balance right. If I want to hear what's being played on the ride cymbal--I can lean in and hear it. If I want it to re-integrate into the musical whole--it will effortlessly.
Soundstage
As good as I've heard. VERY wide and deep. Fantastic layering. That's where the 228ex excels- The MaxEx beats it The i4 is the king of this. The "air" around each performer is amazing.
Musical integration
This is where the MaxEx beats the competition. I liken it to looking at a painting. It all comes together at the proper distance and with the proper lighting. Too much lighting and it's difficult to integrate. (think SPECTACULAR!!! sound--the rabbit hole of much high end audio gear) Stand too close and it's difficult to integrate as a whole. (too much attention to detail) The MaxEx---to me-- presents an exceptionally accurate picture that really draws you in. You can step up to view a specific detail, but then step back and be drawn again into the coherent whole. With the MaxEx I find myself again and again listening to one track to evaluate, but having to listen to an entire cd. That coherent presentation is what conveys the emotion of the musical event.
Comparisons
Hugo 2
Boy am I glad I've traversed down the MaxEX rabbit hole! On the suggestions of many I was ready to sell my 228ex and get a Hugo 2. You see, I mostly stream, and I thought that the DAP was wasted and I'd pick up a higher end Dac/amp. Here's (again--for me) the good news and bad news about the Hugo 2. First the good news---it sounds spectacular with amazing detail! The bad news---it sounds spectacular with amazing detail!. Using the painting analogy---it was like standing a little too close with the illumination turned up too high. Again--just my prejudices and perception. The level of detail is astounding. But distracting to me. The soundstage and layering were on par with the MaxEx, but I'd find myself going from track to track and not feeling compelled to listening to the entire cd. For better or worse--very un-tubelike. It's like everything is there, but the music just never seemed to integrate into the musical whole. Just not what I like.
A&K SP2000
A helluva lot closer here. Great sound. Just as good soundstage and layering. Warmer than the Hugo 2 with better integration. Most differences with the MaxEx were a lot more subtle here. With maybe a couple of exceptions. The bass is great on the 2000, but the note envelope wasn't as good. Listening to Ode to Billy Joe--the timbre and note weight were right on the money, but that subtle "explosion" (dumb word choice, but I couldn't think of another) and "expanse" of the note sounded like a great recording. On the Max--I really felt like I was playing my bass. And on the MaxEx---on nearly everything I listened to---there was always some subtle note or passage that I all of a sudden could figure out.Like on Michael Jackson's Off The Wall--on Get on the Floor--Louis Johnson is playing these super cool ghost notes that I could never figure out. They were plain as day on the MaxEx. Same with "Peg" on Steely Dan's "Aja". EVERYONE is always trying to figure out what Chuck Rainey was playing on the bridge. Now I figured it out. Not as much on the SP2000. As great as the SP2000 is---I feel that the musical integration on the MaxEx is superior. And a bit more "tubey" in the mids.
The only downside for me with the MaxEx is size---but that bass performance and the lack of "dynamic density congestion" ( i really like the sound of that) I feel are a result of the massive-by-comparison power supply. I go for an hour walk every day with my cans blasting (again--I have no idea why I still have high frequency hearing) I bought a sling bag that the Max fits perfectly in. So--all in all-- a worthwhile compromise I feel.
Ibasso is a super cool company. They are into the music and have the wisdom and humility to listen to--and collaborate with the musical and listening community. They said that they were really interested in my impressions. And they have implemented Vince's improvements in the past. I haven't heard the Max--only the MaxEx. But I have heard the differences between the Amp8 and the Amp8ex. I'll tell you--Vince has got quite a set of ears. He knows the goalposts he's shooting for and knows how to reach them. I'm certain that the differences between the Max and the MaxEx are not subtle if his amp8ex modifications are any indication.
I sincerely hope that Ibasso will seize this opportunity to produce the 220MaxEx as not a limited run, but as the flagship of their portable lineup. They won't just be stepping into the highest end of portable source material, but will arrive as a class leader.
Again---I can't thank Vince enough for allowing me the opportunity to try this and share in his love of high end sound.
Well--with this Covid stuff going on (no gigs since March and likely few for the rest of the year) I won't be able to buy my own MaxEx in the foreseeable future. I guess I'll have to go back to my 228ex. (a true first world problem!)
Wait a minute---do they have a section in the classifieds where I could sell one of my organs? Or better yet---one of my children?
