[icefalkon]

Don't forget to bring your modded amps to NYC Can't wait to hear it

I'm going to miss seeing you guys this year. I have to be down South that weekend.

Have a great time though!

 

[Bluess]

I have just posted Part 3 on the EX modifications: this part has nothing to do with the tuning of sound, but basically making the DX200 to be more efficient. Ofcourse, by doing this, the sound also receive some improvements across the board

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dx208-ex-modifications.898918/#post-14762704

I suggest you guys be extra careful when doing this, remember to clean the case so there won't be aluminium dust left, they're small and hard to see but will deal a significant damage to the player if falling into the pcb.
I learned this the hard way a few years back trying to sand the plate of the O2 amp.

 

[Whitigir]

I suggest you guys be extra careful when doing this, remember to clean the case so there won't be aluminium dust left, they're small and hard to see but will deal a significant damage to the player if falling into the pcb.
I learned this the hard way a few years back trying to sand the plate of the O2 amp.

Absolutely, I also put in the *note* in that processing steps for this, but it is always good to remind people to be extra careful when doing these modifications and so on .

I know that thread is long and some people may want to skip some lines. However, trust me, do not skips any lines . Especially the Amp8 potential damages from the Tantalum pads and the bi-cap potential problems were also disclosed on those posts

 

[toolapcblack]

Hi i am running 8.1.0 build number 1.01.006 on my DX200 and notice there is a new Download available on the Ibasso website V1.05 (Jan 11th 2019) is it worth updating to this? also does this contain Lurkers add on that i see favorably mentioned

 

[dafos58]

Hi i am running 8.1.0 build number 1.01.006 on my DX200 and notice there is a new Download available on the Ibasso website V1.05 (Jan 11th 2019) is it worth updating to this? also does this contain Lurkers add on that i see favorably mentioned

Hi toolapcblack,
On page 1340, post 20087 you can find the changes for the new fw. Lurker already made an update for this fw also: page 1344, post 20146. Both work (for me) perfectly.

 

[edwardsean]

Question: Why post these pictures of a DX200? I mean in this thread if someone wants to see a DX200 they can look at their own. It’s not even a Titanium edition.

Answer: Because my DX200 is not your DX200. It is a DX208, and my DX208 is not your DX208. My DX208 is:

The DX208-EX… Ex… ex (ECHO... Echo... echo...).

If that sounds like boasting it is because I am so proud to own this thing and feel enormously privileged to get to use it. I know I have no bragging rights. I didn’t design it—it’s brought to you from the mind of Whitigir with Chaiyuta and Bden59. I didn’t even build most of mine. I tried, but I failed. Does that make me less of a man? Yeah, it does feel that way (grin). I did, however, suffer for it, and if you’re interested in this mod I hope to spare you from making some of the same costly mistakes. (As an aside, I will most likely build another amp8EX myself, if for no other reason than to resolder my fragile male ego.)

I’ve divided this review into three parts, 1) notes on the build, 2) notes on the sound, and 3) notes on tracks played on the DX208EX. So if you want to know more of the trials and travails of making the EX, or getting the EX made, go over to Whitigir’s dedicated EX-mod page where I’ve posted the first part of my experience.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dx208-ex-modifications.898918/

After the EX is completed you will need to take it through burn in, during which the sound changed more dramatically than any gear I’ve ever owned. I waited after the 300 hour mark to write this and I’m glad I did. I thought it sounded great after the first 100 hours, but every 24 hour cycle after that was like audio Christmas with new SQ presents from Sonic Santa everyday.

I should also clarify that the only EX I’ve ever heard is with a chain of upgraded software as well. In order of descending importance to SQ they are: DSD512 upconversion, Fidelizer’s Advanced Rom with Lurker’s FW, UAPP, and the latest Oreo 8.1 release. All the following sound impressions are of the DX208EX mod plus these software upgrades. I also have to disclose that I’m running a pretty complex custom DSP+convolution matrix during file processing. Finally, all my listening is done with the Audeze LCDi4, which, in my opinion, is the perfect pairing for the 208EX due to sound, size, and impedance. So, having offered the necessary caveats and clarifications, on to….


The Sound | Notes
First things first: the EX-mod doesn’t actually change the sound of the DX200.

Now that I’ve regained your attention, what I mean is that, the EX doesn’t change the sound of the DX200 as much it brings it to its final form. If you chose the DX200 sound over the whole crowded field of DAPs and portables, you can still identify the base DX DNA that drew you from the start. The sonic signature isn’t altered so much as it is fully realized. The EX mod isn’t a lateral tuning toward the designer’s personal preference.

It is a transformation of the DX200 though a massive vertical delta in sheer performance.

Whitiger’s brilliance is that he immediately saw the potential of the platform that iBasso coded into the DX200 and amp8 module: the design, the clock, the discrete components, etc. He then designed the EX not as a mutation of this but maturation. If I gave you my 208EX right now to listen to (which, you know, not a chance) you wouldn’t recognize it. But–not because it’s no longer the DX200 sound, but in the way you would have trouble placing a childhood friend when you meet them decades later. The child becomes the man.

I don’t think the iBasso engineers would be horrified by the EX as some Frankenstein creation, but truly pleased with what has been achieved from what they made possible. Along the developmental path, the DX200+amp8W is like the EX in early adolescence. It can give you an idea of where the EX ends up at roughly 1/5th of the SQ gains of the EX. That is to say, the EX advances the 8W improvements by a factor of 5 times. I say “5 times” not to hype up the EX. It is the number that Vince gave me and I pass it on to you for the same reason. To say “5 times” is not an exaggeration; it so that you will believe me. (The truth is that it’s even better than that.)

If you want to upgrade but don’t want to commit to the full EX, the 208W-mod is vastly easier and very much worth doing. You can do the Nichicon re-capping in mere minutes with an iron, the TDK sheeting is just cut and stick on, additionally, the GRP mod is just a bit of light sanding. A pleasant evening while watching Netflix. I include this here because the 8W and GRP mods lay the foundation for the EX-mod by dramatically taking down noise (via TDK sheeting), enhancing PRAT and tonality (via GRP mod), and improving staging, bass articulation, and timbre (via re-capping). The Chemicon caps replacement is the only part of this that can be tricky. The EX-mod includes these steps which are shared with the 8W-mod. The full EX-mod then goes on to replace 32 caps (originally 30) on the main board + amp8, and also the power regulators on the standard DX200.

What all of this does can be summed up in one word: fidelity. The EX stands for “EXtreme fidelity.” And, I can further sum up “fidelity” in three letters: SNR. Technically we are talking about Signal to Noise Ratio, and for the newer audiophiles, when we talk about noise we are not talking about audible hiss. Hopefully, if you’re an audiophile you’ve already sorted that out, except for some very sensitive IEMs. By noise we are talking about the extremely low level digital/analog jittery, electromagnetic, radio, intermodulated distortion that obscures the meaningful signal. The full EX-mod renders a higher quality, purer signal that connects you more directly to the music.

When you improve fidelity you don’t just get an artificial boost in one area of sound at the expense of others. Everything improves together organically. So, with the EX:

1) Voices, instruments, and sound effects emerge and recede from an inky black background. Again, the 8W-mod also uses the TDK sheeting so the improved background starts from there. However, with the EX those same sonic elements are lit up more clearly before they dissolve into the black. It's like in video when the contrast has been properly calibrated so that the black levels are not crushed but retain detail even in the shadows.

2) All dimensions of the stage: width, depth, height are radically expanded. At the same time you don’t lose intimacy and presence. I despise a congested sound because it seems like the soundstage has collapsed leaving the singer lodged between my eyes. However, with the EX, I don’t mind close up vocals because the sound also extends backward to a singer positioned at an appropriate distance. Instrumental arrangements, spatial cues, and ambience effects then splay out across a voluminous panorama along all three spatial axes.

3) All this expansion doesn’t create an unfocused diffusion. The imaging on the EX is exact. You can localize backup singers that were previously folded into the main vocal. Percussion and cymbals are precisely placed in relative space. All the individual sonic components are intelligibly organized into layers of sound far better separated left to right and front to back, and even up and down.

4) All this greater specificity doesn’t come at the expense of coherency. The EX allows you to focus in on an element of sound if you choose, and then pull back to hear it in the context of the larger arrangement. The DX200 has always been good at this and the EX continues to preserve the whole of the sound.

5) All this coherency doesn’t keep the EX from advancing resolution and detail. This is, unfortunately, something the DX200 has never been good at and the EX takes the opportunity to fill the gap. Reverb tails are better defined and subtle delay effects are not only better placed in space but more pronounced. Small strokes on the skin of a drum, moisture in the lungs, calluses squeaking on a string, all come forward.

6) All this detail is not generated in a clinical way, but the sound pours forth with greater fluidity. The DX200 could sound both dry and grainy. The EX is to sound what “liquid retina” is to Apple’s marketing of their visual displays. The audio pixels become so fine that they disappear to the human ear and music flows smoothly.

7) All this liquidity does not cloud or smear the greater transparency afforded by the EX. The proverbial veil is lifted and you are in breathless contact with unadulterated music.

8) All this clarity does not make the sound cold, as the EX improves on both the accuracy and fullness of timbres. Sound is portrayed with a more tender and natural realism. Again, something that was a weak point in the original DX200. To be honest this is still the one area that other elite makers may do better, but I think the EX takes the DX200 about as far as it can go, and it is far.

8) All this improved micro-tonality doesn’t come at the expense of the larger frequency spectrum. Bass rumbles further down into the subsonics but retains an unbloated articulation in the harmonic overtone structure. The mids gain a gorgeous richness and palpable body without muddiness. Trebles extend to preternatural highs with sweet, strong, and delicately filigreed transients.

9) All this wonderful finesse does not trade away the more powerful dynamic punch provided by the new voltage regulators. Bass notes have more weight and impact, snares hit with a stronger snap, and the whole range swings more freely. At the same time there is an ease and effortless to the render because power has become altogether less restrained.

TL;DR: No one element of sound is improved at the expense of another. The whole sonic picture, in all its organic complexity, is elevated by a global jump in performance.


The Music | Notes (All tracks are played with Fidelizer Advanced ROM+Lurker, my custom convolution + DSP, and converted to DSD512 courtesy of AuI Converter which allows me to use the Brick Wall filter!)

a) Will Ackerman/Floyd’s Ghost: Will Ackerman is not only a musician and founder of the Windham Hill label. He is one of the premier engineers of acoustic music. Recorded at his state of the art Imaginary Roads studio, this is, in my extensive collection, the finest example of a single acoustic guitar expanded to orchestral dimensions.

208-stock: the guitar can sound metallic and unnatural with a slightly honky, ting-y midrange; staging is good but with vague imaging.

208W: the guitar sounds more natural and delicate but lacking clarity; staging is larger but likewise hazy with better but, still imprecise, imaging.

208EX: the guitar sounds–real–even more refined and substantial but now with clarity and more transparency; staging is–wide–open, immersive, and enveloping with spot on imaging.

This is always one of my first test tracks because of the complexity of this recording of a single instrument. When engineers use digital reverb they sometimes employ a randomized modulation of the delay lines to mimic the way sound waves move through actual air molecules. When this track is rendered correctly you can hear the notes wobble and drift as they float between multiple microphones in a masterly crafted combination of true and artificially enhanced acoustic space. When I say that the EX has an “airy” sound, I don’t mean in some generic rendering of blank space. I mean that it is able to portray the atmosphere around instruments with specificity at the molecular level. (Too much, I know.)

b) Fink/This is the Thing: This track is–huge–but the lone voice is chesty, soft, ponderous, and close. The EX has the serious audio horsepower needed to capture both parts of the juxtaposition. The cymbal work populating the studio ether becomes more prominent with the EX, more precisely imaged, with greater timbral realism and transient detail, both sharper and sweeter. The refrain “this is the thing” emerges from left of nowhere. Both the EX and 8W, get this, but with the EX the short phrase brings along its own halo of alternate reverb parameters distinct from the main atmospheric reverb.

c) Sarah McLachlan/Good Enough: Before the EX, the opening guitar chord sounded good like a well recorded electric guitar. The EX reveals all the engineering work that went into that perfect blend of clean/dirty distortion that signals the whole mood of this bitter/sweet track. Sarah’s sublime voice is made both more, and less, great by clearly teasing it apart from the voice of the backing vocalist. You always knew she possessed one of the all time great pop voices, but you get to appreciate the caliber of the supporting vocal and the expert mix of the two.

d) Deadmau5/Avaritia: EX gets the smoothness and the bite from those opening saw-tooth wave synth lines. Then a dead silent dramatic pause followed by… the bass drop! If you can’t get the bass drop right on EDM you might as well not listen to it. The EX renders the bass deep and dynamic, thumping and throbbing–but–not pounding you into stupefaction with a bull like bloat. It is a textured, thoughtful, even enigmatic pounding.

e) Roxy Music/Avalon: The EX loves effervescent British eighties synth-pop. This track is drenched in dreamy reverb, and before the EX, you are engulfed in its miasmic cloud. Nice in its own way. The EX injects an alert accuracy into the mix which only intensifies the euphoric quality like a lucid dream. The resulting effect is not holographic as much as hallucinogenic. It’s no longer a prerecorded studio track; it’s happening live all around you. The reverb is old-school over-the-top artificial, but Bryan Ferry’s voice is totally real. I only had a vague notion of that before. Now that he is right here in front of me I can hear the resonance off his upper palate and nasal cavity. The sax to the far right of him is not just a generic sax but vibrates with a clear and identifiable tonal signature. I bet you a seasoned saxophonist could tell me the make and model.

f) Radiohead/Creep: This track is expertly engineered; it sounded good from the start with the stock DX208. It only improves across the board with the EX, but one place is worthy of special mention. The song is punctuated–strike that–it is “punctured” twice by a savage strike of a pick against the overdriven strings of an electric guitar. The mythology is that Johnny Greenwood didn’t like how pretty the song was sounding and wanted to mess it up. Out of the three (208-stock, 208W, and 208EX) only the EX has the dynamic grunt to release the pent up frustration in that stroke. The EX allows you to all but smell the sinister burning of the tubes seeping from that classic Vox AC30 “creeping” into the “beautiful world” of gorgeous sounds.

g) Trevor Morris/The Eye of Odin: Switching to OST, Trevor Morris is a quasi-disciple of Hans Zimmer and picked up a thing or two about creating colossal musical set pieces. If Zimmer remains better at composing simple but effective melodies, Morris goes beyond him in generating a sense of monumental scale. In this track there are horns that need to sound like they are being blown by deities from atop Valhalla. When they sound out from the EX, these horns have the power to simultaneously terrify and entrance with awe.

h) Rebekah Del Rio/Llorando: Like the first track I described this last track is again solely occupied by a single, lonely instrument: Rebekah Del Rio’s voice. You would think that makes it less complicated than a densely packed multitrack. That’s true, but when you only have one component to fill out an entire mix you have to understand how to make that one thing sound complex and interesting. Here, the voice is placed in a huge empty theater. The stock 208 comprehends the basic task of extracting the work that went into sculpting the room reflection and reverb design. The 208W takes it from there and blows up the space to satisfyingly large dimensions. What more does the EX bring to the table? Rebekah’s voice almost becomes like a sonar reading of the room. Her voice is invisible but as it echoes throughout the chamber the EX allows you to make out the size, shape, and architecture of the hall. That–is EX-Ex-extreme fidelity.

TL;DR: You would need a darn spendy–desktop–to get this level of sound. I mean that quite seriously. My Moon Neo-430HAD+Synergistic Research cable+Audiophilleo interface costs nearly $6KUSD. If you want tangible proof of the goods of the EX-mod, I can send you a packet of the dust collecting on it. I don’t mean that the EX can’t be bettered, obviously. I am looking at adding a Denafrips Terminator, which is actually a bargain at $4,260. So for me, it will take entering into five figures to overtake the EX. There are, of course, other routes to beating the EX, many cheaper, but none of them cheap. Oh, as a nice side benefit, the DX208EX is a bit easier to port around than a rack. I remind you of this because if you heard it, you would not believe it’s a portable. Packets of dust aside the only real way that you’ll be convinced is to hear it for yourself. It wouldn’t hurt to just take a look at Whitigir’s Ex-mod page right? For now, I’ll stick with my story. It’s just 5X better than the DX208W upgrades of the stock unit, that’s all. Thanks Whit–times five!

 

[fokta]

Question: Why post these pictures of a DX200? I mean in this thread if someone wants to see a DX200 they can look at their own. It’s not even a Titanium edition.

Answer: Because my DX200 is not your DX200. It is a DX208, and my DX208 is not your DX208. My DX208 is:

The DX208-EX… Ex… ex (ECHO... Echo... echo...).

If that sounds like boasting it is because I am so proud to own this thing and feel enormously privileged to get to use it. I know I have no bragging rights. I didn’t design it—it’s brought to you from the mind of Whitigir with Chaiyuta and Bden59. I didn’t even build most of mine. I tried, but I failed. Does that make me less of a man? Yeah, it does feel that way (grin). I did, however, suffer for it, and if you’re interested in this mod I hope to spare you from making some of the same costly mistakes. (As an aside, I will most likely build another amp8EX myself, if for no other reason than to resolder my fragile male ego.)

I’ve divided this review into three parts, 1) notes on the build, 2) notes on the sound, and 3) notes on tracks played on the DX208EX. So if you want to know more of the trials and travails of making the EX, or getting the EX made, go over to Whitigir’s dedicated EX-mod page where I’ve posted the first part of my experience.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dx208-ex-modifications.898918/

After the EX is completed you will need to take it through burn in, during which the sound changed more dramatically than any gear I’ve ever owned. I waited after the 300 hour mark to write this and I’m glad I did. I thought it sounded great after the first 100 hours, but every 24 hour cycle after that was like audio Christmas with new SQ presents from Sonic Santa everyday.

I should also clarify that the only EX I’ve ever heard is with a chain of upgraded software as well. In order of descending importance to SQ they are: DSD512 upconversion, Fidelizer’s Advanced Rom with Lurker’s FW, UAPP, and the latest Oreo 8.1 release. All the following sound impressions are of the DX208EX mod plus these software upgrades. I also have to disclose that I’m running a pretty complex custom DSP+convolution matrix during file processing. Finally, all my listening is done with the Audeze LCDi4, which, in my opinion, is the perfect pairing for the 208EX due to sound, size, and impedance. So, having offered the necessary caveats and clarifications, on to….


The Sound | Notes
First things first: the EX-mod doesn’t actually change the sound of the DX200.

Now that I’ve regained your attention, what I mean is that, the EX doesn’t change the sound of the DX200 as much it brings it to its final form. If you chose the DX200 sound over the whole crowded field of DAPs and portables, you can still identify the base DX DNA that drew you from the start. The sonic signature isn’t altered so much as it is fully realized. The EX mod isn’t a lateral tuning toward the designer’s personal preference.

It is a transformation of the DX200 though a massive vertical delta in sheer performance.

Whitiger’s brilliance is that he immediately saw the potential of the platform that iBasso coded into the DX200 and amp8 module: the design, the clock, the discrete components, etc. He then designed the EX not as a mutation of this but maturation. If I gave you my 208EX right now to listen to (which, you know, not a chance) you wouldn’t recognize it. But–not because it’s no longer the DX200 sound, but in the way you would have trouble placing a childhood friend when you meet them decades later. The child becomes the man.

I don’t think the iBasso engineers would be horrified by the EX as some Frankenstein creation, but truly pleased with what has been achieved from what they made possible. Along the developmental path, the DX200+amp8W is like the EX in early adolescence. It can give you an idea of where the EX ends up at roughly 1/5th of the SQ gains of the EX. That is to say, the EX advances the 8W improvements by a factor of 5 times. I say “5 times” not to hype up the EX. It is the number that Vince gave me and I pass it on to you for the same reason. To say “5 times” is not an exaggeration; it so that you will believe me. (The truth is that it’s even better than that.)

If you want to upgrade but don’t want to commit to the full EX, the 208W-mod is vastly easier and very much worth doing. You can do the Nichicon re-capping in mere minutes with an iron, the TDK sheeting is just cut and stick on, additionally, the GRP mod is just a bit of light sanding. A pleasant evening while watching Netflix. I include this here because the 8W and GRP mods lay the foundation for the EX-mod by dramatically taking down noise (via TDK sheeting), enhancing PRAT and tonality (via GRP mod), and improving staging, bass articulation, and timbre (via re-capping). The Chemicon caps replacement is the only part of this that can be tricky. The EX-mod includes these steps which are shared with the 8W-mod. The full EX-mod then goes on to replace 32 caps (originally 30) on the main board + amp8, and also the power regulators on the standard DX200.

What all of this does can be summed up in one word: fidelity. The EX stands for “EXtreme fidelity.” And, I can further sum up “fidelity” in three letters: SNR. Technically we are talking about Signal to Noise Ratio, and for the newer audiophiles, when we talk about noise we are not talking about audible hiss. Hopefully, if you’re an audiophile you’ve already sorted that out, except for some very sensitive IEMs. By noise we are talking about the extremely low level digital/analog jittery, electromagnetic, radio, intermodulated distortion that obscures the meaningful signal. The full EX-mod renders a higher quality, purer signal that connects you more directly to the music.

When you improve fidelity you don’t just get an artificial boost in one area of sound at the expense of others. Everything improves together organically. So, with the EX:

1) Voices, instruments, and sound effects emerge and recede from an inky black background. Again, the 8W-mod also uses the TDK sheeting so the improved background starts from there. However, with the EX those same sonic elements are lit up more clearly before they dissolve into the black. It's like in video when the contrast has been properly calibrated so that the black levels are not crushed but retain detail even in the shadows.

2) All dimensions of the stage: width, depth, height are radically expanded. At the same time you don’t lose intimacy and presence. I despise a congested sound because it seems like the soundstage has collapsed leaving the singer lodged between my eyes. However, with the EX, I don’t mind close up vocals because the sound also extends backward to a singer positioned at an appropriate distance. Instrumental arrangements, spatial cues, and ambience effects then splay out across a voluminous panorama along all three spatial axes.

3) All this expansion doesn’t create an unfocused diffusion. The imaging on the EX is exact. You can localize backup singers that were previously folded into the main vocal. Percussion and cymbals are precisely placed in relative space. All the individual sonic components are intelligibly organized into layers of sound far better separated left to right and front to back, and even up and down.

4) All this greater specificity doesn’t come at the expense of coherency. The EX allows you to focus in on an element of sound if you choose, and then pull back to hear it in the context of the larger arrangement. The DX200 has always been good at this and the EX continues to preserve the whole of the sound.

5) All this coherency doesn’t keep the EX from advancing resolution and detail. This is, unfortunately, something the DX200 has never been good at and the EX takes the opportunity to fill the gap. Reverb tails are better defined and subtle delay effects are not only better placed in space but more pronounced. Small strokes on the skin of a drum, moisture in the lungs, calluses squeaking on a string, all come forward.

6) All this detail is not generated in a clinical way, but the sound pours forth with greater fluidity. The DX200 could sound both dry and grainy. The EX is to sound what “liquid retina” is to Apple’s marketing of their visual displays. The audio pixels become so fine that they disappear to the human ear and music flows smoothly.

7) All this liquidity does not cloud or smear the greater transparency afforded by the EX. The proverbial veil is lifted and you are in breathless contact with unadulterated music.

8) All this clarity does not make the sound cold, as the EX improves on both the accuracy and fullness of timbres. Sound is portrayed with a more tender and natural realism. Again, something that was a weak point in the original DX200. To be honest this is still the one area that other elite makers may do better, but I think the EX takes the DX200 about as far as it can go, and it is far.

8) All this improved micro-tonality doesn’t come at the expense of the larger frequency spectrum. Bass rumbles further down into the subsonics but retains an unbloated articulation in the harmonic overtone structure. The mids gain a gorgeous richness and palpable body without muddiness. Trebles extend to preternatural highs with sweet, strong, and delicately filigreed transients.

9) All this wonderful finesse does not trade away the more powerful dynamic punch provided by the new voltage regulators. Bass notes have more weight and impact, snares hit with a stronger snap, and the whole range swings more freely. At the same time there is an ease and effortless to the render because power has become altogether less restrained.

TL;DR: No one element of sound is improved at the expense of another. The whole sonic picture, in all its organic complexity, is elevated by a global jump in performance.


The Music | Notes (All tracks are played with Fidelizer Advanced ROM+Lurker, my custom convolution + DSP, and converted to DSD512 courtesy of AuI Converter which allows me to use the Brick Wall filter!)

a) Will Ackerman/Floyd’s Ghost: Will Ackerman is not only a musician and founder of the Windham Hill label. He is one of the premier engineers of acoustic music. Recorded at his state of the art Imaginary Roads studio, this is, in my extensive collection, the finest example of a single acoustic guitar expanded to orchestral dimensions.

208-stock: the guitar can sound metallic and unnatural with a slightly honky, ting-y midrange; staging is good but with vague imaging.

208W: the guitar sounds more natural and delicate but lacking clarity; staging is larger but likewise hazy with better but, still imprecise, imaging.

208EX: the guitar sounds–real–even more refined and substantial but now with clarity and more transparency; staging is–wide–open, immersive, and enveloping with spot on imaging.

This is always one of my first test tracks because of the complexity of this recording of a single instrument. When engineers use digital reverb they sometimes employ a randomized modulation of the delay lines to mimic the way sound waves move through actual air molecules. When this track is rendered correctly you can hear the notes wobble and drift as they float between multiple microphones in a masterly crafted combination of true and artificially enhanced acoustic space. When I say that the EX has an “airy” sound, I don’t mean in some generic rendering of blank space. I mean that it is able to portray the atmosphere around instruments with specificity at the molecular level. (Too much, I know.)

b) Fink/This is the Thing: This track is–huge–but the lone voice is chesty, soft, ponderous, and close. The EX has the serious audio horsepower needed to capture both parts of the juxtaposition. The cymbal work populating the studio ether becomes more prominent with the EX, more precisely imaged, with greater timbral realism and transient detail, both sharper and sweeter. The refrain “this is the thing” emerges from left of nowhere. Both the EX and 8W, get this, but with the EX the short phrase brings along its own halo of alternate reverb parameters distinct from the main atmospheric reverb.

c) Sarah McLachlan/Good Enough: Before the EX, the opening guitar chord sounded good like a well recorded electric guitar. The EX reveals all the engineering work that went into that perfect blend of clean/dirty distortion that signals the whole mood of this bitter/sweet track. Sarah’s sublime voice is made both more, and less, great by clearly teasing it apart from the voice of the backing vocalist. You always knew she possessed one of the all time great pop voices, but you get to appreciate the caliber of the supporting vocal and the expert mix of the two.

d) Deadmau5/Avaritia: EX gets the smoothness and the bite from those opening saw-tooth wave synth lines. Then a dead silent dramatic pause followed by… the bass drop! If you can’t get the bass drop right on EDM you might as well not listen to it. The EX renders the bass deep and dynamic, thumping and throbbing–but–not pounding you into stupefaction with a bull like bloat. It is a textured, thoughtful, even enigmatic pounding.

e) Roxy Music/Avalon: The EX loves effervescent British eighties synth-pop. This track is drenched in dreamy reverb, and before the EX, you are engulfed in its miasmic cloud. Nice in its own way. The EX injects an alert accuracy into the mix which only intensifies the euphoric quality like a lucid dream. The resulting effect is not holographic as much as hallucinogenic. It’s no longer a prerecorded studio track; it’s happening live all around you. The reverb is old-school over-the-top artificial, but Bryan Ferry’s voice is totally real. I only had a vague notion of that before. Now that he is right here in front of me I can hear the resonance off his upper palate and nasal cavity. The sax to the far right of him is not just a generic sax but vibrates with a clear and identifiable tonal signature. I bet you a seasoned saxophonist could tell me the make and model.

f) Radiohead/Creep: This track is expertly engineered; it sounded good from the start with the stock DX208. It only improves across the board with the EX, but one place is worthy of special mention. The song is punctuated–strike that–it is “punctured” twice by a savage strike of a pick against the overdriven strings of an electric guitar. The mythology is that Johnny Greenwood didn’t like how pretty the song was sounding and wanted to mess it up. Out of the three (208-stock, 208W, and 208EX) only the EX has the dynamic grunt to release the pent up frustration in that stroke. The EX allows you to all but smell the sinister burning of the tubes seeping from that classic Vox AC30 “creeping” into the “beautiful world” of gorgeous sounds.

g) Trevor Morris/The Eye of Odin: Switching to OST, Trevor Morris is a quasi-disciple of Hans Zimmer and picked up a thing or two about creating colossal musical set pieces. If Zimmer remains better at composing simple but effective melodies, Morris goes beyond him in generating a sense of monumental scale. In this track there are horns that need to sound like they are being blown by deities from atop Valhalla. When they sound out from the EX, these horns have the power to simultaneously terrify and entrance with awe.

h) Rebekah Del Rio/Llorando: Like the first track I described this last track is again solely occupied by a single, lonely instrument: Rebekah Del Rio’s voice. You would think that makes it less complicated than a densely packed multitrack. That’s true, but when you only have one component to fill out an entire mix you have to understand how to make that one thing sound complex and interesting. Here, the voice is placed in a huge empty theater. The stock 208 comprehends the basic task of extracting the work that went into sculpting the room reflection and reverb design. The 208W takes it from there and blows up the space to satisfyingly large dimensions. What more does the EX bring to the table? Rebekah’s voice almost becomes like a sonar reading of the room. Her voice is invisible but as it echoes throughout the chamber the EX allows you to make out the size, shape, and architecture of the hall. That–is EXtreme fidelity.

TL;DR: You would need a darn spendy–desktop–to get this level of sound. I mean that quite seriously. My Moon Neo-430HAD+Synergistic Research cable+Audiophilleo interface costs nearly $6KUSD. If you want tangible proof of the goods of the EX-mod, I can send you a packet of the dust collecting on it. I don’t mean that the EX can’t be bettered, obviously. I am looking at adding a Denafrips Terminator, which is actually a bargain at $4,260. So for me, it will take entering into five figures to overtake the EX. There are, of course, other routes to beating the EX, many cheaper, but none of them cheap. Oh, as a nice side benefit, the DX208EX is a bit easier to port around than a rack. I remind you of this because if you heard it, you would not believe it’s a portable. Packets of dust aside the only real way that you’ll be convinced is to hear it for yourself. It wouldn’t hurt to just take a look at Whitigir’s Ex-mod page right? For now, I’ll stick with my story. It’s just 5X better than the DX208W upgrades of the stock unit, that’s all. Thanks Whit–times five!

Where can I get one of this... ???

Wish I can demo this DX208 EX... (echo)

 

[Whitigir]

Where can I get one of this... ???

Wish I can demo this DX208 EX... (echo)

There is no way to Demo this. This is a Modified DX200 and Amp8 with the EX method that I named it. Everything is posted in that link above. This is extreme works, and I was not going to post it to the public but would be opened to PM. I was very worried about the works that needed to perform in order to apply the EX modifications, and the great risk related to it. However, @edwardsean was awesomely persistent , and that he did not give up even when damaging his own Amp8, instead, he found 1-2 great technicians here in Chicago of the U.S, who can perform the EX package with some affordable fees as he disclosed. This helps many other people to have a chance to get this EX upgrades done. Therefore, I posted everything that needed to get the project going to the public.

In any case that you are in other countries, you can present the article and the parts that you ordered, and ask the technician who you trusted to have been handling soldering and iron works in a good way to perform it for some fees.

Regarding of what you may end up doing, the risk of damaging the device, the main PCB or the Amp8 is very real. However, the greater the risk, the better the reward

 

[fokta]

There is no way to Demo this. This is a Modified DX200 and Amp8 with the EX method that I named it. Everything is posted in that link above. This is extreme works, and I was not going to post it to the public but would be opened to PM. I was very worried about the works that needed to perform in order to apply the EX modifications, and the great risk related to it. However, @edwardsean was awesomely persistent , and that he did not give up even when damaging his own Amp8, instead, he found 1-2 great technicians here in Chicago of the U.S, who can perform the EX package with some affordable fees as he disclosed. This helps many other people to have a chance to get this EX upgrades done. Therefore, I posted everything that needed to get the project going to the public.

In any case that you are in other countries, you can present the article and the parts that you ordered, and ask the technician who you trusted to have been handling soldering and iron works in a good way to perform it for some fees.

Regarding of what you may end up doing, the risk of damaging the device, the main PCB or the Amp8 is very real. However, the greater the risk, the better the reward

point taken....

The only HW modder in my country for DX200 is only in the Motherboard, which the end result to get airy seperation.... but thats not in Amp module.... and is not cheap....
not seeing ppl modding Amp8 here... I believe is because the risk like you said....

well just enjoying reading this thread, while waiting DX220

 

[deniska80]

a-h

Would you be so kind as to upload archive with your test track anywhere?))

 

[edwardsean]

Would you be so kind as to upload archive with your test track anywhere?))

I’m sorry Deniska, I don’t have the original redbook files on my drive. As I shared above, my files are DSD512 so they are huge in size, but more problematic is that they are heavily processed with custom DSP and convolution. I don’t think they would work well for you.

If you google the artist/title you could find most of them online. The only one that is not easy to locate is Rebekah Del Rio’s “Llorando.” This version can only be found on the soundtrack for David Lynch’s cult classic “Mulholland Drive.” There is another version floating around, but that is fully orchestrated, which, in my opinion, totally destroys it. It is this solo a cappella rendering that is so brave, fierce, and vulnerable to devastating emotional effect.

“Llorando” is actually a Spanish cover of Roy Orbison’s great “Crying.” If you can’t locate this version from Mulholland Drive with Del Rio, the best interpretation of it must belong to K. D. Lang. If you’re at all interested, here’s a YouTube link. The sound quality is trash, but ironically, after everything I wrote, I’d listen to K. D. Lang sing this song through a tin can.

 

[toolapcblack]

Hi toolapcblack,
On page 1340, post 20087 you can find the changes for the new fw. Lurker already made an update for this fw also: page 1344, post 20146. Both work (for me) perfectly.

thanks got the Official firmware on but keep getting this error message when i try Lurkers any ideas?
On the DX200 its displaying Android Recovery screen with a menu?

 

[Lurker0]

but keep getting this error message

Your device is in ADB mode, not Loader. Please follow the instruction.

 

[DaYooper]

I’d listen to K. D. Lang sing this song through a tin can.

I have two DVDs that have K.D. doing this track but not that version. On one of them, through the magic of video , she performs it with Roy. Thankfully the Oppo does a very nice job, way better than a tin can. But if a tin can were all I had....

 

[toolapcblack]

Your device is in ADB mode, not Loader. Please follow the instruction.

1. Start AndroidTool from this particular folder.
2. Turn DX200 off.
3. Press and hold Play button.
4. Connect DX200 to PC USB port.
5. Wait until "No Device Found" changed to "Found ONE Loader Device" at the bottom.

hi yes i am following this "read me" exactly but it always changes from "No Device Found" to "Found ONE ADB Device"
with the unit off i start holding down the Play button then i connect with the other hand to the PC, it does this repeatedly even when i continue to hold the Play button for a good few minutes, any ideas?