DX260 Digital Audio Player, a New avenue to your music. Preorders have started. Easily replaceable battery. NEW Firmware Update! 2.02

[energie]

mojo 2 is not better, it colors sound more, making it warmer and treble boosted and add a lot of noise same time. Feels like v shaped sound.

fiio k9 ess pro same story, just less colored source

this could be the reason....im still testing

 

[jamato8]

Mojo 2 or topping dx9

Wow, the one thing I hear is more detail compared to the Mojo and bass I prefer. This is IMO, but I listen to the 260 for detail over the Mojo 2 and general musicality, though the Mojo is very good.

How many hours on the DX260?

 

[energie]

Wow, the one thing I hear is more detail compared to the Mojo and bass I prefer. This is IMO, but I listen to the 260 for detail over the Mojo 2 and general musicality, though the Mojo is very good.

How many hours on the DX260?

I’m not so experienced so I may explain not correctly.
Details are there but sometimes feels congested and fatiguing over the mojo2 who’s pleasant and musical even if it’s not perfectly reference sounding.
Around 20hours

 

[dgjl]

Around 20hours

It's widely reported in this thread that the 260 improves with around 100 hours burn in, and the more the better.

 

[jamato8]

I’m not so experienced so I may explain not correctly.
Details are there but sometimes feels congested and fatiguing over the mojo2 who’s pleasant and musical even if it’s not perfectly reference sounding.
Around 20hours

I see. Well, it does need more hours, as mentioned above. Twenty hours is the 1st baby step. :^) One Hundred plus hours.

A tube amp I have that I burned in and burned in, took a few hundred. One device from Audio Note UK I got, was recommended for 800 hours!! Sounds like rubbish but it was true. Things have form, especially the capacitors, which are chemical and materials that change. I have a very fine cap tester that measure ESR etc. and from new to burned in, the ESR, which matters a lot in music, changes drastically, so it isn't just voodoo, it is real and measurable, though some refuse to believe this but it is there on the digital screen of the tester.

 

[energie]

I see. Well, it does need more hours, as mentioned above. Twenty hours is the 1st baby step. :^) One Hundred plus hours.

A tube amp I have that I burned in and burned in, took a few hundred. One device from Audio Note UK I got, was recommended for 800 hours!! Sounds like rubbish but it was true. Things have form, especially the capacitors, which are chemical and materials that change. I have a very fine cap tester that measure ESR etc. and from new to burned in, the ESR, which matters a lot in music, changes drastically, so it isn't just voodoo, it is real and measurable, though some refuse to believe this but it is there on the digital screen of the tester.

Don’t worry I’m cable and burn in believer

 

[gonzfi]

If burn in is a thing, why does everyone suggest that it improves sound? Is there not an equal chance it will degrade the sound?

 

[jamato8]

If burn in is a thing, why does everyone suggest that it improves sound? Is there not an equal chance it will degrade the sound?

A company or person designing an amp, preamp, dac, etc., will work within understood design outlay. They will then listen, let a unit burn in, and listen and continue to do so. What they are seeking or should be, is a design, that once fully settled, sounds to their expectations. So what you would be hearing, after burn in, is what they were striving for in sound and performance. That is why, companies often tell you to get at least one hundred hours on a unit to start hearing its potential, what they designed it to sound like. You are hearing what they are hearing. If it sounds worse, they didn't do a good job. Caps can really have an effect and need time to form and do the best electrical that they were designed for. This can even be seen in ESR measurements as they change and improve as a cap is formed.

 

[Flooshie]

For anyone considering the DX260 or the FiiO M23, I'll copy my ergonomics rant from the M23 thread here (hope that's kosher):

Sounds brilliant, and the subtle cobalt blue colouring is a refreshing and beguilling change from ubiquitous black/silver bricks.

However, after using my M23 daily for about two months, I find the overall ergonomics problematic. FYI, I reckon my hands are on the larger side: when I buy gloves, it's at least a large, and more often an extra-large.

With that in mind, here are my ergonomic grievances:

• Flush buttons and recessed switches sure do look swish but are hard to operate blindly.
• Too many controls in too many places make it hard to learn to operate blindly.
• The brutalist squarish angles of the unit might be visually striking, but my hands prefer slight curves (as in the M15s--never held one, but it looks more sensible to grasp).
• Slick surfaces all over + hard right angles + the unit's height make it hard to grip single-handedly, even with the TPU case, which is almost as slick as the aluminum frame.
• The (p)leather case ensures a better grip, and has a little undercarriage that makes the M23 a bit easier to use one-handed. That said, the (p)leather case covers the playback buttons, which made them nearly impossible to differentiate by feel. I had to get a sharp knife and cut a window into the case to expose them.
• The (p)leather adds surprising bulk--surprising to me, at least. It's one of those cases with a velcro fastening system. It's great for keeping the player in the case, and even it's nice and low-profile as far as velcro goes. Nevertheless, with the (p)leather case on, the M23, for me, is more transportable than portable.
• The headphone jack is on top, which is not my preference. I flipped the screen to reverse that, but it makes the placement of controls even more awkward--for example, with the jacks on the bottom, I'm now prone to gripping the player in such a way that I activate the volume control.
• If anyone would like to wage jihad against the volume slider, please sign me up. I can see how some like it in a desktop setup, but for portable use its much more a hindrance than a help, and disabling it is a must. Disabling it protects my ears and IEMs but leaves me with no tactile feedback on which direction the volume is going when I reach into my pocket. Intuitive volume control is kind of the most important thing on a DAP: even more than John Darko's "Red Hot Chili Peppers button," IMO.
• Screen is hard to see outdoors, even on full brightness.
• While the microSD card slot does offer a beautifully flush appearance (and maybe superior dust protection compared to an open spring-loaded system?), it's just a faff to use in practice. And I do find myself having to move the card in and out a fair bit, because file transfer on the Fiio M23 itself (with my Windows 11 PC) is sluggish compared to loading files onto the card directly.

To help me identify controls by feel, I've added a bunch of adhesive rubber stickers over the controls I use most often. I also covered the TPU case with electrical tape to make it more pleasant to touch (OK, I'm getting obsessive here).

Sounds great, and works kinda OK as a Roon endpoint (which is why I bought it), though it drops out a lot if I move from room to room on my mesh WiFi network. It just seems that the designers prized austere aesthetics over functionality.

Overall, I'm not terribly pleased with the M23 as a daily driver, even around the house. Having mostly used smaller and more ergonomic DAPs which are genuinely pocketable (Hiby R3II, Fiio X5II, Dethonray DTR1(+), Cayin N3Pro), this chonker is hard to get used to. Naked, I'd call it barely pocketable, less so with the TPU case, and the leather case is a bit hopeless unless you're a marsupial.

By contrast, the DX260's ergonomics, while imperfect (scratchy volume encoder; playback buttons too flush and sensitive for my taste), are a big step up. That half inch less on the screen makes a huge difference and allows true one-handed operation. The reduced weight is also helpful, as is the brighter screen and the bottom placement of the headphone ports.

No offense intended to any of the designers, of course! I'm not claiming I could do any better. I do get the sense, though, that the DX260 was designed with pocket ability and on the go use first, while the M23 was intended more as a transportable device. The M23's layout makes a lot more sense on a desktop (and in desktop mode) than in a pocket, whereas the DX260 is equally at home in either scenario.

 

[hjf3Gd]

Good evening everyone. A quick question - I removed the micro SD card from my DX260 in order to add an album. When I've reinstalled the card I've found my playlist now isn't loading. In fact I'm now having to rescan the whole SD card. I'd expect to do that in order to add the 1 album, but it didn't show any of my music. It's completely lost the contents of my playlist as well - it has the title of it, but no tracks. Next time I'll make sure it's turned off when I remove the card, although I thought it was this time..... Anyone had the same issues?

 

[energie]

@Paul - iBasso can we plaease have double tap to wake? thanks

 

[Paul - iBasso]

@Paul - iBasso can we plaease have double tap to wake? thanks

We chose a higher quality screen for better contrast and colors and deeper blacks. But it doesn't have double tap.

 

[energie]

didnt know double tap was a screen related function, thanks to clarify

 

[energie]

has anyone found a glass screen protection? the one in the box scrath easly

 

[Flooshie]

We chose a higher quality screen for better contrast and colors and deeper blacks. But it doesn't have double tap.

Thank you for that! Personally, I'll take a better screen over tap-to-wake. I can actually use my Dx260 outdoors in direct sunlight, whereas the FiiO M23, not so much.