[goodvibes]

Google is your friend.

Not all memory cards are created equal. There's quality of memory, speed, magnetic shielding, how much temperature such memory can handle before failure etc.

FYI military applications, building security etc. only use Industrial cards as well as videographers that work in very low temperatures filming due to the specs and endurance of these cards.

You should compare specs of industrial cards like Micron with regular consumer cards. The PDF is on their website.

These qualities make a big difference in how the data easily and reliably moves from the card to the DAC and it's very audible to me.

Considering that there's other system buffering etc I was surprised by the clear difference I got from a Micron industrial card.

 

[Whitigir]

Considering that there's other system buffering etc I was surprised by the clear difference I got from a Micron industrial card.

Buffering is what was retrieved, what affected it would be from the reader and the sender. Apparently, it would be the microSD which also stored the files

 

[goodvibes]

Buffering is what was retrieved, what affected it would be from the reader and the sender. Apparently, it would be the microSD which also stored the files

Why I still prefer wav to flac

 

[RIGATIO]

Why I still prefer wav to flac

Can you explain the difference because i dont hear any. I can only sometimes distinguish between flac and dsd.

 

[goodvibes]

Depends on how revealing the kit is because it's very subtle but WAV has cleaner edges, gets more black and just seems more rhythmic. basically, everything is a hair better. How audible or important can vary a lot depending on kit and material. I always assumed it was due to the added processing and buffer stages. I even prefer FLAC 0 to FLAC 8, likely for the same reasons. If you decode the FLAC file beforehand, it's back to sounding like the original wav it was encoded from. It's likely subtle on portable kit or 16 bit files but easy to hear on top home kit and 24 bit I'm used to. I won't discuss this further here so those that want call me deceived, crazy or conjure up 'science!', don't expect a response. This isn't the forum for it. I didn't intend to go here just like I wouldn't bring up something like cable direction.

 

[dav456]

Anyone get to compare the 260 to the A&K SE300? I know it's almost twice the price but I'm looking at these two as a upgrade from the 240 with apm8 mk2 card...

 

[RIGATIO]

Anyone get to compare the 260 to the A&K SE300? I know it's almost twice the price but I'm looking at these two as a upgrade from the 240 with apm8 mk2 card...

 

[dav456]

Yeah saw that, just looking for more opinions

 

[RIGATIO]

Yeah saw that, just looking for more opinions

I was auditioning the se300 for a couple hours 3 days in a row and its an amazing dap. I havent heard the dx260 but the se300 was really really good.
I was comparing it to my sp1000 and i had the u12t back then. The se300 had a very wide soundstage, very comparable to the sp1000 (on some tracks wider on other narrower- probably psychoacustics).
With the u12t, Fostex th610 and Aeon Noire the se300 sounded bit sharper and more digital. The mids/vocals were bit less separated from instruments. On the sp1k there was bit more 3D soundstage and each instrument played in its own buble.
But the bass, overall dynamics and detail were all top notch. I prefered a more organic, warmer and more layered sound of the sp1k but the performance of the se300 was really good. I would say, a typical AK sound, with great definition, timing, rythm and sharp detail. Nothing to complain about.
After having the DC Elite, i would go with the dx260, there is no point in spending such money on source. Your iems/headphones will mainly define the sound. The dx260 and the se300 are comparable when it comes to the power delivery.
I dont want to spoil this thread but my personal advice is to get a used AK sp1000 or sp2000 but if you want a new dap with more power and an open, new Android system and to have a full warranty, just get the dx260 or Fiio M15s (they are probably comparable).
You could also get a DC Elite which is amazing and to my ears at a similar level as the dx320 with a stock amp.

 

[LukeW]

Extract dx260fw-ota-v2.01.zip to get DX260_full_ota_2.01.307.zip

Instructions For Firmware update:

1. Copy and paste the DX260_full_ota_2.01.307.zip to your SD card's root folder, or the DX260's internal memory.
2. Go to Android OS, press Settings-->System-->Updater-->local update, and tap the zip file.
3. The whole update will take about 10 minutes. Reboot the DX260 after update completed. You can also choose to do a factory reset at this time to clear any artifacts from the previous firmware.

Just to note that "local update" is accessed by tapping on the 3 vertical dots at the top right of the screen. It's not otherwise visible. Also, when I dragged and dropped the zip file to the SD card on Android File Transfer on my MAC, it auto loaded into the downloads folder, but it still came up on the DX260 after tapping local update.

 

[scottsays]

I have the ibasso dx 300 with amps mk1, mk2, amp 12, 13 and 14.......and really do not use it too much--as it is so big and I have other DAPS. I was thinking of selling the complete package and buying the dx260---or is that not a good move? I like the replaceable amps and the tube amps especially but as I stated, really hardly ever use this unit--and the dx260 is the newest and looks very appealing.
Any input would be appreciated---

 

[Kiats]

Anyone get to compare the 260 to the A&K SE300? I know it's almost twice the price but I'm looking at these two as a upgrade from the 240 with apm8 mk2 card...

I had the AK SE300 (as well as the SP1K, SP2K and SP3K) before I sold off the entire lot recently. Reason was really the closed garden approach to android which meant that some streaming apps were not accessible. Not the SQ.

I think in terms of sound, the SE300 is more organic and less digital than the other AKs. Which is what attracted me in the first place. One word of caution of course is that you should judge the SE300 when it is fully burned in. And most R2R DACs require some time before they warm up.

The DX260 is good cos of the cirrus logic DAC chips which tend to be pretty organic. So, it is close enough to the SE300 in that respect.

The three aspects that DX260 has an advantage are firstly, the UI speed is noticeably faster; and secondly, it operates an open android system and so is much more flexible. Finally, the DX260 uses a later version of the android OS and hence, it will be longer before you run up against the situation where the streaming apps may, not be supported any longer.

In terms of form factor, they are both about the same size.

Hope that helps.

 

[dav456]

Yes, good info, thanks. I'm not into doing anything on the DAP except music so the closed A&K system wouldn't bother me.

 

[RIGATIO]

Yes, good info, thanks. I'm not into doing anything on the DAP except music so the closed A&K system wouldn't bother me.

You can use all the most popular streaming services like Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music, Spotify so the AK system is all you need to enjoy the music.

 

[purk]

I got the DX260 on Friday and I am happy to report that the sound quality is pretty good so far edging out my DX240 with AMP8mk2s from the get go. I mainly bought it to use as a digital transport feeding my Ibasso D16. I build my own cables and notice that the DX260 perform better as digital transport than the DX320X, DX240, and ZX707 that I have. The USB C out sounds clean and transparent compared to slightly softer sound of the other three players. The headphone output is powerful and drive my HD800 with room to spare compared to my DX240 with amp8mk2s. I have the Amp12 EXN on my DX320X right now and it is clear upgrade over the DX260. I need to put the stock amp on the DX320X and report back Size wise the DX260 is smaller than the ZX707, but slightly bigger than the DX240.