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

[pevinkarker]

I bought a case from Valentin on Etsy based on another example seen here. It’s ****ing stellar, I’m blown away. I’ve bought shittier cases from global mega brands.

Looks great!
I have one on my way too

 

[Paul - iBasso]

Thank you Paul for posting this. I just bought the IBasso DX260, and am an old audiophile and a physically older gentleman. After about a week of working with it, I agree with everything you say. I have several Sony DAPs, and an older IBasso Dap, and 2 top of line Shanlings. I have numerous health and several near-death problems in the last 4 years, which have had me question the value, effort and focus of "things", about anything physical /things in this world anymore; and because of interface (ability to load, navigate and appreciate my high res files without frustration due to tag mis-categorization, codecs, need to downsample, memory card limits), music transfer issues, form factor, lack of battery power and longevity of a battery device to drive my collection of headphones, they have fallen into being decorations /dust collectors; and my digital music collection sort of a thing of the past. I was done with Daps, and was only using my iPhone 14 max to play a limited collection of music /motivational and spiritual albums. I was not in the market for a Dap at all, and technology eventually disappoints, and you desire the next new promise, that fixes the imperfect item you now have. That is a train I do not want to be on anymore. I had been listening to some motivational /meditation tracks at night, and was searching for BT IEM's with a longer battery life but stellar sound because basic voice and words were unintelligible and unnatural. I was disappointed with the form factor, and the sound quality, and the lack of versatility of everything I tried in last 5 months. Across this journey, the iBasso DX 260 surfaced and when I saw the specs, I instantly understood going from all the way back from my Chord Mojo days, what iBasso had done. They created the closest player, for pure audiophile enjoyment, versatility of form factor, headphone power factor and codec versatility, beauty, minimal frustration...a marvel of current technology...an audiophile device that catapults itself to the museum of marvels, because of its nod to not being quickly obsolete with an end-user replaceable battery. That alone, let's it take it's place beyond the disposable tech from everyone else, including Samsung and Apple. I am sure I will read many pros and cons, of the DX260, and a lot of cons, from here on out, because that's what we all do. But using myself as my measurement Lab, I have not been disappointed with the DX260, and it's ability to rejoin me with my broader music collection, ways of listening to music both wireless and wired, ease of dealing with the myriad of codecs I have without conversion, its' utter beauty as a device, size, weight, OS...and ultimately it sounds superb! The DX260 is natural, revealing, silent, impactful, stealth-like, an audiophile's dream when you look at the specs behind it and and audiophiles dream when you listen to it, easily use it with minimal frustrations and it comes in at a price point that for an audiophile level device, is totally affordable and equals anything double and tripple the price, and other devices getting into the neighborhood of impracticality and diminishing returns. You've been with iBasso a long time, you work for a stellar company, have a stellar product and bring joy to this old audiophile...thank you Paul! The iBasso DX260 is a delight to use, hold, navigate, listen to and can become indispensable as an iPhone, and dismantle the hold the phone companies have on our digital music pleasantly! it's a true disruptor in the market place, answering the question of what are you looking for, in so many ways, it's the iBasso product line. Bravo!

We got into the reproduction of sound because we truly feel it is important and the best way to enjoy anything is to have it as accessible as possible and in the case of music, as real as possible. I am truly happy that you are enjoying the DX260 and able to relax with it and better feel and appreciate what ever you are listening to. Thank you for being part of the iBasso family.

 

[Arkaium]

We got into the reproduction of sound because we truly feel it is important and the best way to enjoy anything is to have it as accessible as possible and in the case of music, as real as possible. I am truly happy that you are enjoying the DX260 and able to relax with it and better feel and appreciate what ever you are listening to. Thank you for being part of the iBasso family.

Hi Paul,

Is there a tempered glass screen protector you're aware of that fits the DX260 perfectly? Or are there other recent iBasso models that might have tempered glass protectors on the market where the screen is the exact same size? I had to toss the first screen protector (of the generous 4) included with my DX260 and the official leather case kept lifting one of the corners up because the tolerance was so tight (I've since switched to a custom case).

Still, I'd prefer a tempered glass protector if an option.

 

[Paul - iBasso]

Hi Paul,

Is there a tempered glass screen protector you're aware of that fits the DX260 perfectly? Or are there other recent iBasso models that might have tempered glass protectors on the market where the screen is the exact same size? I had to toss the first screen protector (of the generous 4) included with my DX260 and the official leather case kept lifting one of the corners up because the tolerance was so tight (I've since switched to a custom case).

Still, I'd prefer a tempered glass protector if an option.

I don't know of any. If not thin, they can mess up the touch screen. We used to provide them on a couple of previous models but they introduced issues with the screen.

 

[LakeOfTheWyles]

Any chance the dx260 is getting an update to android 13? I see the dx180 comes with android 13

 

[OrbO]

I am sorry if this is a question that many have asked before me.(and offcourse it’s my first)
I googled and say Tidal needs at least android 5 to work. The dx260 has android 11(which this year has stopped to receive updates), so does that mean the dx has a lifespan of 6 years ?

 

[jamato8]

I am sorry if this is a question that many have asked before me.(and offcourse it’s my first)
I googled and say Tidal needs at least android 5 to work. The dx260 has android 11(which this year has stopped to receive updates), so does that mean the dx has a lifespan of 6 years ?

You can always use an older Tidal, which often works better anyway.

 

[586200]

I am sorry if this is a question that many have asked before me.(and offcourse it’s my first)
I googled and say Tidal needs at least android 5 to work. The dx260 has android 11(which this year has stopped to receive updates), so does that mean the dx has a lifespan of 6 years ?

Hi OrbO and welcome to Head-Fi!
You can ask whatever you want, as many times as you want. Feel free.

I had to laugh really hard but in a good way.
Most of the time apps require higher Android versions for new APIs like battery optimization, improved memory management, enhanced performance, security patches, etc. However music apps are generally simpler applications and often do not need these higher Android versions.

I also like to keep my players as long as possible. However even after six years, if the minimum Android version of Tidal required or any other music service does not support Android 11 you will still be able to use a lower version of the preferred music service that is compatible with Android 11. Also iBasso will probably upgrade to Android 12 if needed. So you will be fine for a long long time and will have a great time using this device.

 

[rlw6534]

You can always use an older Tidal, which often works better anyway.

Just to be clear, the current version of Tidal requires Android 7. Also I'm pretty sure the old versions don't support Tidal Max. With that said I have both Android 5 and Android 6 devices and the older versions do still "work" in that you can sign in and play music...

 

[586200]

To be honest I'm sick and tired of Tidal as it constantly has connection and offline issues. At higher bitrates and higher resolutions, it sometimes has too much noise, distortion calling it high-res. The search engine doesn't work properly and there are too many bugs overall even with the latest Android versions that support bit-perfect audio by default. Additionally you can download FLAC files for free online. MQA is like nothing special. I use Tidal but many times I switch to Deezer because it is crystal clear in comparison.

Music apps should be lightweight as they don't need to do anything special. They handle basic functions like next track, previous track, downloading music, playing music, showing recommendations and exploring music. The database used plays a crucial role in recommendations, speed, search engine functionality etc which is more about the backend and less about the client side. However Tidal manages to be one of the worst in this regard if not the worst. The only thing it does well is sending the full audio file which is its primary purpose. Send the full audio file untouched and Let iBasso handle the rest.

Personally the last thing I care about, especially with Tidal or any other music service is longevity as I know it will last many years and that I will download a lot of music and have a great experience.

What I really don’t like, it's good but could be better my opinion is that they use an open Android version that has the Apk Pure, Play Store, etc allowing you to download more than you need which requires more processing power and RAM and it may end up lagging or not being optimized enough. They could do it focusing on having music apps only as this should be its primary role, keeping it solely for music, performance optimized , global EQ and sound tuning options with a modern ui and responsive.

The open Android system could be beneficial if someone decides to root the device and install Viper4Android, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X for headphones etc like in the old good days and share it with us.

 

[OrbO]

Hi OrbO and welcome to Head-Fi!
You can ask whatever you want, as many times as you want. Feel free.

I had to laugh really hard but in a good way.
Most of the time apps require higher Android versions for new APIs like battery optimization, improved memory management, enhanced performance, security patches, etc. However music apps are generally simpler applications and often do not need these higher Android versions.

I also like to keep my players as long as possible. However even after six years, if the minimum Android version of Tidal required or any other music service does not support Android 11 you will still be able to use a lower version of the preferred music service that is compatible with Android 11. Also iBasso will probably upgrade to Android 12 if needed. So you will be fine for a long long time and will have a great time using this device.

Hehe , thanks !
Thank you very much for clarifying this.
Was breaking my head over this … never found a definite/satisfying answer.
And now I finally do ! Appreciate it

I contacted cust. service of Ibasso and they sort of said that you could compare the dx260 with a Mercedes 500 and the dx180 the Mercedes 300 series.
It’s double the price .. all the technicalities that make your head spin.
What makes the 260 be double the price of the 180 ?

 

[586200]

Hehe , thanks !
Thank you very much for clarifying this.
Was breaking my head over this … never found a definite/satisfying answer.
And now I finally do ! Appreciate it

I contacted cust. service of Ibasso and they sort of said that you could compare the dx260 with a Mercedes 500 and the dx180 the Mercedes 300 series.
It’s double the price .. all the technicalities that make your head spin.
What makes the 260 be double the price of the 180 ?

Hi and you're welcome.
I'm very happy that you found it helpful.

Even iBasso got it wrong regarding the differences between the two.

The answer is that the 260 is heavier and bigger and you could more easily injure someone by throwing it at them or you could easily break it if it falls from your hands
No, I'm joking of course.

Sorry, I can't answer that as I never had the DX170. You probably mean the DX170.
I don’t know if the DX180 even exists.

The difference should be significant in terms of transparency, sound quality, separation, soundstage, output power, etc.

 

[OrbO]

Hi and you're welcome.
I'm very happy that you found it helpful.

Even iBasso got it wrong regarding the differences between the two.

The answer is that the 260 is heavier and bigger and you could more easily injure someone by throwing it at them or you could easily break it if it falls from your hands
No, I'm joking of course.

Sorry, I can't answer that as I never had the DX170. You probably mean the DX170.
I don’t know if the DX180 even exists.

The difference should be significant in terms of transparency, sound quality, separation, soundstage, output power, etc.

Imagine that .. catch !
Just as advertised
I get it I think. It’s like a mountainbike .. the frame stays the same but the brake levers , gear cogs etc are top notch quality.
You’re a goldmine of information !

 

[Dsnuts]

https://bloomaudio.com/blogs/articles/the-budget-performance-king-ibasso-dx180-review There is a bit of a comparison against the DX260 and the DX180 on this reader. Might give you some insight.

 

[OrbO]

https://bloomaudio.com/blogs/articles/the-budget-performance-king-ibasso-dx180-review There is a bit of a comparison against the DX260 and the DX180 on this reader. Might give you some insight.

Thank you very much !