[twister6]

As I'm going through burn in, I did a few full charge/discharge cycles to note the battery life. Found it to be pretty consistent in my testing using average sensitivity and impedance IEMs, balanced output in Gain I, around 5-clicks of volume, Ultra mode ON, playing hi-res local FLACs in a loop, periodically checking battery status while the display mostly off, and I'm getting on average 12.5hrs of playback time until the battery is down to about 20% Analog, 2% Digital. Keep in mind, Ultimate mode is ON which means all 4x ROHM DACs are engaged, and that is probably why digital battery drains faster. If you disable Ultimate mode, I'm sure you can gain more time, or if you use more demanding lower sensitivity/higher impedance headphones and switch to higher gain, it will be less.

For me personally, the test scenario above is more realistic since I use IEMs and will keep Ultimate mode on, so 12.5hrs is pretty good for this config. Btw, it gets a little bit warm, but not bad at all.

 

[swedishpat]

To my ears, RS8 doesn't have the biggest stage to begin with, good imaging but the sound presentation is more intimate, while DX320MAX spreads it noticeably wider in this comparison (using Mentor Multiverse for testing).

Interesting! How do they compare using over ear headphone like your empyrean?

 

[SabreToothBunny]

In the majority of Android based DAPs, you'll find the volume control is digital.
Given Ibasso have separated the analogue and digital sections in this player, the alternative analogue options for volume control into the amplifier were either going to be a potentiometer or stepped attenuator.

A potentiometer is basically a variable resistor and works by having a wiper which, when you rotate the volume knob, moves across a piece of conductive film, usually coated plastic, to control the output level.
On the other hand a stepped/ladder attenuator is a series of discrete resistors (24 per channel ie. 48 total in this case, hence the steps) and the volume acts like a 24-switch resistor array where the signal of each channel is sent down just a single resistor along the signal path.

Stepped attenuators are generally only seen on desktop equipment because they are expensive to produce and are usually larger than potentiometers.

The benefits of a stepped attenuator over a potentiometer are;
1. Closer matching for L+R channels, especially at lower volumes
2. Depending on configuration, better impedance characteristics across the volume range
3. Instead of a wiper's a pin width contact point on a conductive film, a stepped attenuator makes a firm contact in the signal path
4. Minimises what is in the signal path by having just high quality resistors as opposed to a wiper on a film in it

I use a Wells Audio Reference II headphone amp with stepped attenuators and there are a couple of cons;
1. As others have said, it is literally stepped. Changing volume will cause a disconnection/reconnection due to switching between each resistor paths
2. 24 steps, even with gain control might mean it is difficult to dial in a user's ideal volume level, especially for high sensitivity headphones/IEMs. As a very low level listener, even with the insensitive Abyss I have trouble dialing in my ideal level for certain recordings

Of course there are also excellent quality potentiometers out there so IBasso didn't have to go to the trouble of building implementing a stepped attenuator volume but it just adds to the fact that this is a no-compromise build from them.

 

[Whitigir]

Can someone explain what is so special about this stepped attenuator in relation to sound quality?

Reliability and performance. I will explain the reliability here. The performances sizes ? It can open a can of worm…but I will try and sum it up for you.

Stepped attenuator is more like a discrete attenuator. It uses resistor values per each step and not by using resistive strips. Analog potentiometer uses strips, which will attenuate per the rotation of the wiper blade vs the strip’s resistance. The differences is that the blade and the stripes have tolerances in between. The more counts you are using, the more the potentials of variations between tolerances. It could be 95% on one channel and 100% in comparison on the next….etc…

stepped attenuator with discrete resistors, and especially when you matched it, will mostly eliminate the variations between these tolerances and keep it very low. With how China has been progressing toward shorting and matching discrete resistors for R2R components, they would have no problems to do it for stepped attenuator

next up is longevity and reliability. The wipers can greatly varies per the travel of it rotations. We are using common pricing range of these things, not the extremely expensive one as RK50 on the DMP. The contact patch’s VS the wiper blade can eventually be worn out unevenly and causing the channel imbalances even more than it was. Beside that, if you dropped it during shipping and handling, it is mostly “done”….very fragile. That is because the way it was designed as a whole. Now, with the grooves design on stepped attenuator, it will drop right into the groove, and or be turned out of it. So, both will be damaged by frictions, however, the groove design and copper/gold tracings will last almost thousands more cycles than carbon stripes

Now, sound performances, to sum up as simple as I could, think of resistors as a fuse….the larger, is the more capable! So, stepped attenuator has a much more beefier built in anatomy than regular analog pot that uses carbon stripes and wiper blades. Just like the fuses, the less capable will burn up, and stop conducting, the resistors while conducting oscillating frequencies rather than being burned up, it will clips, and distorts….and that effects the whole performances even before you can measure it on a scopes technically speaking, because it happens throughout the whole bandwidth (have you ever seen the scorches on your brand new car and it wiper blades over a couple months ?)

Now, people can opt for analog attenuations with electrical control interfaces….but then again, you will be facing the “Sizes matters” consequences. Ever tried different cables ? Yeah, this is the same thing …. It is a can Of worm, but it is real, the thicker the wires, the better the performances….and the worms can be in different kinds…aka…bass vs airiness in preferences. However, the fact will remain, technically speaking, Size matter and when speaking of Sizes, nothing beats discrete components, be it, amplifier, DAC, attenuators….etc…

Now, there will also be a can of worm on the DAC sizes as well regarding this matters, but….they do really sound different, and if anyone else is telling you that it isn’t….I don’t think they even listen to music LOL!

 

[DarginMahkum]

So, does it have a specific tuning, or is it the usual transparent, colorless MAX tuning that I like?

 

[Whitigir]

It depends on which references and where you are coming from. In my opinions, the 320Max is neutral/transparent in it signature. It is so transparent that I can clearly observe a better airiness, tightness and articulations between Digital 1 Vs D2 filter. The D1 is more controlled than D2, which makes it so that D2 is almost tube like VS D1 which is more solid states. It is even more observable than the N8ii tubes Vs SS lol!!

Once you flip the filters, it doesn’t work right away, it seamlessly carries on for another 5-6 seconds before it would take effects and seamlessly changing it performances

 

[DarginMahkum]

It depends on which references and where you are coming from. In my opinions, the 320Max is neutral/transparent in it signature. It is so transparent that I can clearly observe a better airiness, tightness and articulations between Digital 1 Vs D2 filter. The D1 is more controlled than D2, which makes it so that D2 is almost tube like VS D1 which is more solid states. It is even more observable than the N8ii tubes Vs SS lol!!

Once you flip the filters, it doesn’t work right away, it seamlessly carries on for another 5-6 seconds before it would take effects and seamlessly changing it performances

Mouse pointer was hovering over the buy button since yesterday, now it did its job of clicking and can go back to sleep.

 

[Whitigir]

Mouse pointer was hovering over the buy button since yesterday, now it did its job of clicking and can go back to sleep.

Welcome to the club !

 

[SabreToothBunny]

I think this has probably been covered before but just to confirm; is the screen size identical to the DX300MAX?

It's nice IBasso included 4x screen protectors but I'd have prefered if they were tempered glass rather than the plastic ones they seem to be.
I'd like to purchase a couple of tempered glass ones in advance before my pre-order arrives, which I suspect might be a couple of weeks at least where I am.

Wrote to Ibasso about the screen size;
The DX320MAX Ti has the same size screen as the DX300MAX so the screen protectors are cross-compatible.
Ibasso also stated that the reason they didn't include tempered glass protectors is because some users reported them interfering with the touch screen. I never experienced an issue with the DX200 and tempered glass protectors myself.

The amplification section is not current limited, which may explain why @decur was able to drive the Abyss (albeit not to full potential) without the loss of dynamics in the bass presentation which other high powered devices can suffer from. Bodes well for other hard to drive headphones.

When plugged in, there isn't an option to disable charging completely however there are the usual protections where the battery charging switches to trickle charging to prevent over-charging.

 

[LFC_SL]

As I'm going through burn in, I did a few full charge/discharge cycles to note the battery life. Found it to be pretty consistent in my testing using average sensitivity and impedance IEMs, balanced output in Gain I, around 5-clicks of volume, Ultra mode ON, playing hi-res local FLACs in a loop, periodically checking battery status while the display mostly off, and I'm getting on average 12.5hrs of playback time until the battery is down to about 20% Analog, 2% Digital. Keep in mind, Ultimate mode is ON which means all 4x ROHM DACs are engaged, and that is probably why digital battery drains faster. If you disable Ultimate mode, I'm sure you can gain more time, or if you use more demanding lower sensitivity/higher impedance headphones and switch to higher gain, it will be less.

For me personally, the test scenario above is more realistic since I use IEMs and will keep Ultimate mode on, so 12.5hrs is pretty good for this config. Btw, it gets a little bit warm, but not bad at all.

For the full review will you compare ultimate mode on and off battery life versus sound quality trade off

 

[vkenz]

double down on volume control… like 1 digital, 1 step, 1 potentiometer.

 

[Paul - iBasso]

Please note for the best transfer speeds when saving music to the internal memory, you need to use a USB C 3.0 or higher. USB 2 will be much slower and therefore take much longer when loading to the internal memory.

 

[wazzupi]

Please note for the best transfer speeds when saving music to the internal memory, you need to use a USB C 3.0 or higher. USB 2 will be much slower and therefore take much longer when loading to the internal memory.

Any news if 320max are being released in batches or why some dealers haven't received shipping etas yet ?

 

[Paul - iBasso]

Any news if 320max are being released in batches or why some dealers haven't received shipping etas yet ?

The orders I am aware of have or are being shipped. Demand has been very good. We have focused on production and QC of each unit and have the DX320MAX ready to ship.

 

[Whitigir]

You have asked if you can use one single charger and dual cables into your 320MaxTi or a power Bank

Here is my configuration

PD 3.0 usb C trigger charger 15V cables
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B9FTJHGV?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

Anker power bank
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09VPHVT2Z?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

You can use the cables with any charger you want. This power bank has only 2 USB C out and they are also charging input. So, while you are using both ports, you can’t charge it simultaneously. However, it is very compact, and it charges up quickly within 1-1/2 hour in the while charging your Dx320Max very quickly as PD 3.0. It can charge your player 2 cycles before it needs recharges (30% remain)

Apparently either 5521 or 5525 Dc size will work