[decur]

Just recieved mine
outstanding sound quality with my zmf vc
quick question,for those that have recieved their 320max
i find that in between steps on this stepped attenuator,the music cuts out,untill it clicks into place?
is this normal?

 

[jamato8]

Just recieved mine
outstanding sound quality with my zmf vc
quick question,for those that have recieved their 320max
i find that in between steps on this stepped attenuator,the music cuts out,untill it clicks into place?
is this normal?

Yes, ibasso explains that this will happen. It is not a make and then break stepped attenuator. It is a break and then to the next step. I don't think there is room for a make and break stepped attenuator. But yes, there is a period of silence, momentary, between steps. You are getting a true stepped attenuator, which I find exciting.

 

[decur]

I kinda figured this,thanks for the heads up
so far,initial impressions are very promising for me
i had the original 220 max a while back,and i had sold it because i did not like the ess sabre sound(to cold & sterile for my taste)
i did not purchase the 300 max,because ak 44–- chips generally sound too warm for me(in most daps that i have heard)
the rohm chips splits the difference and threads this tricky needle
also, i notice a difference between 2 & 4 chip mode,the ultimate mode is more relaxed(effortless) natural sounding…
the soundstage is massive…..

 

[swedishpat]

Yes, ibasso explains that this will happen. It is not a make and then break stepped attenuator. It is a break and then to the next step. I don't think there is room for a make and break stepped attenuator. But yes, there is a period of silence, momentary, between steps. You are getting a true stepped attenuator, which I find exciting.

How do you think this DAP will drive harder to to drive headphones like your 1266 and expanse?

 

[decur]

I just(very briefly) tried my 1266tc with the 320max
the 320max is a very powerful dap
if i had to make a comparison,id say,its the same power of the woo audio wa11 i once had(which makes sense,as that one is 1.2 w output) balanced
if you do not listen loudly,it would be fine.
i tend to listen on the louder side of the spectrum.
i was at gain I/V and had it maxed out.
it was loud,but could have been a little louder on the track i was listening(my ears)
the synergy with 1266tc was great and the bass kicked butt…

 

[decur]

Im not even going to bother trying the 320max with my susvara!
i already know the answer….

 

[swedishpat]

I just(very briefly) tried my 1266tc with the 320max
the 320max is a very powerful dap
if i had to make a comparison,id say,its the same power of the woo audio wa11 i once had(which makes sense,as that one is 1.2 w output) balanced
if you do not listen loudly,it would be fine.
i tend to listen on the louder side of the spectrum.
i was at gain I/V and had it maxed out.
it was loud,but could have been a little louder on the track i was listening(my ears)
the synergy with 1266tc was great and the bass kicked butt…

Wow that sounds promising! Can’t wait to get my 320 max ti! I do not listen loudly but I really like the bass to be good and powerful!

 

[swedishpat]

Im not even going to bother trying the 320max with my susvara!
i already know the answer….

Yes I don’t think anything transportable will ever drive that one haha! Hopefully hifiman will come out with an easier to drive susvara sometime. But if the 320 max would drive the abyss well that would be impressive I think!

 

[Dobrescu George]

Just recieved mine
outstanding sound quality with my zmf vc
quick question,for those that have recieved their 320max
i find that in between steps on this stepped attenuator,the music cuts out,untill it clicks into place?
is this normal?

I actually had this experience with other stepped attenuators, what I wanted to add is that if there is silence between the steps, iBasso did a great job, I heard some demo large amplifiers that use stepped attenuators (forgot exactly which), but I remember that between steps it would go at full volume, which was quite bad back then, so DX320MAX seems to have implemented that nicely.

 

[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.

 

[Whitigir]

Stepped attenuators is what it is, attenuation “by step”. Basically, it has grooves inside, and it is 24 steps, so it has 24 grooves. For desktop attenuations, the traces and the shaft are huge, it always is in contact until the next groove. For the little portable as Ibasso, I am surprised that someone would have thought of something like this to even pull it off

Ibasso surprised me !!!

Due to the build of the shaft and relatively needle drop sizes components, the attenuator will appear to cut sound , or imbalances, or distort until it is dropped into it “stepped groove”

So, do expect this behavior as a very normal thing. A feature, if you must say

 

[audionewbi]

Anyone with RS8, how similar is the soundstage of DX320 against RS8?

 

[ahossam]

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

 

[twister6]

Anyone with RS8, how similar is the soundstage of DX320 against RS8?

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).

 

[twister6]

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

I personally wasn't even familiar with "stepped attenuator" until now because I only dealt with portable audio sources which usually have digital volume control. Apparently, it's a big deal in higher end desktop equipment to have a very tight channel tolerance imbalance. I view DX320MAX as a statement DAP, trying to bring more of desktop design elements into a transportable source. For a traditional portable they got modular DX320, MAX series always have been different and it's cool to see it continuous to evolve, quite noticeably from DX300MAX to DX320MAX.