[Niyologist]

I'm going for $399.99.

 

[musicday]

It will cost 599 usd!!!

 

[AmberOzL]

Guys, I am really sorry to disturb like this but, I feel like all this guess the price game is ruining the thread.

 

[CantScareMe]

Quote:

I'm still speechless people are buying those overpriced AK DAP's. We're supposed to be in the middle of a recession.

 
I've listened to these on more than a few occasions and can only concur. I didn't find them to be any good really - I wouldn't purchase the ak100 even if it were 30% of it's current price. I'm definitely optimistic about this ibasso though it'll be probably fiio who are going to take this market by storm. Those looking for a reasonably priced, fully functional, compact audiophile player without massive comprimise on the technological/UI reliability front, are in my view going to find what they're looking for in a fiio dap rather than any other.

 

[goodvibes]

Difference is that Ibasso will likely sound better. It will need to as it will never have Fiio sales volume which in turn means it will need to cost more. Of course Ibasso is more trickle down than expanding up like Fiio which is generally is a better scenario for achieving a goal. They've been through the nuance of OS and codecs etc before and should have a better idea of how to achieve their goal.

 

[LarsHP]

Quote:

I've listened to these on more than a few occasions and can only concur. I didn't find them to be any good really - I wouldn't purchase the ak100 even if it were 30% of it's current price. I'm definitely optimistic about this ibasso though it'll be probably fiio who are going to take this market by storm. Those looking for a reasonably priced, fully functional, compact audiophile player without massive comprimise on the technological/UI reliability front, are in my view going to find what they're looking for in a fiio dap rather than any other.

After reading ClieOS's review of it, I think you might be right. FiiO X3 is certainly a much cheaper (around $200) and (going by that review) it seems as it's sound quality is only short of DX100 and HM-901.

 

[Greed]

Quote:

After reading ClieOS's review of it, I think you might be right. FiiO X3 is certainly a much cheaper (around $200) and (going by that review) it seems as it's sound quality is only short of DX100 and HM-901.

 
This just seems incredibly inaccurate. I've been following the multitude of threads about the X3, X5, etc. No where did I find in-depth comparisons between multiple sources. Especially the mid-hi end DAPs on up. You are forgetting about an entire price bracket.

 

[DigitalFreak]

Since we've been debating Fiio vs iBasso could someone please link me to ClieOS's review. I've looked around for it but haven't found it amongst the billion posts in the Fiio thread. I'd like nothing better then to see a DAP war explode amongst the manufacturers. The big winners would be us, the consumers. The last time I looked into anything having to do with the X5 I read the X5 would have the same amp implementation as their alpen. The last time I looked into the alpen there were some mixed reviews from users saying the amp section sounded overly harsh. Needless to say I'm a little cynical of the alpen but if I could be proven wrong nobody would be happier then me.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

 
This just seems incredibly inaccurate. I've been following the multitude of threads about the X3, X5, etc. No where did I find in-depth comparisons between multiple sources. Especially the mid-hi end DAPs on up. You are forgetting about an entire price bracket.

 
Quote:

Since we've been debating Fiio vs iBasso could someone please link me to ClieOS's review. I've looked around for it but haven't found it amongst the billion posts in the Fiio thread. I'd like nothing better then to see a DAP war explode amongst the manufacturers. The big winners would be us, the consumers. The last time I looked into anything having to do with the X5 I read the X5 would have the same amp implementation as their alpen. The last time I looked into the alpen there were some mixed reviews from users saying the amp section sounded overly harsh. Needless to say I'm a little cynical of the alpen but if I could be proven wrong nobody would be happier then me.

 
And here are the most recent impressions....
 
 
 

Originally Posted by ClieOS 
 
Just upgrade from the beta firmware to v0.97. Don't really sure what is the improvement as I have no had enough time with it yet.
 
Anyway, got a chance to do some quick demo of AK100 and DX100 yesterday. My impression so far is: DX100 is indeed a great sounding DAP. Though I haven't had HM901 with me, I can tell they are of the same level, more or less. Some said the stock amp card can be a bit underwhelming when compared to DX100, and I have to agree. With balanced card however, I think I would have prefer HM901 over DX100. AK100 is more of the same level as X3. If I were only to judge them by clarity, I'll prefer AK100. But it just lacks power. I max out on the volume (75/75) and I don't even think it is enough to be call deafening. At most, it is just louder than normal. X3 could easily match it for half the volume. The driver power also isn't great either, bass hit is noticeably soft. Also, I find the touch screen GUI to be clumsy. iriver could learn something from Apple here. I think I'll call AK100 slightly ahead of X3 on the cleanness alone (but not on functionality as a whole). It might be able to compete with DX100 or HM901 when used with a really good amp, but it is not on the same level if it is by its own.
 
 

 

[Greed]

Quote:

 
 
And here are the most recent impressions....
 
 
 

 

Originally Posted by ClieOS 
 
Just upgrade from the beta firmware to v0.97. Don't really sure what is the improvement as I have no had enough time with it yet.
 
Anyway, got a chance to do some quick demo of AK100 and DX100 yesterday. My impression so far is: DX100 is indeed a great sounding DAP. Though I haven't had HM901 with me, I can tell they are of the same level, more or less. Some said the stock amp card can be a bit underwhelming when compared to DX100, and I have to agree. With balanced card however, I think I would have prefer HM901 over DX100. AK100 is more of the same level as X3. If I were only to judge them by clarity, I'll prefer AK100. But it just lacks power. I max out on the volume (75/75) and I don't even think it is enough to be call deafening. At most, it is just louder than normal. X3 could easily match it for half the volume. The driver power also isn't great either, bass hit is noticeably soft. Also, I find the touch screen GUI to be clumsy. iriver could learn something from Apple here. I think I'll call AK100 slightly ahead of X3 on the cleanness alone (but not on functionality as a whole). It might be able to compete with DX100 or HM901 when used with a really good amp, but it is not on the same level if it is by its own.
 

 
This is key. Adding another amp, somewhat defeats the purpose of the X3 in the first place. The DAP is clearly made to be used alone, yes they added an option, but more than likely they created this all-in-one solution for people that don't want a stack, so it can be carried around with ease. 

 

[Mimouille]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ClieOS 
 
Just upgrade from the beta firmware to v0.97. Don't really sure what is the improvement as I have no had enough time with it yet.
 
Anyway, got a chance to do some quick demo of AK100 and DX100 yesterday. My impression so far is: DX100 is indeed a great sounding DAP. Though I haven't had HM901 with me, I can tell they are of the same level, more or less. Some said the stock amp card can be a bit underwhelming when compared to DX100, and I have to agree. With balanced card however, I think I would have prefer HM901 over DX100. AK100 is more of the same level as X3. If I were only to judge them by clarity, I'll prefer AK100. But it just lacks power. I max out on the volume (75/75) and I don't even think it is enough to be call deafening. At most, it is just louder than normal. X3 could easily match it for half the volume. The driver power also isn't great either, bass hit is noticeably soft. Also, I find the touch screen GUI to be clumsy. iriver could learn something from Apple here. I think I'll call AK100 slightly ahead of X3 on the cleanness alone (but not on functionality as a whole). It might be able to compete with DX100 or HM901 when used with a really good amp, but it is not on the same level if it is by its own.
 
 
A modded AK100 and even a regular AK100 are deafening with iems at 2/3 of volumes. So I am not sure about this...

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

 
 
This is key. Adding another amp, somewhat defeats the purpose of the X3 in the first place. The DAP is clearly made to be used alone, yes they added an option, but more than likely they created this all-in-one solution for people that don't want a stack, so it can be carried around with ease. 

He was referring to the ak100. He's already stated that it's the amp that was lacking in the AK100, X3, not so much.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

He was referring to the ak100. He's already stated that it's the amp that was lacking in the AK100, X3, not so much.

+1

 

[Greed]

Oh... my mistake. So where does he mention that the X3 is up to par with everything but the DX100 and HM901?

 

[FatmanSize48]

As far as I can tell, he doesn't.