[David Chavez]

Quote:

I don't agree that the DX50 needs to be competitive with the X3. The AK100 isn't and if the DX50 sounds as good or better then you are talking about a DAP that competes with a 6 hundred dollar sac and not one in the mid to lower 2 hundreds. But, time will tell. :^)

I think thats more cause the word hasn't gone around enough (about the x3) + ak100 is sexy + it has a better form factor.  Once the dx50 gets around and once the x5 hits the market I see the ak100 dead or coming back with a revision (hope fully with the same dac chip as the dx100 that would be a dream I would love to pay 1000 for that)

 

[Mimouille]

Quote:

I think thats more cause the word hasn't gone around enough (about the x3) + ak100 is sexy + it has a better form factor.  Once the dx50 gets around and once the x5 hits the market I see the ak100 dead or coming back with a revision (hope fully with the same dac chip as the dx100 that would be a dream I would love to pay 1000 for that)

All this is a matter of perspective and usage. I find no interest in the X3 to this point.
 
Tthe DX50 will be interesting to me only if it is as good as the DX100 with iems, because today I find the AK120 at least as good as the DX100 with iems, not even mentioning all the other advantages. The X5 was announced way to early IMO. By the end of the year, Astel Kern will already have the AK140 and AK160 out...who will wait for soooo long ?

 

[lee730]

Quote:

All this is a matter of perspective and usage. I find no interest in the X3 to this point.
 
Tthe DX50 will be interesting to me only if it is as good as the DX100 with iems, because today I find the AK120 at least as good as the DX100 with iems, not even mentioning all the other advantages. The X5 was announced way to early IMO. By the end of the year, Astel Kern will already have the AK140 and AK160 out...who will wait for soooo long ?

 
I actually like the AK120 better than the DX100 stock. Now I may slightly prefer the DX100 amped. But even then that isn't a guarantee. I'm so impressed with how the AK120 is sounding now. I really have no more interest in searching for another DAP .

 

[SkyBleu]

I actually like the AK120 better than the DX100 stock. Now I may slightly prefer the DX100 amped. But even then that isn't a guarantee. I'm so impressed with how the AK120 is sounding now. I really have no more interest in searching for another DAP .

And this everyone..is the words of a happy audiophile.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

And this everyone..is the words of a happy audiophile.

 
It's not easy getting there though. On a plus note I'll be demoing a tera player as well sometime this week. Will have it for a few months . So will be nice to see how it compares to the AK120. I still have no intention on paying $2,300 for it. That was a "terable" decision on Charles part .

 

[Mimouille]

Quote:

 
It's not easy getting there though. On a plus note I'll be demoing a tera player as well sometime this week. Will have it for a few months . So will be nice to see how it compares to the AK120. I still have no intention on paying $2,300 for it. That was a "terable" decision on Charles part .

The Tera is awesome, but to me you need two DAPs when you have the Tera.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

The Tera is awesome, but to me you need two DAPs when you have the Tera.

 
You just may need 3 . One for warm and organic. One in-between both warm and reference sounding. Then one for cold and analytical .

 

[SkyBleu]

It's not easy getting there though. On a plus note I'll be demoing a tera player as well sometime this week. Will have it for a few months . So will be nice to see how it compares to the AK120. I still have no intention on paying $2,300 for it. That was a "terable" decision on Charles part .

I see what you did there!

Hmm..never knew the price hikes up to $2.3k...that's one "terafying" price for a screenless WAV only player.

 

[kkcc]

Quote:

I see what you did there!

Hmm..never knew the price hikes up to $2.3k...that's one "terafying" price for a screenless WAV only player.

 
Thanks to it tho it now makes me think that my AK120 and HM-901 are budget players now.....  
 
going back to DX50, I believe iBasso had maintained for some time the release date is Jul-2013 but have to agree with posters above that it doesn't look optimistic with so little info released and not even an MSRP for a product slated to be released in a couple weeks - either the price is also "terafying" or the product itself is not even ready!
 
Hope iBasson prove us wrong.

 

[Mython]

Quote:

I think thats more cause the word hasn't gone around enough (about the x3) + ak100 is sexy + it has a better form factor.  Once the dx50 gets around and once the x5 hits the market I see the ak100 dead or coming back with a revision (hope fully with the same dac chip as the dx100 that would be a dream I would love to pay 1000 for that)

 
 
This is strictly my personal opinion, but I believe it is 100% certain that iRiver will revamp the AK120 with the forthcoming mobile ES9018-2M DAC chip(s).
 
They know that they could grab a very big chunk of the market by doing that.
 
I don't like iRiver's greed, but I do see that they have great potential in their engineering team and this is the most utterly obvious way forward for their AK product line.

 

[yazoo123]

Quote:

 
Do you find you can charge the DX100 OK whilst using it? I had the DX100 and as I recall, it plays just fine whilst it is being charged.
 
However, I did not receive a satisfactory answer from James when I asked him about using the X5 whilst charging from a powerbank:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/661411/fiio-x5-thread-info-updated-on-6-24-13-in-1st-post/660#post_9554782
 
We will have to wait and see how the DX50 behaves when being charges at the same time as playing. If the DX100 is anything to go by, the DX50 should be OK for that, but it'll be a moot point for me, since I much prefer to just carry a spare DX50 battery rather than charge the DX50 from a powerbank.

 


yes, the xp8000 does the job ok w/ dx100. For the charging, it's the matter of matching the output/input voltage/mAh between the powerbank and the devices being charged. I think Fiio do not give you the satisfactory (or firm) answer at this moment because the X5 is still not generally available yet, it certainly would have couples of 'on market' compatible powerbank work w/ X5.
 
Of course a spare (swappable) battery is always better than a powerbank, since we already have so many mobile devices on our body nowadays, got to lose some weights.

 

[kkcc]

Quote:

 
 
This is strictly my personal opinion, but I believe it is 100% certain that iRiver will revamp the AK120 with the forthcoming mobile ES9018-2M DAC chip(s).
 
They know that they could grab a very big chunk of the market by doing that.
 
I don't like iRiver's greed, but I do see that they have great potential in their engineering team and this is the most utterly obvious way forward for their AK product line.

 
Have to agree with you on your prediction... tho I really hope it would be iBasso or Fiio or even Hifiman who would be able to deliver the 9018m chips DAP as their prices maybe more agreeable with our wallets!  When they can charge double with a dual 8740 over their AK100, I cringed at the thought of a nicely done player with dual 9018m..... 

 

[Mython]

Quote:

 
Have to agree with you on your prediction... tho I really hope it would be iBasso or Fiio or even Hifiman who would be able to deliver the 9018m chips DAP as their prices maybe more agreeable with our wallets!  When they can charge double with a dual 8740 over their AK100, I cringed at the thought of a nicely done player with dual 9018m..... 

 
Well, happily, I think we'll see iBasso and Fiio using the ES9018-2M, as well (in fact, Fiio has already stated that the E19 DAC will incorporate that chip).
 
But I don't particularly anticipate iBasso or Fiio feeling the need to go with a dual-DAC implementation of the ES9018-2M.
 
It'd be cool if they did, but I respect them for not feeling insecure that they need to 'keep up with the Jones's'.
 
One thing we do know is that iBasso know how to design a decent amp stage. That counts for a lot in the audiophile DAP world. We all know that decent audio performance is not all about multiple DAC chips, nice though that can be.
 
It's probably fair to say that because there is a major battle brewing in the mid-to-high-end audiophile DAP arena, the scale of which we have never witnessed before, there's a lot riding on the performance of the DX50 and the X5. They're not end-game statements from iBasso and Fiio, but they will set the stage for the battle that everyone knows is coming.
 
It's an exciting time for audiophile DAP fans. Never before has the time been so 'ripe' for top quality DAPs at prices that, whilst not cheap, are not insane.
 
 
.

 

[nihontoman]

I hoe that iBasso isn't too expensive as I'm really interested in it. Maybe they are trying to surprise us at the end of july with their competitive prices and features? you know, A DAP that would be worth saving uo over the X3...

 

[SkyBleu]

Quote:

I hoe that iBasso isn't too expensive as I'm really interested in it. Maybe they are trying to surprise us at the end of july with their competitive prices and features? you know, A DAP that would be worth saving uo over the X3...

Now that's what we're all hoping for
 
I believe most of the features, if not all, have been released and they can be found on the first page of this thread.
 
Something that would save people from the X3 with its low price would be quite ideal, but that is probably not likely to happen as such, judging from what people have stated.
 
All we can do is hope!