DX90. 2X Sabre,1st page: Downloads, info&inst. . ! Lurker0 FW Mod link 1st page !!. .NEW FW! 2.3.0 . . . . .

[FSonicSmith]

Yes, I am running mine 24 hours a day until it sounds better. I am using a pair of B&W P2s to run them in (a pair I bought for my 21 year old son) even though I will be leaving in a week to Portland with IEMs to use (custom Aurisonics). I have a Ray Samuels Predator and I look forward to seeing if going to outboard amplification with the easy to drive Aurisonics makes a noticeable difference. Another mistake I made is not noticing that the DX90 only comes with 8GB of internal storage-no more than a base iPhone 5. Since I burn music to WAV, that is only about 8-10 CDs. You would think a $400 DAP would have more than 8GB of internal storage until you think about the way manufacturing and pricing works. I read in Stereophile that in order for a mass manufacturer to make a profit, the final retail price often has to be 8x the price of parts. That might change for a product made in China sold by the tens of thousands versus a high end audio product made in England or Denmark that sells in the hundreds but....using that rule of thumb there is likely no more than $50-$70 of parts-cost (if that) in the DX90. I imagine iBasso pays $5 for the 8GB memory and that implementing a $50 flash memory drive internally would drive the price up $300-$350 to just use very loose numbers. So, now I am waiting for Amazon to ship me a Samsung 64GB PRO Micro SDXC. Please tell me that is a good memory card for this 

 
 

 

[guliver]

The SanDisk 64 gig is the one I am using with it, no problem at all make sure the format is fat 32

 

[nc8000]

Or just leave it in exFAT which also works fine

 

[headwhacker]

Yes, I am running mine 24 hours a day until it sounds better. I am using a pair of B&W P2s to run them in (a pair I bought for my 21 year old son) even though I will be leaving in a week to Portland with IEMs to use (custom Aurisonics). I have a Ray Samuels Predator and I look forward to seeing if going to outboard amplification with the easy to drive Aurisonics makes a noticeable difference. Another mistake I made is not noticing that the DX90 only comes with 8GB of internal storage-no more than a base iPhone 5. Since I burn music to WAV, that is only about 8-10 CDs. You would think a $400 DAP would have more than 8GB of internal storage until you think about the way manufacturing and pricing works. I read in Stereophile that in order for a mass manufacturer to make a profit, the final retail price often has to be 8x the price of parts. That might change for a product made in China sold by the tens of thousands versus a high end audio product made in England or Denmark that sells in the hundreds but....using that rule of thumb there is likely no more than $50-$70 of parts-cost (if that) in the DX90. I imagine iBasso pays $5 for the 8GB memory and that implementing a $50 flash memory drive internally would drive the price up $300-$350 to just use very loose numbers. So, now I am waiting for Amazon to ship me a Samsung 64GB PRO Micro SDXC. Please tell me that is a good memory card for this 

Ibasso expects you to use the microSD slot for storage. Which, frankly beats any intetnal fixed storage in terms of expandability. 128GB is the larget in capacity available for microSD. You can easily swap cards and/or use the usb port to expand storage further via otg flash readers.

Just buy the largest capacity microSD you can afford from a trusted source. Don't pay attention much with spec other than the capacity and whether it's authentic or fake.

 

[Krautmaster]

  When I got my DX90  At first I hated the sound so thin and with no substance.  I was just ready to return it, but I started the" burn in" process, after about 80 hours I cannot recognize the device, the sound open up so much so I am so happy about the sound right now So my advice about new owner please be patient and resist the urge to listen to it  before at least 4-5 days non stop the reward will be at the end of the pathway.

still at the point and afraid not getting warm with it. "burn in" in your brain or defintly burning in the device itself? Still kinda ... thinking somehow strange about that physically burn in process?

 

[jamato8]

  I read in Stereophile that in order for a mass manufacturer to make a profit, the final retail price often has to be 8x the price of parts. That might change for a product made in China sold by the tens of thousands versus a high end audio product made in England or Denmark that sells in the hundreds but....using that rule of thumb there is likely no more than $50-$70 of parts-cost (if that) in the DX90.
 
 
 

The general rule of thumb was and is 6X  by the time it gets to the consumer. Knowing the parts in the DX90 and the general cost, iBasso is not operating even near a 6X but much lower. 
 
On chemical, the cost to end price is like 10 to 1 or more. The owner of the company I worked for would laugh because some double the size cost little more than say a 1 pint. The initial cost is the container and many times not the ingredients. 

  still at the point and afraid not getting warm with it. "burn in" in your brain or defintly burning in the device itself? Still kinda ... thinking somehow strange about that physically burn in process?

Capacitors have to form and even resistors change due to thermal properties and the metallurgy involved. There are a number of paper out on this and many well known companies state that a minimum 100 hours burn-in is required (Cary Audio, And Audio Note UK for two well known audio companies). Some products I hear the changes, when compared to a known reference and some much less. On the DX90, most have noticed the change. What matters is that the end point for many, is an enjoyment of the music. 

 

[666ways2love]

(also just posted this in the DX50 thread but would like to hear opinions from both types of owners)
 
noob alert but please bear with me here. I know the eye roll when someone registers to a forum and is immediately asking for help, so go easy on me. Just looking for guidance
 
Background: very tech savy but an audiophile I am not. Recently started using EAC to re rip my entire library (about 20K songs). So I've learned the coding to optimize LAME and whatnot. Always had stuff around 192kps, been wanting to do either 320 for most of my lib or FLAC for the stuff I listen to more often. I've been using an Ipod classic for years (*horror movie screams*), and to be honest, totally content with it (*more screams*). Apple however quietly alongside their Iphone announcement killed off the classic completely, leaving me to either pick up another one when mine goes, or to try something else. I only listen to music in my car. And I think I have a pretty nice system in there. Polk speakers,good kicker amps,higher end deck w/4V preouts, dynamatted the doors. So I'm not just trying to blast music in some tin can on wheels with stock garbage. I've at least put a concerted effort into it. So that brings me here....
 
Started looking at higher end DAPs. Fiios look like garbage. Ponomusic is too startuppy and pricey for still an unknown product. So I've happily narrowed my search to either the DX50 or DX90. I've flipped through a dozen or so pages in both threads to get my hands dirty. Really haven't seen a bad review about the DX90, but wondering given my use and everything if I will even notice any audio difference or performance difference to justify the price.
 
I think one of my biggest concerns I have read about the DX50 (and please let me know if same goes for the DX90 or if the 90 does better with the following issues)  is that it makes lossy audio actually sound worse. Is that an ongoing issue or something that the newer firmware or custom firmwares have resolved? 
-Other concerns is gapless playback seems to not be supported?
-also keeping the battery charged while driving...obviously with my ipod plugged in through 30 pin I never have to worry, but with these DAPs,I have read some issues with the devices being really picky with charging through something that is not a wall outlet. In a perfect world (and let me know if it is possible), that I could just plug my  DX___ through USB to my deck and it would charge and allow me to navigate folders via the deck instead of the DAP. I know my deck supports reading audio from a usb drive so it has some support beyond just apple/android only. But I'd still be ok if I had to do AUX for audio, usb to charge, And just change songs from the DAP. 
 
I'm just looking for a good investment that will last. Any of your vast knowledge is beyond appreciated. Please limit biting off my head to a minimum as I only have 1 and would like to use it from time to time

 

[Lurker0]

 is that it makes lossy audio actually sound worse. Is that an ongoing issue or something that the newer firmware or custom firmwares have resolved?

Not that true. Better to say is that DX90 has enough sound resolution to show the difference between lossy and lossless compressions. Lossless (flac) just sounds better.

Originally Posted by 666ways2love /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
-Other concerns is gapless playback seems to not be supported?

It is supported. I never turn it off, and mostly I listen to vinyl rips so that I easily understand when it does not work.
There is a firmware bug with gapless that it does not work right after the power on. The workaround is: after power on, start (or resume) playing, then skip track forward, then skip track back, or vice versa. Then, until power off, gapless works flawlessly.
 

Originally Posted by 666ways2love /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
-also keeping the battery charged while driving...

I have no a car. But I ran DX90 from a power bank (battery pack) on the road, listening and charging at the same time, no problems. It just becomes warmer than at only playback or only charging.

 

[Dopaminer]

  (also just posted this in the DX50 thread but would like to hear opinions from both types of owners)
 
noob alert but please bear with me here. I know the eye roll when someone registers to a forum and is immediately asking for help, so go easy on me. Just looking for guidance
 
Background: very tech savy but an audiophile I am not. Recently started using EAC to re rip my entire library (about 20K songs). So I've learned the coding to optimize LAME and whatnot. Always had stuff around 192kps, been wanting to do either 320 for most of my lib or FLAC for the stuff I listen to more often. I've been using an Ipod classic for years (*horror movie screams*), and to be honest, totally content with it (*more screams*). Apple however quietly alongside their Iphone announcement killed off the classic completely, leaving me to either pick up another one when mine goes, or to try something else. I only listen to music in my car. And I think I have a pretty nice system in there. Polk speakers,good kicker amps,higher end deck w/4V preouts, dynamatted the doors. So I'm not just trying to blast music in some tin can on wheels with stock garbage. I've at least put a concerted effort into it. So that brings me here....
 
Started looking at higher end DAPs. Fiios look like garbage. Ponomusic is too startuppy and pricey for still an unknown product. So I've happily narrowed my search to either the DX50 or DX90. I've flipped through a dozen or so pages in both threads to get my hands dirty. Really haven't seen a bad review about the DX90, but wondering given my use and everything if I will even notice any audio difference or performance difference to justify the price.
 
I think one of my biggest concerns I have read about the DX50 (and please let me know if same goes for the DX90 or if the 90 does better with the following issues)  is that it makes lossy audio actually sound worse. Is that an ongoing issue or something that the newer firmware or custom firmwares have resolved? 
-Other concerns is gapless playback seems to not be supported?
-also keeping the battery charged while driving...obviously with my ipod plugged in through 30 pin I never have to worry, but with these DAPs,I have read some issues with the devices being really picky with charging through something that is not a wall outlet. In a perfect world (and let me know if it is possible), that I could just plug my  DX___ through USB to my deck and it would charge and allow me to navigate folders via the deck instead of the DAP. I know my deck supports reading audio from a usb drive so it has some support beyond just apple/android only. But I'd still be ok if I had to do AUX for audio, usb to charge, And just change songs from the DAP. 
 
I'm just looking for a good investment that will last. Any of your vast knowledge is beyond appreciated. Please limit biting off my head to a minimum as I only have 1 and would like to use it from time to time
 
 

 
 
Are you planning use lineout or digital out from the DAP?  If the latter, there`s no need for the extra DX90 cost....
It really sounds to me like you should just get an ipad . . . . 
 
Your post almost brought me to tears, remembering my last car and its awesome CD/MD audio system . .   It`s been over ten years since I`ve owned a car and been able to really enjoy car audio.  It is for me the most enjoyable audio experience.  I try to simulate it with rental cars and my portable headphone rig, but of course it`s a poor substitute for that enveloping mobile sound-womb experience.  

 

[Krautmaster]

in my mind its all over still kinda buggy. My DX90 lags more and more with the time beeing turned on. After 1-2h it takes somehow seconds to get an reaction on a new selected track. Sometimes I simply try to shut it down and reboot for better performance...

 

[Krautmaster]

@666ways2love
 
go for a Kenwood car audsio device with IPod / iPad / iPhone support. That kicks ass and is somehow much better in quality than AUX, no matter if DX90 or any other stuff. Thats my experience. U simply put in hand contolled mode and u can use ur iPad for selecting tracks, digitally played to the car hifi system + charged all day long. 

 

[knorris908]

  in my mind its all over still kinda buggy. My DX90 lags more and more with the time beeing turned on. After 1-2h it takes somehow seconds to get an reaction on a new selected track. Sometimes I simply try to shut it down and reboot for better performance...

I wouldn't say that I disagree with you about there being bugs from all of the posts I've read, but this "lag when selecting tracks" issue isn't one that I'm seeing.  I've had my DX90 and Grado headphones on continuous burn-in for about 36 hours now rotating from folders for Clapton(44.1/16),Heyden(96/24), Holst(44.1/24), Miles Davis(88.2/24), and Pink Floyd(96/24), all in FLAC flavors from 44.1/16 to 96/24.  Even with all of that sample rate jumping the DX90 hasn't shown itself to lag for me at all whether I select a particular track within the same folder, or jump to tracks in another folder.
 
Note:  I am powering the DX90 using "CHARGE ONLY" USB option, and my music files are all being played from a SanDisk Ultra 64GB (48MB/s) MicroSDXC card. Still in original exFAT format as I read that it was not necessary to reformat for FAT32.
DX90 Amp is in Low GAIN (first position) 
Dx90 is driving GRADO SR225e headphones with the 1/4" jack adapter removed out of the HEADPHONES port.  
 
One other thing that I can think of is that I haven't used the DX90's internal memory for music files, so there is still as much free space on the internal drive as when I unpackaged it.
 
I hope that the info above helps you at least a little to narrow-down what is causing your issue.

 

[jamato8]

I get no lag on the DX90. It doesn't matter what format or how long I have been playing it. I wonder what the problem might be? 

 

[uli87]

  Not that true. Better to say is that DX90 has enough sound resolution to show the difference between lossy and lossless compressions. Lossless (flac) just sounds better.
It is supported. I never turn it off, and mostly I listen to vinyl rips so that I easily understand when it does not work.
There is a firmware bug with gapless that it does not work right after the power on. The workaround is: after power on, start (or resume) playing, then skip track forward, then skip track back, or vice versa. Then, until power off, gapless works flawlessly.
 
I have no a car. But I ran DX90 from a power bank (battery pack) on the road, listening and charging at the same time, no problems. It just becomes warmer than at only playback or only charging.

 
"lossy" mp3 sound beautiful on the DX90 and I can't easily tell 320 mp3 from flac. Maybe my headphones aren't "up to game" but I still think it takes phenomenal effort to try and discern any major differences either way.
 
 

  in my mind its all over still kinda buggy. My DX90 lags more and more with the time beeing turned on. After 1-2h it takes somehow seconds to get an reaction on a new selected track. Sometimes I simply try to shut it down and reboot for better performance...

 
I have all my files on my 128gb Sandisk microsd (none on the internal memory) and I can't say I have ever felt lag at all. Some albums for some reason have more lag when skipping through tracks but I have come realize it has to do more with the files themselves (maybe the way they were ripped?).

 

[goodvibes]

Guys, try a HiDef wav file.