[HiFiHawaii808]

I personally stopped using my phone as my audio player because of storage and battery issues. They aren't really relevant now that I've upgraded my phone, but I still much prefer using a DAP; of course, for the sound quality increase as well. Stacks are just too much of a fuss for me on-the-go. I'd happily use them when I'm in a café or something, but not on the train or on the trot.

I hear you, but I couldn't get around the need for carrying 2 smartphone sized devices on my long walks. I take a 2 hour walk every day. So, I need both a phone and a DAP. When you walk for 2 hours, you need to bring water, too. So, the need to reduce weight is an important requirement. The best set up for that purpose is my iPhone with a music dongle like a Lotoo Paw S1 or the LP W2. You can talk on the phone when you need it and you can listen to music either streaming or download the smartphone.

The second best option is to bring the DAP and use my Apple watch for phone calls. The only problem is you can't stream to the DAP since it doesn't have LTE. My understanding is the R8 has a SIM card slot, but that is overkill for a long walk. If my Hiby R6 2020 has a SIM card slot, I would use it on walks and leave my iPhone at home.

 

[tawmizzzz]

So, not to go too off-topic, but since inexpensive portable amps/dacs have recently been mentioned, is there a consensus on any benefit for getting one if you would be using it with a mid-fi DAP?

I have the iBasso DX160 and have been wondering about getting a Lotoo Paw S1, Earman Sparrow, or Luxury Precision W1/W2 (or maybe some ifi model) for awhile to use with it just to see if a separate amp/dac would 1) give me a similar level of SQ but with a different presentation or 2) actually improve overall on the SQ of the 4.4 DX160 out.

I've also just thought about going over the 1k mark for a DAP, but I have no problems with the DX160's performance in terms of usage, so I would only scale up if there was a clear improvement with the SQ...but I could avoid that if I would only need to buy an inexpensive amp/dac to go with the DX160 if it improved the SQ level to that of a 1k+ DAP.

Any input is appreciated, and I will say that I do very much like the SQ of the iBasso DX160 so maybe I should just rest content with it (unless, in the future, after I get my Odin, I find it not sufficient for that IEM; both my MEST and Solaris 2020 it drives well and pairs well with).

Depends on what more you want from DX160. I loved DX160, and took a bullet investing into the R8 and to my ears, it was 100% worth the jump to a flagship DAP. Staging and technicalities increased (don't forget the actual usability with Snapdragon 660) and I rediscovered my music, again.

As HiFihawaii mentioned, I would definitely consider W2 down the line for a portable dac dongle on the fly, but I wouldn't expect it to outperform even the DX160. It's a great bang for the buck, but if you do want another "tier" in sound quality, then I am a firm believer in higher quality DAP/DACs. Again, just depends on what you want more out of your pairings as synergy will always factor in.

R8 to me is a master of soundstage width and airiness, and does texture of instruments very well. Slightly upper mid and upper treble boost. DX300, on the other hand, is more of a mid-centric tonality with excellent low-end and nice soundstage depth.

Best recommendation is try to demo a variety of DAPs to see if the SQ is worth the price jump, but I'd imagine it will be noticeable.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Depends on what more you want from DX160. I loved DX160, and took a bullet investing into the R8 and to my ears, it was 100% worth the jump to a flagship DAP. Staging and technicalities increased (don't forget the actual usability with Snapdragon 660) and I rediscovered my music, again.

As HiFihawaii mentioned, I would definitely consider W2 down the line for a portable dac dongle on the fly, but I wouldn't expect it to outperform even the DX160. It's a great bang for the buck, but if you do want another "tier" in sound quality, then I am a firm believer in higher quality DAP/DACs. Again, just depends on what you want more out of your pairings as synergy will always factor in.

R8 to me is a master of soundstage width and airiness, and does texture of instruments very well. Slightly upper mid and upper treble boost. DX300, on the other hand, is more of a mid-centric tonality with excellent low-end and nice soundstage depth.

Best recommendation is try to demo a variety of DAPs to see if the SQ is worth the price jump, but I'd imagine it will be noticeable.

I would really like to see a head to head comparison of the Hiby R6 2020 + C9 to the Hiby R8. Since I already have the R6 2020, getting the R8 would be redundant in many ways. If I were to pick up a C9, I get more features and use cases. Anyone do an A/B test?

 

[PoSR77]

sony wm1a , with its new stellar FWs by @MrWalkman is a bargain now , imho

you can buy a used one for 700$ - great sound , beast battery and works as usb/dac

and it should pair great with your odin , with my zeus XR is a great combo so with odin it should be even better

I have heard good things about the Sony NW-WM1A; it is certainly on my "maybe upgrade to at some point" list. I do prefer "warm-neutral" which is what I find the iBasso DX160 to be, so a strong contender around $1k is the DX300.

Thanks for the recommendation!

I personally don't think so. The point of a DAP, to me, is to avoid stack-fi; whether it be a phone and a DAC/amp, or a phone and an amp, etc. Something like the DX160 should perform just as well (if not better than) a portable DAC/amp anyway, so I don't think you should be concerned there. @proedros's recommendation of the WM1A is a good shout. But, unless you find the DX160 lacking in any way, I wouldn't be in a rush to replace a well-working DAP before it's necessary.

Yea, I have held off on any impulse buys of the amps/dacs I mentioned since they seem redundant with a DAP. And I am content with the DX160, so there is really no need, but I'm just curious and I have found in the past that what I have thought was "good enough" or even "damn good/excellent" gear turned out to be significantly lacking when I scaled up. (Though this happens less and less after a certain point of course).

I will wait before I get the Odin to see how my DX160 fares with it before any decisions. (I'm finding it harder and harder to wait for a sale on the Odin which may not come for months...if at all).

Love the term "stack-fi" btw! It is true that I'd rather not mess with two devices, even if I would listen to that kind of set up only at home.

I would check out the Cayin C9 amp. Evidently, it does a great job of pairing with a DAP to improve its sound quality. It has both line out and Preamp modes so you can preserve the sound signature of your DX160.

That's probably more than I would want to spend; however I have looked at it before.

I am a little unimpressed with Cayin right now though since so far my only experience with their gear, a iHA-6 I bought for my desktop setup, I find to have a very average SQ (too thick and kind of ham-fisted for my preferences). My little Gilmore Lite mk2 is significantly better imo. But of course the iHA-6 cost much less and makers can have hit or miss (at least for an individual) gear.

Thanks for the recommendation!


I should mention that I also am not really impressed with the RME ADI-2 DAC FS headphone out or IEM out: both just don't sound that refined/musical to me; they are clinical, lack bass and note weight, and have a kind of narrow sound stage (with my MEST the DX160 is wider).

I've been thinking of getting the iEMatch to try my MEST with some different desktop amps, but most of the time I don't listen to IEMs at my desk.

 

[PoSR77]

Depends on what more you want from DX160. I loved DX160, and took a bullet investing into the R8 and to my ears, it was 100% worth the jump to a flagship DAP. Staging and technicalities increased (don't forget the actual usability with Snapdragon 660) and I rediscovered my music, again.

As HiFihawaii mentioned, I would definitely consider W2 down the line for a portable dac dongle on the fly, but I wouldn't expect it to outperform even the DX160. It's a great bang for the buck, but if you do want another "tier" in sound quality, then I am a firm believer in higher quality DAP/DACs. Again, just depends on what you want more out of your pairings as synergy will always factor in.

R8 to me is a master of soundstage width and airiness, and does texture of instruments very well. Slightly upper mid and upper treble boost. DX300, on the other hand, is more of a mid-centric tonality with excellent low-end and nice soundstage depth.

Best recommendation is try to demo a variety of DAPs to see if the SQ is worth the price jump, but I'd imagine it will be noticeable.

I'm getting out the door soon, but just wanted to say thanks, this honesty and comparison with the DX160 to a higher end model is very helpful and most appreciated.

In all likelihood, I will scale up to a 1k to 1.5kish DAP after I get the ODIN. (First things first! lol).

Oh, and I find the DX160 to be much like you have found the DX300: somewhat mid-range oriented (warmer and fuller than, for instance, my RME ADI-2 DAC FS IEM out), with incredible bass (at times almost too much with the MEST). The sound stage width on the DX160 also impresses; depth is good, but the MEST doesn't have the most depth so that's not a good test of it; however my Solaris 2020's have better depth and they do impress on the DX160 (I don't listen to them after getting the MEST).

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I have heard good things about the Sony NW-WM1A; it is certainly on my "maybe upgrade to at some point" list. I do prefer "warm-neutral" which is what I find the iBasso DX160 to be, so a strong contender around $1k is the DX300.

Thanks for the recommendation!



Yea, I have held off on any impulse buys of the amps/dacs I mentioned since they seem redundant with a DAP. And I am content with the DX160, so there is really no need, but I'm just curious and I have found in the past that what I have thought was "good enough" or even "damn good/excellent" gear turned out to be significantly lacking when I scaled up. (Though this happens less and less after a certain point of course).

I will wait before I get the Odin to see how my DX160 fares with it before any decisions. (I'm finding it harder and harder to wait for a sale on the Odin which may not come for months...if at all).

Love the term "stack-fi" btw! It is true that I'd rather not mess with two devices, even if I would listen to that kind of set up only at home.



That's probably more than I would want to spend; however I have looked at it before.

I am a little unimpressed with Cayin right now though since so far my only experience with their gear, a iHA-6 I bought for my desktop setup, I find to have a very average SQ (too thick and kind of ham-fisted for my preferences). My little Gilmore Lite mk2 is significantly better imo. But of course the iHA-6 cost much less and makers can have hit or miss (at least for an individual) gear.

Thanks for the recommendation!


I should mention that I also am not really impressed with the RME ADI-2 DAC FS headphone out or IEM out: both just don't sound that refined/musical to me; they are clinical, lack bass and note weight, and have a kind of narrow sound stage (with my MEST the DX160 is wider).

I've been thinking of getting the iEMatch to try my MEST with some different desktop amps, but most of the time I don't listen to IEMs at my desk.

I think the DX160 will pair fine with the Odin. It pairs well with everything I've tried. And, many of the top reviewers use the DX160 as a reference DAP for review purposes. If it sounded bad, we would probably hear about it rather quickly.

The only problem I've heard is hissing when paired with high powered DAPs. But, there are ways of solving that problem too with products such as the IEMatch you mentioned.

 

[PoSR77]

I think the DX160 will pair fine with the Odin. It pairs well with everything I've tried. And, many of the top reviewers use the DX160 as a reference DAP for review purposes. If it sounded bad, we would probably hear about it rather quickly.

The only problem I've heard is hissing when paired with high powered DAPs. But, there are ways of solving that problem too with products such as the IEMatch you mentioned.

I think the reviews are very accurate (not over-hyped) with the DX160: for the price, or even well above it, it is a very impressive piece of gear. Too often I'm disappointed after getting overly-excited about gear based on reviews; not with the DX160!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I think the reviews are very accurate (not over-hyped) with the DX160: for the price, or even well above it, it is a very impressive piece of gear. Too often I'm disappointed after getting overly-excited about gear based on reviews; not with the DX160!

The DX160 was my first choice DAP until I figured out what my real use case was going to be for a DAP. So, I decided I needed a DAP that supported Android 9. It really narrowed the DAPs I could choose from.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

I personally don't think so. The point of a DAP, to me, is to avoid stack-fi; whether it be a phone and a DAC/amp, or a phone and an amp, etc. Something like the DX160 should perform just as well (if not better than) a portable DAC/amp anyway, so I don't think you should be concerned there. @proedros's recommendation of the WM1A is a good shout. But, unless you find the DX160 lacking in any way, I wouldn't be in a rush to replace a well-working DAP before it's necessary.

I second this, the DX160 is a phenomenally good performer at that price point. Also, now that the DX300 is out, you may want to watch for a used DX220.

 

[tawmizzzz]

I'm getting out the door soon, but just wanted to say thanks, this honesty and comparison with the DX160 to a higher end model is very helpful and most appreciated.

In all likelihood, I will scale up to a 1k to 1.5kish DAP after I get the ODIN. (First things first! lol).

Oh, and I find the DX160 to be much like you have found the DX300: somewhat mid-range oriented (warmer and fuller than, for instance, my RME ADI-2 DAC FS IEM out), with incredible bass (at times almost too much with the MEST). The sound stage width on the DX160 also impresses; depth is good, but the MEST doesn't have the most depth so that's not a good test of it; however my Solaris 2020's have better depth and they do impress on the DX160 (I don't listen to them after getting the MEST).

For what it’s worth, Odin did sound good from DX160 .

 

[aaf evo]

DX160 goes down as one of the best DAPs I have ever owned. It’s a little sluggish though.

 

[saltyfr0g]

Anyone here run a GPS cable like the 4-wire Horus? I’m getting some custom LXs and will be running it with the stock cable first but a GPS cable is definitely at the top of my list from a bling standpoint at least. I figured I’d get some feedback from y’all before committing since synergy is always more important than looks.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

DX160 goes down as one of the best DAPs I have ever owned. It’s a little sluggish though.

Hopefully they will refresh it with a newer, faster processor and most recent version of Android. I would probably buy it on pre-order.

 

[Frankie D]

Anyone here run a GPS cable like the 4-wire Horus? I’m getting some custom LXs and will be running it with the stock cable first but a GPS cable is definitely at the top of my list from a bling standpoint at least. I figured I’d get some feedback from y’all before committing since synergy is always more important than looks.

What do you mean by GPS cable?

 

[bland125]

What do you mean by GPS cable?

Gold plated silver.