Ibasso 1 bit Discrete portable DAC with Resistors Array D16

[audionewbi]

Anyone know what DAC in the middle with 16E used to compared with D16 ? The other is Hugo2 and Mojo2.

I think that's hiby r8ii.

 

[aaf evo]

Loving the D16 as the DAC/AMP for Aroma Audio Fei Wan. I hear D16 to be very organic and full sounding which helps Fei Wan U-shaped tonality move towards a W-shape instead, lifting up the mids and giving the treble a more natural and weighted timbre. Lovely synergy here.

 

[easylive]

Its a pitty, that the USB input on D16 is not so good as Coax, I dont have a quality source with coax output...

 

[Loftprojection]

Anyone know what DAC in the middle with 16E used to compared with D16 ? The other is Hugo2 and Mojo2.

Hum I didn't realize those small images were Hugo2 and Mojo2 but now that you say it I feel like an idiot because it is obvious! hahaha. Anyway, I hope iBasso didn't voice the D16 based on Chord sound signature because even tough a lot of people swear by this sound, unfortunately this is not the "analog" sound that I like!

 

[Loftprojection]

Its a pitty, that the USB input on D16 is not so good as Coax, I dont have a quality source with coax output...

Yes quite a pity indeed specially for a "portable/transportable" device that most will want to connect to a PC or phone via USB.

 

[aaf evo]

Its a pitty, that the USB input on D16 is not so good as Coax, I dont have a quality source with coax output...

What is inferior about USB C? I have tried both and it still sounds very good to my ears.

 

[Whitigir]

Its a pitty, that the USB input on D16 is not so good as Coax, I dont have a quality source with coax output...

Yes quite a pity indeed specially for a "portable/transportable" device that most will want to connect to a PC or phone via USB.

Please don’t be mistaken, it is not that the USB on D16 is “Bad” per se.

It is that in General, every devices with USB interfaces will be inferior to devices that can utilize Coax as an interface for Music alone. I actually advise you to pick “the best DAC that you think and use USB toward it to compare to D16 using USB as well”. Doing that will help you realize how differences and how important Coax vs USB is

You can do an experiment yourself with any devices you want. It is just that the D16 has both and you can compare both, for a more conclusive devices. I don’t see why using USB toward D16 is “Bad”.

 

[easylive]

What is inferior about USB C? I have tried both and it still sounds very good to my ears.

Thank for sharing your experience.. whitigir shared his experience some posts ago, and he found the usb input inferior...

 

[Loftprojection]

Sure a lot of us know USB is inferior to COAX on most DAC input and that to alleviate the problem a lot of people buy a DDC device. However we are now in 2024 and this DAC is targeted as a transportable device, not a desktop, so I would have hoped that manufacturer would have started to provide us with quality USB in, even not providing coax at all if that can save them some money! I'm not bashing iBasso specifically, it is just a sad fact from manufacturers specially ones building transportable DACs.

 

[FooFighter]

I think even in the desktop world it's not so common anymore as people tend to prefer higher bitrates being supported only through USB or I2S but for most source material 192khz should be sufficient anyway unless you want to perform upsampling

 

[Whitigir]

Sure a lot of us know USB is inferior to COAX on most DAC input and that to alleviate the problem a lot of people buy a DDC device. However we are now in 2024 and this DAC is targeted as a transportable device, not a desktop, so I would have hoped that manufacturer would have started to provide us with quality USB in, even not providing coax at all if that can save them some money! I'm not bashing iBasso specifically, it is just a sad fact from manufacturers specially ones building transportable DACs.

You are missing the point again. Please allow me to rephrase it once more

On every devices, USB is inferior to Coax as an interfaces in technicality and generally. If A device does not have Coax interfaces, does not mean it is optimized for USB usages either

As a plain example, you can try every devices that has both interfaces USB and Coax, and compare between the interfaces yourself. I have found it on both Desktop DAC that COAX will outperform USB always. The D16 is now on the list to reaffirm my findings period

I am not trying to convince you to buy D16, but I just want to clear up the confusion. Please, before you can presume that USB on the D16 is Badly implemented, please do find the best USB DAC that you can buy, and compare toward D16 USB. You will see that is not the case.

I keep politely asking so, because you should not take my words for it, but witness it yourself and in the final words, the D16 USB is not badly implemented. It can take 768Khz and DSD512, how is that bad ? And it is feeding toward FPGA master Gen 2. I compared D16 USB to my modified LKS Desktop DAC and the D16 still pull ahead of comparisons, enough for me to claim that the D16 outperforms every systems I have came by over the years, even the systems I am most proud of, the system I have done a lot of work building it up. I honestly don’t see how USB is badly implemented on D16

 

[Loftprojection]

You are missing the point again. Please allow me to rephrase it once more

On every devices, USB is inferior to Coax as an interfaces in technicality and generally. If A device does not have Coax interfaces, does not mean it is optimized for USB usages either

As a plain example, you can try every devices that has both interfaces USB and Coax, and compare between the interfaces yourself. I have found it on both Desktop DAC that COAX will outperform USB always. The D16 is now on the list to reaffirm my findings period

I am not trying to convince you to buy D16, but I just want to clear up the confusion. Please, before you can presume that USB on the D16 is Badly implemented, please do find the best USB DAC that you can buy, and compare toward D16 USB. You will see that is not the case.

I keep politely asking so, because you should not take my words for it, but witness it yourself and in the final words, the D16 USB is not badly implemented. It can take 768Khz and DSD512, how is that bad ? And it is feeding toward FPGA master Gen 2. I compared D16 USB to my modified LKS Desktop DAC and the D16 still pull ahead of comparisons, enough for me to claim that the D16 outperforms every systems I have came by over the years, even the systems I am most proud of, the system I have done a lot of work building it up. I honestly don’t see how USB is badly implemented on D16

I'm not sure you read my post correctly Whitigir.

"Sure a lot of us know USB is inferior to COAX on most DAC input and that to alleviate the problem a lot of people buy a DDC device. However we are now in 2024 and this DAC is targeted as a transportable device, not a desktop, so I would have hoped that manufacturer would have started to provide us with quality USB in, even not providing coax at all if that can save them some money! I'm not bashing iBasso specifically, it is just a sad fact from manufacturers specially ones building transportable DACs."

I'm in no way saying D16 USB is badly implemented, is bad, or anything like that. I just find it a bit sad that in 2024 manufacturers are still providing us with USB connections that provide inferior sound quality then the COAX connection. I know this is the case and I have experienced it myself on my desktop and my other transportable DAC don't worry. To alleviate the inferior quality of the USB connection vs Coax we need to buy a DDC device.

All I'm saying is I would hope iBasso as well as ALL other audio manufacturers in 2024 should start to implement USB connections that don't need a stupid DDC between the source and the DAC.

According to your comments on the D16 sound quality, then it's probably one of the if not the best USB implementation on the transportable device market. However it is still not quite up to par with it's coax input so I just find it disappointing, that's all. Not bashing iBasso, not bashing the D16 and not arguing your feedback on the device, in fact thanks very much for all the info you are providing up to now on it.

 

[WarrenS]

Sure a lot of us know USB is inferior to COAX on most DAC input and that to alleviate the problem a lot of people buy a DDC device. However we are now in 2024 and this DAC is targeted as a transportable device, not a desktop, so I would have hoped that manufacturer would have started to provide us with quality USB in, even not providing coax at all if that can save them some money! I'm not bashing iBasso specifically, it is just a sad fact from manufacturers specially ones building transportable DACs.

It might be interesting to look at this subject of USB implementation from a different angle, that being USB output. A lot of people believe that using a mobile phone as a source will give optimum results.

Unfortunately this is not the case. Mobile phone and laptop manufacturers in general are not particularly bothered about audio output through a USB and will employ the most cost effective solution.

 

[Whitigir]

I'm not sure you read my post correctly Whitigir.

"Sure a lot of us know USB is inferior to COAX on most DAC input and that to alleviate the problem a lot of people buy a DDC device. However we are now in 2024 and this DAC is targeted as a transportable device, not a desktop, so I would have hoped that manufacturer would have started to provide us with quality USB in, even not providing coax at all if that can save them some money! I'm not bashing iBasso specifically, it is just a sad fact from manufacturers specially ones building transportable DACs."

I'm in no way saying D16 USB is badly implemented, is bad, or anything like that. I just find it a bit sad that in 2024 manufacturers are still providing us with USB connections that provide inferior sound quality then the COAX connection. I know this is the case and I have experienced it myself on my desktop and my other transportable DAC don't worry. To alleviate the inferior quality of the USB connection vs Coax we need to buy a DDC device.

All I'm saying is I would hope iBasso as well as ALL other audio manufacturers in 2024 should start to implement USB connections that don't need a stupid DDC between the source and the DAC.

According to your comments on the D16 sound quality, then it's probably one of the if not the best USB implementation on the transportable device market. However it is still not quite up to par with it's coax input so I just find it disappointing, that's all. Not bashing iBasso, not bashing the D16 and not arguing your feedback on the device, in fact thanks very much for all the info you are providing up to now on it.

Ah, now it is much clearer. I am glad we got it out of the way. In this front of USB interfaces and DDC, the frontman of the USB is a universal chips that identify the function and define the features of the port then forward it toward the device. The only way to bypass this and improve USB interfaces would be to have your own FPGA ordered up and engineered it so that it will only pull and perform functions relating to the devices needs and nothing else (digital music only?)

It will be very expensive in development and fabricating such. I have not yet seen such thing from any manufacturer, I do hope that it will come to that one day. Because USB needs to be compatible to all kind of Operating systems as an example, using the already existing IC for everything is a lot more efficient, also avoid complications and bugs. Sadly, USB never cared about radio/digital music by itself

 

[Loftprojection]

It might be interesting to look at this subject of USB implementation from a different angle, that being USB output. A lot of people believe that using a mobile phone as a source will give optimum results.

Unfortunately this is not the case. Mobile phone and laptop manufacturers in general are not particularly bothered about audio output through a USB and will employ the most cost effective solution.

Yes but then why build "transportable" DAC/AMPs that will obviously mostly be fed by phones, tablets and portable computers? A few but not a lot of people will buy a DAP to then feed a transportable DAC/AMP.