[Hinomotocho]

I am looking for an amp/dac which has optical input so I can it use with the optical out of my Playstation 3 for games and movies. My 2 options seem to be the iBasso D10 (NZ$386) and the Firestone Fubar IV (NZ$499) - I don't need it to be portable. I've heard good things about the D10 but was wondering if the fact it runs on rechargable battery would be a problem for power output? Actually, can the D10 run off mains or only off the rechargable battery? I wouldn't want it to run out of juice mid movie! I was thinking that the mains powered Fubar IV might be better but I can't find many good reviews about it, so I don't want to fork out alot of extra $$ if soundwise it's not worth it. At that price the recommended power supplier for the Fubar would not be an option for me. Another question: I recently got a NuForce uDAC which I am really enjoying, would I still need the uDAC if I got the iBasso D10 as I heard it is very good dac, or could I keep the uDAC to feed the D10? I'd really appreciate some help making my choice.

 

[qusp]

if the D10 is suitable for your headphones, you dont have to worry about running out mid movie, the battery lasts like 24-30 hours and yes you can just plug it in by USB and it will be powered, can get one of those usb wallwarts if you dont have a PC handy. if the headphones are not too power-hungry, battery is actually superior sounding, many top home gears use battery, so its not a limiting factor unless it is, if you know what I mean. basically if the uDAC is powerful enough you dont have any problem because USB only supplies 5vdc, less than the battery in the D10.

all the same, FWIR the uDAC is a great little performer, but I suppose its not much use to you for this because of no optical. hmm, the D10 represents good value, sounds like you are just on the edge of the point where more money will buy you a good home dac/amp others might chime in, my home gear is out of your range and given your situation I would DIY.

 

[Hinomotocho]

Thanks qsup for your valuable info, you've put my mind at rest about the D10's battery power - makes sense what you said about my uDAC's usb power being more than adequate. I bought the uDAC based on Headphone Addict's great reviews/recommendations and have seen his stamp of approval for the D2000 with the D10 - I'll be ordering my D10 tomorrow.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

The D10 should do the job fine for you. I find the sound to be pretty much on par with my Headroom Micro DAC/amp, but for less money. Stock it reminds me of an RSA Predator with a more detailed and spacious DAC, and with the opamp kit from HiFlight it sounds closer to the RSA P-51 with with a little less treble extension.

You can basically run the D10 all day long, and then plug it in at night to charge, and even if you ran it 20 hours a day and charged it for 3-4 hours, the battery should last a year and a half before you wear it out from charging cycles. I think I have even managed to get it to charge via USB on my Macbook, while using the optical DAC and not USB DAC; so you may be able to plug it into a USB wallwart power adapter and not run the battery down when you use the optical DAC. I bet you could let it trickle charge all day long without hurting it, although that isn't recommended.

 

[shigzeo]

I don't have the D10, but bought quite a few iBasso products and have to concur that they are great. That said, the Fubar IV is also very good. It isn't as good for iems as it has a fair amount of hiss (change to a higher quality power source and a lot of that is taken care of).

But the Fubar is an excellent amp for a larger variety of headphones. It isn't portable where the D10 is, but it drives earphones that no iBasso I own (other than the T3) can with a linear frequency response.

I am sure both are great, but the Fubar does offer more power. I'd gauge it on whether you prefer mains or battery power.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I agree, if you need wall power and want to listen loudly to hard to drive phones, then a desktop DAC/amp with higher operating voltage and power is better, not a portable DAC/amp. I haven't heard the Fubar IV, which is why I didn't comment about it. It would be nice if we knew how safe it is to leave the D10 plugged in and charging all the time, but we still aren't sure about that.

If I was going to suggest a lower-price desktop DAC/amp with optical and high power, then it would be the Nuforce HDP. This is the best $449 optical DAC/amp I have heard, and among those desktop units that do optical digital it tops ones like the Styleaudio CARAT-TOPAZ, iBasso D1 (12v), HR Micro DAC/Amp combo (which comes much closer than the others), and Super Pro DAC707 (which has no amp and needs a Sigma 11 PSU to compete). I haven't heard the Zero either, which is why I didn't mention that one. I know there are other units out there, but I am blanking on them for the moment since I haven't had experience with them. I often only want to talk about ones that I've heard, or ones the OP asks about.

I also didn't suggest the HDP because of the larger price differential, $275 D10 vs $449 HDP, and because the D10's battery power is enough for his D2000. If someone wants to listen to HD600/650 then the D10 is not the best choice, but it will work at moderately loud levels but not very loud levels; and the HiFiMan HE-5 headphones would not be powered well at all by the D10, nor the 600 ohm AKG K240M.

 

[Hinomotocho]

After waking up and reading the last 3 posts I've decided to hold my horses on the D10. I know it would be adequate for my D2000 but something doesn't sit right with me about the rechargable battery, maybe that's why something keeps whispering Fubar. Based on your (Headphone Addict) NuForce product reviews and on my uDAC's performance, I'd like to get the NuForce HDP but the exchange rate to the New Zealand dollar wouldn't be too kind to me. Shigzeo saying the Fubar is an excellent amp is good to hear, but for the extra $$ it'd cost me I guess I'd really like to hear someone saying the D2000 are a great match....... anyone... anyone?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beninnzorjp /img/forum/go_quote.gif After waking up and reading the last 3 posts I've decided to hold my horses on the D10. I know it would be adequate for my D2000 but something doesn't sit right with me about the rechargable battery, maybe that's why something keeps whispering Fubar. Based on your (Headphone Addict) NuForce product reviews and on my uDAC's performance, I'd like to get the NuForce HDP but the exchange rate to the New Zealand dollar wouldn't be too kind to me. Shigzeo saying the Fubar is an excellent amp is good to hear, but for the extra $$ it'd cost me I guess I'd really like to hear someone saying the D2000 are a great match....... anyone... anyone?

Well, the Cute Beyond was good with my re-cabled D2000. Maybe you can get someone to comment about how close the Fubar IV headphone amp sounds to the Cute Beyond?

Otherwise I would try to get an HDP somehow (not mine

).

 

[Ernie II]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beninnzorjp /img/forum/go_quote.gif After waking up and reading the last 3 posts I've decided to hold my horses on the D10. I know it would be adequate for my D2000 but something doesn't sit right with me about the rechargable battery, maybe that's why something keeps whispering Fubar. Based on your (Headphone Addict) NuForce product reviews and on my uDAC's performance, I'd like to get the NuForce HDP but the exchange rate to the New Zealand dollar wouldn't be too kind to me. Shigzeo saying the Fubar is an excellent amp is good to hear, but for the extra $$ it'd cost me I guess I'd really like to hear someone saying the D2000 are a great match....... anyone... anyone?

Well, you are probably going to have whatever amp longer than your D2000. Although the D2000 are an easy drive, it's likely you will get something with a heavier load to drive, but then again Grados have a good synergy with Firestone amps. Maybe you should try the D2000s out with a Fubar IV?

The Fubar IVSE is a good priced option, and I'm not so sure there will be many units left. (I'd get one soon if I was you). The Fubar IV+ which replaces it, upscales to 24/192, and is more expensive.

 

[Hinomotocho]

I didn't mention but I had been watching a local auction for a Fubar IV+ with the recommended supplier. It closed last night, won by another auction member as my cursor hovered over the bid button. iBasso D10 it is I though.... but then... I just got a fixed price offer this morning, seems the buyer backed out. I thought 'oh what the heck' must be fate and I just accepted the offer for NZ$XXX - pretty good I think considering it comes with the Supplier (PSU) and is probably burnt in nicely. I'll give it a whirl, I've got nothing to loose as there was plenty of interest in it, and it was originally won for NZ$XX more, and it was listed in the wrong place. Thanks alot to you all for your precious input. I'm just an amatuer and am not yet confident or experienced enough to tell you my opinion of the Fubar IV= w/supplier and my Denon D2000.
 
(I've just removed the auction price details as I intend to sell the Fubar and go for the Nuforce HDP)

 

[honmashinsei]

Bear in mind though that the D10 doesn't support movie audio streams like DTS, DTS-HD, Dolby Digital, etc.! So, I believe the optical output will only output garbled sound when playing a movie. Don't know what happens to games though.

Checkout:

Ps3 to Ibasso D10 optical question. - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

 

[Hinomotocho]

Thanks - the Fubar IV doesn't support those audio streams either, but I can set the PS3's audio output to a 2 channel setting which works.

 

[richbass]

get d4 mamba which is better than d10 cobra !