[Andrew Rieger]

No worries.
The point is Ibasso isn't offering an official product that is approved to work with DC Elite and though I found myself an (unstable)'workaround I am just waiting for someone confirming that some standard product like your suggestion is working perfectly and not like in my case with some cheap 3rd party 4 pole Adapter half stable as the plug is too long for example

On page 13, IBasso showed the proper plug you need to run coaxial. Moon Audio can make you a custom coaxial cable that will work. Just send them that picture. It should be a standard 4pole 3.5mm plug.

 

[FooFighter]

On page 13, IBasso showed the proper plug you need to run coaxial. Moon Audio can make you a custom coaxial cable that will work. Just send them that picture. It should be a standard 4pole 3.5mm plug.

I have seen that picture.
The point is I got a "standard" adapter and the plug works but is too long.
Therefore I have my doubts getting some custom cable with standard plug and facing similar issues.
So to summarize: if someone is buying a standard cable from a specific site with a specified article number or got a custom cable from a named vendor and confirmed it's working flawlessly than that's the way to follow the footsteps or I have just been unlucky with my first attempt of some 3rd party 4 pole adapter

 

[jamato8]

Does the digital source for the DC Elite make any difference, as long as they are bit-perfect they are all digital sources right?

The Hiby R2 doesn't sound anywhere as good as the Sony NW-A306, the R2 sounds closed in, flat and lacking in treble compared to the Sony, if I hadn't heard it with my own ears I'd have told myself I was wrong.

It could be some sort of incompatibility between the Hiby and the iBasso, I've never heard a noticeable difference before between sources, my ears usually just aren't good enough.

It is how the digital source is treated by the source. The Elite does best with a good digital source. Digital isn't just 1s and 0s as some stress. It is the quality of the timing and many factors.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

I have seen that picture.
The point is I got a "standard" adapter and the plug works but is too long.
Therefore I have my doubts getting some custom cable with standard plug and facing similar issues.
So to summarize: if someone is buying a standard cable from a specific site with a specified article number or got a custom cable from a named vendor and confirmed it's working flawlessly than that's the way to follow the footsteps or I have just been unlucky with my first attempt of some 3rd party 4 pole adapter

Have you tried a two pole 3.5mm plug? In this review, you can see the cable he used for coax out and it looks like it only has one black ring. It's possible that a properly wired 4 pole 3.5mm and a two pole 3.5mm both work equally well.

https://twister6.com/2023/12/21/ibasso-dc-elite/2/

 

[FooFighter]

Have you tried a two pole 3.5mm plug? In this review, you can see the cable he used for coax out and it looks like it only has one black ring. It's possible that a properly wired 4 pole 3.5mm and a two pole 3.5mm both work equally well.

https://twister6.com/2023/12/21/ibasso-dc-elite/2/

I've tried like 10 cables and only 4 pole is working or less poles only with fiddling millimeter by millimeter and keeping the connection only if not breathing

 

[hongky]

less poles only with fiddling millimeter by millimeter and keeping the connection only if not breathing

Try adding o-ring or spacer

 

[User9876]

It is how the digital source is treated by the source. The Elite does best with a good digital source. Digital isn't just 1s and 0s as some stress. It is the quality of the timing and many factors.

I see that argument a lot on Head-Fi but as I said until the DC Elite I'd never noticed it before, as a general rule thumb I still believe that bit-perfect digital is bit-perfect digital but not with this device.

Perhaps its poor at jitter correction, until we have actual measurements done independently we won't know.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

How do people here feel about running the DC-Elite to a balanced external amp? Is the output clean enough for it to compete with a dedicated line out? I’ve heard that you don’t really need to worry about double amping if the headphone output is clean enough.

I’ve been looking at these unique Japanese portable amps that have no volume control of any kind. All volume is controlled at the source. I’m curious how the DCElite would pair with something like this: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-utsusemi-works-thread-sound-dragon-sound-tiger.969394/

 

[jamato8]

How do people here feel about running the DC-Elite to a balanced external amp? Is the output clean enough for it to compete with a dedicated line out? I’ve heard that you don’t really need to worry about double amping if the headphone output is clean enough.

I’ve been looking at these unique Japanese portable amps that have no volume control of any kind. All volume is controlled at the source. I’m curious how the DCElite would pair with something like this: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-utsusemi-works-thread-sound-dragon-sound-tiger.969394/

I would suspect with the very low distortion and black background, the DC Elite should work really well.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

I would suspect with the very low distortion and black background, the DC Elite should work really well.

I've also been looking at the Luxury and Precision W4. That unit is said to have a headphone out clean enough to beat many dedicated line-outs on some high end DAP's.

I'm curious how the DCElite and W4 compare purely as DAC's feeding other amps. The W4 has the benefit of having more output power.

 

[MarkParity]

How do people here feel about running the DC-Elite to a balanced external amp? Is the output clean enough for it to compete with a dedicated line out? I’ve heard that you don’t really need to worry about double amping if the headphone output is clean enough.

I’ve been looking at these unique Japanese portable amps that have no volume control of any kind. All volume is controlled at the source. I’m curious how the DCElite would pair with something like this: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-utsusemi-works-thread-sound-dragon-sound-tiger.969394/

It will work great. Personally I wouldn't bother unless you want to add a different "flavour" to the sound or add a little distortion.

 

[dnolan227]

Recent DC Elite owner and want to ask a clarifying question. I think the answer is yes, based on reading through this thread, but I would just like confirmation before proceeding.
If I want to change any of the settings, I’ll need an Android device that can run the app. I currently only have an iPhone and iPad for my Apple Music streaming, but my dad has an old Samsung phone that might do the trick. If I download the app and then plug in the DC-E, I can adjust everything and it will be saved. Then I can go back to using it with my regular devices, correct?
Alternately, would a prepaid android smartphone run the app? Just thought of this, will look at some specs.
Thank you all for the discussion and insight - absolutely loving it so far, and have a CB19 and power bank on the way.

 

[jamato8]

Recent DC Elite owner and want to ask a clarifying question. I think the answer is yes, based on reading through this thread, but I would just like confirmation before proceeding.
If I want to change any of the settings, I’ll need an Android device that can run the app. I currently only have an iPhone and iPad for my Apple Music streaming, but my dad has an old Samsung phone that might do the trick. If I download the app and then plug in the DC-E, I can adjust everything and it will be saved. Then I can go back to using it with my regular devices, correct?
Alternately, would a prepaid android smartphone run the app? Just thought of this, will look at some specs.
Thank you all for the discussion and insight - absolutely loving it so far, and have a CB19 and power bank on the way.

The Elite saves the settings. I loaded the UAC on my DX260 and use it for any adjustments. Works great. I have all Apple, computers, phones, iPad but having the DX260 solves any problem, or most likely any operations Android phone would work. Nice that the setting are saved by the Elite.

 

[Bondipix]

Recent DC Elite owner and want to ask a clarifying question. I think the answer is yes, based on reading through this thread, but I would just like confirmation before proceeding.
If I want to change any of the settings, I’ll need an Android device that can run the app. I currently only have an iPhone and iPad for my Apple Music streaming, but my dad has an old Samsung phone that might do the trick. If I download the app and then plug in the DC-E, I can adjust everything and it will be saved. Then I can go back to using it with my regular devices, correct?
Alternately, would a prepaid android smartphone run the app? Just thought of this, will look at some specs.
Thank you all for the discussion and insight - absolutely loving it so far, and have a CB19 and power bank on the way.

Everything Jamato8 says is correct (of course ). Any reasonably modern android device will work; just remember to download the UAC app direct from Ibasso - the playstore version won’t work ( at least it didn’t for me). Have fun.

 

[Daniel4IEM]

Saw several requests throughout the thread for comparison with Woo Audio mini tubes but never saw any replies. Has anyone used both and can comment?