[FooFighter]

no I haven't tried this, I accidentally saw that you can order this coaxial cable for Ibasso D16 and PB5

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

 

[MarkParity]

It is very common to refer to the analog knob position with a reference to analog clock dial/face from 1 o'clock to 12 o'clock. But since we are dealing here with a unique analog stepped attenuator with 24 steps, we can also use "clicks" to describe the position. So, 10 o'clock would be about 7 clicks, 12 o'clock about 11 clicks. I put a little narrow tape sticker to indicate the position in DC Elite.

Thanks for clarifying this I was familiar with the clock analogy but I wasn't sure how you were measuring it, the sticker is the key here.

 

[User9876]

Not joking, I'm testing the Shure se846 with the DC Elite and at one volume click its loud enough for normal listening for me.

When will the perfect dongle DAC be made, perhaps it just isn't possible to make a DAC/AMP that works for every scenario/user.

Did iBasso even test this with users? I see a DC Elite 2 in 12 months time

 

[denis1976]

Dc elite is one of the best if not the best amp dac dongle thats ever made, the solution to this "problems" that i never noticed with all my iems is in the app, instead of 0 , -1 ,-2 db make -10 -20

 

[FooFighter]

Dc elite is one of the best if not the best amp dac dongle thats ever made, the solution to this "problems" that i never noticed with all my iems is in the app, instead of 0 , -1 ,-2 db make -10 -20

I find that a great idea if digital volume control from source isn't feasible.
Not sure about a meaningful range as it shouldn't be as big as the analogue Attenuator steps.
-20 sounds like yet more than the analogue next step would be but I don't know the exact values.
I'd say like 33% and 66% of next volume step

 

[denis1976]

Twister6.com in os test says that the s22 is at 80 % of volume, in my s22 i can t controle the phone volume using UAPP app, is there a way? has i say i dont have any problem in terms of excessive volume with my iems but would be good to find how to do that

 

[User9876]

Any digital attenuation of the audio signal surely defeats the whole point of having the stepped attenuator though which is why I now have the PCM volume reduction set to 0db or passthrough.

-1dB and -2dB settings have probably been chosen to minimise distortion but are, for me anyway, effectively useless as the volume reduction is tiny.

Perhaps we need two models a DC Elite and a DC Elite(i) where the i stands for IEM.

The DC Elite does a really great job of driving the Shure se846 too, when I went outside with traffic noise etc I increased the volume to four clicks and it was great, good synergy with the DC Elite having a reference tonal balance and the se846 being a little rolled off at the treble end.

 

[captblaze]

Any digital attenuation of the audio signal surely defeats the whole point of having the stepped attenuator though which is why I now have the PCM volume reduction set to 0db or passthrough.

-1dB and -2dB settings have probably been chosen to minimise distortion but are, for me anyway, effectively useless as the volume reduction is tiny.

Perhaps we need two models a DC Elite and a DC Elite(i) where the i stands for IEM.

The DC Elite does a really great job of driving the Shure se846 too, when I went outside with traffic noise etc I increased the volume to four clicks and it was great, good synergy with the DC Elite having a reference tonal balance and the se846 being a little rolled off at the treble end.

Wait till you get to about 60 and then you will be able to listen to the 846's at 10 or 12 clicks from zero (I speak from experience although mine are gen 2 with the blue filter)

 

[User9876]

Wait till you get to about 60 and then you will be able to listen to the 846's at 10 or 12 clicks from zero (I speak from experience although mine are gen 2 with the blue filter)

You are on 10-12 clicks, wow. At that kind of volume setting you'd be pushing 100+mW. Doesn't the se846 get hot at that kind of volume, I'd be worried about burning it out.

PS I'm 57 BTW so only three years to go before I can fully enjoy the pairing.

 

[captblaze]

You are on 10-12 clicks, wow. At that kind of volume setting you'd be pushing 100+mW. Doesn't the se846 get hot at that kind of volume, I'd be worried about burning it out.

PS I'm 57 BTW so only three years to go before I can fully enjoy the pairing.

I also forgot to mention 25 years around mechanical sirens and about 175 live shows, so I am not anyway near optimum

EDIT - interesting find. I can go ten clicks when connected to surface duo, but only 4 clicks connected to my PC

 

[User9876]

I also forgot to mention 25 years around mechanical sirens and about 175 live shows, so I am not anyway near optimum

EDIT - interesting find. I can go ten clicks when connected to surface duo, but only 4 clicks connected to my PC

OK, so you have some digital attenuation occurring with the surface duo and not the PC, that explains things. I'm sure your PC levels are similar to what I'm experiencing.

Please don't try turning the volume up to 10-12 clicks when using the PC as a source.

 

[twister6]

Any digital attenuation of the audio signal surely defeats the whole point of having the stepped attenuator though which is why I now have the PCM volume reduction set to 0db or passthrough.

-1dB and -2dB settings have probably been chosen to minimise distortion but are, for me anyway, effectively useless as the volume reduction is tiny.

Perhaps we need two models a DC Elite and a DC Elite(i) where the i stands for IEM.

The DC Elite does a really great job of driving the Shure se846 too, when I went outside with traffic noise etc I increased the volume to four clicks and it was great, good synergy with the DC Elite having a reference tonal balance and the se846 being a little rolled off at the treble end.

Every "step" of stepped attenuator has 3dB increment, thus the idea of giving you a finer 1dB volume adjustment in between, especially important when using very sensitive IEMs, such as yours SE846. But sounds like it is not enough for these older IEMs. I'm not familiar with SE846, assuming you have the original model that was released/designed 11 years ago, don't think they (Shure) worried too much about powerful portable sources back then, so it was never taken into consideration like it is today with new IEM releases.

 

[User9876]

Every "step" of stepped attenuator has 3dB increment, thus the idea of giving you a finer 1dB volume adjustment in between, especially important when using very sensitive IEMs, such as yours SE846. But sounds like it is not enough for these older IEMs. I'm not familiar with SE846, assuming you have the original model that was released/designed 11 years ago, don't think they (Shure) worried too much about powerful portable sources back then, so it was never taken into consideration like it is today with new IEM releases.

Thanks for your input Twister, I do wonder if the miniaturised stepped attenuator is perhaps already at its limits as far as adjustment resolution.

I have no idea if its possible but IMHO the amplification stage needs to have two or three analogue gain settings to allow seamless operation with sensitive IEM's and headphones with higher sensitivity, perhaps these could be selected via the app but this would obviously need a H/W redesign and perhaps would be impossible due to space constraints.

The gen 2 se846 is exactly the same as the gen 1 version. The only differences are a red filter and the availability of a couple of extra colours.

The se846 isn't quoted as the most sensitive IEM I own but it seems to be the easiest to drive due to its low impedance perhaps.

Sensitivity at 1 kHz​

114 dB SPL/mW

Impedance at 1 kHz​

9 Ω

 

[User9876]

I saved the best pairing until last-ish, I still have several other options. Anyone else who owns the ie900 give it a try you will not be disappointed.

Every time I grab the ie900 I'm left feeling why do I need anything else, but paired with the DC Elite its just the icing on the cake.

 

[User9876]

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.