[Sorensiim]

Quote:

I'm thinking about ordering UM Merlins to go with the new player. Is anyone running this combo, and if so how do they compliment each other? What gain setting are you using? Currently I'm using UM3x balanced on a PB2 and find that I need high gain to get everything I can out of them. And does anyone think a PB2 would offer any advantages in sound over the internal amp? I definitely would like to stay balanced. Hopefully one day ibasso offers the dx100 with a balanced out.

I will be rocking that combo as soon as my DX100 gets here and my Merlins come back from RMA. You don't list your location, but I will have to advise you to avoid UM UK (AmpCity) like the plague. The Merlins are brilliant but the UK distributor is really not up for the task.
 

 

[shortfuze]

Quote:

I'm thinking about ordering UM Merlins to go with the new player. Is anyone running this combo, and if so how do they compliment each other? What gain setting are you using? Currently I'm using UM3x balanced on a PB2 and find that I need high gain to get everything I can out of them. And does anyone think a PB2 would offer any advantages in sound over the internal amp? I definitely would like to stay balanced. Hopefully one day ibasso offers the dx100 with a balanced out.

I will be rocking that combo as soon as my DX100 gets here and my Merlins come back from RMA. You don't list your location, but I will have to advise you to avoid UM UK (AmpCity) like the plague. The Merlins are brilliant but the UK distributor is really not up for the task.
 

Oregon, USA

 

[Mython]

Quote:

Oregon, USA

I'm confident Stephen will take good care of you, then:
 
http://www.custom-iem.com/um-custom-iems-c-118.html

 

[Girls Generation]

Thanks for your input. Might I ask why you think the Merlin's would be a poor choice? I'm not arguing just researching. I'm pretty new to all this. I just kind of fell into it all one day while looking for replacements for my broken Blackberry iems.

I didn't say the Merlins were a poor choice, but rather the JH16 "might" be a better choice if you're not a very patient person willing to wait for a possibility of months. Also, I know many drummers that use JH16s but this does not mean they're better than Merlins in that aspect since there aren't as many people who know of or use UM's products. However, you can be assured that JH16s are, nevertheless, a good choice for you.

 

[turokrocks]

Quote:

Yes, but as i said in the first part of the first sentence, iBasso developed proprietary code. I'm a comp sci major, i know what it takes to develop software and it's not something a company would wanna license unless it was more economical to them. If they didnt develop their own music player and just made the changes to the kernel and worked with poweramp to make it work with it, that would be one thing, but they are competing products and iBasso's code is not on multiple devices, so it's not as worth it for the developers of poweramp to try and collaborate. so far their are 390 DX100 devices.
 


 

So the first step is to iron the bugs that are destroying the reputation of this beautiful sounding DAP. Am i right?
 

 

[shortfuze]

I'm pretty patient if I have something descent to tide me over while waiting. But I may get the jh16's first. Then I can get the UMs a few months later if I decide to expand. I'll also be shopping around for a good full size headphone in the meantime.

 

[scootermafia]

Might I suggest the new and improved Audeze LCD-2?  The sexy bamboo makes me want to re-buy it even though I've got LCD3.

 

[scootermafia]

Quote:

I'm thinking about ordering UM Merlins to go with the new player. Is anyone running this combo, and if so how do they compliment each other? What gain setting are you using? Currently I'm using UM3x balanced on a PB2 and find that I need high gain to get everything I can out of them. And does anyone think a PB2 would offer any advantages in sound over the internal amp? I definitely would like to stay balanced. Hopefully one day ibasso offers the dx100 with a balanced out.

Don't add a PB2.  There is a degradation in the sound quality using a PB2 via line out vs. using the DX100's headphone line out, through LCD3 and HD800 as tested.  The PB2 does have a bold sound but when the two are combined it sounds a little unnatural and just lower-rent than with just the DX100.  This could be a good combination for driving HE6 but for LCD3 or IEMs it's unnecessary.  The O2 is worth trying, as I've posted before it doesn't change the LCD3's sound but also does not have a negative effect, and gives the HD800 more bass.



Quote:

I wrote I basso to see if they could make a thinner version without the internal amp. I figured and from what everyone is saying, they like a separate amps with it. They have no plans for this. To be honest I would buy one in a heart beat if they made one without the amp.

 

In 99% of cases adding an amp will make it sound worse.  The DX100's amp is one of the most capable I've ever seen in a portable device.  I was wary of using single ended too.  Now just about all my cables I use for on the go have mini plugs on them.  My Pelican is lying dead in a drawer, and it's a damn good amp, so it takes a damn good built in amp for that to happen.  If you have IEMs or Audeze then forget about an external amp.  

 

[shortfuze]

Quote:

I'm thinking about ordering UM Merlins to go with the new player. Is anyone running this combo, and if so how do they compliment each other? What gain setting are you using? Currently I'm using UM3x balanced on a PB2 and find that I need high gain to get everything I can out of them. And does anyone think a PB2 would offer any advantages in sound over the internal amp? I definitely would like to stay balanced. Hopefully one day ibasso offers the dx100 with a balanced out.

Don't add a PB2.  There is a degradation in the sound quality using a PB2 via line out vs. using the DX100's headphone line out, through LCD3 and HD800 as tested.
 

Ok thanks for the recommendation. As stated before, I'll be auditioning whatever full size ALO has in stock in a couple of weeks. I hear lots of great things about the Audeze's. Looks wise I prefer the T1's. But eyes can't hear.

 

[Pudu]

So the first step is to iron the bugs that are destroying the reputation of this beautiful sounding DAP. Am i right?

Yes it's expensive, yes we expected the Moon, the Sun and the Stars, yes it has some quirks. But come on.

The pop may be a deal breaker for some at the moment, but to be fair the thing drives your CIEMs as well as my LCD-2, there are going to be some compromises here. I unplug my headphones every time before I turn off my Lyr, because it pops too. I'm not saying it's perfect and that people don't have a right to be disappointed with certain aspects of the player, like the pop .... but there seems to be a lot of doom and gloom and niggling. And before anyone comes back with it, no, I don't consider potentially destroying expensive equipment niggling.

I'm glad I sprung for mine before reading the last few days posts in this thread... because my user experience has been significantly better than what I would expect from my reading.

Some bugs I've found to be caused my misunderstanding how the DX and how Android works:

- for anyone who keeps getting playlists created after start up ... check your directories for txt files or m3u files that aren't supposed to be there.


edit: Sorry Turok, that rant wasn't directed at you. I was just using your post as a spring board.

 

[scootermafia]

The T1 at 600 ohm is not a great match for the DX100.  Perhaps with an O2 in the mix.  I find them unpleasant and cheap sounding when they are not run balanced through my Beta22.  With enough power they can tangle with LCD3 and HD800, and possibly beat them both, although I only spent a day with a pair.

 

[ckatili]

One way iBasso could do is provide an interface (that does the hi-res plumbing) that PowerAmp could call.
Or, if PowerAmp already has an interface, then, iBasso can implement it.
By an interface here, I mean a software interface, not a UI interface.
 
This way, both parties' intellectual property are protected.
 
Whether or not PowerAmp and iBasso are willing to work together and deem that it is worth the effort is another matter. 

 
Quote:

Yes, but as i said in the first part of the first sentence, iBasso developed proprietary code. I'm a comp sci major, i know what it takes to develop software and it's not something a company would wanna license unless it was more economical to them. If they didnt develop their own music player and just made the changes to the kernel and worked with poweramp to make it work with it, that would be one thing, but they are competing products and iBasso's code is not on multiple devices, so it's not as worth it for the developers of poweramp to try and collaborate. so far their are 390 DX100 devices.
 


 

 

 

[Pudu]

The T1 at 600 ohm is not a great match for the DX100.  Perhaps with an O2 in the mix.  I find them unpleasant and cheap sounding when they are not run balanced through my Beta22.  With enough power they can tangle with LCD3 and HD800, and possibly beat them both, although I only spent a day with a pair.

I was actually impressed with how well the DX did with the 5 minutes I spent driving my T1's. I'm not very balanced, but I'm used to driving them with a Woo2 and expected a big hit using only the DX. They actually sounded surprisingly good.

The PB-2 never drove them very well at all (single ended) and I was expecting something similar, but not the case ... to my ears at least.

 

[AnakChan]

There's been quite a bit of talk about the UI of the DX100 so I thought I'd try to bring the thread back to about the SQ of the DX100. As mentioned by a friend of mine today whom tried the DX100 with his UERM, "This DAP has potential!". By this he meant that the SQ is outstanding but it's implementation is very poor.
 
So I've been running around town using the DX100 as a portable quite a bit in the past few days - each time carrying different headphones, namely the following :-
 
1) Ultrasone Edition 8LEs
2) Unique Melody Merlins
3) V-Moda M80
4) [very briefly] Unique Melody SE530x8 (i.e. Shures SE530 upgraded to 8xBAs per channel) - tested briefly only 'cos it's been sent back to UM for re-tuning
 
Genre of music has been quite wide ranging from West Coast Jazz (Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, etc.), Classical (Vivaldi Four Seasons), 80's  pop (Michael Jackson, some other Eurotrash like Modern Talking, etc.), Hip Hop (Black Eyed Peas), and musicals (Phantom of the Opera). The quality of music ranged from 160kbps AAC to DSD-converted-to-FLACs 192kHz. Although I've been saying I intend to keep the DX100 for lossless only, I've not actually removed my lossy tracks off it yet.
 
Across the board, if I were to be able to pick the foremost outstanding asset of the DX100 is detail. Quite often I feel it's almost like carrying a desktop DAC/amp but in a tiny little hand-sized pack in my pocket. The extensions on the lows and highs are quite detailed too. All this has been mentioned before in previous posts. This has let me to allow to choose a more suitable headphone to match the DX100.
 
I think of all the headphones and IEMs above, I feel the UM Merlins to be the most comfortable. It's seems to provide just sufficient tight bass and high extensions without sounding too bright. I could listen to this combination for the entire battery life of the DX100. In comparison to the other headphones and IEMs it provides the right balance of detail without fatique.
 
The Ultrasone Ed8LEs have long been my favourite closed headphones and with all my previous kit (CLAS+PicoSlim or SR-71B, HP-P1, Go-DAP, etc.) I could listen to the Ed8LE for hours. But this is the first source that I find the Ed8LEs too bright with fatique. I probably cannot recommend this combination.
 
The V-Moda M80 is decent with the DX100 too but in my tests, seem to lack the width soundstage of the Merlins. Also (inherently with the M80s) the highs don't extend as far. I prefer the M80's out of my Go-DAP over the DX100.
 
As for the brief UM SE530x8, with all my other source/amps mentioned above, they sounded really flat. I was actually disappointed with the SE530x8 and as such made plans to have them re-tuned by UM. Just before I packaged it up to be shipped back, I decided to try them on the DX100 - and this DAP was the only one that actually made the SE530x8 tolerable. It no longer sounded flat/boring and instead of an A-shaped or flat to downward slope signature, it actually kept it in a more overall flat signature - but still not at the level of, say, the UERMs. I tested my colleague's UERM tonight and again the DX100 was able to make that shine (which I found them to be too flat before but not as bad as my SE530x8).
 
Separately, I have also been spending considerable time using the DX100 as a transport (Coax and optical) to my desktop setup - Benchmark DAC1 Pre+Stax SRM-727+ Stax SR-009. As a transport it's amazing giving a greater impact across the frequencies in comparison to my iMac 27" (optical and USB). I never realised transports could vary ('cos afterall you're bypassing most of the components like the internal DACs and internal amps, etc.) but the difference between the DX100 as a transport vs my iMac is literally night and day.
 
Having said that, I did manage to test the DX100 directly against the Benchmark DAC1 Pre (both using the Ultrasone Ed8LE). This is where a good desktop DAC/Amp can still triumph over the DX100 - which is not surprising. The resolution and clarity of the Benchmark surpasses the DX100. Of course, though the Benchmark is not a portable.
 
These are my findings so far.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

!Very early first impressions , so take it with a grain of salt!
With some tracks (Classical -Mozart/Turkish March) , the Sony Sounds more revealing , more neutral than the DX100 ! and It sounds closer to you.Its like you are listing in the front seat, and the DX100 is 4-6 seats behind.

I think what you are basically saying is the sound staging is larger on the DX100 than the Sony. Basically a preference thing. For one I generally don't like front row or in other words, onstage presentations. For me it can be more fatiguing and invading. I like my space .