iBasso DX100 Reference DAP - ES9018 inside

[Coop]

 

 

[Somnambulist]

Well this seemed to come out of nowhere, guess I haven't been paying attention! Anyway, it's all looking very interesting. First DAP to use the Sabre DAC right?
 
Guess I'll hold off buying an iPod Touch 64GB + Fostex HP-P1 until impressions (beyond the initial FotM hype) are in. I know there is some way of using Smart Playlists in Android ala Genius in iTunes, which I do think is a rather superb feature... AAC compatible too right? Have my iTunes library in ALAC and it's easy to just make AAC copies from within that.

 

[evilhippie]

from the 3 capacitive buttons in the picture it appears to be android based.  If so, it looks like this product is going to be a real contender when its released.  Likely it won't have official market access out of the box, but as with all android devices rooting and sideloading the market/framework files will probably be possible.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Oh geez, now I have to watch this thread too.  I was thinking of upgrading my setup, and deciding if I wanted to do a portable rig or work on a home rig.  I do like the concept of everything being portable so I can always take it with me.

 

[Mython]

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[-y0-]

 

[12345142]

I'm just crossing my fingers that the firmware isn't buggy. In truth, that might be the hardest part of designing a DAP.
 
If the firmware's fine, though, then I'd definitely jump on this. And if it's expensive, what's a felony or two?

 

[newtophones07]

with lossy source data, that 64Gb wont go very far, I dont understand why someone doesnt buy up all the remaining 240GB toshiba hard drives, and make a lossy DAP out of that, flash memory is great, but it really drives the price up for such small storage space

 

[kckc]

My next DAP maybe? 
 
Subscribed. 

 

[deadhead12]

Quote:

with lossy source data, that 64Gb wont go very far, I dont understand why someone doesnt buy up all the remaining 240GB toshiba hard drives, and make a lossy DAP out of that, flash memory is great, but it really drives the price up for such small storage space

 
Do you mean lossless data here? I've been perfectly happy running .flac on my ipod touch with only 64gb.  Situations where I want to hear an album that I don't currently have loaded up are rare and easily remediable.  My preference would actually be no on-board storage and just use external cards but as always YMMV. 
 

 

[Somnambulist]

It'll be plenty for me. I'll go with 320 or VBR since my main use for a player is for my commute to work, which other than the initial to/from walk to the bus stop, isn't really conductive to hardcore critical listening. 32GB micoSD cards have really dropped down in price lately as well, which is handy.
 
Quote:

with lossy source data, that 64Gb wont go very far, I dont understand why someone doesnt buy up all the remaining 240GB toshiba hard drives, and make a lossy DAP out of that, flash memory is great, but it really drives the price up for such small storage space

 

 

[Mython]

Quote:

^^you mean lossless data here? I've been perfectly happy running .flac on my ipod touch with only 64gb.  Situations where I want to hear an album that I don't currently have loaded up are rare and easily remediable.  My preference would actually be no on-board storage and just use external cards but as always YMMV. 
 

 
With respect, you're missing the point - the iPod will play lossless files at 16/44.1, but when you move up to a device capable of playing 24/192, the filesizes become MUCH larger. Admittedly, most folks won't go past 24/96 but even then, it's a good deal larger than 16/44.1
 
Still, people manage OK with the HifiMan 801 (24/96) with a similar memory set-up, and the Colorfly will theoretically go as far as 24/192, again with similar memory set-up.
 
I'd be more than happy to buy 3 or 4   32gb microSD cards if this iBasso DX100 stacks up to be as good as we're all hoping.
 
We've all known the market has been wide-open for a DECENT competitor to the Colorfly C4 and the HM801, and I'm REALLY hoping the iBasso team may have come up with the goods, if past form is anything to go by.

 

[Mython]

BTW, with regard to physical size, I estimate this unit to be about 30mm thick, so that's not too enormous for my pocket...

 

[Somnambulist]

Also mechanical drives, of ANY kind are ridiculously expensive atm due to the Thailand flooding. It would ramp the price up hugely and for portable devices, basically obsolete. The Thailand floods may well accelerate the demise of the mechanical drive in general, at least for most common applications (server drives and terabyte storage won't go any time soon).
 
As for firmware... well if it's Android, it can probably be rooted if it's not great at stock. I'd hope that iBasso would have taken note of the failure of smaller companies to pull off good UIs and gone the extra mile to get Android, even if it's just Froyo with a skin.

 

[darren700]

wow awesome, hopefully i can replace my ipod 5.5g with this... hope its as good as it seems to be