[wolfen68]

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Maybe iBasso just doesn't want the DX100 to cannibalize on the sales of their other amp/DACs. Hifiman only has HM101 for portable DAC (and only recently) so it is ok for them to include USB DAC function in HM801/60x to sweeten the deal. Just imagine that DX100 sounds close to DB2+PB2 and since DB2+PB2 sales is already bad, no one is going to buy that balanced setup if DX100 also accepts digital input. It may even kill off D6/D12 unless there are enough people into op-amp rolling to sustain the sales.

Since the DX100 is substantially more cost than all of iBasso's other gadgets...it's probably not too much of a concern that it will rob many sales in other areas of their business.  In fact, iBasso would probably be tickled pink if everyone just bought DX100's instead of PB-2's, D12, etc.
 

 

[Girls Generation]

That would depend on the amount of profit the DX100 brings in vs. the others.
 
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Since the DX100 is substantially more cost than all of iBasso's other gadgets...it's probably not too much of a concern that it will rob many sales in other areas of their business.  In fact, iBasso would probably be tickled pink if everyone just bought DX100's instead of PB-2's, D12, etc.
 

 
 

 

[AlexRoma]

A single killer-all-in-one product is more profit oriented strategy then creating lots of stuff the market is already overcrowded with. Remember Apple story... 

 

[12345142]

Well, I don't think the 'audiophile DAP with headphone amp circuit' market will ever be overcrowded, but I get your point. If iBasso could let us use the DX100 as a separate DAC, it would be that much more awesome.
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A single killer-all-in-one product is more profit oriented strategy then creating lots of stuff the market is already overcrowded with. Remember Apple story... 

 

[estreeter]

I believe there is a flow-on effect from creating a 'flagship' product, but I dont have any sales figures to back that up. iBasso's move into the 'midband' (lets call it 'premium economy' - $829 isnt 'high end' for anything other than a portable product) has been on the cards for a couple of years by my count, and the 'Desktop' section on their website will inevitably be graced with new product, probably starting with their statement DAC mid-2012. 

 

[Randius]

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A single killer-all-in-one product is more profit oriented strategy then creating lots of stuff the market is already overcrowded with. Remember Apple story... 

I would also like iBasso to include digital input in DX100. 
 
Apple and iBasso both entered a market they aren't familiar with, however, the iPhone is something everyone will like to carry because it is thin, it looks nice and it does many things from making calls, to games and navigation. Despite the use of Android OS, DX100 is not intended to be an all-in-one product and its target market is niche - people who wouldn't mind carrying a brick, wants the best portable sound quality and ready to pay the premium for it. So I won't say the same strategy will work for iBasso.  

 

[xpsg]

I think most of the features we want can be implemented via software. I just hope that iBasso will release the source code of DX100's kernel as per GPLv2 requirements and let developers help improve the product. 

 

[Edwood]

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Totally agree. Sure, it'd be nice but it's very unfair to expect iBasso to make one product that undermines sales of all their other products, and to criticise them for not committing commercial suicide.

That would be a pretty lame excuse.  An $800+ product purposely feature crippled to protect lower end products?   

 

[12345142]

Usually it's the other way around, isn't it?
Hopefully iBasso will include DAC functionality in a future firmware upgrade or something.
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That would be a pretty lame excuse.  An $800+ product purposely feature crippled to protect lower end products?   

 

 

[estreeter]

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That would be a pretty lame excuse.  An $800+ product purposely feature crippled to protect lower end products?   

Yeah, that would never happen in boutique audio ......  

 
Lets cut iBasso some slack - this is their first shot at a market where most of us bitch about crap interfaces and the gap between fantasy and reality. They delivered that first batch by their self-imposed, and often questioned, deadline and that's more than Fiio could manage.

 

[12345142]

The lack of a DAC function doesn't really lessen the DX100's appeal to me. In fact, it didn't even cross my mind until someone else (AlexRoma, I think) brought it up, which I then realized would be a pretty cool feature to have. The DX100 seems like a great product and I may very well purchase one at some point, maybe after the first firmware update once all the kinks have been ironed out. 

 

[alphaphoenix]

I don't know of any product that can turn on/off DAC functionality with just firmware. 

 

[Girls Generation]

It needs a receiver.

 

[Randius]

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That would be a pretty lame excuse.  An $800+ product purposely feature crippled to protect lower end products?   

The "lower end" products are what keep them afloat all these years and give them the fund to research and develop the DX100, I don't see why that doesn't make sense. They just don't want to take too much risk.
 

 

[lee730]

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The "lower end" products are what keep them afloat all these years and give them the fund to research and develop the DX100, I don't see why that doesn't make sense. They just don't want to take too much risk.
 

I think if anything the ibasso DX1000 price would be the fix to that risk. Its so expensive that I highly doubt it would jeopardize its other lower end products.