[highfell]

A little bit of help.

I have had a DX50 and now have a DX90, which I most often run coaxial into a Chord Hugo2.

I am thinking of upgrading the DX90 to either a DX200 (used) or a DX150 (new) as both are a similar price. I would then use the new machine on my travels as a stand-alone unit rather than linking it to the Hugo2. On my p I use SE846s.

Intuitively I think I will prefer the warmer sound of the Dx150 plus Amp6 versus the DX200 plus Amp1. I really like my DX90 but I fancy an upgrade but given I generally use it coaxially now via the Hugo2, will I be satisfied with the sound of the DX150 or DX200 vs Hugo2

My questions therefore are :

1. Sonically how big an upgrade is the DX200 & DX150 above the DX90?

2. Which one of the two to go for ? The DX200 is presumably a more refined machine and has 2 SD card slots but has it other advantages ? the DX150:is a newer machine.

Any thoughts welcomed.

 

[Arghavan]

A little bit of help.

I have had a DX50 and now have a DX90, which I most often run coaxial into a Chord Hugo2.

I am thinking of upgrading the DX90 to either a DX200 (used) or a DX150 (new) as both are a similar price. I would then use the new machine on my travels as a stand-alone unit rather than linking it to the Hugo2. On my p I use SE846s.

Intuitively I think I will prefer the warmer sound of the Dx150 plus Amp6 versus the DX200 plus Amp1. I really like my DX90 but I fancy an upgrade but given I generally use it coaxially now via the Hugo2, will I be satisfied with the sound of the DX150 or DX200 vs Hugo2

My questions therefore are :

1. Sonically how big an upgrade is the DX200 & DX150 above the DX90?

2. Which one of the two to go for ? The DX200 is presumably a more refined machine and has 2 SD card slots but has it other advantages ? the DX150:is a newer machine.

Any thoughts welcomed.

I can't answer your first question because I have no experience with DX90. Regarding your second question though DX150 has the advantage of fast charging. in terms of sound it's a bit warmer and smoother at the top end. If you have the budget go for the DX220 for the same price of 899$. there is no reason to go for DX200 right now IMO.
but if you don't, you won't be disappointed with DX150, you can upgrade it later by using AMP7/8 too.

 

[somnarium]

One additional clarification, the Dx200 (and Dx220 for that matter) have one card slot, not two.

 

[jon parker]

One additional clarification, the Dx200 (and Dx220 for that matter) have one card slot, not two.

For that amount of money being asked for here I feel only having one card slot is a slap in the face

 

[jamato8]

For that amount of money being asked for here I feel only having one card slot is a slap in the face

1 TB cards are available. No slap in the face unless you were told by a manufacture that the dap had 2 slots and then sent it to you and it had one. Many people find even 400gb is enough, not? then go to 512gb, not enough? go too 1tb. And also look at the reason there is one slot, which has been addressed. Players costing much more have one slot, and for a reason..

 

[jon parker]

1 TB cards are available. No slap in the face unless you were told by a manufacture that the dap had 2 slots and then sent it to you and it had one. Many people find even 400gb is enough, not? then go to 512gb, not enough? go too 1tb. And also look at the reason there is one slot, which has been addressed. Players costing much more have one slot, and for a reason..

No problem of course but I think we have different views here. Maybe I have misunderstood something here?
?? Are you a super rich kiddy or something ? These players already cost a LOT of money - (Shipping with less than great Amps in some cases) can add another $200 or so.
To buy a 1TB card is in the region of $400
I would imagine that buying DAPS with this high spec you would mostly have Hi Res / DSD? 400 GB is just about enough but that is still $100+
What is the reason for 1 slot - I haven't read that anywhere?
Maybe not exactly a 'slap in the face' but considering even the humble but great DX80 had 2 slots why not the 150/200/220 ?

 

[jamato8]

No problem of course but I think we have different views here. Maybe I have misunderstood something here?
?? Are you a super rich kiddy or something ? These players already cost a LOT of money - (Shipping with less than great Amps in some cases) can add another $200 or so.
To buy a 1TB card is in the region of $400
I would imagine that buying DAPS with this high spec you would mostly have Hi Res / DSD? 400 GB is just about enough but that is still $100+
What is the reason for 1 slot - I haven't read that anywhere?

400 gb cards can be had for 85 to 90 dollars, and that isn't bad at all.

There is a bridging circuit needed to add another slot. Either you have no wifi and blue tooth, (ports needed off of the main system) or you have them and one card slot. Add the bridging circuitry and more current is needed, battery life is shorter and you have less play time. Or add a larger battery, weight goes up and it becomes larger and less portable.

I will say it again, 400gb cards don't cost that much now. And it isn't a "slap in the face" if you don't buy it expecting it had two slots. Your choice on what to buy. My WM1Z has one slot and cost me 3200 dollars. I knew what it had when I bought it. If I want more storage then I buy a bigger card, they are available.

 

[jon parker]

400 gb cards can be had for 85 to 90 dollars, and that isn't bad at all.

There is a bridging circuit needed to add another slot. Either you have no wifi and blue tooth, (ports needed off of the main system) or you have them and one card slot. Add the bridging circuitry and more current is needed, battery life is shorter and you have less play time. Or add a larger battery, weight goes up and it becomes larger and less portable.

I will say it again, 400gb cards don't cost that much now. And it isn't a "slap in the face" if you don't buy it expecting it had two slots. Your choice on what to buy. My WM1Z has one slot and cost me 3200 dollars. I knew what it had when I bought it. If I want more storage then I buy a bigger card, they are available.

Thanks for the explanation - Interesting.
But again, the point I was making was essentially that that is a LOT of money for a DAP. It is a lot of money full stop!
There are some people out there who cant afford $3200 DAPS. IF I could I would want 2 slots . . . if I ever had the good fortune to be able to spend close to $1000 on a DAP ...sorry but for me it would be a huge investment and i would want a lot for that kind of money
Whatever, we obviously are coming from different places.

 

[jon parker]

EDIT: I should add a back story because obviously I have some 'issues' here - I feel a strong loyalty to iBasso. The DX50 was my first real DAP, then DX90 and then DX80. Loved them all.
Then came the DX120. I was really excited but I found the sound was a bit...'confused' to my ears. I was disappointed (just to my ears of course - others in general seemed to like it)
Then due to an unexpected pay out I was able to buy a DX150. (Would never be able to afford one normally)
Again I was really excited but the Amp it came with sounded warm, a bit dull, uninspiring :/
So I had to 'gamble' and find another £100+ to buy a 2nd hand Amp5 - Much better, at least technically but £300 better than the DX80 - No
But then I hear the Amp 7 is amazing !? So what to do? Keep spending £160 EXTRA until I find a great sounding DAP
At the same time there is a new £799 DAP coming out the DX220...after the $1000 DX200 - It just seems everything is getting more and more expensive and us regular ordinary poor folks are being left behind.
I used to love that iBasso were releasing superb sounding DAPS that were affordable
Im not saying it is a bad thing or a deliberate ploy, but buying extra Amps leaves a slightly unpleasant taste in the mouth

 

[pcyco]

hallo!
i am from the "generation-walkman".
two xls90 cassettes means four albums for two weeks on vacation.
but after 2 weeks you know them really.
today i have a card wit 200+ albums and i dont know the textes etc, sometimes i can not distinguish the artists by name .

the sound of the "new" devices is increddible (but also more expensive )

i hope nobody buys things for more than 500 euro usd etc and do not read the specifications before ordering
so there are no hidden surprises expect the sound.
and if it takes 3 seconds to start a song its a real first world problem

regards
thomas

 

[Arghavan]

EDIT: I should add a back story because obviously I have some 'issues' here - I feel a strong loyalty to iBasso. The DX50 was my first real DAP, then DX90 and then DX80. Loved them all.
Then came the DX120. I was really excited but I found the sound was a bit...'confused' to my ears. I was disappointed (just to my ears of course - others in general seemed to like it)
Then due to an unexpected pay out I was able to buy a DX150. (Would never be able to afford one normally)
Again I was really excited but the Amp it came with sounded warm, a bit dull, uninspiring :/
So I had to 'gamble' and find another £100+ to buy a 2nd hand Amp5 - Much better, at least technically but £300 better than the DX80 - No
But then I hear the Amp 7 is amazing !? So what to do? Keep spending £160 EXTRA until I find a great sounding DAP
At the same time there is a new £799 DAP coming out the DX220...after the $1000 DX200 - It just seems everything is getting more and more expensive and us regular ordinary poor folks are being left behind.
I used to love that iBasso were releasing superb sounding DAPS that were affordable
Im not saying it is a bad thing or a deliberate ploy, but buying extra Amps leaves a slightly unpleasant taste in the mouth

the modular amp system is a big plus in my opinion. We have the amp9 coming and we can have that sound thanks to modular amps. BUT I think 200$ for each amp is a bit too much. 100~150$ would be more reasonable.

 

[jon parker]

the modular amp system is a big plus in my opinion. We have the amp9 coming and we can have that sound thanks to modular amps. BUT I think 200$ for each amp is a bit too much. 100~150$ would be more reasonable.

I agree Looking at it from the other side iBasso offer great sounding DAP's and are a superb company in themselves
It may well be that with Amp9 I will 100% happy with the sound of the DX150...but as you say it will have cost me $3-400 EXTRA to find that sound. It has been fairly widely recognised that Amp 6 with the DX150 is not a great pairing...not bad but not great (for some) but, again, looking on the positive side - Great to be able to try others

 

[wreedheid]

2. We will test the MQA again.

Hi @Paul - iBasso,

Yesterday I signed up for a trial of Qobuz and played as many 24/96 and especially 24/192 files as I could find. No single stutter or glitch was present over a period of 90-120 min.
The same album on TIDAL (which I use as my main streaming service and would like to continue to use) as MQA with Master Quality selected in the settings resulted in stutters after 4 - 5 songs.

No idea if the MQA unfolding puts too much pressure on the CPU or that the problem lies within the TIDAL app itself, however it is not bandwith / streaming related since the 24/192 files from Qobuz played without any problems. The first songs also played fine without any problem, after a while the stuttering just happens and it's not reproducable with specific songs.
Also in battery settings I turned "battery optimisation" off, hoping this would allow the app to draw as much power as needed when in standby / in the background. This made no (noticable) difference unfortunately.

If you could investigate this, come up with a solution I and probably some other members in this forum who posted the same problem, would be really pleased. So far, the 'work-around' is to put the quality down to hifi (which sounds perfectly fine), however as we are all audiophiles here, if there's a 'master' button, we would like to use it

 

[Gjoel]

Just bought a used DX150. So far so good.

Its running android 6.0.1 and lurked.

When I try to download the newest firmware from Ibasso, move it to the scarf (still zipped) and try to run the update I get this error.
What do I do wrong?

 

[jon parker]

Just bought a used DX150. So far so good.

Its running android 6.0.1 and lurked.

When I try to download the newest firmware from Ibasso, move it to the scarf (still zipped) and try to run the update I get this error.
What do I do wrong?

If you read back through a few posts on this thread you will find your answers