[samandhi]

Anyone having issues with playback on Tidal since their latest app update to "Max" streaming quality? Half of my tracks just refuse to play and get skipped after a few seconds. Super dissapointed with all of the issues with these iBasso Devices compared to everything else i've used.

I cannot answer to your question because I don't use Tidal. I have used Amazon Music since getting the DX300 when it first came out and have had no issues at all. Also, I am not using the newest FW (android 11) still.

I think that these issues arise on iBasso devices more than others because the version of android on them is of a semi-custom nature. It isn't just stock android that others might use. This is so that you have the capability of having bit perfect playback system wide. I remember that there were some issues (for a while) with both UAPP and Neutron because of this. iBasso and the devs worked together and they were solved. The point is that I think that Tidal and iBasso will need to work together to get this solved (IMO).

I would be curious to hear if the DX320 has the same issues since they are both (DX300 and DX320) on the same version of android now AFAIK. On the other hand, have you searched around the net to see if this issue happens on all/any other android devices?

Edit: LOL brain-fart there... I DO have the DX160 (2019 version), but for some reason I was thinking that I was answering a question on the DX300 thread (which I also have). Having said that, all the stuff I typed still holds true. I have had no issues with Amazon Music, even though the OS is getting on in age at this point.

 

[MotleyG]

Anyone having issues with playback on Tidal since their latest app update to "Max" streaming quality? Half of my tracks just refuse to play and get skipped after a few seconds. Super dissapointed with all of the issues with these iBasso Devices compared to everything else i've used.

I have no issues with my DX160 (2020) as a player, but I rarely use it for any kind of streaming services. It is primarily built and optimized for local file playback.

Even my 2020 version is now over 3 years old, and this was a redesign to the original 2019 model due to screen shortages. So the base is tech is now over 4 years old, I would imagine this will become more and more difficult for app updates to remain optimized for this device, as these services post updates almost weekly (Spotify) or at least monthly (Tidal). I would suggest rolling back to a version that last worked as expected for you, but understand that some features may not work. If that wasn’t an option at the time the DAP was purchased, you can’t expect iBasso would have been able to plan for it.

Just because they use the Android OS for running their products doesn’t mean every option is available. They don’t have cameras, nor can they be used as a phone are two examples.

 

[Samjam927]

I have no issues with my DX160 (2020) as a player, but I rarely use it for any kind of streaming services. It is primarily built and optimized for local file playback.

Even my 2020 version is now over 3 years old, and this was a redesign to the original 2019 model due to screen shortages. So the base is tech is now over 4 years old, I would imagine this will become more and more difficult for app updates to remain optimized for this device, as these services post updates almost weekly (Spotify) or at least monthly (Tidal). I would suggest rolling back to a version that last worked as expected for you, but understand that some features may not work. If that wasn’t an option at the time the DAP was purchased, you can’t expect iBasso would have been able to plan for it.

Just because they use the Android OS for running their products doesn’t mean every option is available. They don’t have cameras, nor can they be used as a phone are two examples.

This would be a resonable answer if you didn't take into account a few things.

1. These devices were sold as streaming devices, being able to have Tidal on them with a few app stores options really indicates to customers that they have some level of versatility. If this was a niche app that no one has ever heard of then your comments would be justified but Tidal is one of the main streaming apps in the audiophile market.

2. Based on my experience, and the experiences of a few friends with iBasso devices they have always had issues with 3rd party app support along with wifi/bluetooth connectivity problems. Between my friends who are audiophiles with multiple devices, I have yet to see a modern iBasso product not have some types of issues that prevent key functionality like streaming from being impeded. I have multiple posts in this thread going over those experiences and ended up just using the device as a local source with Lurker on it as that has been the most use I can get from it. Look back in this thread to all of the people will large problems jumping to lurker because they needed to. If the devices i've touched were solid up until a large app update then your points above would be valid but these things were never as stable as their counterparts.

3. Its competitors aren't plagued by these issues as new updates are constantly rolling out. With my problems across multiple DX160s, I ended up looking else where. I grabbed a Hiby R3 Pro, an original Fiio M11, a Fiio M6, Shanling M3X and a Sony NW-A105. All are just as old as the DX160 if not older and none of them have had these types of issues. All of them run a non-standard version of older andriod OS and seem to be just as good on day 1000+ as they were on day 1 in regards to app compatability. Unsure if these companies do a better job with 3rd party app compability or if the tweaks they made for thier version of the Operating Systems they are less prone to a new update making things unusable but the "it's 3 years old so don't expect much" after only a few years is simply not the case anymore.

 

[jamato8]

This would be a resonable answer if you didn't take into account a few things.

1. These devices were sold as streaming devices, being able to have Tidal on them with a few app stores options really indicates to customers that they have some level of versatility. If this was a niche app that no one has ever heard of then your comments would be justified but Tidal is one of the main streaming apps in the audiophile market.

2. Based on my experience, and the experiences of a few friends with iBasso devices they have always had issues with 3rd party app support along with wifi/bluetooth connectivity problems. Between my friends who are audiophiles with multiple devices, I have yet to see a modern iBasso product not have some types of issues that prevent key functionality like streaming from being impeded. I have multiple posts in this thread going over those experiences and ended up just using the device as a local source with Lurker on it as that has been the most use I can get from it. Look back in this thread to all of the people will large problems jumping to lurker because they needed to. If the devices i've touched were solid up until a large app update then your points above would be valid but these things were never as stable as their counterparts.

3. Its competitors aren't plagued by these issues as new updates are constantly rolling out. With my problems across multiple DX160s, I ended up looking else where. I grabbed a Hiby R3 Pro, an original Fiio M11, a Fiio M6, Shanling M3X and a Sony NW-A105. All are just as old as the DX160 if not older and none of them have had these types of issues. All of them run a non-standard version of older andriod OS and seem to be just as good on day 1000+ as they were on day 1 in regards to app compatability. Unsure if these companies do a better job with 3rd party app compability or if the tweaks they made for thier version of the Operating Systems they are less prone to a new update making things unusable but the "it's 3 years old so don't expect much" after only a few years is simply not the case anymore.

I would do some more reading. Other daps have had issues. And some 3rd party apps have stated that weren't doing the apps for daps. There have been issues for years, and as I stated, with many daps. If not, no app would work and sometimes with enough emails, all of a sudden an updated app works! And it is most of the time because the 3rd party app fixed the issues. This has been true for Tidal quite a few times.

 

[Samjam927]

I would do some more reading. Other daps have had issues. And some 3rd party apps have stated that weren't doing the apps for daps. There have been issues for years, and as I stated, with many daps. If not, no app would work and sometimes with enough emails, all of a sudden an updated app works! And it is most of the time because the 3rd party app fixed the issues. This has been true for Tidal quite a few times.

I can only go off of experiences i've had either first hand or while using friends devices. I scrubbed through the last year or so on the threads for the devices outside of iBasso that I mentinoed and haven't really seen much of any playback issues which seems to match my personal experiecnes with these competiting devices (most of what I see are battery issues from constant usage after 3-4 years and how users can go about replacing them).

The first post in this thread goes over using the Andriod tool to flash firmware back to a total factory reset, along with those steps being tossed at my a handful of times should be enough evidence that these specific devices have pain points their counterparts don't. Again, if other devices had similar issues with these audiophile centric apps we would be having a different conversation. If Tidal failed to work, on devices being sold as streaming focused, we would be having a different conversation. The fact i've had to jump through hoops to get things to work on this device from day one should have been enough of a pain point for me to just return it in my 30 day window and move on to something more reliable.

Just my .02 cents from what i've seen hands across 5-10 of these DX160s versus dozens of examples of the competitors solutions. If you have one without these issues, or you only bought this device to play back local files without using BT or Wifi streaming and don't get the constant black screen on boot then more power to you.

 

[jamato8]

I can only go off of experiences i've had either first hand or while using friends devices. I scrubbed through the last year or so on the threads for the devices outside of iBasso that I mentinoed and haven't really seen much of any playback issues which seems to match my personal experiecnes with these competiting devices (most of what I see are battery issues from constant usage after 3-4 years and how users can go about replacing them).

The first post in this thread goes over using the Andriod tool to flash firmware back to a total factory reset, along with those steps being tossed at my a handful of times should be enough evidence that these specific devices have pain points their counterparts don't. Again, if other devices had similar issues with these audiophile centric apps we would be having a different conversation. If Tidal failed to work, on devices being sold as streaming focused, we would be having a different conversation. The fact i've had to jump through hoops to get things to work on this device from day one should have been enough of a pain point for me to just return it in my 30 day window and move on to something more reliable.

Just my .02 cents from what i've seen hands across 5-10 of these DX160s versus dozens of examples of the competitors solutions. If you have one without these issues, or you only bought this device to play back local files without using BT or Wifi streaming and don't get the constant black screen on boot then more power to you.

Few issues. No black screens.

 

[MotleyG]

1. These devices were sold as streaming devices

I am pretty darn sure these were marketed as players, hence the DAP moniker and the emphasis on playing hi res. The sound signature of iBasso is distinct. And the output levels put almost every other portable device to shame in order to support even the most demanding headphones. So I would suggest this was the #1 design priority.

2. Based on my experience, and the experiences of a few friends with iBasso devices they have always had issues with 3rd party app support along with wifi/bluetooth connectivity problems.

Some have reported issues with Wifi and/or BT since launch, others have no such issue. I suppose I am one of those fortunate not to be plagued be either issue, at least in my use case.

3. Its competitors aren't plagued by these issues as new updates are constantly rolling out.

I beg to differ here. There are many problems reported with all of those devices as well. Especially the M6 which doesn’t play nice with many 3rd party players - check the Poweramp, Neutron, and GoneMAD forums.

Regardless, I can understand the frustration of not getting some top-tier performance from your DX160. With the release of the DX170 it appears many of the past issues have been resolved or at least improved upon. But such is the nature of technology that strives to always improve. Even decent quality Smartphones have limits to what can be improved before they are considered obsolete. Yet as far as sound quality and playback of local files goes, I’ll stick with my DX160 over any of the competitor devices you mentioned.

 

[samandhi]

Even though you said you have moved on to another player, it seems as though you are still angry. I am sorry that you have had multiple issues with yours, but you are in the half of a half of a half percent that hated this device. While I agree that there were hardware issues with BT and WiFi, if you read any sort of reviews before you bought this device, you would know that it has always been known that they were there, and that where that hardware falls short, the quality of sound is what made this device so very special.

As for me, I am also in the group that has had 0 issues with BT, WiFi or anything else (other than reverse BT, which is a totally different story). I does really suck that you didn't get to enjoy yours like most of the people that have owned one do/have.

I have yet to see a modern iBasso product not have some types of issues that prevent key functionality like streaming from being impeded.

Neither the DX240, DX300, nor the DX320 have any of these issues (And from what I have read, though not as closely followed as this thread), the DX170 doesn't have these issues either).

I have multiple posts in this thread going over those experiences and ended up just using the device as a local source with Lurker on it as that has been the most use I can get from it. Look back in this thread to all of the people will large problems jumping to lurker because they needed to.

Though this isn't really relevant, I am not sure what the Lurker add-on has to do with using the DX160 as a local source?! It works perfectly fine with or without it.

If the devices i've touched were solid up until a large app update then your points above would be valid but these things were never as stable as their counterparts.

Thousands of people would most likely disagree with you on this point. Yes, there HAVE been issues at some point when a third-party app is updated, but this is true of any android device in some way or another, regardless of if you have seen it or not.

If you no longer have this device, I am curious as to why you felt the need to answer @MotleyG's post (that was only trying to be helpful in the first place), and you seemed angry and not very friendly about it. If this wasn't intentional then I apologize for that though.

 

[Samjam927]

I am pretty darn sure these were marketed as players, hence the DAP moniker and the emphasis on playing hi res. The sound signature of iBasso is distinct. And the output levels put almost every other portable device to shame in order to support even the most demanding headphones. So I would suggest this was the #1 design priority.


Some have reported issues with Wifi and/or BT since launch, others have no such issue. I suppose I am one of those fortunate not to be plagued be either issue, at least in my use case.


I beg to differ here. There are many problems reported with all of those devices as well. Especially the M6 which doesn’t play nice with many 3rd party players - check the Poweramp, Neutron, and GoneMAD forums.

Regardless, I can understand the frustration of not getting some top-tier performance from your DX160. With the release of the DX170 it appears many of the past issues have been resolved or at least improved upon. But such is the nature of technology that strives to always improve. Even decent quality Smartphones have limits to what can be improved before they are considered obsolete. Yet as far as sound quality and playback of local files goes, I’ll stick with my DX160 over any of the competitor devices you mentioned.

The tag line on the iBasso website literally calls out "Use online Streaming app with ease". "You can install and listen to any online streaming app at any time with the DX160". If this was a weird 3rd party app no one has heard of then this would be a different conversation. iBasso literally has call outs specific functionality related to MQA which would point back to a strong Tidal compatibility. You mention sound signature which is a subjective trait (I agree it sounds great for the price hence why I have worked around all these issues i've had to continue using it but you can't say all this in the marketing and not expect some form of higher validation) while i'm focusing on objective experiences based on the device i was being marketed.

Awesome you don't have issues with yours but that doesn't negate the fact that i've played with 5-10 of these DX160s and owned 2 of them and have yet to see consistency throughout.

You call out the Fiio M6 as also having issues with apps but to the best of my knowledge none of ones you mentioned are streaming centric which is what I'm focusing on here (even though the M6 technically shouldn't be compared with the DX160 as the price and form factor aren't the same, that's just another DAP I have a lot of experience with as to the people around me). The M6 is also an ultra budget player without a ton of hardware horsepower built for a super portable market segment so i'm not shocked that device years later has issues with low usage apps (Compared to things like Spotify and Tidal). The better comparison would be something like the M11 or M3X which i called our earlier. But again, no issues with my M6 for the record. It's been in my DAP rotation the longest out of everything in my collection.

 

[Samjam927]

Even though you said you have moved on to another player, it seems as though you are still angry. I am sorry that you have had multiple issues with yours, but you are in the half of a half of a half percent that hated this device. While I agree that there were hardware issues with BT and WiFi, if you read any sort of reviews before you bought this device, you would know that it has always been known that they were there, and that where that hardware falls short, the quality of sound is what made this device so very special.

As for me, I am also in the group that has had 0 issues with BT, WiFi or anything else (other than reverse BT, which is a totally different story). I does really suck that you didn't get to enjoy yours like most of the people that have owned one do/have.



Neither the DX240, DX300, nor the DX320 have any of these issues (And from what I have read, though not as closely followed as this thread), the DX170 doesn't have these issues either).

Though this isn't really relevant, I am not sure what the Lurker add-on has to do with using the DX160 as a local source?! It works perfectly fine with or without it.

Thousands of people would most likely disagree with you on this point. Yes, there HAVE been issues at some point when a third-party app is updated, but this is true of any android device in some way or another, regardless of if you have seen it or not.

If you no longer have this device, I am curious as to why you felt the need to answer @MotleyG's post (that was only trying to be helpful in the first place), and you seemed angry and not very friendly about it. If this wasn't intentional then I apologize for that though.

I do still have the device but the way I wanted to enjoy it on initial purchase and the way I have to enjoy it now is very different based on my experiences above. Just to be clear, I moved onto another device for streaming usage but still use this as a local music player into a system as a digital source. Your comment around

if you read any sort of reviews before you bought this device, you would know that it has always been known that they were there, and that where that hardware falls short, the quality of sound is what made this device so very special

seems crazy to me as this is a topic around longevity and ensuring support with highly sought after apps on a device sold as a DAP with streaming capabilities (as mentioned in my last post aroud Tidal). As opposed to putting it on the brand to make the product better (if there was this much chatter around these issues during initial reviews which i'm honestly not seeing) you point back to the consumer who started this back and forth around a recent update for a hughly sought after update on a app ibasso calls out from day one. I don't get bad on day one vibes from this product, I get company doesn't care enough to ensure support over a long period of time tone cause why put effort into "older" devices when new offering are always right around the corner.

I don't have much time on the super recent stuff (as you can imagine my distate for the offerings based on my experience with this device) so I can't speak to any of those, just the dozen or so DX160s and a very quick session with the DX240 (i think) using non-streaming apps.

The lurker call out was due to the issues with software people were having earlier on in the DX160s life. A lot of folks in this thread talked about the same issues I was having and felt the need to move to that version of Firmware to get the device into a stable operating state. Pre-Lurker I couldn't even get the base OS to be stable (I would constantly see the device restart mid-listening and found my self back at the boot screen or just a straight black screen where i had to manually force a hard reboot).

Not trying to be rude, it's just extremely frustrating to continue to have issues with this thing while being told i'm one of few with those issues while all my other devices have been exponentially better from a software standpoint. You don't need to scrape through this thread for that long to come across similiar cases to mine.

 

[samandhi]

I do still have the device but the way I wanted to enjoy it on initial purchase and the way I have to enjoy it now is very different based on my experiences above. Just to be clear, I moved onto another device for streaming usage but still use this as a local music player into a system as a digital source.

Apologies! I guess I assumed that when you said that you moved on to another device, that you no longer had the DX160. I am certainly not here to detract from your thoughts on this device. I was/am only letting you know that the issues you are experiencing or have been experiencing (sounds like) from the beginning, are NOT typical. And that the comments on the original post regarding this, were meant to be helpful (from those that really have "no skin in the game") rather than dismissive.

Your comment around
seems crazy to me as this is a topic around longevity and ensuring support with highly sought after apps on a device sold as a DAP with streaming capabilities (as mentioned in my last post aroud Tidal). As opposed to putting it on the brand to make the product better (if there was this much chatter around these issues during initial reviews which i'm honestly not seeing) you point back to the consumer who started this back and forth around a recent update for a hughly sought after update on a app ibasso calls out from day one. I don't get bad on day one vibes from this product, I get company doesn't care enough to ensure support over a long period of time tone cause why put effort into "older" devices when new offering are always right around the corner.

The point I was trying to make is that, from the beginning this device has always had hardware issues. iBasso didn't do a very good job engineering the BT and WiFi hardware. This is not something they could have fixed with a FW release. Having said that, this has never affected the software in a way that you are suggesting (for most people). The complaints for this device have mostly been about getting a very poor connection and some getting RF interference due to the poor hardware implementation. There have also been complaints about poor performance (read slow performance) with the OS because they used an older Rockchip as the CPU.

What I was trying to convey from this is that reviewers called this out, basically saying that iBasso cut corners on that side of things in order to make the device sound better than any other device in its class (which I think it succeeded at marvelously) without charging kilobuck prices.

I have seen very few people commenting on the stability of the OS itself. There HAVE been issues with third parties supporting the DX160 with their apps but most of those were solved at some point or another (MQA unfolding with UAPP, correct resolution showing in Neutron, etc...), but this is more common that you might think with all devices that have system-wide bit perfect playback.

But I think the point you might be missing here is that while iBasso DID work with the devs of other apps as much as possible, it isn't up to them to make those apps work with the (customized) version of android that the DX160 has onboard. It is up to the devs of those apps to ensure that when making changes, it doesn't break functionality. This is like saying that Sony is responsible for making games work on the PSx on behalf of the game makers if they send out a patch. While the device WAS active, iBasso did work with those devs to make sure of compatibility though (maybe you just didn't see it because you seem to have always had issues with yours).

Having said all of that, this device has been discontinued for some time now. The DX170 is basically the same device as the DX160, but with all of the hardware issues fixed or improved. One can't expect for a company to support a device that is no longer in production. Phone makers do this all the time (after about 2 years, let alone 4). I was quite shocked that the DX160 actually got a FW update not that long ago, even after being discontinued. I am sorry that this doesn't make you happy, and I agree, but this is the way of the world since android phones first came out.

I blame google for this, because of their release cycle for android itself. Unlike Apple that tries to keep their newest versions of IOS compatible with older devices (as much as possible given how quickly tech changes), Google doesn't seem to care, and I suspect it is all about "planned obsolescence" IMHO. That is another discussion, but to me this is the root of the problem that you are seeing.

The lurker call out was due to the issues with software people were having earlier on in the DX160s life. A lot of folks in this thread talked about the same issues I was having and felt the need to move to that version of Firmware to get the device into a stable operating state. Pre-Lurker I couldn't even get the base OS to be stable (I would constantly see the device restart mid-listening and found my self back at the boot screen or just a straight black screen where i had to manually force a hard reboot).

I hate to break it to you, but the Lurker add-on is just that; and add-on. It doesn't fix any OS issues, nor make the device more stable. It isn't an actual FW, it just adds functionality to the device that wasn't already there. He has stated this on this thread multiple times. Here is the list of things that this add-on does for the DX160 (which is great btw):

Changes made​

It's up to the end user to decide whether these changes affect sound or not. I believe some of them make sound better, and none of them make sound worse.

Android​

• Google Play Market added.
• Reduced power consumption during music playback and in suspend mode.
• Overall performance increased.
• During music playback, the device is managed to prevent idle state tasks.
• Performance tweak for popular music players (Neutron, UAPP, Tidal, Spotify). Such a tweak is used on Rockchip SoC based devices for benchmark apps, iBasso sets it for its Mango Player.
• Better thermal control.
• A different approach to control brightness at low levels.
• The process of device registration is much simplified (required to make Google Play Services work on uncertified device).
• Magisk can be used to install additional modules, and to provide root access.
• USB Audio application, which is also useful for its System settings.
• Custom build of HibyMusic, which plays bit perfect PCM up to 32/384kHz with no additional efforts, and is fully compatible with USB Audio application for bit perfect DSD and SACD ISO playback.
• Removed APKPure, CoolAPK, Viper HiFi (to free space for Mango OS).

Mango OS​

• Added Mango OS mode from DX220.

Note 1: Mango OS player was taken from DX220, and, as such, is not 100% compatible. The known restrictions and problems are:

• Only first 5 Digital Filter options actually work.
• Only two levels of gain actually work: Medium and High produce the same result.
• Optical Output setting does not work.
• Due to the new touch screen driver, on DX160 2020 edition, Mango OS boots much longer than on 2019 edition.

Note 2: MagiskManager icon is, actually, a stub injected by Magisk core. It is intended by the developer to help installing full MagiskManager, but I disable it to stop annoying. Should you need MagiskManager, please install it manually.

Not trying to be rude, it's just extremely frustrating to continue to have issues with this thing while being told i'm one of few with those issues while all my other devices have been exponentially better from a software standpoint. You don't need to scrape through this thread for that long to come across similiar cases to mine.

I suspected that you weren't trying to be rude, and believe it or not, I CAN understand your frustration. I hope that you find a device that suits your needs even if it isn't an iBasso device. For my part, before I bought my first iBasso device, I was using the FiiO devices (OG X5, and X3II), which had MANY more issues than these contemporary devices and they didn't even have BT or WiFi onboard at all. And, before they fixed half of the issues, they discontinued them and went straight for the android devices they have now. This was very frustrating for me because I felt like I wasted my money.

The thing is that when I first bought them, I KNEW that they were only partially baked (on the OS side of things) with the promise from FiiO that those issues would be fixed, but they sounded more akin to something like a good A&K device (which were the best audiophile grade DAPs back then) for 1/16th the price.

 

[MotleyG]

The tag line on the iBasso website literally calls out "Use online Streaming app with ease". "You can install and listen to any online streaming app at any time with the DX160". If this was a weird 3rd party app no one has heard of then this would be a different conversation. iBasso literally has call outs specific functionality related to MQA which would point back to a strong Tidal compatibility.

These were part of the additional benefits of having the Android-based OS. But it was also built around Android 8.1. There was no mention or promise of an upgrade path for the OS. I suspect this was limited by a combination of the processor used as well as the architecture mods to make the audio benefits system-wide to all apps. But it was “sufficient” at the time to do what was planned without developing their own discrete OS that wouldn’t have any app compatibility at all.

The app devs are the ones that decide which devices and OS levels they will support. Considering the release pace that Google is at has them at Android 13 as of now (and 14 well into beta), I expect most streaming apps will continue to leave devices like our DX160 behind to maximize their future potential. The reality is I just don’t think most of them care to make specific fixes for niche 4 year old devices.

Every individual use case is different, I get that. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t meet your expectations with regards to streaming. But in my case where I own almost everything I listen to, and have the files stored locally, I don’t experience the issues reported by others. For what I invested in the DX160, I’m still impressed by how well it performs, and I have used it almost every day since it arrived. In the rare times when I do stream something new I may want to sample, I use my phone. Which reminds me, my iPhone12 is almost 3 years old, almost time for an upgrade.

 

[Samjam927]

Apologies! I guess I assumed that when you said that you moved on to another device, that you no longer had the DX160. I am certainly not here to detract from your thoughts on this device. I was/am only letting you know that the issues you are experiencing or have been experiencing (sounds like) from the beginning, are NOT typical. And that the comments on the original post regarding this, were meant to be helpful (from those that really have "no skin in the game") rather than dismissive.

The point I was trying to make is that, from the beginning this device has always had hardware issues. iBasso didn't do a very good job engineering the BT and WiFi hardware. This is not something they could have fixed with a FW release. Having said that, this has never affected the software in a way that you are suggesting (for most people). The complaints for this device have mostly been about getting a very poor connection and some getting RF interference due to the poor hardware implementation. There have also been complaints about poor performance (read slow performance) with the OS because they used an older Rockchip as the CPU.

What I was trying to convey from this is that reviewers called this out, basically saying that iBasso cut corners on that side of things in order to make the device sound better than any other device in its class (which I think it succeeded at marvelously) without charging kilobuck prices.

I have seen very few people commenting on the stability of the OS itself. There HAVE been issues with third parties supporting the DX160 with their apps but most of those were solved at some point or another (MQA unfolding with UAPP, correct resolution showing in Neutron, etc...), but this is more common that you might think with all devices that have system-wide bit perfect playback.

But I think the point you might be missing here is that while iBasso DID work with the devs of other apps as much as possible, it isn't up to them to make those apps work with the (customized) version of android that the DX160 has onboard. It is up to the devs of those apps to ensure that when making changes, it doesn't break functionality. This is like saying that Sony is responsible for making games work on the PSx on behalf of the game makers if they send out a patch. While the device WAS active, iBasso did work with those devs to make sure of compatibility though (maybe you just didn't see it because you seem to have always had issues with yours).

Having said all of that, this device has been discontinued for some time now. The DX170 is basically the same device as the DX160, but with all of the hardware issues fixed or improved. One can't expect for a company to support a device that is no longer in production. Phone makers do this all the time (after about 2 years, let alone 4). I was quite shocked that the DX160 actually got a FW update not that long ago, even after being discontinued. I am sorry that this doesn't make you happy, and I agree, but this is the way of the world since android phones first came out.

I blame google for this, because of their release cycle for android itself. Unlike Apple that tries to keep their newest versions of IOS compatible with older devices (as much as possible given how quickly tech changes), Google doesn't seem to care, and I suspect it is all about "planned obsolescence" IMHO. That is another discussion, but to me this is the root of the problem that you are seeing.

I hate to break it to you, but the Lurker add-on is just that; and add-on. It doesn't fix any OS issues, nor make the device more stable. It isn't an actual FW, it just adds functionality to the device that wasn't already there. He has stated this on this thread multiple times. Here is the list of things that this add-on does for the DX160 (which is great btw):



I suspected that you weren't trying to be rude, and believe it or not, I CAN understand your frustration. I hope that you find a device that suits your needs even if it isn't an iBasso device. For my part, before I bought my first iBasso device, I was using the FiiO devices (OG X5, and X3II), which had MANY more issues than these contemporary devices and they didn't even have BT or WiFi onboard at all. And, before they fixed half of the issues, they discontinued them and went straight for the android devices they have now. This was very frustrating for me because I felt like I wasted my money.

The thing is that when I first bought them, I KNEW that they were only partially baked (on the OS side of things) with the promise from FiiO that those issues would be fixed, but they sounded more akin to something like a good A&K device (which were the best audiophile grade DAPs back then) for 1/16th the price.

I had substantially better stability with Lurker, looking back at the lurker github page it looks like its aim was to increase performance and cut down on the bloat (which was probably causing my issues based on your comments on the cut corners). Thanks for the reply.

 

[Samjam927]

These were part of the additional benefits of having the Android-based OS. But it was also built around Android 8.1. There was no mention or promise of an upgrade path for the OS. I suspect this was limited by a combination of the processor used as well as the architecture mods to make the audio benefits system-wide to all apps. But it was “sufficient” at the time to do what was planned without developing their own discrete OS that wouldn’t have any app compatibility at all.

The app devs are the ones that decide which devices and OS levels they will support. Considering the release pace that Google is at has them at Android 13 as of now (and 14 well into beta), I expect most streaming apps will continue to leave devices like our DX160 behind to maximize their future potential. The reality is I just don’t think most of them care to make specific fixes for niche 4 year old devices.

Every individual use case is different, I get that. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t meet your expectations with regards to streaming. But in my case where I own almost everything I listen to, and have the files stored locally, I don’t experience the issues reported by others. For what I invested in the DX160, I’m still impressed by how well it performs, and I have used it almost every day since it arrived. In the rare times when I do stream something new I may want to sample, I use my phone. Which reminds me, my iPhone12 is almost 3 years old, almost time for an upgrade.

Understood, thanks for the insight and replys.

 

[Mike29]

@Paul - iBasso

Good evening. My new Fiio FA7s iems seem to give me only 6 hours (max) listening with the dx160 (still quite new). I have latest firmware and no apps. I use Mango player and wondered if anyone has advice on getting longer life. Perhaps change to iems / headphones with a higher than Fiios 18 ohms sensitivity ?
Any advice would be brilliant

great forum by the way. Thanks

Mike