[d3d3d3]

For anyone contemplating the iBasso DX160, SHENZHENAUDIO has it listed for $359.99 USD with a 2yr Warranty and reward points for future purchases.

If you decide to buy, please use the link below and we both should receive a $5 discount for your first time purchase over $50.
https://refrr.app/ZAD8sPWOJ0/41378

Disclosure:
I am not associated in any way with SHENZHENAUDIO, simply passing on information that may help others in the hobby.
So far my experience with SHENZHENAUDIO has been very good, first purchase was a Moondrop Blessing 2: Dusk and was delivered quickly via DHL.
Two more orders are on the way.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

you are way too quick to form opinions

Probably I am. My Sony players, my FiiO players, my Lotoo players, and my Apple players all work right out the box and had instructions, at least on line. I guess I was too quick to expect iBasso to do likewise.

Running absolutely beautifully now, except Tidal often quits every 5 min or so , complaining of a bad connection. I think my WiFi is good, as my laptop runs Tidal just fine. Any idea why it quits on the DX160?

Thanks for all the help. Making me love this little player after all!

 

[d3d3d3]

Wi-Fi can be tricky, for me a 5G connection is working well.

Use 'WiFI Analyzer' (farproc 10M downloads) from Google Play to 'see' and/or 'hear' the signal strength the DX160 is receiving.
This tool should help to diagnose what may be happening to your signal.

 

[YanaMJ]

Probably I am. My Sony players, my FiiO players, my Lotoo players, and my Apple players all work right out the box and had instructions, at least on line. I guess I was too quick to expect iBasso to do likewise.

Running absolutely beautifully now, except Tidal often quits every 5 min or so , complaining of a bad connection. I think my WiFi is good, as my laptop runs Tidal just fine. Any idea why it quits on the DX160?

Thanks for all the help. Making me love this little player after all!

Do not hesitate to use UAPP for Tidal it works better than the official app

 

[samandhi]

Probably I am. My Sony players, my FiiO players, my Lotoo players, and my Apple players all work right out the box and had instructions, at least on line. I guess I was too quick to expect iBasso to do likewise.

Running absolutely beautifully now, except Tidal often quits every 5 min or so , complaining of a bad connection. I think my WiFi is good, as my laptop runs Tidal just fine. Any idea why it quits on the DX160?

Thanks for all the help. Making me love this little player after all!

I thought that I had posted a link to the manual somewhere on here, but looking back through my posts, I can't seem to find it. Also, I could not find it on their site anywhere (anymore). So, for those that need the manual, I have uploaded it to google drive (I hope it is not illegal to post it here). iBasso DX160 User's Manual

As to the wifi having issues, if it is doing this at regular intervals with the screen off, it has been an issue since the beginning, that iBasso has said they were going to fix. It has to do with the android system putting stuff to sleep. I just live with it. I just have to turn the screen on every time it happens, and it reconnects.

 

[Rub-A-Dub]

I have NEVER been so disappointed with a purchase.

1). Due to an “abundance of caution,” I chose to (try to) install one of the two screen protectors thoughtfully provided. No luck... bubbles galore. Read about how to install, did the requisite cleaning, and still... bubbles. Tried the second screen protector... better but still bubbles. Forget about the screen protectors.

Same here! After giving up on the first and then fitting the second protector, I now have one bubble right in the middle of the display.

2). Put on the clear soft plastic case. Great fit, but now the volume control knob drags against it and is hard to get to to turn.

Same again. I bought a Miter case and it fits like a glove. Not cheap, but it looks great and no more problems with the volume wheel. Still, it would be nice to have a better designed case in the box when you buy it.

3). Started to play music (after installing a preloaded micro SD chip from my FiiO.) It defaulted to the Mango player and sounded really, Really GREAT!

Agreed.

4). Tried to get out of the Mango player to find a way to get Tidal going. Could not. Had to turn off player entirely and turn it back on to get the first screen with all the icons.

I don't use Tidal, so can't comment.

5) Did not see an icon for any kind of App Store... no Google store, etc. Found some mystery store called APKPure, found Tidal in it. Would not download, much less install.
6) Went to Chrome browser and through that to Google App Store on line. Signed in, tried to download Tidal, only to be told it was on my Fiio, that my Sony player did not have the right stuff to use it, and did not know about my DX160.
7). Other possible icons were CoolApk and Viper HiFi... but all in Asian characters... no English version, though I think I selected that language.

No Google Play on my DX160 (Ver.2020). Mango works for me soundwise, but I don't like the functionality (e.g. no Album Artist search, and Artist shows results for Album Artist, not the individual artist!). I want to use UAPP as I have that on my phone and love it, but this means I'll have to install Lurker's firmware first.

8) Along the way, tried to find a user manual for the DX160. No luck, anywhere.

Yup! Not even a download available from the home page. I found a manual online (unofficial?), and then had to email iBasso to ask which way the SD card should be inserted.
Manual iBasso DX160

What a miserable experience! Only good thing was #3 above, ...

Agreed, the experience could (and should) be much better.

One other point. When connected to wi-fi, I get interference through my IEMs which is clearly audible when music isn't playing. It sounds like radio interference, almost to the point where you can make out voices or something similar. I imagine it's still there when music is playing, just not noticeable. So using Airplane Mode is a must!

 

[d3d3d3]

Here is the just tested DX160 User Manual direct from iBasso.
http://www.ibasso.com/uploadfiles/download/DX160usermanuel.pdf

 

[samandhi]

Here is the just tested DX160 User Manual direct from iBasso.
http://www.ibasso.com/uploadfiles/download/DX160usermanuel.pdf

Yeah, that looks like the one I uploaded. It is also the official one (albeit before the 2020 version came out, should be the same).

No Google Play on my DX160 (Ver.2020). Mango works for me soundwise, but I don't like the functionality (e.g. no Album Artist search, and Artist shows results for Album Artist, not the individual artist!). I want to use UAPP as I have that on my phone and love it, but this means I'll have to install Lurker's firmware first.

You don't need to install Lurker's FW to get google play store. Open the store app already on the DX (one of the 2, the one that is not in Chinese) and search for google play store. Install that, then open google play store (it will probably want to install updates to google play services and the store app itself), and install UAPP from there.

On another note, I had heard that the newer firmwares for the DX had google play store installed by default. I can't speak to this, as I bought mine with the 2nd firmware installed back in very end of 19 beginning of 20. I stopped updating on the last one before the 2020 version came out which was something like 1.50 or something like that (why fix it if it aint' broke?)

 

[Rub-A-Dub]

Here is the just tested DX160 User Manual direct from iBasso.
http://www.ibasso.com/uploadfiles/download/DX160usermanuel.pdf

There still doesn't appear to be anywhere on the website to find that download. The DOWNLOADS button on the home page just takes me back to the products page.

Yeah, that looks like the one I uploaded. It is also the official one (albeit before the 2020 version came out, should be the same).

You don't need to install Lurker's FW to get google play store. Open the store app already on the DX (one of the 2, the one that is not in Chinese) and search for google play store. Install that, then open google play store (it will probably want to install updates to google play services and the store app itself), and install UAPP from there.

On another note, I had heard that the newer firmwares for the DX had google play store installed by default. I can't speak to this, as I bought mine with the 2nd firmware installed back in very end of 19 beginning of 20. I stopped updating on the last one before the 2020 version came out which was something like 1.50 or something like that (why fix it if it aint' broke?)

Really? That was the only reason for me considering Lurker's mod, as I'd read it was the only way to install UAPP. I was waiting to see what any new updates would bring, but I have the latest update and there's still no Google Play Store. I uninstalled the bundled Chinese apps, so I'll have to re-install them and see if it works. Thanks!

 

[superuser1]

I cant understand how things like not being able to put on a screen protector without bubbles would make the player bad?
I can understand there is a learning curve and thats why we are here to help new users (and each other) to find their way around.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I cant understand how things like not being able to put on a screen protector without bubbles would make the player bad?
I can understand there is a learning curve and thats why we are here to help new users (and each other) to find their way around.

It was not just bubbles in the screen protector. It was the lack of an instruction manual, no discernable way to get Tidal running, no idea how to get out of the Mango player, and the fact that I could do all of that immediately on a DAP that was half the price (FiiO X5iii).

 

[d3d3d3]

There still doesn't appear to be anywhere on the website to find that download. The DOWNLOADS button on the home page just takes me back to the products page.



Really? That was the only reason for me considering Lurker's mod, as I'd read it was the only way to install UAPP. I was waiting to see what any new updates would bring, but I have the latest update and there's still no Google Play Store. I uninstalled the bundled Chinese apps, so I'll have to re-install them and see if it works. Thanks!

The first link provided the direct download of the manual for you, it came from this web page:
http://www.ibasso.com/product/dx160

Click on the icon that looks like a paper page below the quantity '1' to open and download the User Manual.

 

[samandhi]

Really? That was the only reason for me considering Lurker's mod, as I'd read it was the only way to install UAPP. I was waiting to see what any new updates would bring, but I have the latest update and there's still no Google Play Store. I uninstalled the bundled Chinese apps, so I'll have to re-install them and see if it works. Thanks!

You CAN use it and it WILL indeed install it for you, but you don't NEED to use it. Now, if you want the USB-audio driver that bypasses the android driver then you will need it. Keep in mind though, that if you use UAPP it has USB-audio driver in the app. You would only need that if you use a different app and want to bypass the android USB-audio driver. Also Lurker has fixed some minor glitches in some of the more popular apps (including UAPP) such as battery life usage and etc... It will also root it for you should you need it, not to mention the "Mango OS" which is like the DX220 where that is the only app on the OS and it boots right up to it. I have had it installed since I first got mine, and other than the small glitches that the DX are known for, I have had 0 problems with mine in any respect.

If you want to re-install the default apps easily, just reset your device. It will go back to factory apps and settings, and then you can just set up wifi, and install Google Play Store from the default store app and then do (pretty much) whatever you can do on an android phone (except talk on the phone heh).

 

[superuser1]

It was not just bubbles in the screen protector. It was the lack of an instruction manual, no discernable way to get Tidal running, no idea how to get out of the Mango player, and the fact that I could do all of that immediately on a DAP that was half the price (FiiO X5iii).

I totally understand as i had the X5III but that was no better UI wise than this.. NO way!

 

[Rub-A-Dub]

The first link provided the direct download of the manual for you, it came from this web page:
http://www.ibasso.com/product/dx160

Click on the icon that looks like a paper page below the quantity '1' to open and download the User Manual.

Thank you for pointing that out for me, I would never have noticed it otherwise. I think it would be easier to find if the manuals were made available in the DOWNLOADS link in the searchbar (which seems to be working now).

You CAN use it and it WILL indeed install it for you, but you don't NEED to use it. Now, if you want the USB-audio driver that bypasses the android driver then you will need it. Keep in mind though, that if you use UAPP it has USB-audio driver in the app. You would only need that if you use a different app and want to bypass the android USB-audio driver.

Do you mean I would only need to use Lurker's firmware if I want to bypass the Android driver and at the same time use a different playback app to UAPP? I already have UAPP installed on my phone, and that's what I want to use on the DX160 whether I install it with the stock firmware or with Lurker's. By the way, Lurker also recommends to use an app such as UAPP in conjunction with his firmware:

The recommended way for USB Audio app itself is "don't use it" Use Mango/Neutron/UAPP instead.

So it looks like I'll be installing it on the DX160 either way.

Also Lurker has fixed some minor glitches in some of the more popular apps (including UAPP) such as battery life usage and etc... It will also root it for you should you need it, not to mention the "Mango OS" which is like the DX220 where that is the only app on the OS and it boots right up to it.

This part I've never really understood. Could someone please explain the difference between Mango OS and the Mango pre-installed on the DX160? Also, will it provide any benefit if I'm going to be playing my files through UAPP?

Thanks.