[der luda]

.....oh my god MT , I think from now on the DX300 will inevitably go on strike

 

[Paul - iBasso]

And yet there is no explanation as to how This is done. Is it done with partnerships with MQA and Tidal, etc or just sidestepping and by passing android which again is an extra processing functionity like buffering

short on the details to how they are achieving bit perfect....but quick on the ordering process.

At least the Hiby post is more honest and gives you full disclosure!

This is for our player. MQA has their own system as does Tidal. What they do with their apps/software is up to them. Our player is bit perfect when using our system.

 

[fokta]

Talking about Gold
Colour matched to that lovely wheel...

Wow.... Nice...
If you can manage to demo EA EVO cable series EVO10 with the same pairing, u will be amaze how the pair can give layers of details, yet still warm sounding...

with additional more black background, I compare this to my Brise cable...

 

[BiggieBig]

This Headphone is so gorgeous...
Never I met so beautiful thing like this.. all finishing to the small detail is oustanding....

You have good taste
Stella, Solaris and dx300 same as me

 

[fokta]

You have good taste
Stella, Solaris and dx300 same as me

Its the new Clear MG... not stella...

 

[ExpatinJapan]

My special order from Ibasso and thanks to @Paul - iBasso , the Amp11 MKii

Yes, the changes from the stock Amp11 MKII vs MKI is perhaps significant in my views

Take it in a long story short

MKI: I had to wait over 250 hours of burn in to have the warmth, bass, slow transients to improve and yet I am not all for it as it has the overwhelming warmth, density, and lower bass to be a little blooming and bleeding

MKII: out of the box, the signatures is more neutral, faster transients, sub bass and lower bass is tighter, faster, less booming, and the overall resulted in an even greater soundstage immersion and expansions, greater separations and layering, imagings as well

Yes sir! I prefer this MKII rather than MKI . I spot the changes in output transistors, and it related supporting components

This MkII is extremely good. Yet while it has a different signatures than Amp8EX and DX220. It actually is also an improvement in technicalities. The sections of lower trebles is with much more defined textures and vivid extensions that are packed with full energies. The synthetic EDM plays and cymbal splashes are very satisfying, the wind and brass instruments are excellent in their own portrait

it is doing that while remaining so clean and clear with the cleanest background compare to MKI , expansive soundstage in Low gain and NOS mode.

The limited Amp8EX while was great for the older flagship, is actually surpassed with this Amp11MKII by textures and resolutions

I don’t want to even think about places or any possibilities to modify this Amp11 MKII anymore. Any changes would be “messy”, it is just perfect “as is”

So if you already have MKI, you would probably feel offended. You shouldn’t be, the idea of being modular is exactly this, to be able to roll your most cherish and enjoyable signatures for yourself with the amp module. Amp11 MKI can no longer be purchased, where as my personal opinion, the MKII is the one that DX300 deserves to be with and heard. However, it is an on going productions. So, if you love Limited edition, nothing is as limited as Amp8EX (dx220) and MKI (dx300)

This new MkII has proven to me that Ibasso has always been pursuing relentlessly for audio performances, and will do everything Ibasso could to bring the most “joys” for the customers. While it isn’t officially listed on the website yet, which I hope @Paul - iBasso will have it listed soon, I have seen a few people to confirm that they could email Paul and place an order, which I did. With the excellent customer service and fast respond time (sometimes too fast that I think Paul is a bot), you as a customer are much more satisfied with Ibasso than any other brands.

The DX300 originally was the most diverse signatures derived away from Ibasso sound signatures that I have known by far. However, with the MkII, I can see that Ibasso is back at the top of the game, yet with a bit of differences such as density (as dense as Dx160 or even denser) while being accurate which is almost spot on in transients, decays, density, and most overall the tonal balances. The Dx300 with MkII is with pumping but satisfying bass quality and quantity that would make you question yourself....Had you been compromised with the previous flagships from other products ? Or is Dx300 and MKII a bassy player ?
For my own opinion, the answer is pretty easy, we had not been able to achieve this level of spot on density, energy, decay, speed as in Live Performances by digital player yet, well....except the DMP Z1 (Also, the Max is great but it speed and decay is still a bit too fast, still is the indisputable champion of dx200 platform). The DX300 and MKII actually open a new path of performances which will aim even higher than what we have known and adored with DX220, and the build quality of SOC, UI, MangoOS, modular amp, are the indicators that the Dx300 is here to stay future proof for at the least another 5 years as a platform. If I do not see any possibilities to tinker with, then I am not sure what more is to expect from Ibasso from here on. However, with their own motto and love for the music performances. I am sure Ibasso will continue to strive for the better.

I have been asked to compare between Dx300 MkII and M8. All I can say is that the latest Chinese DAP are excellent. We may have been forsaken by other big brands and countries such as Japan, EU (which is mainly focused on monitors, phones, and DAC), we are being catered to and spoiled by Chinese brands and their love, pursuing the DAP world, which keeps on improving in different paths. Yes, back to the point that I will say as much as that M8 and Dx300 MKII are both excellent player, with M8 has a better mid and focused upon strings and wood instruments where DX300 and MkII are focused on into upper mid/trebles, the blending of speed, density, energy, hence brass and organic instruments are to crave for with the musicality and fluidity, as much as even EDM and modern pop. Don’t forget the blazing fast UI and the speedy development of Firmwares, the excellent customer services *focused on the performances and beautiful textures/fidelity and not emphasizing*

Thanks for spending your time and reading

The conclusion: Amp11 MKII brought all the attentions from me and adhered it upon the Dx300 alone by itself..... I haven’t been using my C9 and A02 for the last few days as I keep slamming my ears with beautiful tunes and performances of DX300 MKII.

Just got the ordered amp11mk2 in and had a wee listen...

...gotta have something to do during year two of mostly stay at home, work, eat, online shopping... plus my curiosity was piqued.


Much, most of what @whitiger has posted and i quoted above i pretty much agree with from my initial first short, feeble and shallow impressions.

i have been through enough daps and earphones to know when something needs more hours on. This amp11mark2 seems strangely already formed ‘out of the box’ - but of course time will tell and i won’t get ahead of myself and put my cards on the table before getting a few hours on the amp first.

- as usual..those who care/believe on burn in would appreciate the after burn in impressions...and those who dont believe in burn in will be happy at 0 or 500 hours+... so lets burn in for a bit so everyones criteria is satisfied.


at this point one thing i noticed was when using the different filters (on amp11mk2) it was not as strongly noticeable as with amp11mk1.


Got it on burn in with the iBasso burn in cable atm now (I have things to do).

@Whitigir has already posted some pics of the amps (mk1 on top, mk2 bottom). But i will add to it.






- also as an assist for those hard to see screws for future amp swappers...





More to come as i get more airtime.
Do some hot swapping when i have some time.
Eventual word salad review blah blah etc etc

————-

@HK_sends and @Whitigir say its

CRV T4 Torx. Screwdriver

 

[DarginMahkum]

A little bit out of scope but here is a detailed article about MQA from a well known trusted blogger. Enjoy it while listening to Tidal.

"Finally, we are confronted by MQA’s claims that they are promoting not just a “format”, but also a “philosophy” (19). They see it as a philosophy of breaking free from adjudicating quality as represented by traditional objective parameters like bit-depth and sample rate; that file size and bitrate does not correlate with sonic quality. Based on this view, MQA has determined that everything captured in the studio and what humans can hear can be “encapsulated” in the MQA 24/48 combination lossless-lossy container. In other words, they’re arguing that they know the full ability of human hearing based on “tremendous advancements … in neuroscience” and that as a result, a file format does not need to include the full bit depth (noise floor) or full lossless frequency response (sample rate) as in an original high resolution studio recording. If this is true, music labels can then just release all “hi-res” material in this single compressed file type.

As much as MQA might detest comparisons, this is also no different from the basic goal of lossy encoding and implementing psychoacoustic understanding to audio compression as per MP3. The problem is that MQA refuses to acknowledge this! They seem to fear using the term “lossy” when by definition the encoding process is unable to exactly reconstruct the high-resolution data fed into it on playback."

(...)

"But wait, so far, we’ve only touched on one part of the “philosophy” promoted by MQA. Much of the rest of their philosophical ideas revolve around an uncomfortable business model that reaches broadly, affecting the whole production and playback chain. In February 2017, Linn was bold enough to post that they saw MQA as nothing more than an attempt at a “supply chain monopoly”. The result of which is a “tax” on hardware, software and the media, ultimately passed on to consumers of course. Should this “philosophy” be broadly accepted, and the business model successfully implemented, it would no doubt be good for MQA Ltd.’s financial statements."

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/mqa-a-review-of-controversies-concerns-and-cautions-r701/

Oh wow! So $100 from the price of a DX300 goes to MQA? I don't want to start another discussion, but as it was already discussed earlier (which also mentions the blog post I sent above) so I wanted to share it for those who are interested...and then disappear.

 

[vanhalen26]

Oh wow! So $100 from the price of a DX300 goes to MQA? I don't want to start another discussion, but as it was already discussed earlier (which also mentions the blog post I sent above) so I wanted to share it for those who are interested...and then disappear.

Interesting, I’m sure the fee is substantial (hence LG dropping it in the V60), but probably not $100. Working backwards, typical margin is 40% for a retailer so retailers are probably paying around $750ish for the dx300, and often margin is closer to 40 or 50% for the manufacturer so the cost is probably between $400-$500, or even less. I can’t imagine a manufacturer investing 20-25% of their COGS into a file format that many people are not even interested in.

I was going to watch the video before suggesting the above as a possibility, but it was on the longer side so I bailed.

I do wonder what the cost is and I’ll try to watch the video later, it looks interesting.

 

[twister6]

Oh wow! So $100 from the price of a DX300 goes to MQA? I don't want to start another discussion, but as it was already discussed earlier (which also mentions the blog post I sent above) so I wanted to share it for those who are interested...and then disappear.

Does that mean MQA charges $100 for every product with MQA certification? For example, lotoo S1 was sold for $165 for over a year until they got MQA-certified, and taking $100 off msrp price would kill the profit. Maybe there are different tiers of certification?

 

[DarginMahkum]

Does that mean MQA charges $100 for every product with MQA certification? For example, lotoo S1 was sold for $165 for over a year until they got MQA-certified, and taking $100 off msrp price would kill the profit. Maybe there are different tiers of certification?

Possible. But even if that is not the case, say they are getting a percentage, that is taxing money without added benefits - even worse results. I would highly recommend watching the video.

 

[vanhalen26]

I just watched the video, it is interesting. Even with all the evidence I’d swear sometimes I can hear a subtle difference and improvement with MQA. Real or confirmation bias (I think one of the comments called it that) ... either way it makes me happy. I do have a lot of albums in flac however, and most are not MQA, I’d rather store true flacs as I’m not convinced MQA will still be around in 5-10 years.

Now to log off for the night, I have a new album to enjoy.

 

[xand]

I’d swear sometimes I can hear a subtle difference and improvement with MQA. Real or confirmation bias (I think one of the comments called it that) ... either way it makes me happy.

You're not alone:

https://darko.audio/2016/06/an-inconvenient-truth-mqa-sounds-better/

---
On the video, some short notes on the content up to about 15 minutes in (I'll maybe watch the rest later, but listening to the first 15 minutes wasn't particularly useful/enlightening - except perhaps it is evidence for item 8...):

1. The MQA description (https://www.mqa.co.uk/newsroom/qa/is-mqa-lossless) is disingenuous, as I don't think anyone who is asking the question is asking about the file format, but whether there is any loss of audible data by going through the MQA process.

2. What MQA does is: (i) "de-blurred" the music content, then (ii) "folds" the music content: https://www.bobtalks.co.uk/blog/mqaplayback/origami-and-the-last-mile/

3. MQA is clearly "lossy" at the level of the original file, as it's logically impossible to carry out both those processes, put the result into a flac, and still deliver something which is bit-identical to the original file.

4. Having said that, the MQA argument is that they're not aiming for lossless at the level of the original file, but instead for "no loss of audible data" - see: https://www.stereophile.com/content/mqa-questions-and-answers-losslessness-questions.

5. On their argument - who knows. I will say that the "lossy nature of MQA as I described in 3 doesn't mean that MQA will necessarily sound worse than an original high-res source - just like Ogg Vorbix/ACC/MP3 at 256 or more may not sound worse than the original FLAC it was encoded from, depending on what exactly is in the original FLAC (i.e. what the musical content is). Note that the video author could/should have tested this by giving them a high-res file. See the Darko Audio link though - they apparently tested/listened to a number of original high-res flacs against the corresponding MQA'ed flac:https://darko.audio/2016/06/an-inconvenient-truth-mqa-sounds-better/ - and if it does actually sound the same or better then it would be fair for MQA to say it's "losslesss".

6. Assuming the video is accurate, the video author's release should never have been made into a master. I don't see any reason for "CD quality" stuff to be subject to the MQA process, so that's clearly egg on someone's face. Same thing for the Neil Young music since it was delivered only as "CD quality". Tidal/music publishers should really fix this.

7. In spite of 6, comments by the video author about how MQA authenticated (https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/mqa) doesn't mean anything may still be inaccurate - apart from the video author (who in this case is also the producer), the copyright owner can also enable the flag. As the video author is probably an unsigned artist, they might actually be the copyright owner, but - who knows. One logical issue: the entire point of the video author uploading the file was to make it subject to the MQA process, it is only because of the problem in 6 that the video even exists. Occum's razor suggests he might have specifically agreed/asked for it to be converted to MQA. *shrug*

8. I have believed for a some time that when tidal HAS a MQA master file, even if you pick the "hi-fi" version, you get the MQA flac. MQA argues against the MQA flac being worse than a normal flac (e.g. https://www.stereophile.com/content/mqa-questions-and-answers-bit-depth-mqa) - whether this is true really depends on whether the MQA signal data is really inaudible and encoded in a way which does not hurt the original data. I have no idea if this is the case, but I certainly agree that if someone picks Tidal Hi-Fi, Tidal should deliver a non-MQA flac. This means more storage is needed (to keep two flac files per song), but will probably mean that Tidal always sounds at least as good as Qubuz (which is often considered not to be the case).

 

[Paul - iBasso]

I do not know who pays 100 USD per product sold for MQA but I can state, we would never pay that amount and pay a mere small fraction of that. I think someone has the wrong information. Regarding the sound we do not judge that. We have MQA for people who want to use it.

 

[fokta]

Just got the ordered amp11mk2 in and had a wee listen...

...gotta have something to do during year two of mostly stay at home, work, eat, online shopping... plus my curiosity was piqued.


Much, most of what @whitiger has posted and i quoted above i pretty much agree with from my initial first short, feeble and shallow impressions.

i have been through enough daps and earphones to know when something needs more hours on. This amp11mark2 seems strangely already formed ‘out of the box’ - but of course time will tell and i won’t get ahead of myself and put my cards on the table before getting a few hours on the amp first.

- as usual..those who care/believe on burn in would appreciate the after burn in impressions...and those who dont believe in burn in will be happy at 0 or 500 hours+... so lets burn in for a bit so everyones criteria is satisfied.


at this point one thing i noticed was when using the different filters (on amp11mk2) it was not as strongly noticeable as with amp11mk1.


Got it on burn in with the iBasso burn in cable atm now (I have things to do).

@Whitigir has already posted some pics of the amps (mk1 on top, mk2 bottom). But i will add to it.






- also as an assist for those hard to see screws for future amp swappers...





More to come as i get more airtime.
Do some hot swapping when i have some time.
Eventual word salad review blah blah etc etc

Thank you for the information for the Axis Screw size and model..
Let's go hunt for it..

 

[HK_sends]

Just got the ordered amp11mk2 in and had a wee listen...

...gotta have something to do during year two of mostly stay at home, work, eat, online shopping... plus my curiosity was piqued.


Much, most of what @whitiger has posted and i quoted above i pretty much agree with from my initial first short, feeble and shallow impressions.

i have been through enough daps and earphones to know when something needs more hours on. This amp11mark2 seems strangely already formed ‘out of the box’ - but of course time will tell and i won’t get ahead of myself and put my cards on the table before getting a few hours on the amp first.

- as usual..those who care/believe on burn in would appreciate the after burn in impressions...and those who dont believe in burn in will be happy at 0 or 500 hours+... so lets burn in for a bit so everyones criteria is satisfied.


at this point one thing i noticed was when using the different filters (on amp11mk2) it was not as strongly noticeable as with amp11mk1.


Got it on burn in with the iBasso burn in cable atm now (I have things to do).

@Whitigir has already posted some pics of the amps (mk1 on top, mk2 bottom). But i will add to it.






- also as an assist for those hard to see screws for future amp swappers...





More to come as i get more airtime.
Do some hot swapping when i have some time.
Eventual word salad review blah blah etc etc

I can't read it well, is that a CRV T4 Torx? Thanks in advance!
Cheers!
-HK sends