[Luis1316]

Here is the kid in me

Huh? Red Frame Astray at Head-Fi?

 

[rde01]

Yeah, the TPU case is cool. Especially with the LED gimmick at night.



They all do the same thing, using software decoding to unfold the MQA....Non are Hardware Native to MQA lol

Are you sure about that? It might be done in the fpga. (if it's only software doing it why would filters not work on mqa tracks)
Also not sure if it would make a difference anyway.

 

[Whitigir]

Are you sure about that? It might be done in the fpga. (if it's only software doing it why would filters not work on mqa tracks)
Also not sure if it would make a difference anyway.

Because MQA utilizes it own filters and interpolations during the unfolding. The differences is whether it is done by the other SOC or IC ? It would be done with software, and if it is done with DAC-IC then it is the DAC-IC being hardware native

 

[Tex Irie]

This DAP is magical with the Sony IER-M7 to me. Has anyone tried the DX300 with the Audeze LCD-XC?

 

[SMOoth Operator]

Yesterday I have received the DX300 and the M8. I started the burnin as soon as possible and they now have some company I will hear how good they are in comparison to all my other portable players + hugo 2.

My first impressions were:

DX300 - holy ... this is huge; the screen is amazing, the ui snappy fast, and the operating speed while scanning my media is the best I have ever seen in an android device. So the installation of additional apps and media was quite fast in total and the burn in started about 15 minutes after i opened it.

M8 - oh my god, the installation of third party apps and the media scan is soooooo slow. it took about 4times as long as with the ibasso. So it took me about 70min before i could play my music. Besides that the only thing that popped out was the included heating^^. it gets painfull hot. This DAP is burning in my hands. Never experienced such level before.

It is still too early to judge the sound in total. But first thoughts were (coming from the Sony WM1Z as comparison) that the iBasso sounded much cleaner and a bit "shy" with good dynamics. (again coming from the Sony) Shanling is the first device that sounds really bad (to my ears) out of the box. I could not believe it. It reminded me somehow of the FiiO X5 III I have here. What a disappointment... at least out of the box.

Here is a pic of the transportable competition (if my time allows it, I will also compare the DACs with my Phonitor 2):


EDIT: the ibasso is a fingerprint magnet^^

I had the exact opposite experience, M8 crapped all over the DX300 and laughed at it for being so big. Then the SE200's bass kicked the DX300 in the head. It was a DAP beat down IMO.

 

[SMOoth Operator]

Well I had only a day with my DX300 and it is already getting returned. First of all this thing is silly big, it is trying to be too many things and IMO does none of them that well. I had a dozen compatibility issues with it, between chargers and apps not working it was a real headache. The sound was pretty good, but not great. Im a bass head and it failed my bass test, bass was weak and bloated IMO. Mids and highs were crisp, with a bit of a tube vibe to them. It did not have an even freq response to my ears, kind of bumpy and uneven favoring the mids-upper mids. If you like a reference tuning with a tube flavor you might like it. I know burn in would have been ideal, but the bass was so weak, that I doubt burn in would save it.... It has no global EQ, so there was no way to save it from its weak bass while streaming Tidal.

Which brings me to my off topic rant about DAP's not having global EQ.... It really chaps my hide that we have no frequency controls while streaming. A&K is the only company who attempts to remedy this and its just silly. Streaming is here to stay, we need global EQ's as standard feature in EVERY DAP.

Anyway, back to the DX300, I felt like it was a Jack Of All Trades and Master of None. It has so many incompatibility issues that I feel it was rushed to the market way before being ready. Sound is good, but just only good, not great. I guess for the price it sounds good enough, but they need to QC it better first. The battery situation was a little silly too, drained way too fast and uneven. They need a better battery monitor, where it just reported back the lowest battery level as a single charge indicator. Only the lowest battery is important.

Shout out to Bloom Audio as the experience was made much better with their help, they had lightning fast customer service, talked me through everything and ultimately allowed me to return it without hassle. Even though I don't recommend the DX300, I highly recommend Bloom Audio, it was my first time dealing with them and it is clear to me that they really care about their customers. Thanks BloomAudio!

I compared the DX300 side by side with both the Shanling M8 and A&k SE200. The latter two were much better sounding and higher quality in general.

 

[jamato8]

Well I had only a day with my DX300 and it is already getting returned. First of all this thing is silly big, it is trying to be too many things and IMO does none of them that well. I had a dozen compatibility issues with it, between chargers and apps not working it was a real headache. The sound was pretty good, but not great. Im a bass head and it failed my bass test, bass was weak and bloated IMO. Mids and highs were crisp, with a bit of a tube vibe to them. It did not have an even freq response to my ears, kind of bumpy and uneven favoring the mids-upper mids. If you like a reference tuning with a tube flavor you might like it. I know burn in would have been ideal, but the bass was so weak, that I doubt burn in would save it.... It has no global EQ, so there was no way to save it from its weak bass while streaming Tidal.

Which brings me to my off topic rant about DAP's not having global EQ.... It really chaps my hide that we have no frequency controls while streaming. A&K is the only company who attempts to remedy this and its just silly. Streaming is here to stay, we need global EQ's as standard feature in EVERY DAP.

Anyway, back to the DX300, I felt like it was a Jack Of All Trades and Master of None. It has so many incompatibility issues that I feel it was rushed to the market way before being ready. Sound is good, but just only good, not great. I guess for the price it sounds good enough, but they need to QC it better first. The battery situation was a little silly too, drained way too fast and uneven. They need a better battery monitor, where it just reported back the lowest battery level as a single charge indicator. Only the lowest battery is important.

Shout out to Bloom Audio as the experience was made much better with their help, they had lightning fast customer service, talked me through everything and ultimately allowed me to return it without hassle. Even though I don't recommend the DX300, I highly recommend Bloom Audio, it was my first time dealing with them and it is clear to me that they really care about their customers. Thanks BloomAudio!

I compared the DX300 side by side with both the Shanling M8 and A&k SE200. The latter two were much better sounding and higher quality in general.

In your opinion. In my opinion, have compared to many daps. the DX300 is excellent and it takes a few charges and discharges for the battery to be conditioned, but that is true of all batteries. Sound, well again in your opinion but I find it to be excellent as do many here. I have not had any compatibility issues with steaming or cards. Anyway, enjoy what you have.

 

[Onurb8690]

DX300 is a fast powerful platform, as you said has perfect form factor for C9 and it has a very good DAC section. DX300 with a good line out and C9 would be a transportable dream come true.

That must sweat a marvel with your A18t

 

[ScubaDrunk]

Yeah, the TPU case is cool. Especially with the LED gimmick at night.



They all do the same thing, using software decoding to unfold the MQA....Non are Hardware Native to MQA lol

That's not true

The Shanling M8 is a hardware MQA decoder as per Shandling's post here - Shanling MQA response

Unfolding final unfold in hardware = MQA Decoder

Unfolding final unfold in software = MQA renderer

MQA Explained

 

[Whitigir]

Hardware what ? Which chip is unfolding the MQA ? If it is the FPGA, then it is still the software that does it....AK4499EQ isn’t MQA Native DAC Chips neither the ES-Pros

 

[ScubaDrunk]

Hardware what ? Which chip is unfolding the MQA ? If it is the FPGA, then it is still the software that does it....AK4499EQ isn’t MQA Native DAC Chips neither the ES-Pros

Not sure which component is used but according to the MQA standard the final unfold has to happen in Hardware for the MQA decoder standard. Shanling have publicly stated that the M8 is a full MQA decoder and not a renderer.

iBasso have publicly stated on here that the DX300 is a renderer

 

[DarginMahkum]

A&K is the only company who attempts to remedy this and its just silly. Streaming is here to stay, we need global EQ's as standard feature in EVERY DAP.

A&K also is the only company that didn't fix their PEQ for years. Their "bell" is like a needle. The bandwidth can't be properly adjusted. There are measurements and reports about it for so long, but they didn't fix it. It was useless. If it was OK, I would probably still have the SP2000.

That must sweat a marvel with your A18t

Unfortunately I very rarely use IEMs and it is my only IEM. I used it only once and it was a good pairing.

Not sure which component is used but according to the MQA standard the final unfold has to happen in Hardware for the MQA decoder standard. Shanling have publicly stated that the M8 is a full MQA decoder and not a renderer.

iBasso have publicly stated on here that the DX300 is a renderer

Decoding, rendering. Little word plays. In order to render anything that is encoded, you have to decode it. In SW or HW, does not matter. The fact is, it is not happening on DAC level, as the DAC does not have the MQA specific components. When you look at the ESS website, none of the top model DACs support MQA and the one that supports it is mentioned to "render" it.

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/products/sabre-digital-analog-converters/audiophile-dacs/

Shanling says they can decode it, but does not mention where (SW or HW) and what is happening then:

https://en.shanling.com/article-M8MQA.html

 

[rde01]

Not sure which component is used but according to the MQA standard the final unfold has to happen in Hardware for the MQA decoder standard. Shanling have publicly stated that the M8 is a full MQA decoder and not a renderer.

iBasso have publicly stated on here that the DX300 is a renderer

Just like to add, when i connect the DX300 with usb to my pc i can set is as mqa decoder and redenderer. And that seems to work. (no idea if the dx300 is really doing it tho)

 

[uncle b]

Yeah, the TPU case is cool. Especially with the LED gimmick at night.

What is the “LED gimmick at night”?

 

[Whitigir]

What is the “LED gimmick at night”?

This, it could be a night lamp. You can see it from the back as well.