[German Expat in Vietnam]

I personally find the Indigo to be more than a subtle upgrade over the Mest2. Now I happen to have ears such that the Mest2s were entirely too hot in the lower treble. It ruined the tonality of some important instruments like piano and violin and any higher pitched synth. I also found the bass to be a bit undefined. Technically they were very interesting of course. But the Indigo is an upgrade tonally to the point where the midrange rivals my Monarch2s plus they have a deeper and yet more textured bass response. Most importantly the screech is almost entirely gone (there are some pianos that were just badly mic'ed and cannot be saved). In terms of original retail price the Indigos are only $1200 more. Used they are popping up for $2k, which is not terrible for such performance and is less than Odin for nearly equal technicalities and better overall tonal balance. To my ears, of course.

I agree 100% with everything you say about the Mest MKII. I hear it the same way and find the Mest MKII terrible. When I listen to 2 or 3 songs with them, I quickly feel the urge to use another IEM. I can still be annoyed that I bought them.

 

[14christ]

I personally find the Indigo to be more than a subtle upgrade over the Mest2. Now I happen to have ears such that the Mest2s were entirely too hot in the lower treble. It ruined the tonality of some important instruments like piano and violin and any higher pitched synth. I also found the bass to be a bit undefined. Technically they were very interesting of course. But the Indigo is an upgrade tonally to the point where the midrange rivals my Monarch2s plus they have a deeper and yet more textured bass response. Most importantly the screech is almost entirely gone (there are some pianos that were just badly mic'ed and cannot be saved). In terms of original retail price the Indigos are only $1200 more. Used they are popping up for $2k, which is not terrible for such performance and is less than Odin for nearly equal technicalities and better overall tonal balance. To my ears, of course.

Interesting. Thanks for the rec

 

[RIGATIO]

I agree 100% with everything you say about the Mest MKII. I hear it the same way and find the Mest MKII terrible. When I listen to 2 or 3 songs with them, I quickly feel the urge to use another IEM. I can still be annoyed that I bought them.

Maybe they will sound softer in lower treble with amp13.

 

[Jmarz]

How wonderful it would be to have Nutubes operating in Class A and Class AB modes in a portable DAP ? We have Cayin C9, but it is large and bulky for portability purposes.

All I could wish for is Ibasso delivering technical performance equal to DX312 in DX313, even it comes at the cost of having less power to drive some hungry headphones. Looking forward to the announcement soon.

Most likely the Nutubes will be positioned between the DAC and the AMP. It will attenuate the signal prior to its being fed to the AMP. It (probably) won't have any role in actually "amplifying" the signal. I'm certain the AMP on the 13 will be more than powerful enough to drive just about anything anyone can throw at it, and be truly balanced.

 

[German Expat in Vietnam]

Maybe they will sound softer in lower treble with amp13.

Definitely. When the Mest MK II hangs on the Oriolus BA 300 S, it sounds better. But somehow he is not the yellow of the egg for me. It somehow doesn't convey the right mood that I like. I miss the magic in the middle. Somehow no spark jumps across.

 

[German Expat in Vietnam]

Most likely the Nutubes will be positioned between the DAC and the AMP. It will attenuate the signal prior to its being fed to the AMP. It (probably) won't have any role in actually "amplifying" the signal. I'm certain the AMP on the 13 will be more than powerful enough to drive just about anything anyone can throw at it, and be truly balanced.

I hope you are right. Lets wait and see. Maybe iBasso surprised us

 

[Jmarz]

I just updated. Has anyone seen any real benefit from a hard reset? Everything seems to work fine.

Edit. Be sure to delete that fricking large ZIP file from your Internal Storage.

 

[HK_sends]

I just updated. Has anyone seen any real benefit from a hard reset? Everything seems to work fine.

Edit. Be sure to delete that fricking large ZIP file from your Internal Storage.

I haven't reset mine for the last several updates and it still appears to be working fine.
Cheers!
-HK sends

 

[firesign]

When have we started saying things like "the Indigos are only $1200 more" talking about some IEMs, and staying so calm?
I find it somewhat worrying...

 

[Dopaminer]

I'm another seeking help with the FW update.
ibasso's official update link does not work at all via my computer or my DX300.
I am currently trying to download Yannis' zip from SendGB and the archived zip from iBasso. They are both saying X number of DAYS left.
My internet speed hovers between 1.1. and 1.4 GB/s so the issue is not my end.

Does anyone have a link to a file on a faster server?

 

[German Expat in Vietnam]

When have we started saying things like "the Indigos are only $1200 more" talking about some IEMs, and staying so calm?
I find it somewhat worrying...

I think that was meant ironically but you never know.

 

[yannis]

I'm another seeking help with the FW update.
ibasso's official update link does not work at all via my computer or my DX300.
I am currently trying to download Yannis' zip from SendGB and the archived zip from iBasso. They are both saying X number of DAYS left.
My internet speed hovers between 1.1. and 1.4 GB/s so the issue is not my end.

Does anyone have a link to a file on a faster server?

Both links are working fine. Getting 15 MB/s.

But you can also try:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ljy--7U77hqm3-YB8P3hf79K44KSKOQq/view

DX300_full_ota_1.05.343.zip

Instructions For Firmware update:

1. Copy and paste the DX300_full_ota_1.05.343.zip to your SD card's root folder, or the DX300's internal memory.
2. Go to Android OS, press Settings-->System-->Updater-->local update, and tap the zip file.
3. The whole update will take about 10 minutes. Reboot the DX300 after update completed. You can also choose to do a factory reset at this time to clear any artifacts from the previous firmware.

 

[German Expat in Vietnam]

Has anyone of you happened to hear the Audeze LCD XC 2021 with the DX 312?

 

[Dopaminer]

Both links are working fine. Getting 15 MB/s.

But you can also try:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ljy--7U77hqm3-YB8P3hf79K44KSKOQq/view

DX300_full_ota_1.05.343.zip

It downloaded in 9 seconds from Gdrive LOL.
Thanks

 

[fejnomit]

Yeah, we can color a unicorn in anyways we want, in the end, it is still a unicorn. So, performances is still performances , voltage is still voltage and Wattage is still wattage. All I can say is that the C9 does bring improvements. However, to deal with stacking problems and interconnect, charging …etc…. It isn’t worth it.

I would encourage you to give it a try though.

If you want to know the technical aspect. The C9 is having the same Voltage swings as the 2-3 Max, but with a different stages to boost and provide more powerful output. The VRMS is similar. They are both running on dedicated +/- 8.7V rails and upto 17.4V swings.

The Dx300 have the dedicated power supply for Amp module, and then converted accordingly to the module. The Amp12 has a voltage swing of around 15V which was boosted from a pack of 3.7V battery.

IMO, if you count about the transients, and how the amplifier is handling it beefs, the Amp12 is more impressive than the C9. Because it is so little, and yet, can hold itself against the much more chunky and external amplifier such as the C9.

The C9 definitely improve the Dx312, and it is no doubt. The stack is equal or even surpass the Dx300Max by a very slight margin, depends on which aspect you are looking at it. However, when you are dealing with stacking and carrying the stack with IC….it isn’t worth it. Unless you are enjoying the stacks.

If I stack anything at all, it better be a much more powerful amplifier. Otherwise, to improve beyond Dx312 and 2/3Max from the Portable devices and technical point of views, it is a very very hard job. Unless your only excuses is to enjoy a different tonal and sound signatures…..or you have to improve your portable system, and you absolutely have no option to do desktop, then the C9 is very hard to beatn

When have we started saying things like "the Indigos are only $1200 more" talking about some IEMs, and staying so calm?
I find it somewhat worrying...

Hey, I am the first person to bemoan the current price inflation in iems, believe me. But as they are going for about $2k used right now, that is less than Odin, Evo, a lot of the 64Audios, all the totl VEs, and certainly far less than the ludicrous amounts being asked for UM’s “flagships.” Anyway, not to wander off topic too much, I do think that the Indigos could benefit greatly from the new tube amp. Give them a little more midrange warmth. Very excited to hear that combo. Also I am in the process of ordering an amp12ex so I will have that combo to test with them as well. Also I am finding filter 3 on MangoOS to give the Indigos some of the best tonal balance and body I have ever heard. I was solely a NOS guy up until the latest firmware.