[jon parker]

I spose I should say something as I have been one of the most vocal on the appeciation thread in relation to sound quality!
Disclaimer: Of course everyone has different headphones / ears / karma so people will hear different things. Without wanting to sound proud, I am a sound engineer so I do tend to listen in a concentrated manner and maybe hear certain aspects a bit more clearly than others? Im not saying i have better hearing than others but I do have experience of listening!
I usually listen to 24/96 vinylrips, 192 stuff from HDTracks - not so much rock, or indie with Grado GR10 IEM's
I was a little unlucky in that [on my set up] 1.2.3beta sounded perfect
Anyway, In general the later updates I found the bass was far too prominant in the mix. In all songs I was aware of the bass.
When I work on audio I aim towards mastering audio that nothing stands out on. You listen and just enjoy the music. Where bass is needed on certain styles then its there in the mix. Reggie being a good example of this.
Also there are different types of bass - D&B and regiie have very different bass. Anyway, my point was that some bass on the later FW's was too subsonic and for me the 1.2.7 was too muddy.
The 1.2.8 I think is great -in that- it is very neutral, almost too neutral. Its pretty much what i wanted ! BUT there is no power behind the bass now For example on 'Machine Gun' by Hendrix, the drum has quite a sharp but full lush bass hit. On 1.2.8 it sounds weak.
I think for many people the differences the differences are subtle enough to be a non issue but if you have very sensative phones and have good ears the different FW quality can be something of an issue
I must say though the DX50 sounds so so good. The only reason im making a fuss / comment at all is because it has the capacity to deliver a sound that is unparralled and i think perfect...which is a rare thing!
 

 

[headwhacker]

I spose I should say something as I have been one of the most vocal on the appeciation thread in relation to sound quality!
Disclaimer: Of course everyone has different headphones / ears / karma so people will hear different things. Without wanting to sound proud, I am a sound engineer so I do tend to listen in a concentrated manner and maybe hear certain aspects a bit more clearly than others? Im not saying i have better hearing than others but I do have experience of listening!
I usually listen to 24/96 vinylrips, 192 stuff from HDTracks - not so much rock, or indie with Grado GR10 IEM's
I was a little unlucky in that [on my set up] 1.2.3beta sounded perfect
Anyway, In general the later updates I found the bass was far too prominant in the mix. In all songs I was aware of the bass.
When I work on audio I aim towards mastering audio that nothing stands out on. You listen and just enjoy the music. Where bass is needed on certain styles then its there in the mix. Reggie being a good example of this.
Also there are different types of bass - D&B and regiie have very different bass. Anyway, my point was that some bass on the later FW's was too subsonic and for me the 1.2.7 was too muddy.
The 1.2.8 I think is great -in that- it is very neutral, almost too neutral. Its pretty much what i wanted ! BUT there is no power behind the bass now For example on 'Machine Gun' by Hendrix, the drum has quite a sharp but full lush bass hit. On 1.2.8 it sounds weak.
I think for many people the differences the differences are subtle enough to be a non issue but if you have very sensative phones and have good ears the different FW quality can be something of an issue
I must say though the DX50 sounds so so good. The only reason im making a fuss / comment at all is because it has the capacity to deliver a sound that is unparralled and i think perfect...which is a rare thing!

I agree with your impressions on 1.2.8 and 1.2.7 except 1.2.3b. Similarly, I found 1.2.7 muddy but 1.2.3b is worst. SQ alone, 1.2.5 is the best for me followed very closely by 1.2.8 and a bit farther is 1.2.2.

I settled for 1.2.8 now because of the convenience and added features compared to 1.2.5. I find 1.2.8 bass a bit weaker than 1.2.5 but overall 1.2.8 is more balanced with the additional features and bug fixes it's easier for me to let go of 1.2.5 and go for 1.2.8.

By the way are you referring to "reggae" when you mentioned "reggie"? Or is it something else?

 

[xaddictionx]

I agree with your impressions on 1.2.8 and 1.2.7 except 1.2.3b. Similarly, I found 1.2.7 muddy but 1.2.3b is worst. SQ alone, 1.2.5 is the best for me followed very closely by 1.2.8 and a bit farther is 1.2.2.

I settled for 1.2.8 now because of the convenience and added features compared to 1.2.5. I find 1.2.8 bass a bit weaker than 1.2.5 but overall 1.2.8 is more balanced with the additional features and bug fixes it's easier for me to let go of 1.2.5 and go for 1.2.8.

By the way are you referring to "reggae" when you mentioned "reggie"? Or is it something else?

Same observations here. I find 1.2.8 and 1.2.5 better sounding than 1.2.2. Of course I settled for 1.2.8 too as it's much more stable and EQ also works fine.

 

[jon parker]

I agree with your impressions on 1.2.8 and 1.2.7 except 1.2.3b. Similarly, I found 1.2.7 muddy but 1.2.3b is worst. SQ alone, 1.2.5 is the best for me followed very closely by 1.2.8 and a bit farther is 1.2.2.

I settled for 1.2.8 now because of the convenience and added features compared to 1.2.5. I find 1.2.8 bass a bit weaker than 1.2.5 but overall 1.2.8 is more balanced with the additional features and bug fixes it's easier for me to let go of 1.2.5 and go for 1.2.8.

By the way are you referring to "reggae" when you mentioned "reggie"? Or is it something else?

The music with the dark skinned folk. The tend to have large knotty rope like hair. They hail, I believe from the Jamacain area (jeez, can't spell that either)  Anyway, check their music out , its not unpleasant

 

[headwhacker]

haha then Reggae it is.

 

[KT66]

  Updated! 

I can't see 1.2.8 on the list to choose from?

 

[GoldfishX]

Update (yes, more firmware ramblings from me).
 
I have been running 1.2.6 with the Lyr/Mad Dogs on coax out/no EQ and I can confirm the soundstage is what is making the music sound as it does. What I am sensing is the vocals are forward, but the band is playing WAY far back on a massive soundstage. That takes away from the liveliness of the music, especially coming from 1.2.5. I really have to focus on the details, they're there but not right on top of you. The neat thing is for the Mad Dogs (a closed back headphone), the soundstage is comparable to that of the HD800. The low mids aren't super clean, but I can make out 95% of what's there.

 

[MCImes]

I cant vote for some reason, but 1.2.2, duh!

 

[jon parker]

Well, Im glad I always make a point of saying "it sounds like this [WITH MY SET UP]"
I just bought  a pair of AKG550 cans and now have the issue of too much warmth & bass! * - almost the opposite of the issues Ive been having using the grado gr10 IEM's
Because the 550's are so unique in their sound signature  Im not sure what improvments could be made with the DX50 SQ because the phones would kind of over ride the subtlties
* Not really an issue just some careful adjustments needed.
I have to say the DX50 sounds phenominal on these cans through an amp via LO although not so good through the headphone amp, but to be fair Im a good 50-100 hours of burn in
away from being able to give a truer judgement
I still stand my initial views on the sound quality BUT but perhaps now more so or more relevent through high end sensative IEM's 

 

[xaddictionx]

Impressions and poll updated!

 

[Dickymint]

Hi all, I like to keep an eye on the forums and I recently bought an Ibasso DX50 which has the latest firmware in already. It didn't take it long to lock up, which needed a reset and to be honest, I don't really think much of the music reproduction from it. Sorry to be negative but it's just my opinion, I already have a Colorfly CK4, which is ok, about the same tone as the DX50 and I have a Hifiman 601, now this is a different kettle of fish altogether, this unit brings a smile to my face no matter what I play on it. For some reason the CK4 and theDX50 just sound numb, digital, without emotion, I suppose someone will tell me that it measures much better than the others  but from years of experience with Audio, I still believe that valves sound much better than solid state and vinyl is unbeatable! Getting old...
Some of you will ask what headphones I use, one set of Sennheiser HD598's with silver cabling and shortened standard, ( it does make a difference if you use the right connector,) a set of UE10's and a set of IE8's and I am still looking for a set of headphones that do justice to the DX50 but not these one's, or the unit is not that good? The next step for me is to try an external Dac, to see if that improves things, any ideas folks, some of you must be using external Dacs with the DX50? I did try a Fiio E11, you don't want to hear my opinion on that unit, I have a home made portable amp that wipes the floor with these units and it does seem to take the stiff edge off the DX50 but still lacking something. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to try the other firmware versions, though I would be interested to know if it was possible to go back a version or two? TBC.

 

[xaddictionx]

I think you can try posting in the DX50 main thread. Should be able to get more responses.