[HeatFan12]

Hey Mark, received the DX50 a little while ago and have to say it is a wonderful device and I am very very pleased with the sound and features.
 
Thanks to your review, it was the last push I needed to pull the trigger. 

 
BTW, gapless playback is perfect...

 

[Uri Cohen]

Would it be overkill using a higher end Grado on the DX50?  I'm currently have the RS2i and the PS500 and in the future I'm picking up an AKG K712 pro. 

 

[mark2410]

  With respect to the interface, does it have any sort of Auto playlist generation or music selection, my favorite aspect of apple products is the Genius playlist generation, Samsung has a mood grid interface, I was wondering if this had something similar or are you limited to song/artist/genre etc.

 
not that i am aware of but ill confess, i have never tried on anything to auto generate playlists, or even bothered using playlists in general.  as i suspect itll be with me couple days yet ill try to remember and check this for you in the day time. presently past my bedtime.

  Hey Mark, received the DX50 a little while ago and have to say it is a wonderful device and I am very very pleased with the sound and features.
 
Thanks to your review, it was the last push I needed to pull the trigger. 

 
BTW, gapless playback is perfect...

 
thank you, im glad it helped you.
 

  Would it be overkill using a higher end Grado on the DX50?  I'm currently have the RS2i and the PS500 and in the future I'm picking up an AKG K712 pro. 

 
overkill, well ish.  i wouldnt buy 1k headphones if it was only source i had, i dont think so but if your asking if youd notice a difference between a 100 and a 1000 pair with the DX50 then yes you very much will.  when it comes to spending you see far bigger a return in headphones than you do in DAP's/source's.

 

[Nitreb]

I don't own a DX50, but I do use my Grado GS1000i with my Clip Zip (rockboxed) and it sounds very fine.

Would it be overkill using a higher end Grado on the DX50?  I'm currently have the RS2i and the PS500 and in the future I'm picking up an AKG K712 pro. 

 

 

[HeatFan12]

  Would it be overkill using a higher end Grado on the DX50?  I'm currently have the RS2i and the PS500 and in the future I'm picking up an AKG K712 pro.

 
 
Sounds delicious!
 
 

 

[jazzwave]

Last nite I paired DX-50 with HE-400, set Low Gain ( I prefer Low Gain sound of DX50) ,EQ flat 0,FW1.2.8
Sound is good but its look need more power to push HE-400 sing beautiful. HE-400 is only 35ohm cans, but I have to set volume over 230 .
My music preference ;All kind jazz

Basicaly ,I prefer sound direct from DAC to Headphone but in this case look like need external amp.
Any input under $200 amp, with warm sound? Portable or desktop.

~ron~

 

[ShaownS]

Excellent review. You touched the issue of the pairing between the DX50 and HiFiman RE-400. Over there in the DX50 firmware thread the members seemed to bash the synergy between these two. Could you please be a bit more specific, since I own a pair of them and absolutely love them? This single issue has been making me dither between the DX50 and the Fiio X3. What IEM would you recommend that would shine most with the DX50 in your view?
Thanks again for this beautiful review.

 

[jazzwave]

  Excellent review. You touched the issue of the pairing between the DX50 and HiFiman RE-400. Over there in the DX50 firmware thread the members seemed to bash the synergy between these two. Could you please be a bit more specific, since I own a pair of them and absolutely love them? This single issue has been making me dither between the DX50 and the Fiio X3. What IEM would you recommend that would shine most with the DX50 in your view?
Thanks again for this beautiful review.

 
I enjoy listening DX50 (fw1.2.8) with headphone HE-400 (not RE-400/IEM) , found for my taste the treble to much, need to to push down custom EQ 16k to -4 value .
 
IEM, I prefer warm IEM .I quite happy with TDK BA200 +DX50.I can listen music for long  hour without feel fatigue.Probably RE-400 will good as well pair with DX50, due to similiarity signature with BA200. 
For me IEM with detail ,sparkling treble, big bass  is nice, but finding IEM that can make me can listen music more enjoyable is more important.
 
Again ,this is my personal preference.
 

 

[pwiles1968]

   
not that i am aware of but ill confess, i have never tried on anything to auto generate playlists, or even bothered using playlists in general.  as i suspect itll be with me couple days yet ill try to remember and check this for you in the day time. presently past my bedtime.
 

 
Cheers would be good to know.

 

[mark2410]

right, the playlists thing.  well if there is a way to auto generate playlists its escaping me.  you can make playlists on the go with the device but i cant find any "auto" option. 
 
sorry.

 

[mark2410]

  Excellent review. You touched the issue of the pairing between the DX50 and HiFiman RE-400. Over there in the DX50 firmware thread the members seemed to bash the synergy between these two. Could you please be a bit more specific, since I own a pair of them and absolutely love them? This single issue has been making me dither between the DX50 and the Fiio X3. What IEM would you recommend that would shine most with the DX50 in your view?
Thanks again for this beautiful review.

 
bash the snyergy, well i thought they went well together but i suspect they were noteing that the treble gets tamed.  for me thats why i liked the pairing as i feel the treble on the 400 (while still amazing for the money) is where it falls behind a bit and certainly behind its predecessor, the RE-0.  the treblo an the 400 isnt as refined, its a bit edgy and brittle and the DX50 nicely glosses over that harshness.  however taming that aggressive edge i can see that some may feel it too tame, the same sort of person that loves the likes of the DBA-02.  the 02 i find super hard and brittle, its hard and tiring on my ears but many, many round here just loved it that thing.  i am relatively treble sensitive so i tend to like treble that is less ravaging and the gentle sanding of the treble on the 400 is great for me.
 
DX50 vs X3 is a hard question and it depends what you want and need from it.  the DX50 sounds "better" but its even warmer and smoother than the X3, so how warm do you want. the UI on the 50 is massively better. the exFAT support is really handy if you want bigger cards, super useful if you if your going to keep the DAP a leng time.  however the big huge plus the X3 has is that it can be a DAC too.  i know the 50 has been rumoured will get DAC functionality but if and when, who knows.  the X3 you basically get 2 devices in one and its cheaper so its just super good value.  still if you dont need a DAC that doesnt matter so much and the 50 sounds a bit better and is much nicer to use.
 
so in short, toss a coin

 

[GoldfishX]

Again though, stick Rockbox on the DX50 and that "warmness" from the various firmwares goes away. It's pretty dead neutral to me. If anything, it becomes a little too analytical (but you can tweak the 4khz and 8khz EQ bands to ease the high mids and treble...Rockbox EQ works very well without the inherent goofiness of the Ibasso EQ). That flexibility has made it my go-to source in recent months.

 

[HeatFan12]

  Again though, stick Rockbox on the DX50 and that "warmness" from the various firmwares goes away. It's pretty dead neutral to me. If anything, it becomes a little too analytical (but you can tweak the 4khz and 8khz EQ bands to ease the high mids and treble...Rockbox EQ works very well without the inherent goofiness of the Ibasso EQ). That flexibility has made it my go-to source in recent months.

 
 
I have several devices with RB, but no hi-rez content on them.  How does RB deal with hi-rez and DX50?
 
Thanks

 

[GoldfishX]

Flawlessly with 24/96. Check the DX50 on Rockbox thread for other formats. But it handled everything just fine (without downsizing the files...plays them natively). I'm pretty sure the regular firmwares handle it as well though.

 

[HeatFan12]

  Flawlessly with 24/96. Check the DX50 on Rockbox thread for other formats. But it handled everything just fine (without downsizing the files...plays them natively). I'm pretty sure the regular firmwares handle it as well though.

 
 
Thanks GoldfishX, yeah the 1.2.8 firmware handles it great.  Just wanted to make sure RB did not downsample them.