[proedros]

  Got my DX90 last night.  I have had several BSODs plugging/unplugging the unit into my USB 3.0 port on my Maingear PC, windows 7, 64-bit.  The pre-installed driver is 2.1.5.  I did a search on the other thread, and see that some folks have had this experience, but way back in the Fall of 2014.  Nothing really current.  I am curious if some DX90 owners have any insights or suggestions from an end-user perspective about how to plug/un-plug the unit.  I am "safely removing hardware" first.  I think my issue could be user error in that on two occasions I tried plugging in my USB cable the wrong way to the PC, and it did not like that.  
 
Whenever I connect the DX90 to the PC, I get a Windows message asking me if I would like to "scan and fix" the DX90, and I select "Continue without Scanning."  Please let me know if I should select "Scan and Fix (DX90)."
 
Thanks for any suggestions.
 
EDIT:  Staring to think this is more of a USB 3.0 thing as it also happened with my external SD card reader.  I am away from my PC, but may try other things in the future (plugging DX90 into a 2.0 port; downloading and installing iBasso drivers).  Most importantly, I already have a very good DAC and USB > S/PDIF converter connected to this PC and have zero interest in using the DX90 as a DAC.

 
 
i usually select scan and fix , it takes justa few seconds for it.
 
ps : greetings from another aenima fan here (although new album will probably appear in 2017

)

 

[walkman666]

@ proedros, thank you. And, coooool on the Tool thing. Yes, near and dear to moi.

 

[walkman666]

First strong listening session where I did exactly what I typically do with my portable: go to gym and listen to hard alt rock while exercising. Today the dx90 replaced my iPod 7 gen and pico slim combo. I noticed subtle but not dramatic sonic improvements. A wider soundstage and some better detail. I tried two different high rez recordings from hd tracks

EDIT: seems like my previously reported, and subsequently deleted, issue of tracks being cutoff on a high Rez download of sound gardens super unknown could have been due to a bad file, not the dap. I had hangs within river mc with this file, too. I've since re downloaded from the web.

Thanks

 

[wolfen68]

   
 
i usually select scan and fix , it takes justa few seconds for it.
 
ps : greetings from another aenima fan here (although new album will probably appear in 2017

)

Windows will sometimes report external storage as requiring a "Scan and Fix".  This is often reported around the web on different devices and it is largely recommended to ignore this message.
 
We have two DX90 in the house (each with its own card...one yields the Scan and Fix message every time (mine) and the other (my son's) does not.  I have experienced no other problem and it appears the message is a false message, perhaps due to formatting type. 

 

[walkman666]

Agree, wolfen. I selected scan and fix the next time, and it reported no problems found.

Fyi, my 128gb sd card (san disk sdhx ultra) takes 40 minutes to scan. I'd prefer five minutes like others, but whatever.

 

[Lurker0]

I've found a mechanical defect in my DX90.
 
There is a golden pin soldered into the player's board. Its purpose is to ground the metal battery cover. There is a hole in the back panel for the pin to go through. But, the back panel has a conductive tape inside, for electrical contact between the battery holder and the battery cover. In my DX90, the tape prevented the pin to go through the hole.
 
I've cut the tape inside the hole, and now the pin goes outside, and a corresponding scratch appeared on the battery cover, which means, they have connected now. On the picture you can see both the pin and the scratch.
 
It also means, that, in the original assembly, the board experiences mechanical stress under the pin (and so does the back cover), which is not good for the long run.
 
If you don't see the pin like on the picture, I'd suggest you to cut the hole and allow the pin to go out.
 
Note: If you see the pin protruding through the hole, even covered by that conductive tape, you may leave it as it is! My problem was that the pin didn't come out, stressing the board and the back cover, with no a trace of the contact on the battery cover.
 
Note 2: Mine was manufactured in May, 2014. There is an information from a recent buyer that in the latest batch the pin has a spring inside, i.e. the problem seems was fixed later...
 

 

[Arturoo123]

Thank you for the advice Lurker0,
 
I have opened my DX90 and looks like this:
 

 
I think that my DX90 does not has a golden pin (but I'm not 100% sure) and the golden contact in the other hole is doing the ground function.
How can I know when my DX90 was manufactured?

 

[wolfen68]

I opened my son's and it doesn't seem to any obvious pin pushing on the back side of the mesh material...plus it doesn't have the additional "fabric" outside the holes on the top.  
 
Mine is much newer, I'll have to see if that one is different.  I'll hold off on cutting anything until this issue gets kicked around a bit. 
 
Quote:

  I've found a mechanical defect in my DX90.

 

[ttt123]

  I've found a mechanical defect in my DX90.
 
There is a golden pin soldered into the player's board. Its purpose is to ground the metal battery cover. There is a hole in the back panel for the pin to go through. But, the back panel has a conductive tape inside, for electrical contact between the battery holder and the battery cover. In my DX90, the tape prevented the pin to go through the hole.
 
I've cut the tape inside the hole, and now the pin goes outside, and a corresponding scratch appeared on the battery cover, which means, they have connected now. On the picture you can see both the pin and the scratch.
 
It also means, that, in the original assembly, the board experiences mechanical stress under the pin (and so does the back cover), which is not good for the long run.
 
If you don't see the pin like on the picture, I'd suggest you to cut the hole and allow the pin to go out.
 
Note: If you see the pin protruding through the hole, even covered by that conductive tape, you may leave it as it is! My problem was that the pin didn't come out, stressing the board and the back cover, with no a trace of the contact on the battery cover.
 
Note 2: Mine was manufactured in May, 2014. There is an information from a recent buyer that in the latest batch the pin has a spring inside, i.e. the problem seems was fixed later...
 

 
I bought my DX90 in early May, in H.K.  The pin is covered by tape.  After I cut the tape, and used a sharp pin to expose the golden pin, I see that it is spring loaded.  i.e. I can push on it, and it will pop back out again.  Thinking about this, I assume that iBasso engineers had a good reason to ground the back cover.  I believe this is to create a Faraday cage/shield, to ground the EMI that is present in the player.  I saw another reader's comment about the digital  circuits in other players having metal shields covering them, but noting that this was not present in the DX90.  This golden ground pin may be an essential part of the design, to absorb the EMI by sending it to ground.  Without this, the EMI may bounce around, and build up, and have a major impact on the electronics. 
 
Another finding is that there is a notch in the back cover, so that the edge of the cover will not catch on the pin, but the notch allows the cover to slide over the golden pin.  There is another common defect here, that the back plate is anodized, so there can be no electrical connection between the pin and the back cover.  This is a common failing in the manufacturing process, that this small detail is overlooked, making the grounding scheme ineffective.  All that is needed is to tape the spot where the pin needs to make connection, before anodizing the metal.  Then peel the tape off afterwards, to expose the bare metal.
 
I used a push pin to scrape the anodization off the area where the pin should ground the back cover, and this I believe is what the engineers meant to do, to ground the metal back cover plate, to reduce EMI.
 
I believe the above is essential to do, to implement the original engineering design.
 
I did the above, and also put new silicone earbuds on my IE800, to create a better seal. (Audio Technica ER-CKM55L works well, I find, for many earphones.  For the IE800, they are fitted onto a IE800 small earbud shaft, with the original earbud removed.)  I did this without thinking that there would be any changes in the SQ, from these very minor changes.  Better bass extension with the better earbud seal, I expected.
 
What I experienced was a major SQ change.  Bass extension that I had not heard before, with impact and speed, and "slam", and more micro details and textures, with major improvements in "stage".  Repetetive bass lines which I had though boring, became mesmerizing.  In short, a lot of music was more involving, and had that "toe tapping" urge.
 
The only reason I can think of for these major changes is that the proper grounding is "sinking" the EMI that was previously polluting the processing, and the overall SQ.  Getting rid of it allowed the circuitry to work without handling the noise.  Kind of like cleaning up the AC with a regenerator, or filtering out the noise.  These kind of changes have a major impact on everything.  Deeper background, micro details are not masked, more power available for the Bass, etc.
 
So, for such a minor, no cost change, which just needs a little work, I think this is a must do.  If you get some or all of the improvements which I'm seeing, great.  Even if you get much less, you will still be doing the right thing, to ground the back cover properly.  And maybe you'll get some good SQ improvement.......Anyways, what do you have to lose?  And I would be very curious to see if anybody else observes improvements.

 

[lian00]

I must say I'm a little afraid to make physical change on my DX 90

 

[ttt123]

Understood.  If you've experienced simple things going drastically wrong, then obviously be cautious.  And you may not want to try, even if simple, if you are worried about making a mistake.   I've made my share of mistakes, even though I consider myself experienced with doing hardware changes. 
 
 For this one, for anybody who is going to try, cut the tape carefully on the edges with a sharp razor knife.  Then use a tweezer or pin to carefully, and slowly, pull the tape away from the golden pin.  Don't use too much force, and just do a little at a time, and it should be OK.  This other part, scraping the anodization off the back cover, is straightforward.  Can't hurt anything doing that.

 

[HiFiChris]

I didn't know about that "hidden" pin, wow.
Now its not covered by tape anymore and I've also scraped some of the anodization off the small notch in the back cover.
 
The tape on my DX90 looked like the one shown in post #382 with that small hole. I guess it was meant for the pin but for some reason got drilled on the wrong position.
 
Another (software) issue that hasn't been fixed yet:
 

  I'm still hoping you are adding the ability to the settings for the "Artist" library sorted by either "Track Artist" or "Album Artist".
Currently all of the tracks are sorted by "Track Artist" in the library view which causes multiple values on the same album (e.G. "Touch Yello" where are several guest artists and therefore there is e.G. "Yello ft. Till Broenne" -> "Touch Yello" -> [the tracks only featureing Till Broenner instead of all of the tracks]).
Many older DAPs share the same problem (e.G. iPod Classic). Newer ones don't, they have got the right library sorting by "Album Artist" (A&K, Apple iPhone (where you can select a sorting either by track artist or album artist).
It would be really nice if you could fix that.


 

 

[chawya22]

I've noticed what I guess is a bug. In Artist mode, if you do a quick tap on an Artist you get a menu with the options > Play - Add to Playlist - Delete. If you select Delete you will delete all Albums for that Artist, which it does, but it leaves the folder directory structure with no files inside of the folders. Maybe this behavior happens with other sorting options but I've only experienced using Artist. It's a nice feature for quick on the fly deletions but you still need to do cleanup via your computer.

 

[ttt123]

  I didn't know about that "hidden" pin, wow.
Now its not covered by tape anymore and I've also scraped some of the anodization off the small notch in the back cover.
 
The tape on my DX90 looked like the one shown in post #382 with that small hole. I guess it was meant for the pin but for some reason got drilled on the wrong position.
 
Another (software) issue that hasn't been fixed yet:
 

The pin meets the back cover a little above the notch, when the cover is fully closed.  So need to scrape about 1/16" just above the notch.

 

[nakedtoes]

For those using extended battery wo cover..means pin can't ground.