Ibasso DX90 - which headphones do you prefer to use with DX90?
Jul 14, 2015 at 10:57 AM Post #106 of 127
Currently pairing in no particular order
 
Etymotic ER 4PT
Etymotic MC 5
Oppo PM-3
head direct re 2
 
Bolded are the ones that get used the most.
 
Edit: Just like to add, as coming from a smartphone source for a long time, the difference between my headphones with smartphones and my headphones with the dx90 are worlds a part!
 
Jul 14, 2015 at 2:23 PM Post #107 of 127
i just discovered that at medium gain my dx90 can drive my hd800's really well!  
 
Jul 15, 2015 at 5:16 AM Post #108 of 127
Out of the 3 TOTL IEM's I have paired with DX90, I think the Angie sounds the best through HO of DX90.  However since I have my Pure II+ attached to the DX90, the IE800's gets up there with the added power.
 
Jul 17, 2015 at 1:40 PM Post #109 of 127
I think the DX90 sounds great with everything..but it really shines with JH13's.

It's great that the Portapros are getting a little love on this thread.  They used to be the "go to" entry drug recommendation but in recent years I think they've been swamped by all of the available options.  While the Portapros are great, I sold them long ago when I discovered the KSC-35, same great sound with a tighter bass, a touch more clarity and airiness.  You can often find them cheaper than a Portapro so that's a bonus.

HiFlight...would you have a source for the (standard) replacement headband you use?  I've been meaning to do that Mod for years on my set.


This confirms my suspicions. The sportapro is essentially the same as the 35, right? It's just the stock sportapro headband that makes them more bassy. I tried the parts express headband with both the porta pros and sporta pros. I felt the sporta pros with the headband were better. More air and as much bass, but possibly tighter. I took a trip with the porta pros on the parts express headband and immediately switched the headband back to the sporta pros. I like the porta pro as much with the stock headband as I like the sporta pro's with the parts express headband. The parts express is also very light and comfortable. Can someone confirm that the 35's are the same as the sporta pro? I am a hair trigger sway from a dx90. Can't wait to use it with my er4p and s and my koss.
 
Aug 5, 2015 at 2:33 AM Post #110 of 127
Oddly enough, a pair of Momentum On-Ears that I got for work and travel sounds great with the DX90. I bought them a few months ago more for the feature set than anything else, so I had yet to fall in love with their sound signature. Getting them to sound decent in iTunes required EQ. The DX90 really breathes life into them though. I think the warm, slightly muddy and rolled off sound signature from the Momentum balances nicely with the slightly bright and revealing sound of the DAP. I'm not sure if the term applies, but the veil is (sorta) lifted.
 
Aug 5, 2015 at 9:17 AM Post #111 of 127
Enjoying the Vmoda XS with DX90 at the moment, with amp (Lehmann Traveller) or without. 
The 2.30 FW works better with the XS which can be overly bassy with the wrong source
 
Aug 22, 2015 at 7:13 AM Post #112 of 127
Listening to mine using grado sr80i mainly. Tried shure se215 and soundmagic e80 . Grado sounds really nice with dx90 and I'm still burning my unit in as I've heard it'll sound better after 100hrs of that. se215's sound nice for what they are and e80's were too harsh on the highs for my taste - sounded much easier paired with cowon j3.
 
Oct 25, 2015 at 12:49 PM Post #113 of 127
the Fidue 83 dynamic hybrid driver IEM suits the dx90 really well...although tip rolling / firmware sounds sometimes take a bit of exploring to get the best!
Im not that impressed with the HD600's on them but that may be more about my personal sound preference
 
Nov 24, 2015 at 3:40 AM Post #115 of 127
  New DX90 owner here. Rollin with RS1s, SM64s, and Trinity Deltas. Very pleased with all three, especially the up-and-coming Deltas.

 
Glad to hear the DX90 worked out for you Joe. Its a good player, especially once you find a few decent pairings. My DX90 is purely used with 1Plus2 on firmware v2.2.0. I don't spilt them apart (as I have other DAPs / pairings). But in saying that, I feel they really need their Tralucent cable to have them sounding the way I enjoy, in this case pure silver. I've tried quite an expensive Toxic Cables Silver Widow with 1Plus2 on same combination although it wasn't the same. 
 
Jan 14, 2016 at 4:19 PM Post #116 of 127
CONFIRMATION HERE:
 
The KOSS PORTAPRO sound freaking good with the IBasso Dx90.
 
This will sound good with EVERYTHING but some electronic, modern rap and other digital bass music...
I was kind of sceptikal about the PortaPro but at the first listen I know this little gem was something special, the sound is very well articulated and airy, the bass is punchy like the grado but with a little more extension, mids are fowards but not the In-ya-face style, high are little bit recessed but the good (pumped up?) treble make details very audible.
I enjoy them even more with 24bit music (48-96).
Jazz, classical, worldmusic and rock sound especially good with them.
For my electronci music i'm still using the Xiaomi or the Sennheiser HD-280 (very rarely).
Grado GS-1000 is a win or miss with the DX90, depending of music type, as the treble is kind of harsh for most type of music (and the Dx90 dac).
 
I wonder what are the better closed headphones (portable or not) in the sub 500$ rang for electronic music coming out from the DX90? Any suggestions would be interesting.
I'm listening to rich, textured and bassy electronic, like Ametsub, Alva Noto, Kangding Ray, Atom Tm, Matmos, Flying Lotus, Daisuke Tanabe, Jan Jelinek, Ash Koosha, Arca and sometime to post r&b or wathever like Fka Twig and Kelela....
Unfortunately i'm sensible to everything and want the whole sound package include boomy but not muddy bass, lot of medium for the vocal, analytical high but not cold, sirupy treble...
 
Thanks for any serious recommendation!
 
Jan 15, 2016 at 1:10 AM Post #117 of 127
Both the M50x and the PM-3 sound great through the DX90. The bass is more plentiful on the M50x (and more accurate on the PM-3) but the mids and treble on the PM-3 really do justice to what the DX90 outputs. 
 
Jan 15, 2016 at 9:50 AM Post #118 of 127
Thanks for the answer Popzeus.
 
Hum, the Oppo PM3 look interesting, but I must admit they are not cheap...I read lots of positive reviews about them.
Did you listen different style of electro with them? Did they kicks well the bass?
Sometime, I don't find the mids fowards enough in the DX90, wich make me sad when I listen to Mazzy Star or Arianna Savall or other female signers...I don't know the official term for the type of sound I search, wich will be bassy with mids emphasis and good treble, good soundstage and separation and very musical without the needs of analytical highs because the DX90 is already reveling trough this sound spectrum.
 
Jan 15, 2016 at 12:15 PM Post #120 of 127
  Thanks for the answer Popzeus.
 
Hum, the Oppo PM3 look interesting, but I must admit they are not cheap...I read lots of positive reviews about them.
Did you listen different style of electro with them? Did they kicks well the bass?
Sometime, I don't find the mids fowards enough in the DX90, wich make me sad when I listen to Mazzy Star or Arianna Savall or other female signers...I don't know the official term for the type of sound I search, wich will be bassy with mids emphasis and good treble, good soundstage and separation and very musical without the needs of analytical highs because the DX90 is already reveling trough this sound spectrum.

I'm not sure if there's a silver bullet pair of headphones that do what you're asking, since there always seems to be a trade-off in terms of sound balance. But then again I'm not very familiar with phones that I don't own so there might be a perfect pair for you. I will say that the PM-3 is probably the nicest, most accurate pair of portable cans to use with the DX90 that I've heard. I'm not a big EDM guy, but the ATH-M50x have a bigger bass impact than the PM-3 when listening to Daft Punk, Bjork, Cornelius and an assortment of hip-hop on the DX90. Then again, life-like female vocals, a slightly wider soundstage and overall better separation, clarity and accuracy are big bonuses when it comes to the Oppos.
 

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