[twister6]

As promised, my detailed review of D16/PB5 combo is up! Enjoy the read!

 

[Whitigir]

As promised, my detailed review of D16/PB5 combo is up! Enjoy the read!

Amazing reviews with many comparisons. Thank you !

It is interesting about double amping and the hissing. This exposes more of why hissing was an issues in the first place. It has something more to do with LDR. When you are raising voltages/current from a mere small 3.5V battery pack, something will have to give. Especially when you are taking it and yet amplifying it once more, aka, double amping.

Now, the extensions of bass rumbling and trebles sparkling, these can be improved in the system. It mainly comes from Interconnect cables. I use

1/ Silver Coax
2/ Silver IC between D16/PB5
3/ Silver interconnect internally from D16

The main improvement is the #3. It also elevate the staging and layering even further

All of the sparkling and nuances really don’t mean much in comparisons to the timbres and analogues energies that the Stack D16/PB5 can provide. Needless to say, upgrading them by using IC, you will lose out the intimate feelings of analogues, liquidity and viscosity of the whole thing. Therefore, I understand why Ibasso opted for what it is, in stock configuration and providing the IC cables as is. Ibasso wants people to hear that they are able to retrieve and reproduce Analogs music and it magical from portable digital systems. In this front, non of my other systems including desktop systems can stand up to it.

I called it the ground breaking performances just because it can sing like an analogues cassette or reel deck minus the hissing, but with a lot more details. Just because of this alone, the timbres, the dynamic variations, that brings organic instruments and it timbres from a recording to Life !!! I have to say until this very moment, it is the best I have heard from all of the many years I have been in this hobby. Surprisingly from a little small stack like this

This whole stack made me rethink and had to go find some more materials/books to learn more about the algorithms, the filters, the reconstructions of the wave forms and so on. That is how good it is, just for the timbres and it dynamic variations from within

 

[Beh0lder]

I just got the PB5 and enjoy it greatly - as I wrote in my AVS post, it brings so much to the table and it works quite great with my SR35 after I figured out how LO works in AK's UI. Minimal hissing with my Raven, no hissing with N7. The cable barrel is stupid wide but fits both DX300 and SR35

 

[WarrenS]

The PB5 is such an amazing pairing for the MM Multiverse Mentor.

I upgraded the stock iBasso cable to a ddHifi BC44B. I can hear a slight sonic upgrade in clarity and it is a much nicer cable to use. The terminations on the iBasso cable are just a little bit bulky for me.

 

[Whitigir]

I just got the PB5 and enjoy it greatly - as I wrote in my AVS post, it brings so much to the table and it works quite great with my SR35 after I figured out how LO works in AK's UI. Minimal hissing with my Raven, no hissing with N7. The cable barrel is stupid wide but fits both DX300 and SR35

The PB5 is such an amazing pairing for the MM Multiverse Mentor.
I upgraded the stock iBasso cable to a ddHifi BC44B. I can hear a slight sonic upgrade in clarity and it is a much nicer cable to use. The terminations on the iBasso cable are just too bulky.

Welcome to the club !!! Stay a while and enjoy!!

 

[Kobe4ever]

Question : if I want to connect my daps ( N30LE and SP3000 ) to the PB5 , can I use my IC 4.4 Orpheus S ?

 

[slumberman]

Question : if I want to connect my daps ( N30LE and SP3000 ) to the PB5 , can I use my IC 4.4 Orpheus S ?

I don't see a reason not to, in fact I bet it'll sound fantastic!

 

[sofastreamer]

would you guys mind telling what let you choose the PB5 instead of the D16 Taipan? Specially when using IEM, which would get more than enough power from the D16? And do all of you use a dedicated DAP or does someone use a dac-phone combo with it? If so, which dac do you use and why?

 

[WarrenS]

would you guys mind telling what let you choose the PB5 instead of the D16 Taipan? Specially when using IEM, which would get more than enough power from the D16? And do all of you use a dedicated DAP or does someone use a dac-phone combo with it? If so, which dac do you use and why?

I haven't heard the D16 but it is the more versatile device with an inbuilt 1 Bit Discrete DAC. The PB5 is an AMP only and you will need a separate quality DAC with a 4.4 line out to get the best out of it. Something like the Cayin RU7 would work well and keep costs down

 

[twister6]

would you guys mind telling what let you choose the PB5 instead of the D16 Taipan? Specially when using IEM, which would get more than enough power from the D16? And do all of you use a dedicated DAP or does someone use a dac-phone combo with it? If so, which dac do you use and why?

I would think people pick PB5 to complement D16, rather than choosing one instead of the other I mean, PB5 is just an analog dual nutube amplifier, it needs an analog source to "amplify" the input. D16 is DAC/amp, you just need to feed it with a digital source, like your phone or another DAP, and it will do its D/A magic with its own internal amplification which gives you a ton of power. Now, relative to IEMs, where PB5 comes into the picture is to enhance/color the output of D16. PB5 has a warmer analog textured tonality with a huge soundstage expansion, and you can use it directly from D16 LineOut or even double-amp it from D16. I covered a lot of it in my review.

Since we are in iBasso thread and relative to iBasso products , if you want a simple solution for your smartphone, DC Elite will be all you need to use with IEMs to give you hi-end sound. If you don't want to drain your phone's battery, need higher output power, want more input/output flexibility with enhanced functionality, and enhanced analog tonality - you step up to D16. Then, if you want to add more coloring to your IEMs, you add PB5 to your audio chain, D16/PB5 have a great pair up synergy. If you are using full size more demanding headphones which require a more powerful source to enhance their audio performance (not just the tonality), adding PB5 to your source will be important as well.

The route of Smartphone/D16/PB5 vs DAP/D16/PB5 (btw, I was pleased with DX260/D16/PB5) will be up to your preference. I recently had a discussion with a few people who couldn't take using their smartphone as a digital source because of non-stop notifications which drive them crazy and interrupt music listening. So they prefer a dedicated DAP source. And then, there are others who enjoy their smartphone as a source, especially on the go for streaming where they don't have access to wifi. As they say, YMMV

 

[sofastreamer]

i know, what an amp and what a dac is. also i know what a 1bit dac does compared to delta sigma. Also i know what tubes do in contrast to solid state amps. So as i read here that not everyone owns both, i just wondered what makes one grab the amp instead or at least before the dac/(amp).
My logic would be to get the great dac with a good enough amp for many headphones first and once i figure out, i need an even warmer/more distorted(analogue) soundsignature or simply more power, because my headphones are too demanding, i could still throw my earnings over the counter and get the tube amp too.
Personally I would buy neither of them, but thats another story and a personal thing as i dont have a usecase for them. i believe they are extraordinarily great pieces of gear no question about that.
As might be the elite, even tho there is the mojo for the exact same price and thats when things start getting slightly hilarious. Nothing to complain tho, thats hifi, better not try to encounter things with logic, finally its all about having fun, one way or the other.

 

[twister6]

i know, what an amp and what a dac is. also i know what a 1bit dac does compared to delta sigma. Also i know what tubes do in contrast to solid state amps. So as i read here that not everyone owns both, i just wondered what makes one grab the amp instead or at least before the dac/(amp).
My logic would be to get the great dac with a good enough amp for many headphones first and once i figure out, i need an even warmer/more distorted(analogue) soundsignature or simply more power, because my headphones are too demanding, i could still throw my earnings over the counter and get the tube amp too.
Personally I would buy neither of them, but thats another story and a personal thing as i dont have a usecase for them. i believe they are extraordinarily great pieces of gear no question about that.
As might be the elite, even tho there is the mojo for the exact same price and thats when things start getting slightly hilarious. Nothing to complain tho, thats hifi, better not try to encounter things with logic, finally its all about having fun, one way or the other.

Exactly, it's all about having fun while mixing and matching different audio components. One thing I do want to add, adding PB5 to a clean output of either D16 or Dx320Max Line Outs felt like adding a coloring to the tonality, but not at the expense of analog "distortion" or lower resolution. You can experiment with double amping to get some distortion, but LO connection is pretty clean to my ears.

 

[MatW]

Sounding great out of the box!

 

[Edric Li]

Exactly, it's all about having fun while mixing and matching different audio components. One thing I do want to add, adding PB5 to a clean output of either D16 or Dx320Max Line Outs felt like adding a coloring to the tonality, but not at the expense of analog "distortion" or lower resolution. You can experiment with double amping to get some distortion, but LO connection is pretty clean to my ears.

I wish this was discussed more in your review How good is the PB5 exactly, besides coloring the sound? Do you hear an improvement in resolution, imaging and soundstage?

 

[Infoseeker]

It does have all the pros of being midbass punchy.

With the mid-bass and mids being a little step forward, that does mean the staging and imaging does get closed-in a small step. Compared to my 300max's built-in amp.

In terms of obvious mids-haze or possible distortion, there is no problems.........well......other than my uncanny feelings about the treble.