[AnakChan]

Just my 2 yen worth, may want to branch out and try out other DACs too. IMHO, other DACs have raised the bar over Wolfson - e.g. AKM's AK4353 & AK4480, ES9018, etc. I have the DX100, and I've listened to the Sony NW-Z1070 & Cowon J3. I still own a VentureCraft Go-DAP, CLAS, diyMOD iPod Photo 4th Gen. That's also pretty much in order of my personal preference in SQ.
 
If I didn't get the DX100, I'd consider the NW-Z1070 very seriously. In fact I'm still considering the NW-Z1070 despite owning the DX100. Yes the Z-series can have a LOD. I've not tried the X series.

 

[doublea71]

Quote:

It's personal, just an insider thing though. 
 


 

That's pretty cool - I bet you can be pretty specific about tuning preferences...customs seem to be the way to go.

 

[hyogen]

Just my 2 yen worth, may want to branch out and try out other DACs too. IMHO, other DACs have raised the bar over Wolfson - e.g. AKM's AK4353 & AK4480, ES9018, etc. I have the DX100, and I've listened to the Sony NW-Z1070 & Cowon J3. I still own a VentureCraft Go-DAP, CLAS, diyMOD iPod Photo 4th Gen. That's also pretty much in order of my personal preference in SQ.
 
If I didn't get the DX100, I'd consider the NW-Z1070 very seriously. In fact I'm still considering the NW-Z1070 despite owning the DX100. Yes the Z-series can have a LOD. I've not tried the X series.

Wow.. I see. I'm especially surprised that DIYmod 4th gen is at the bottom of your ranking. How does that compare to iPod 5g or 5.5g?

I'll try branching out. I've been partial to so far since they were my first love and I fell for them big time.

And Sony and j3 are both above the go-dap?

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

Wow.. I see. I'm especially surprised that DIYmod 4th gen is at the bottom of your ranking. How does that compare to iPod 5g or 5.5g?
I'll try branching out. I've been partial to so far since they were my first love and I fell for them big time.
And Sony and j3 are both above the go-dap?

Sorry, not tried the 5G or 5.5G. After the iPod 4th Gen, I pretty much went the iPhone route (3G, 3GS, 4, 4S - as such the investments in the HP-P1, CLAS, Go-DAP). The issue I have with the diyMOD 4th Gen is that it's bass lacking. I've actually asked a question on the diyMod thread but no one has answered. The caps only have 20+ hr burn-in and I understand that will take away the sibilance but I don't know if it will help in the lack of bass.
 
My upgraded Go-DAP was my top ranking DAC/Amp over the CLAS+PicoSlim/SR-71 combo for many months. The detail, smoothness, and soundstage was simply brilliant. I demo-ed the Sony Z-Series and Cowon J3 quite a bit at the local store (esp when their demo stations were side-by-side ), whilst I had my Go-DAP and Ultrasone Ed8 with me and although I couldn't test my own tracks, I'd say the Z-series & Cowon are a step ahead of the Go-DAP but not by much. The DX100 OTOH, is more than a few steps ahead (and I don't have to worry about converting my ALACs/FLACs to ATRAC ).
 
Back to DACs though, Wolfson has had a good name for many years - iMods/diyMods have been around for some time. That reputation though has helped promote some of the external DACs such as the CLAS. But (at least in Japan), I'm seeing some nice DACs coming out especially AKM ones. And finally iBasso putting a desktop DAC ES9018 chip into a portable DX100 has raised the bar dramatically.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Fine! I'll keep an eye out for a DX200.  Until then though, my 5.5G will probably be sold off, all my custom LODs for it as well.  I have purchased 2 different LODs for the Walkman Z, and still haven't amped it (tried for a minute or two, but like the unit on its own). As far as 5.5G and the iPod touch 4G... I found the 5.5G to be smooth, but slightly dark. The Touch to be brighter, and maybe a little livelier?  Well, I've found the Z to have both of those traits, and better Bass than both too. Again, this is all personal opinion.

 

[atty101]

^^ heh, maybe when the DX200 comes out I'll be able to afford the DX100....

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Seriously!  $830 is a lot of coin... especially when I'm looking for a house, and want to put something away for a listening room (small one)... will be using a Desktop setup... like a Mini Maggie or something.
Quote:

^^ heh, maybe when the DX200 comes out I'll be able to afford the DX100....

 

 

[Thing Fish]

.
 

 

[UnityIsPower]

 
Quote:

Just took delivery of an iBasso DB2 and added it to my stack. So, here's the 'full stack'.....
 

 

 

 
Darned flash picks up everything!

 

 

Makes me wonder.. do they sell a type of music player that has such good parts... it would eliminate the need to carry such a contraption, lol.
 

 

[turokrocks]

Quote:

 
Quote:

Just took delivery of an iBasso DB2 and added it to my stack. So, here's the 'full stack'.....
 

 

 

 
Darned flash picks up everything!

 

 

Makes me wonder.. do they sell a type of music player that has such good parts... it would eliminate the need to carry such a contraption, lol.
 

The closest might be the DX100, and believe me it has a fantastic SQ.
 
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Just took delivery of an iBasso DB2 and added it to my stack. So, here's the 'full stack'.....

These are the kind of pics to keep around for when someone says that the Objective 2 is way too big to be used as a portable.

 

[hyogen]

Quote:

 
Quote:

Just took delivery of an iBasso DB2 and added it to my stack. So, here's the 'full stack'.....
 

 

 

 
Darned flash picks up everything!

 

 

Makes me wonder.. do they sell a type of music player that has such good parts... it would eliminate the need to carry such a contraption, lol.
 

The closest might be the DX100, and believe me it has a fantastic SQ.
 
 

Can someone educate me on what all this stuff is and does? Is it triple amping and is it less than ideal? I believe the sr71 is a great rsa amp... Is the cypher a USB DAC? iPods dac is bypassed somehow?

 

[Austin Morrow]

Everybody's gear looks quite nice. Guess I'll add mine. iPod Video - Whiplash Audio TWag V2 Hybrid LOD - ALO Audio The National - Grado GR10 (Not pictured).
 

 

[cogsand gears]

Nice set up. But, may I suggest a low profile LOD? That one is quite pokey outey

 
Quote:

Everybody's gear looks quite nice. Guess I'll add mine. iPod Video - Whiplash Audio TWag V2 Hybrid LOD - ALO Audio The National - Grado GR10 (Not pictured).
 

 

 

[atty101]

The National's got a nice small footprint. Looks good with your iPod. Decent price too, I'll have to check it out.
 
Quote:

Everybody's gear looks quite nice. Guess I'll add mine. iPod Video - Whiplash Audio TWag V2 Hybrid LOD - ALO Audio The National - Grado GR10 (Not pictured).