[maurits]

Quote:

Hm. That really good to know. Thank you. Can you confirm for me that a micro to mini usb is what is needed?

 
Right, USB Micro B male to Mini B male. It specifically needs to be an OTG cable, not just any old USB cable.

 

[Paul Graham]

Quote:

D-Zero USB OTG hooked up to Galaxy S3. Works like a charm...

 
This is nice... I just received an iBasso D-Zero bought directly from the manufacturer. I had no idea that a short USB OTG cable is included in the box now.
 

 
The cable is marked iBasso Audio - Android 4.0 & Above USB OTG Cable.
 
Kudos to iBasso for keeping ahead of the game!

 
After too'ing & froe'ing between head-fi, google, ebay,  back to google then here, 
Your post has grabbed my attention by the scruff of the neck!!
 
Basically I have the Fiio E17 & plan to use this as a DAC/Amp with Sony Xperia as a portable rig.
I WAS looking at the D-Zero before I bought the E17...
 
Im still going down my chosen path, However in the pursuit of the best portable rig for my needs, I must ask how does this rig 
sound, Perform ( power usage ), & Will it work with other 'Droid based Smart phones???
 
Thanks, Paul

 

[maurits]

Quote:

I must ask how does this rig 
sound, Perform ( power usage ), & Will it work with other 'Droid based Smart phones???

 
Paul, I am hardly qualified to review headphones and amp/dacs. I am very, very new at this and I have no other devices to compare sound quality with...

 
What I can say is that when MY ears judge several configs of Galaxy S3 and D-Zero, this is how I rate them using Poweramp as Android player (best on top).

1. Galaxy S3 > USB OTG > D-Zero as dac and amp > M-80's (sounds cleaner, bass goes lower with more punch, treble more extended, wider sound stage)
2. Galaxy S3 > 3.5 mm > D-Zero as amp only > M-80's (everything less good than above)
3. Galaxy S3 > M-80's (I liked this when I had no amp/dac, now this combo sounds cramped and muddy).
 
So yeah, for $109 the D-Zero gives me much better sound in a very portable set-up. Crappy recordings sound crappier and good recordings shine much more. I had a lot of 128 Kbps and 192 AAC's. Those are almost unlistenable now. So I am re-ripping my cd's to 320 Kbps now and my favorite ones to FLAC. I used FLAC files from Weather Report, Miles Davis, Kraftwerk, Maxwell, Cassandra Wilson etc. to do the comparison above.
 
I think that combo 1 above drains the Galaxy's battery faster than 2 and 3. But I may have left the USB charge switch on the D-Zero to ON.
 
When I compare the sound quality of the D-Zero to that of an Aune T1 tube dac/amp powering my M-80's, using the same tracks but played from Decibel on my Macbook Pro, the D-Zero (also hooked up to the MAc) does not even come close. The same goes for the sound when watching movies on an iPad 1, using a camera connector kit to the dac. The Aune T1 always wins. But it is not portable...
 
I have no other Android devices than the Galaxy S3. It is a stock T-Mobile international S3 model GT-19300, Android version 4.1.2, baseband I19300CEELL1, kernel 3.0.31-566833.

 

[Paul Graham]

Thanks for your reply Maurits it helps a lot actually.
I was new to it all once myself and Im still going through the process of replacing all my ****ty 128's with FLAC or similar lol.
I tried listening to The Prodigy Experience in iTunes original 128kbps download I had and it now sounds horrific to my ears, Where 5 or 6 years ago I wouldnt have noticed!

 

[Splather]

Hi guys
 
About to pull the trigger on an iBasso D Zero - I had a look at the manufacturer's website and I can't see what FLAC files it would support - anyone able to point me in the right direction?
 

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Hi guys
 
About to pull the trigger on an iBasso D Zero - I had a look at the manufacturer's website and I can't see what FLAC files it would support - anyone able to point me in the right direction?
 

What FLAC your PC can play is a question of what software you are using. The D-ZERO itself can play any audio encoded with/under 16bit/48kHz and doesn't care if it is a FLAC or MP3.

 

[Splather]

Hi ClieOS
 
Sorry, I wasn't being very clear - more going round in my head than I remembered to type out! I'm looking to use it with my Galaxy S3 primarily, maybe with my laptop every so often. But you're provided what I was after, and that was the part about the D Zero handling 16bit/48kHz. I have very very few files in 24bit and am unlikely to change that (I'd even re-encode to 16bit to work with it), so this seems absolutely perfect for my purposes. Thanks very much for the info. Trigger pulled!
 
btw - Do you know where people get the rubber bands (that's probably not the right term) that they use to hold the phone and dac together?
 

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

btw - Do you know where people get the rubber bands (that's probably not the right term) that they use to hold the phone and dac together?
 

 
Here you go.
 
Also, since you use Android - try Neutron Music Player if you haven't not done so already.

 

[Splather]

That's great, thank you. I tried Neutron a while back but couldn't get on with the UI, so I moved to PowerAmp. Might have another go with it though.
 
Thanks again!
 

 

[Splather]

Scratch that, bought it and the sound quality is outstanding! I'm guessing that the d zero will bypass neutron's processing?

 

[jay-w]

I can't decide between the D-Zero and the FiiO E12. 
 
D-Zero I can get now. Smaller size is a real plus as I hate carrying bulky items. The cleaner sound appeals to me as I don't want too much coloration.

 

[Paul Graham]

Quote:

I can't decide between the D-Zero and the FiiO E12. 
 
D-Zero I can get now. Smaller size is a real plus as I hate carrying bulky items. The cleaner sound appeals to me as I don't want too much coloration.

 
Looks to me like you've made your mind up already there

 

[Sachigatsu]

how do i know which D zero is fully charge? when orange turn off?

 

[pannomimi]

Quote:

how do i know which D zero is fully charge? when orange turn off?

When the red light turns off.
 
Anyway, does the battery of the phone drain very fast when connected to the d-zero and playing music? The battery of my phone decrease by about 4% for every song I play (around 5 minutes).

 

[Sachigatsu]

Thanks, hadn't experience that before as well as my J3. try use on low gain and use the volume control on the D zero. seriously the battery life is awesome haven't charge since the last week