[kunsucious]

That's my problem too. I am lazy to find my sources. So basically my music is from spotify premium in my iPad. I use ipad to listen song, coz the phone is not enough space and drain battery real quick.

Yea guess I should have done my research a bit more before purchasing haha

 

[kdava]

Is it just my phone that can play FLAC? I don't really get all this hype about hi-res DAPs either. I'm not saying they must be bad or pointless, just that modern phones can pretty much do the same, can't they? Sure, if you want to listen to music with a hard-to-drive hp, then you'll need more power, but who wants to use high-end orthos, etc. on the bus? I think there are really good, easy-to-drive but higher-end headphones out there nowadays, that do just fine with a phone and nothing else.
 
Sure, sound quality might be better as well, but these new smartphones have pretty decent DACs and amps inside them. You'll surely get a bit better SQ from a dap, but is that marginal improvement a priority when you are listening on the go?
 
Although I will admit that if I had an iPhone, I'd get a dap just to get rid of the crappiest audio sync software in universe, iTunes.

 

[LNuneek]

Is it just my phone that can play FLAC? I don't really get all this hype about hi-res DAPs either. I'm not saying they must be bad or pointless, just that modern phones can pretty much do the same, can't they? Sure, if you want to listen to music with a hard-to-drive hp, then you'll need more power, but who wants to use high-end orthos, etc. on the bus? I think there are really good, easy-to-drive but higher-end headphones out there nowadays, that do just fine with a phone and nothing else.

Sure, sound quality might be better as well, but these new smartphones have pretty decent DACs and amps inside them. You'll surely get a bit better SQ from a dap, but is that marginal improvement a priority when you are listening on the go?

Although I will admit that if I had an iPhone, I'd get a dap just to get rid of the crappiest audio sync software in universe, iTunes.

I agree with you on just about everything you said. I just don't get all the general itunes hate. It's so freaking easy to use and organize music exactly how you want it. I find Apple products really easy and intuitive to use. Good quality and long lasting. They synergize with me very well. I like how everything just works with minimal fuss.

 

[kunsucious]

   
 
 
 
 
 

DAPs, especially those that aren't iPods, are obviously not for you. The fact that you like Apple's software should have been the first clue, because at least Android users would be familiar enough with how SDcards work, the same way that I don't find it to be an alien task if I had to pull the SDcard out of my camera in order to copy the images to my computer to be processed on Lightroom. First of all, the file organization - one of the primary reasons why these were developed in the first place was precisely to get around the tediousness of using iTunes. Let's take my experience for example: it took me hours to figure out that I have to delete the albums on my iPad/iPod, then hook it up again to my computer to transfer files. By contrast, with Androids and DAPs (some of which by the way use some kind of Android OS as a basis for the firmware), I just take out the SD card, slip it into my computer, delete the folders I don't want, then copy-paste the new ones; I put it back into the device, reset, done. Apple users think that's a lot of things to do, but I did it all in one device - my computer - instead of deleting on the mobile device then using it on a computer. Drag and Drop was specifically requested as a feature when the X3 was being developed, and obviously, it was something also asked of (or not necessarily needed, as it would have already been a feature acknowledged by) Ibasso.

 

Second, the file formats. Apple's dependence on iTunes means that one is locked into using it as a music manager, from purchasing to managing content on players, but at some point even those  who ripped their own physical CDs were having issues with it. 

 It's like when I purchased a Camera Connection Kit originally for my camera instead of my DAC, only to find out that I can't use my iPad to back up on the go because it can't detect RAW files, only JPEG. It might be as strange to Apple users as FLAC vs iTunes downloads is, but without getting into the long-winded details here, it's because I needed to fix dynamic range/contrast, all the way up to merging RAW frames for high dynamic range photography.

 

Third, and related to the previous point, your music isn't exactly the kind of music that is being sold in lossless format (or even 320kbps VBR).You can spend all day on www.hdtracks.com or any other download sites (hell I found a bunch of new ones just by using Google, including one where I got an album released as an Indie record in Montreal but downloaded from a site in France that didn't give a crap about where I am based on my IP address) , and you're not likely to find your music there. Most of the music there are made with real instruments (to quote that Spongebob meme), to the point that some of them scoff at the idea of using a guitar amplifier. Add to that how real acoustic instruments are more easily recorded for precise imaging to create a space that replicates the positions of each instrument on stage (to scale anyway), whereas your music doesn't have at least four band members in precise locations, but very likely just one guy with a Macbook. There is no soundstage to image there - I'v heard quite a few that sound like they're recorded in mono and some of my friends can't even tell the difference from stereophonic recording standards, which is undertandable because you only really need channel separation in order to hear the lead and rhythm guitar separately (or each of the strings from each of the brass). 

 

Fourth, and again related to the previous points, many of those who use DAPs (or in my case, I don't only because I prefer to hear calls automatically interrupting my music, plus I use my Android as a music server on its own dock) are probably still buying physical copies, not just lossless downloads. It might be strange to an Apple user listening to EDM (because it is to some friends of mine), but on the FB pages of metal bands people who order the limited ed CDs to get some kind of poster or case for the CDs get their photos taken with the stuff when they get them, like how our fathers would have run to the record store with their friends to get the latest Led Zeppelin or AC/DC album.

 

Fifth, in terms of use, some people have very different requirements, some of them related to the batteries. Some don't need to be on-call, so it's alright if they're packed into a metro train and can't hear (much less answer) their phones, so they can use DAPs. Also it saves on the phone battery life, not just the charge but also on the charging cycles - most devices I used use up a lot more battery life running 4G LTE (for streaming), and they also heat up - something exacerbated by a case designed to protect the phone from impact. In the case of Ibasso DX50/90 users, the battery is swappable like on Samsung phones - I use an external charger where the battery is out in the open getting cooling airflow and no continuous charge-recharge processes (like when charging while the device is on). That prolongs the useful life of the battery, while at the same time in the case of the Ibassos, there's no need to send the unit back when the battery dies. You just go on Amazon and order another Samsung SGS3 battery, the same way I have three being cycled on my SGS3. No waiting for a powerbank to charge my phone, I just stop for a couple of minutes to swap out the batteries; of course, such a practice may seem alien to an iPhone user.

 

Basically, you are definitely not the kind of person that Fiio and Ibasso had in mind when those DAPs were developed. That's also why, when someone asks for a DAC-HPamp, I don't strongly attempt to persuade them to get a DAP-DAC-HPamp instead, because already all over the X3 and DX50 threads are too many angry (and that's an understatement) posts from Apple users who found themselves lost and in Purgatory without the helping hand of iTunes (you can find some sociology and psychology papers on certain types of people who unravel when the structure they're used to isn't present, like some soldiers and parolees, which is very similar). I've even tried to dissuade people from getting DAPs as soon as they mention that they use iPhones. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, if one is on the go an IEM is always the most practical thing to use anyway, and at over 100dB sensitivity on most of them, the clean output of the iPhone is more than enough to cause hearing damage without getting audible distortion. 

Thanks for the info, I wished I talked to you before purchasing 

 

[cel4145]

I agree with you on just about everything you said. I just don't get all the general itunes hate.

Really? You don't know the history of iTunes and Apple's walled garden approach that was applied to that? It's lack of support for flac? The way it likes to rearrange storage? The fact that Apple devices don't allow drag and drop of media files into folders? Certainly, some people might prefer iTunes, but there are lot of reasons why people choose other media players and non-Apple audio devices. Probably best not to start that debate here.

 

[gikigill]

iTunes on Windows is a total dog. The most hopeless piece of music software ever however it works perfect on a Mac hence the itunes hate since
 
a majority of computers are still Windows.

 

[kdava]

Yep I use Win7 and I don't buy my music from iTunes. Maybe if you buy it there, it's easy to use, but getting your external mp3's on your Apple device is a nightmare. It rearranges everything, won't let you adjust anything the way you want to, etc.
 
It was a pain to get my music on my iPod back in the days, and I didn't even try to do it with my current tablet (iPad Air). I do like Apple products, but this iTunes should just burn. Or they could at least offer an alternative way (like copy paste your music from your computer to the phone's storage, that is what I call minimal fuss - and I can do it on my android phone).

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Is it just my phone that can play FLAC? I don't really get all this hype about hi-res DAPs either. I'm not saying they must be bad or pointless, just that modern phones can pretty much do the same, can't they? Sure, if you want to listen to music with a hard-to-drive hp, then you'll need more power, but who wants to use high-end orthos, etc. on the bus? I think there are really good, easy-to-drive but higher-end headphones out there nowadays, that do just fine with a phone and nothing else.

 
I use FLAC on my phone but only because I use it as a music server for my fixed system.
 

 
 

Once I get a real server and the smartphone will be relegated to functioning as a remote for it, I'll make 320kbps VBR copies of my music for purely portable use (I tend to do a wideband cut on the bass anyway). In any case, for those who use DAPs on the road and then at home, I get it - except for how the line out is on top, so if used with desktop systems it's like having a wired console control pad. So far only the HiFiMan has a proper dock that routs all cables to the rear, but still, at the price of that DAP plus the dock, I'm much more inclined to get a real server that can use a remote app.

 

If anything the Fiio X1 is the most sensible DAP today - not too far off the weight, size, and price of the Fuze/iPod/Touch, so it's not as much trouble to carry around nor is it too much of an expense to have to justify more than portable use. Others are slightly cheaper and some even have Class A amps, but they come with MiniDisc/Walkman-era displays that would be a PITA for navigating several albums on an SD card.

 

[LNuneek]

Really? You don't know the history of iTunes and Apple's walled garden approach that was applied to that? It's lack of support for flac? The way it likes to rearrange storage? The fact that Apple devices don't allow drag and drop of media files into folders? Certainly, some people might prefer iTunes, but there are lot of reasons why people choose other media players and non-Apple audio devices. Probably best not to start that debate here.

I tend to keep things simple, so I never noticed these things. I related how I organize my music. It's straightforward and worked fine in iTunes since I had my first iPod which was an early gen classic that I used with windows. I switched to Mac years ago as well. No real issues.

There is only one thing I find bothersome about Apple and that's the constraints they put on things. Like how you can only sync an ios device with one computer even if you select to manually manage your storage. Mind you I only use my devices with my mac so It's not an issue for me, but I can see it being a total annoyance for others wanting to use their device with multiple computers.

Bottom line is it all works great for my needs so I have no real complaints. You can't debate someone into having complaints. All I can say is...well...sucks it doesn't work out for you.

 

[LNuneek]

How to easily organize music on an ios device:

Make sure you have your ios device switched to manually manage your storage right from the jump in iTunes.

Plug the device into computer. Open itunes. Click on your device in itunes. Click new playlist. Think of this as creating a folder. Name the playlist to whatever you want to name it. Again think of it as a folder. Drop your music in that playlist and arrange the music in the precise order you want it in by dragging the files where you want them to be. You can select multiple items to move at once by shift clicking them, or you can just drop in the files in the order you want from the get go. Once you are done that eject your device and enjoy your organized music.

Now when you want to access the "folders" you created on your ios device just click the playlists section in the music app and right there is where everything is exactly how you organized it.

 

[cel4145]

Bottom line is it all works great for my needs so I have no real complaints. You can't debate someone into having complaints. All I can say is...well...sucks it doesn't work out for you.

I didn't meant to imply that you should have complaints. Just that you might recognize why others don't like iTunes. For example, I prefer Windows and Android over Apple. But that doesn't mean I don't recognize their limitations.

 

[LNuneek]

I didn't meant to imply that you should have complaints. Just that you might recognize why others don't like iTunes. For example, I prefer Windows and Android over Apple. But that doesn't mean I don't recognize their limitations.

It was just difficult for me to see the complaints that arose cause to me it seemed like a misunderstang of how the software works in many cases rather than a limitation of the software itself. Like not understanding how to set up the device, organize songs, and the removing of songs. Like I said I just never ran into any of those issues with how I use it, but I also took the time to figure out how the software actually works and how it works with Apples devices.

 

[cel4145]

It was just difficult for me to see the complaints that arose cause to me it seemed like a misunderstang of how the software works in many cases rather than a limitation of the software itself. Like not understanding how to set up the device, organize songs, and the removing of songs. Like I said I just never ran into any of those issues with how I use it, but I also took the time to figure out how the software actually works and how it works with Apples devices.

Well, when you have only lived in one software ecosystem, it's probably hard to see it's limitations.

 

[LNuneek]

Well, when you have only lived in one software ecosystem, it's probably hard to see it's limitations.

Yeah I liked having experience with windows, osx, android, and ios. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. The key is figuring out how they work, then taking that knowledge and working with the software and hardware in a way that works for you. They are all sophisticated enough to work your way around most limitations you might come across.