[Ichos]

My review of the iBasso DC06.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ibasso-dc06.25997/review/29025/

Great sound for reasonable money.

 

[ChrisOc]

Great review Chris! Enjoyed the read! I love my M7 too!

Thank you.

Good to hear your feedback, particularly because you own the M7.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Little more than anecdote I’m afraid. Unless you can provide some kind of solid evidence that HiBy suffers from general QC issues I’m sure most of us would he happy if you gave it a rest. We get it. You got a couple bad units. It sucks. But that can happen with any tech company’s products.

Do some research. It's not up to me to prove to you the Hiby battery issue. This is the massively lazy thought process of people today. I'm not going to do any research for some random who's a Hiby fan boy. YOU google it, and i'll stick to the pictures i've already posted on here, and my experience with crappy Hiby QC, and those of others who've mentioned it. Cool? Excellent.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Do some research. It's not up to me to prove to you the Hiby battery issue. This is the massively lazy thought process of people today. I'm not going to do any research for some random who's a Hiby fan boy. YOU google it, and i'll stick to the pictures i've already posted on here, and my experience with crappy Hiby QC, and those of others who've mentioned it. Cool? Excellent.

Actually, because you made a specific claim it IS on you to back it up. Babbling “google it” at me isn’t proving your point. It’s dodging. So is flinging “HiBy fan boy” at me.

Regardless, we get your point. I doubt we need it reiterated again and again.

 

[FlacFan]

Do some research. It's not up to me to prove to you the Hiby battery issue. This is the massively lazy thought process of people today. I'm not going to do any research for some random who's a Hiby fan boy. YOU google it, and i'll stick to the pictures i've already posted on here, and my experience with crappy Hiby QC, and those of others who've mentioned it. Cool? Excellent.

I don't have a Hiby, but I totally get you. I made the mistake to buy a MS Surface book - long battery story. Never again.
However, this is not truly a MS, Hiby or Sony (remember those laptops going poof?) issue.
This is a general Li-Ion, Li-Po battery issue. There are just a handful companies worldwide making those batteries. So, the device makers have to use whatever they get and consumers have to deal with it. Typically those devices go bonkers a week after the warranty expires, right?
Years ago I made an effort to only buy devices where I could change the battery myself. Try that these days - good luck. For example the MS Surface books are all glued. Every freakin' component is glued.

There you have it.

Cheers.

 

[lushmelody]

I don't have a Hiby, but I totally get you. I made the mistake to buy a MS Surface book - long battery story. Never again.
However, this is not truly a MS, Hiby or Sony (remember those laptops going poof?) issue.
This is a general Li-Ion, Li-Po battery issue. There are just a handful companies worldwide making those batteries. So, the device makers have to use whatever they get and consumers have to deal with it. Typically those devices go bonkers a week after the warranty expires, right?
Years ago I made an effort to only buy devices where I could change the battery myself. Try that these days - good luck. For example the MS Surface books are all glued. Every freakin' component is glued.

There you have it.

Cheers.

Yeah, manufacturers will only change if law starts requesting better electronics durability. And we wonder why things are so slow for lithium alternatives

 

[Surf Monkey]

Yeah, manufacturers will only change if law starts requesting better electronics durability. And we wonder why things are so slow for lithium alternatives

I think it’s more a technical than regulatory issue.

https://news.stanford.edu/2022/06/20/next-gen-battery-solutions/

 

[Carpet]

I think it’s more a technical than regulatory issue.

https://news.stanford.edu/2022/06/20/next-gen-battery-solutions/

It's a combination of both. There are always limitations to technology, which is compounded by always trying to push the envelope to making everything "better" than the last iterations of products. However deliberately making things harder to service or upgrade is a decision made by companies to increase their profits. Pentalobe screws only serve to prevent access to apple devices, there is no technical benefit to the user, only an economic benefit to apple. If you haven't been following the "Right to Repair" movement, here's a quick rundown.

 

[Surf Monkey]

It's a combination of both. There are always limitations to technology, which is compounded by always trying to push the envelope to making everything "better" than the last iterations of products. However deliberately making things harder to service or upgrade is a decision made by companies to increase their profits. Pentalobe screws only serve to prevent access to apple devices, there is no technical benefit to the user, only an economic benefit to apple. If you haven't been following the "Right to Repair" movement, here's a quick rundown.

Right. I wasn’t speaking to the consumer hostile practices of making devices with non-removable batteries. Instead I was suggesting that lithium ion batteries swelling and in some cases exploding is a limitation of the chemistry, not a failing of the regulatory framework. You’re absolutely correct about Right to Repair. I’m aware of it and completely support it.

 

[Redcarmoose]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/pe...ifi-audiophile-iem.25087/reviews#review-29019

 

[Carpet]

It's hardly surprising that battery tech struggles to keep up. We keep trying to cram more energy into ever smaller spaces. Then expecting it to be endlessly reusable and reliable. Packing huge amounts of energy into tiny spaces has other effects too. Explosives are analogous to super batteries. Is it any wonder that some of our new battery tech is unstable.

After a while the question needs to be: why? I can't listen any faster, no matter how fast the device is. Even if I could, would I want to fast forward through albums so I could listen to more of them?

I think we've also reached the point of obsessing over inaudible improvements to sound quality. We can (and have) used super-strong nano-engineered materials to replace the diaphragm in Dynamic drivers but the collagen in our ear drums remains unchanged. The magnets and coils in speakers can be upgraded, but we can't improve the sensitivity of the sensory hairs in our cochlea. Perhaps we could implant electrodes into our brains to directly stimulate our pleasure centers and make the music more "enjoyable" that way? At some point there is a hard limit. Most people acknowledge the effect of diminishing returns. The logical extension of that, is that eventually you achieve nothing at infinite cost.

 

[Surf Monkey]

It's hardly surprising that battery tech struggles to keep up. We keep trying to cram more energy into ever smaller spaces. Then expecting it to be endlessly reusable and reliable. Packing huge amounts of energy into tiny spaces has other effects too. Explosives are analogous to super batteries. Is it any wonder that some of our new battery tech is unstable.

After a while the question needs to be: why? I can't listen any faster, no matter how fast the device is. Even if I could, would I want to fast forward through albums so I could listen to more of them?

I think we've also reached the point of obsessing over inaudible improvements to sound quality. We can (and have) used super-strong nano-engineered materials to replace the diaphragm in Dynamic drivers but the collagen in our ear drums remains unchanged. The magnets and coils in speakers can be upgraded, but we can't improve the sensitivity of the sensory hairs in our cochlea. Perhaps we could implant electrodes into our brains to directly stimulate our pleasure centers and make the music more "enjoyable" that way? At some point there is a hard limit. Most people acknowledge the effect of diminishing returns. The logical extension of that, is that eventually you achieve nothing at infinite cost.

At some point I presume the tech giants will realize the value of using LESS power to do specific things. It seems to me that part of the issue is the converged device. We demand what would have been super computing power 20 years ago in the palm of our hands at all times. Is that really necessary? Isn’t there some wisdom in having a specific tool for a specific job? A music player that’s for music? A camera that’s for taking pictures?

Just thinking out loud. As an audio enthusiast and semi-pro photographer it just makes sense to me that some things are better stand alone.

 

[nraymond]

As an audio enthusiast and semi-pro photographer it just makes sense to me that some things are better stand alone.

Agreed. I learned photography on a Pentax K1000 camera. Almost entirely manual, and the only thing the battery did was power the light meter. The shutter speed setting, winding, everything else was mechanical and didn't need power. I took some of my best pictures with that camera. Modern cameras, especially mirrorless, have very powerful computers in them calculating everything, sometimes with thousands of AF sensors and an active viewfinder, multiple motors for the lens and image stabilization, and battery life even with our modern batteries isn't that great on these cameras. But at least you can swap out camera batteries easily, though they are proprietary.

What I find frustrating is that DAPs have not adopted any of the lithium ion battery standards used by LED flashlights. There are a few, but they're standards, and there's lots of aftermarket options for them:

• 14500 – This is the same physical size as an AA battery
• 16340 – (3 Volt – CR123) A smaller size battery used in EDC flashlights
• 18650 – 3.7 Volt rechargeable commonly used in flashlights
• 26650 – Larger version of the 18650
• 21700 – Latest technology, soon to replace 18650

Some of these batteries are even available with USB sockets on them so you can just charge them with a cable outside of the device you're using, no extra charger needed. How great would it be to have a DAP and if the battery is low and you're on the go, just swap it out for a fully charged one? It blows my mind that no DAP maker offers this.

 

[DBaldock9]

Agreed. I learned photography on a Pentax K1000 camera. Almost entirely manual, and the only thing the battery did was power the light meter. The shutter speed setting, winding, everything else was mechanical and didn't need power. I took some of my best pictures with that camera. Modern cameras, especially mirrorless, have very powerful computers in them calculating everything, sometimes with thousands of AF sensors and an active viewfinder, multiple motors for the lens and image stabilization, and battery life even with our modern batteries isn't that great on these cameras. But at least you can swap out camera batteries easily, though they are proprietary.

What I find frustrating is that DAPs have not adopted any of the lithium ion battery standards used by LED flashlights. There are a few, but they're standards, and there's lots of aftermarket options for them:

• 14500 – This is the same physical size as an AA battery
• 16340 – (3 Volt – CR123) A smaller size battery used in EDC flashlights
• 18650 – 3.7 Volt rechargeable commonly used in flashlights
• 26650 – Larger version of the 18650
• 21700 – Latest technology, soon to replace 18650

Some of these batteries are even available with USB sockets on them so you can just charge them with a cable outside of the device you're using, no extra charger needed. How great would it be to have a DAP and if the battery is low and you're on the go, just swap it out for a fully charged one? It blows my mind that no DAP maker offers this.

Those styles of batteries would limit the minimum thickness of a DAP - since the part number is the size designation:
14500 = 14mm Diameter x 50mm Length
16340 = 16mm Diameter x 34mm Length
18650 = 18mm Diameter x 65mm Length
21700 = 21mm Diameter x 70mm Length
26650 = 26mm Diameter x 65mm Length

 

[Surf Monkey]

Those styles of batteries would limit the minimum thickness of a DAP - since the part number is the size designation:
14500 = 14mm Diameter x 50mm Length
16340 = 16mm Diameter x 34mm Length
18650 = 18mm Diameter x 65mm Length
21700 = 21mm Diameter x 70mm Length
26650 = 26mm Diameter x 65mm Length

I’d think being able to open the case and replace the built in battery with an OEM part either yourself or at a shop would be a decent solution. I doubt we’ll see those type of cells listed above in any future music equipment. Too big for sure.