[Loz2103]

   
I was charged less than £3 for UK delivery by DHL.

 
WOW, that's awesome and this was direct from iBasso, right? How long did it take to arrive?
 
L.

 

[AndrewH13]

   
WOW, that's awesome and this was direct from iBasso, right? How long did it take to arrive?
 
L.

 
Only about 2 days via Germany and East Midlands, then Heathrow, Gatwick and finally Essex, once it left Hong Kong.
PM sent regarding iBasso packaging and charges

 

[che15]

I posted some DAPs impression/comparison which I did in the local stores where I lived on the Calyx M thread, so I thought it would be a good to link it here too.

I
I really don't hear anything like the way you described the sound of the dx90, I listened to the 240 in axpona and in no way it is worth what they are asking for it. The dx 90 is worth twice it's price at least. If I hear anymore 3 d and separation than what I get out of the 90 it would sound just unnatural . May be your headphones don't separate that well. The dx 90 makes my phonak sound like they cost 2k.

 

[Pottsy2]

   
Hi Pottsy2, may I ask wich Grado(s) you use? I expect my DX90 to arrive next week and till now I used my Grado PS500 (+ sometimes GS1000) with DX50/BH2. I love how they match, but got al little worried when I read  ''....and with my Grado's everything sounds like needles in my ears.''
Thanks...

They are 325i. I have had them for years, and hardly ever use them. No bass, slight channel imbalance, uncomfortable and a couple of massive treble spikes that make it sound so very coloured and very piercing if the music has anything in those frequency bands.
 
However, the treble is accurate so I just dug them out as an experiment (and put them away again). I should have sold them a long time ago, but I couldn't put someone else through the pain. I do understand, though, that different models sound very different. I just have a bad model, and probably a bad example of that model.

 

[nc8000]

I'm back to a stack with the DX90 and SR71-B. All my phones are balanced and the balanced out from the SR71-B does sound better than the DX90 with all my phones (most with the HE-500). This rig is really fantastic. Don't get me wrong though. If I didn't already own the SR71-B I would never have felt the need to go out and buy an amp as the DX90 ho is really good (and better than SR71-B single ended), it's just that I already own the SR71-B and balanced it beats the DX90 ho. And the DX90 is a superb source.

If I used the DX90 on the go I would never consider an amp but for that I just use my iPhone5S. The way I use the DX90 is at the hotel at night and during travel it jus sits in my luggage so that way the extra bulk of the amp does not matter though I still like the rig to be compact so this combo is perfect. I think I'm getting 90-95% of what my big balanced home rig gives. Absolutely fantastic.

 

[robin1990]

  Thanks. How much time on your dx90 and at which gain setting?
 

It is less than 48 hours and on a low gain.

 

[Bluebear]

I
I really don't hear anything like the way you described the sound of the dx90, I listened to the 240 in axpona and in no way it is worth what they are asking for it. The dx 90 is worth twice it's price at least. If I hear anymore 3 d and separation than what I get out of the 90 it would sound just unnatural . May be your headphones don't separate that well. The dx 90 makes my phonak sound like they cost 2k.

 

 
DX90 - In compare, DX90 sound quite different from DX100 despite of it using two mobile version of ES9018, each for left and right. The soundstage is not to say less, but it make you feel that you're in a different environment. Let say a smaller room.

 
I am not the only one who feels the DX90 has "smaller" soundstage and a closer/narrower listening environment. robin1990 also heard the same thing. DX90 definitely isn't the DAP with the biggest soundstage nor the best 3d separation that I have heard. Maybe you should have a go and try listening to the Hugo besides AK240. Both of them have better soundstage and 3d separation than the DX90 and even DX100 is better too from the comparison done by robin1990. Besides, I seriously doubt a TOTL 1plus2 cannot separate well given that all these DAPs are also meant to be used with IEMs. I also agree that DX90 is worth twice its price at least in terms of performance in my comparison, but we are talking about pure sonic performance comparison here and I am not really trying to justify if the additional 10-20% sonic improvement is worth costing a few times more over the DX90. If a DAP has better sonic performance than DX90 then it is better, irregardless whether it costs a lot less or a lot more. We can talk about price-to-performance ratio as another topic issue. In the audiophile's world, getting that last additional sonic performance boost always involve the law of diminishing return which will definitely mean it is not worth for you from the way you justify the cost.

 

[jamato8]

I have the Hugo. I don't find the DX90 has a soundstage that is smaller. Different yes, smaller not really. My Fostex TH900 and JH13 Pros, for me, have confirmed this. I mentally fix the auditory cues right and left and in perception of depth and go back and forth on the same song and then another song and environment. What surprised me was/is how good the JH13's sound with the dX90. There is no doubt, the DX100 also sounds very fine but I enjoy the size of the DX90. 

 

[kantana]

  I have the Hugo. I don't find the DX90 has a soundstage that is smaller. Different yes, smaller not really. My Fostex TH900 and JH13 Pros, for me, have confirmed this. I mentally fix the auditory cues right and left and in perception of depth and go back and forth on the same song and then another song and environment. What surprised me was/is how good the JH13's sound with the dX90. There is no doubt, the DX100 also sounds very fine but I enjoy the size of the DX90. 

Great soneine else with a DX90 and a Hugo.  Can you try playing DSD over PCM (DoP) from the coax to the Hugo.  I have put in a ticket to iBasso since it will stop and resume several times during a song when I have tried it.  The Hugovwill display a white light to confirm DSD playback.  You will need to convert dsf or dff files to DoP in foobar by putting the DSD in a flac container.

 

[goodvibes]

  I have the Hugo. I don't find the DX90 has a soundstage that is smaller. Different yes, smaller not really. My Fostex TH900 and JH13 Pros, for me, have confirmed this. I mentally fix the auditory cues right and left and in perception of depth and go back and forth on the same song and then another song and environment. What surprised me was/is how good the JH13's sound with the dX90. There is no doubt, the DX100 also sounds very fine but I enjoy the size of the DX90. 

No complaints here. As you've mentioned, run in helps a lot in these regards. It certainly works well with the JHs.
 
Bluebear, it's a minor point in the grand scheme but the DX90 may be phase inverting. Just a guess from listening. Try flipping the pin end of your 1p2 cables and see if you get more depth etc. I say it's not a big deal because a good # of amps, IEMs and recordings are inverted as well. 

 

[headwhacker]

Speaking of soundstage how big really is considered better? I reckon bigger/wider isn't always better, there has got to be limit. Listening to my Roxanne with DX90, the soundstage already feels like anything bigger will sound weird.

 

[tracyca]

Dx 90 pico slim line out sounds great with ASG-2, SE846, Westone 4r, and surprise MTPC!

 

[robin1990]

  Speaking of soundstage how big really is considered better? I reckon bigger/wider isn't always better, there has got to be limit. Listening to my Roxanne with DX90, the soundstage already feels like anything bigger will sound weird.

Agree with you no more, DX90 only sounds different for me than DX100 and AK120, I doesn't meant that DX90 sounds inferior to the other two, they just different.
In DX90 I feel I'm more in the environment, closer to stage.
 
another thing that I notice is.. cymbals and crash sounds not too natural for me, but it might be burn-in time too less?

 

[headwhacker]

Agree with you no more, DX90 only sounds different for me than DX100 and AK120, I doesn't meant that DX90 sounds inferior to the other two, they just different.
In DX90 I feel I'm more in the environment, closer to stage.

another thing that I notice is.. cymbals and crash sounds not too natural for me, but it might be burn-in time too less?

I think soundstage is more of a headphone thing. I can hear obvious difference switching from Roxanne to DT235 on DX90 or DX50 than switching between DX90 and DX50 using the same headphone (either Roxanne or DT235).

I can't seem to quantify or get what you mean by "not too natural". Does that mean it sound natural but you ate looking for more?

 

[robin1990]

No, I played in a orchestra and school band before, the cymbal sounds to me a little bit close to a real one (only for those cymbal i already heard of), but just a bit digitalized sound.
i need to clarify more if it is not because of the source and recording.