[jamato8]

Listening to the D7. I am actually surprised at how good it sounds. Extremely open with excellent bass impact and very natural sounding. 

 

[rasmushorn]

Quote:

Listening to the D7. I am actually surprised at how good it sounds. Extremely open with excellent bass impact and very natural sounding. 

 
That sounds great. Are you using it as a DAC only or using the amp too? And which headphones suits the D7 best?

 

[jamato8]

I am using the dac and amp. I am using the ESW 10 right now and they sound very open, more so than normal, which is nice. 

 

[rasmushorn]

Quote:

I am using the dac and amp. I am using the ESW 10 right now and they sound very open, more so than normal, which is nice. 

 
Thanks! This is a tempting... I used to have the D10 and loved it's amp section. But that was a few years ago. I expect the D7 to be technically better than the D10/D12 both as a DAC-only and as DAC/AMP - is that correct?
 

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

 
Thanks! This is a tempting... I used to have the D10 and loved it's amp section. But that was a few years ago. I expect the D7 to be technically better than the D10/D12 both as a DAC-only and as DAC/AMP - is that correct?
 

Yes, but the D7 runs from only the USB, it has no battery. 
 
 

 

[madwolf]

Looking at the PCB design of D6 and D7 I conclude the following major differences 
 
D6
1) 2 Nos of 8740 DAC
2) 3 Stages of amplifier after the DAC, Filter, Amp and Buffer
3) Batteries and Charger 
4) up to 96khz input [size=small]TI TAS1020B based[/size]
 
D7 
1) 1 Nos of 8740 DAC 
2) 2 Stage Amp design Filter and Amp. 
3) USB only 
4) Up to 192Khz USB input (Yet to verify implementation)
 
Cost wise the Battery and Charger should make up the bulk of the cost difference between the 2, followed by the 8740 Wolfson DAC. 
D7 should be targeted at users who would use an AMP after the DAC. With the source being a Computer. While D6 is possible as a mobile rig. 
 
 
 

 

[xander90]

Has anyone compared it to the D-Zero yet? Is it a major improvement over the D-Zero?

 

[yklee118]

I use to a prolific poster here on Head-Fi.org, but lately though time has allowed or permit me to voice my opinions.  Now I can say that I have enough time to do so.  The iBasso D7 Sidewinder is one very well made and thought out DAC Amplifier.  I have had the pleasure to test the 24-bit at 192-KHz stage of the DAC while coupling to both the headphones and my main system at home. 
 
Using the Beyerdynamic T1 as a point of reference, the sound-stage is expansive with excellent instruments separation while also providing the listener a live feeling with the albums being presented.  The amplifier stage is well balanced while the line output stage is equally balanced despite being a single ended RCA design.  This is my simple two cent remark. 

 

[Jaw007]

 I believe the NU force Icon HDP  is also a great competitor,and does probably about the same!

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

 

I'm just hoping somebody somewhere releases something that's cross platform compliant with whatever DAP and computer you choose to use. The only reason I don't get a Fostex or a CLAS is because I can't use it with anything else except an iPod. If they had something that would work with my computer and whatever DAP of whatever platform it was it would be nice. By the way it there anything out there that can bypass the DAC on an android device?
 

Android is a Linux kernel, but most manufacturers compile that kernel without the "USB Class Audio" driver linked in.  But if that is present, all that is necessary is to use any USB audio device that follows the standards.
 
So, there are two solutions:
 
1. Root your device and recompile the kernel, or find someone on the Internet that has done it for you.
2. Ask the manufacturer of your tablet to include the USB Audio drivers in their next update of Android.
 
 

 

[DanBa]

 
For the time being, the standard USB devices for USB host-capable Android devices are only USB hubs, USB mass storage devices and USB class for human interface devices (for example, mice and keyboards).
 
I think we have to lobby for imposing USB DAC as a standard Android USB device, like a standard USB device for every Mac or PC (i.e. we don’t have to request each individual PC manufacturer to add the USB audio capability).
 
Google should include USB host (and USB audio) on every new Google "Nexus" device, which is supposed to be a reference Android device for others.
 
The 1st out-of-the-box (i.e. without modding) Android device able to support USB audio is the Android 4.0 powered Archos G9.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/15/archos-80-g9-turbo-ics-tablet-now-shipping/
http://update.archos.com/9/gen9/changes_firmware_archos_android_gen9it4.htm
 
 
The Google issue "Enable USB audio", requesting Google to standardize USB audio on Android smartphones/tablets, is currently ranked 21 of 18,868.
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=24614&sort=-stars&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20Stars
 
It is ranked in top 3 of less than one-year-old requests.
 
Vote: Click on the star (it appears after signing in)

 

[latenlazy]

Have you tried the D6? I'm using that with my ESW10s and wondering about that comparison.
 
Quote:

I am using the dac and amp. I am using the ESW 10 right now and they sound very open, more so than normal, which is nice. 

 
 

 

[Uchiya]

Has anyone used the Optical out?  I'm about to buy the Yulong D18 dac and am trying to decide between the U18 or keep the D7 as my USB link.

 

[Packgrog]

I picked up one of these used from a fellow Head-Fier to replace my aging iBasso D1 with HiFlight TopKit. At first I wasn't overly impressed. Flabby bass, unimpressive depth, twitchy implementation that didn't allow for 16/44 playback through Foobar2000/WASAPI/Windows 7/Parallels/MacBook Pro.
 
Then I crossed the 200 hour mark (and turned on SoX upsampling to 192kHz in Foobar) and things started to improve dramatically. I'm kind of amazed by the sound now. I find it odd that I have to use high gain with my Denon AH-D2000, but it sounds amazing. My D1 is now officially and permanently retired. The D7 just sounds fantastic! Too bad it drains my laptop's battery so quickly, but still, it sounds fantastic! Well worth it.

 

[Stillhart]

Does anyone know if this will pair well with a Q701?  I am looking for a decent, cheap portable DAC/Amp to use at work.  The used price on these is pretty good right now.