[7S Cameron]

Interesting, thanks for the help.

I've always wondered whether upping the gain was altering the sound quality or just raising the volume. I'll have to try max gain now and see where it takes me.

I believe raising the gain does affect sound quality. I'm pretty sure that technically the sound is being distorted on some level of there is any amplification at all. I'm more experienced when it comes to car audio, but what I do there should apply to headphones as well. I purchase an amp that has WAY more power than I could ever need. Then, I turn the gain as low as possible. You are left with a sound that is unbelievably clean and powerful.

I prefer the DX50 at mid gain because low just doesn't have enough power and high affects the sound too noticeably. That is why I purchased an external portable amplifier.

I have a Cayin C5, but I feel it lacks a little power when it comes to powering my Shure SRH1540. At high gain there is enough, but I don't like what it does to the sound. Now I am considering an upgrade to an amp that has WAY more power than I need. Just like with car audio. That way at low gain all of my headphones will have more than enough power.

 

[CoiL]

Just out of curiosity, what are upgrade amp competitors?

 

[cholero]

Although I normally run med gain on my DX50 for everyday use, I found myself wanting to preserve as much battery life as possible when I was on an international trip for 2 weeks.

As a result, I occasionally put the device on low gain in an attempt to conserve power, but does this actually increase battery life? I'm not exactly an expert on electrical things like this.

Low gain cannot affect the battery life in a noticable amount.
But you can get a huge battery, see this fotos:
http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-125-9131.html#28

edit: it even seems to fit under the silicon cover:

 

[CoiL]

"thanks" for bringing up that battery again -.- Guess I just have to buy it finally to get it off my mind ;P

 

[JimmyTryhard]

What are your guys' thoughts on listening directly from the line out jack (rather than the headphone out jack) to your earphones/headphones?
 
I did this for quite a while with my VSonic GR07's, but now that I have some Fidue A83's I'm starting to test around with all of the options in order to get the best sound. When using the headphone out jack, I noticed that you can hear a faint hiss on both the VSonic's and the Fidue's due to the internal power source, which can be bypassed with the line out jack.
 
Anyone prefer/have a reason to not prefer this option?

 

[F4R3W3LL]

I'm new to this whole audio thing, but would a DAP such as the DX50 make an improvement over my iPhone 5S without an amp? I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to be posting this...

 

[meat01]

The dx50 will provide more power and give you more storage. Whether it sounds better is subjective.

 

[JimmyTryhard]

  I'm new to this whole audio thing, but would a DAP such as the DX50 make an improvement over my iPhone 5S without an amp? I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to be posting this...

 
I personally use both my DX50 and 5S daily, although I more often listen to music on the DX50. I'd say that it's definitely worth the upgrade for me personally because of the storage space and ease of use with the software. The 5S already has a pretty decent DAC, so the DX50 doesn't automatically provide a night and day difference in terms of quality, however this is entirely subjective. The only major thing that I could point out between the two is that the DX50 has a bit of hiss when using super sensitive headphones, while I haven't found this on the 5S. You can still avoid this hiss by using the line-out port on the DX50, which is what I do quite often. 
 
So if you're looking for essentially unlimited storage (microSD cards are amazing), good sound quality and robust firmware, then I'd recommend the DX50. If you are only looking for a noticable sound quality improvement, then I really can't say that I would recommend the DX50 for you.

 

[JimmyTryhard]

Anybody know if it's possible to check the "Year" part of the tag of music played on the DX50? I just realized that I can't find it.

 

[7S Cameron]

I have never experienced hiss with any headphones I have heard through the DX50. Maybe I haven't heard any sensitive ones, I'm not entirely sure.

 

[rockfan4ever]

Hi there. Just got my dx50 and i'm quite satistied with the sq of fw 1.5. Is there any advantage of updating to the latest fw? Any major changes in sound? Thanks in advance. Also, my playlist is empty everytime i turn off the dx 50, which is uncomfortable.

 

[CoiL]

If You want to try out how DX50 sounds with some best sounding FW`s out there, then try Sound Unlocked 1.3.3 or NDFFF.

 

[mechanix]

Hey guys, I have a quick question. I have finally bought dx50 and it will be delivered in a couple of days. My question is, since my budget has been stretched a bit, does it make sense if I sell my Fiio E10k and use dx50 as a dac in my desktop setup? I am thinking dx50 should be as good as fiio e10k, if not better.

 

[spykez]

  Hey guys, I have a quick question. I have finally bought dx50 and it will be delivered in a couple of days. My question is, since my budget has been stretched a bit, does it make sense if I sell my Fiio E10k and use dx50 as a dac in my desktop setup? I am thinking dx50 should be as good as fiio e10k, if not better.

I used my DX50 as a DAC for a while. Was waiting for other stuff to come in the mail, worked just fine.

 

[casey33]

So I bought my dx50 a couple months ago. Recently it sounds like the right earphone (dunu dn 1000) loses half the sound volume. And I'm pretty sure the issue is the dx50 as it doesn't seem to happen with other sources (computer). Has anyone had this happen? I'm not sure what to do.