[Krisman]

Update: Did a factory reset which has helped. Now my flac albums work gaplessly no problem. Have a few 320k MP3 mix albums on there and there is no gap but there is a little 'interruption' for lack of a better word. So a smooth mix between two tracks will have no gap but will have a tiny little odd sound, it is noticeable.
I will try wiping the card and putting them on again and double checking the tracks on another device and report back
Cheers guys and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

[jj69]

I sometimes do get a tiny gap with my MP3s but it was the same with earlier pre-1.2.6 FWs. The 'fix' we refer to was to return to this imperfect but highly serviceable gapless mode from the cross fade misadventure of 1.2.6.

 
This is normal.  The mp3 format does not support gapless natively.  An mp3 must be encoded with a specific codec that supports gapless, and it must be played back by a player with a corresponding plugin that supports gapless. 
 
Either your mp3s were not encoded with a gapless codec, or the DX50 does not support gapless playback of that particular codec. 

 

[howdy]

I received my Ibasso D42 and for those I told it was to work via USB, it does not. It however does sound very good and it fits very good with the DX50. I will not have impressions as it is still burning, I will be buying a hi flight top kit for it from Ron in the next few weeks and that will drastically change it as well. I can use it with my note 2, but I prefer it from my Dx50, and/or my X3.

 

[HK_sends]

  Update: Did a factory reset which has helped. Now my flac albums work gaplessly no problem. Have a few 320k MP3 mix albums on there and there is no gap but there is a little 'interruption' for lack of a better word. So a smooth mix between two tracks will have no gap but will have a tiny little odd sound, it is noticeable.
I will try wiping the card and putting them on again and double checking the tracks on another device and report back
Cheers guys and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm glad it's working better for you.
 
Cheers and Happy New Year!

-HK sends

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

I received my Ibasso D42 and for those I told it was to work via USB, it does not. It however does sound very good and it fits very good with the DX50. I will not have impressions as it is still burning, I will be buying a hi flight top kit for it from Ron in the next few weeks and that will drastically change it as well. I can use it with my note 2, but I prefer it from my Dx50, and/or my X3.

Thanks for the info, howdy. Too bad that it does not work with the USB port. Hope you find good synergy with the D42.

 

[cooperpwc]

  Update: Did a factory reset which has helped. Now my flac albums work gaplessly no problem. Have a few 320k MP3 mix albums on there and there is no gap but there is a little 'interruption' for lack of a better word. So a smooth mix between two tracks will have no gap but will have a tiny little odd sound, it is noticeable.
I will try wiping the card and putting them on again and double checking the tracks on another device and report back
Cheers guys and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 
This is what I am referring to. It is a gap so small that it manifests itself as a tiny click between continuous songs. In songs that already have silence between the tracks, it is unnoticeable.
 

   
This is normal.  The mp3 format does not support gapless natively.  An mp3 must be encoded with a specific codec that supports gapless, and it must be played back by a player with a corresponding plugin that supports gapless. 
 
Either your mp3s were not encoded with a gapless codec, or the DX50 does not support gapless playback of that particular codec. 

 
My Lame MP3s are encoded properly in Foobar and play gapless in Rockbox, Foobar, iTunes, iPod etc.  The gapless implementation on the DX50 is not perfect for MP3s. It is still pretty good.

 

[jaredudu]

I have the same "problem" with some songs vorbis converted with DBpoweramp (from flac). Doesn't really bother me much.

 

[howdy]

Thanks for the info, howdy. Too bad that it does not work with the USB port. Hope you find good synergy with the D42.

Thanks, I believe I will be very happy with this pair for awhile. I hope.

 

[snapple10]

I received my Ibasso D42 and for those I told it was to work via USB, it does not. It however does sound very good and it fits very good with the DX50. I will not have impressions as it is still burning, I will be buying a hi flight top kit for it from Ron in the next few weeks and that will drastically change it as well. I can use it with my note 2, but I prefer it from my Dx50, and/or my X3.

 
Try changing the switch at the back of the D42 from battery to usb?

 

[highfell]

The Shadow is a small amp designed for IEM's, and to me is very neutral.  It really keeps the soundstage open, with no frequency range more emphasized than another IMO.  Full bass, smooth mids, and a nice smooth but crisp treble.  Imaging on it is great.  Every thing seems to be placed where it should be.  Coming previously from a Fiio E11 to that, it was a huge upgrade in terms of SQ.  I'm a fan of a very balanced, neutral sound, and for me it fits the bill perfectly for portable use.  It uses a rechargeable battery that is built in, and the battery life is phenomenal. I would guess I get around 80hrs from one charge.  I have yet for the battery to go dead on me, I've only charged it a handful of times in the few months that I've had it.

The Hornet is a bit bigger, and is powered by a single 9v battery.  I have a rechargeable in there, and the power adapter charges the battery when installed.  It has 3 gain settings, and can drive some of the more difficult cans from what I've been told.  The HD700's aren't very hard to drive, but definitely benefit from a good amp.  The sound is a bit warmer than the Shadow, and to me, the soundstage is slightly narrower, but by a very small margin, and is still very good IMO.  Still a very smooth midrange, a full bass, but the high's are more on the warm-ish side, but not muddied at all.  It pairs wonderfully with my HD700's, which are infamous for their slightly bright treble due to some spikes in the 5K and 10K areas.

I'm not great at describing the sounds I guess as I type this, I just go by what my ears like   Admittedly, I haven't heard a large range of different amps, so I don't have much to compare them to.  I originally bought the Shadow based off of others descriptions of the sound, and by Ray's track record of customer service and the small size of the amp for portable use.  It impressed me quite a bit, and when I wanted an amp to use with my HD700's around the house, I actually picked the Hornet up from another member on the forums here and was just as happy with the Hornet as I originally was with the Shadow.  I would love to try some of RSA's desktop amps with my HD700's, but they are a bit more than I'm willing to pay at this moment, as I'm working on upgrading my home theater audio setup now with new speakers and separate preamp/processor and amp.

Hopefully I answered your question, and if you have more, I will try to answer the best I can.

Thanks for the update.

I am interested in the how much different headphone amps affect the sound of the DX50, if at all.

I started with the GS Voyager which hardly altered the sound at all apart from maybe being slightly warmer and I couldn't justify keeping it. The sound was so similar, I wondered if they used the same OPamps, as I believe both may run off batteries with the same voltage swing.

So I moved to a Leckerton UHA 6s MKII. This creates a real warmth & depth to the sound and takes the edge of the potential brightness that I feel the Dx50 has a tendency to have on its own. And I really like the match with the Dx50.

Probably because I roll the valves in my home Valve Amp, I know what a difference this can make to the sound and I am now awaiting an Ibasso D12 amp with Topflight kit in order to play around a bit and test different OPamps to see how much they alter the signature of the sound.

I prefer it when the manufacturers are open with their components rather than offer "black box" information.

 

[Sorensiim]

Probably because I roll the valves in my home Valve Amp, I know what a difference this can make to the sound and I am now awaiting an Ibasso D12 amp with Topflight kit in order to play around a bit and test different OPamps to see how much they alter the signature of the sound.

I prefer it when the manufacturers are open with their components rather than offer "black box" information.

I've seen a lot of positive reports about the D12 connected to the DX50 via Coax, so be sure to try that as well 

 

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

I prefer it when the manufacturers are open with their components rather than offer "black box" information.

you can also consider E12DIY amp from Fiio, just read the first and the last few pages as in btw is all about pre-order chatter
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/674808/fiio-e12diy-limited-edition-version-updated-on-6-9-can-balance-the-payment-right-now/510
 
a few head-fiers are getting good result from this combo, but my wallets is hurting from purchasing more and more opamps

 

[GoldfishX]

Ugh, 1.2.2 sounds the best...I want to shoot myself in the head instead of dealing with this buggy firmware, but that might damage my hearing. I'm pretty sure I skipped this one initially. The price one must pay for audiophilia...
 
Best vocals by far, a tad warm, but very large soundstage and extremely detailed. Lacking the midbass hump of 1.2.5, but has a lot more...hmm, soul(?) than 1.2.6 and despite the warmness, is not muddy like I found 1.2.7 to be. I can really crank 1.2.2 because it's so relaxed. Euphonic is what I would use to describe it, even though it isn't quite perfect. I will try it tomorrow on my Magni at my office setup, maybe the warmness comes from the Lyr. Magni has issues with harsh vocals/treble, I am curious to see how the firmware change affects that issue. I suspect a more neutral amp will help things out here. The sound is warm, not muddy, if that makes sense. Songs with backup singers are really well-done on this one.
 
So that means, excluding 1.2.3beta, my favorite firmwares have gone in reverse order. 1.2.2 being the best (for reasons above), 1.2.5 adding a midbass hump (that doesn't bleed into the mids), but also worse vocals and some sibilance (minor quibbles), 1.2.6 being clear and analytical, but lacking the soul of the previous two and I still haven't bothered with 1.2.7 since my initial sour impressions and because I have been enjoying 1.2.2 too much.
 
Again, settings are as followed: Coax out into Peachtree DacIt into Lyr (Siemens tubes) with Mad Dogs. EQ has 30hz band minimized, everything else in the middle.
 
Ibasso, if you are reading this...PLEASE COMBINE 1.2.2 SOUND WITH 1.2.7 FUNCTIONALITY FOR THE NEXT FIRMWARE! THX!

 

[LinkyG]

  I shortly tried the DX50 on a Bowers and Wilkins Car system at a Jaguar shop (on a used car, a XF), and then again (right afterwards) on their stock basic audio on another used XF (via the auxiliary mini-jack plug, from LO and therefore at full volume on the DX50 as recommended on the thread). The music I tried was a song from Purcell (from the album "Apparition" with as singer Christine Schäfer). I did it on parked cars with engines off. 
 
I was surprised that the sound was really not good on the B&W car system, i.e. the mediums (medium highs) were almost shrieking, very unpleasant. The stock car-system audio from Jaguar was sounding ok (no similar shrieking, but also a rather dull boring sound - probably not very good speakers in there, but that is less surprising). I did not have time for a more detailed listening though - as I was more looking into the cars generally than specifically into the audio systems.
 
Alas, when I came back with the original CD of the same album (and to test drive that car), the car with B&W sound was already sold so I couldn't test from the car's CD player, by comparison to the DX50...
 
Did anyone else on this thread test the DX50 with in-car audio systems, and more specifically with good-quality medium-size 'executive' cars (like the Jag XF, or a BMW 320 for example, or an Audi A4/5)?
 
BTW: Happy new year to all DX50 users!

Since owning the DX50 I have used it in a Lexus with their Mark Levinson system. I connect the line out from the player to the line in of the vehicle and let loose the flacy goodness. Sounds fantastic - and the bonus is even the wife likes it, providing she has some control over the skip track button....

 

[maciux]

Ibasso, if you are reading this...PLEASE COMBINE 1.2.2 SOUND WITH 1.2.7 FUNCTIONALITY FOR THE NEXT FIRMWARE! THX!

 
Please no Or give us a choice.
 
It's all about synergy - in my setup 1.2.2 was the worst one.