Have you guys noticed how the amplifier section of the DX50 doesn't behave like most of the other daps? Fiio X3 vs DX50 comparison:
Summary:
DX50 has a large advantage with 24 ohm and above headphones. Eg. Both used with 50 ohm headphones the DX50 can rack up 110mW at 2.5v, while the X3 only manages 30mW at 1.5v,
X3 has a large advantage with 16 ohm and below headphones. Eg. Both used with 10 ohm headphones the DX50 produces 40mW at 0.6v while the X3 produces 160mW at 1.5v.
Amp output impedance graphs DX50 vs X3:
Summary:
DX50 has an output impedance closer to 3 ohm, despite the claimed <0.5 ohm from ibasso. DX50 also has an impedance spike in the 100-20hz region, this means headphones with lower impedance have progressively less bass response as shown in the next graph, EG. a 10 ohm headphone with the DX50 will have around -10db less 20hz bass.
X3 has a low output impedance of 0.3 or lower ohms and isnt affected by the above, as such has a flat frequency response with all impedance phones.
Also there is the aspect of Line out implementation DX50 vs X3:
Summary:
DX50 has WAY less distortion than X3 through the line out.
Total Summary of DX50:
The DX50 comes with a quadtriple whammy of LAME ASS, if you want to use headphones with impedance lower than 24 ohms because:
- Doesn't provide enough power, far less than the competition.
- Doesnt provide enough voltage, far less than the competition.
- Has high ish output impedance, far worse than the competition.
- Bass is rolled of, more and more with lower and lower impedances.
The DX50 comes with a triple whammy of AWESOME, if you want to use headphones with impedance higher or at 24 ohms because:
- WAY More power than all the competition.
- WAY More voltage than the competition.
- WAY less THD from Line out than the competition.
Original measurements from:
http://personalaudio.ru/review/portable-audio/