[AmberOzL]

Considering DX90 will use the same system and the bugs have been covered with DX50 won't appear in DX90, DX90 might be a wonderful bargain and device even straight from the beginning.

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Considering DX90 will use the same system and the bugs have been covered with DX50 won't appear in DX90, DX90 might be a wonderful bargain and device even straight from the beginning.

I hope so, I hope that theory does work out to be true, for the buyers.

 

[truckdriver]

They've already been remastered a zillion times. What audio quality do you believe could be recovered from 40 year old tapes that hasnt already been recovered. They only get older and worse every time that is done. Also why should the record companies get a free pass to charge more for skipping the step of down sampling?

 
Old Motown music has been re-mastered a zillion times? Who knew? Where can I download hi-res samples? I had to take claimed “re-mastered” CDs back to the store (for a refund) because they weren't good.
 
But yeah, (like the remake of Spiderman) someone will have a better interpretation. Plus, individual track sales and competition between big companies could help bring prices down and build up the selection library. True individual track sales would also be nice, rather than paying ransom (in buying the entire album).
 
I want to hear what DTS Headphone X comes up with (with simulated multi-channel to stereo) in their collaboration with Vivo for the Xplay 3s.

 

[eke2k6]

I just got this PM from one of the most respected voices on this site. I'll cite him if he lets me. I thought it would be relevant here:
 

  Hey,
 
I'm assuming you mean the thread where you've compared a bunch of hi-end players?
 
That’s a very tough question but you’ve hit the nail on the head as to why I've long since stopped recommending portable amps and high-end sources in the vast majority of cases. Most people, if they are honest with themselves, will probably be disappointed by the magnitude of the difference between a $30 clip+ and $1200 HiFiMan. I personally think it's pretty normal – there’s really no magic in audio. The differences I hear with various earphones between the 901 and my cheap sources range from “none” to “noticeable if I listen for them”, but nothing beyond that. The magnitude is also earphone-dependent.
 
The cases that lean towards “noticeable” depend also on the source being used for comparisons – iPhones actually do much better than most other common devices, including my Nexus 5. There’s the low output impedance requirement for IEMs with low, non-linear impedance. There’s also IEMs that have complex crossovers that result in wild impedance swings. My Cowon J3 doesn’t have the current output to keep up with these properly. And then there’s genuinely power-hungry headphones. The HM-901 does a noticeably better job with my HD600 than my J3, for example.
 
That said, the vast majority of portable headphones and earphones don't really benefit, at least not proportionately to the cost of the 901. The reason I use the 901 myself is consistency – I’ve never heard it mesh poorly with any earphone or headphone - and also the ability to play all file formats without stuttering or any other issues.
 

 

[DigitalFreak]

  Ok, so I've had the DX50 loaner unit with me a few days, which arrived on firmware 1.2.2, I had a quick listen it seemed to sound a fraction cleaner than I remember way back on release date? I really can't remember which firmware I was on back then (it would of been one just after that volume bug was fixed). Anyway, separation is the same  rather weak, the stage sounded roughly the same, narrow, maybe a little bit wider on firmware 1.2.2? I got the firmware installed to 1.2.8 and it sounds better than I remember way back last year, at least it seems to not have that labouring effect I remember where I had to pump the amp section super hard to get detail to push out.

 I also noticed between firmware 1.2.2 and 1.2.8 I need much less volume on  1.2.8 to get my desired listening level. I can report the player has not frozen once since I've had it these few days, it has been running rather well actually and scanned my cards no problem. There is however an awful pop sound going through my IEM's when powering up the DX50, apart from that it's doing everything it's suppose to, so far. The person I borrowed it from offered me to buy it for basically peanuts so I've taken up the opportunity as a long term project and will continue to use the player and test it. They seem to hold resale value so moving it on again won't be a problem.

I don't mind the sound of it to much on this most recent firmware, but if they could just tighten up the separation I'd be much happier.

I must say though it does appear a lot more stable on this most recent firmware, if you guys went through what I did way back last year with the volume bug, card reading problems, random freezing, the touch screen becoming unresponsive, battery meter not working you would fully understand why this thread was created originally. Moving on almost 7 months later of firmware updates it seems DX50 is close to stable. But lets not speak to soon. 

Question, are you going to try and rockbox it?

 

[H20Fidelity]

Question, are you going to try and rockbox it?

No, I don't think so. For someone like me who listens flat straight from folder view one album at a time the Rockbox settings don't really offer me anything.

 

[zilch0md]

  Considering DX90 will use the same system and the bugs have been covered with DX50 won't appear in DX90, DX90 might be a wonderful bargain and device even straight from the beginning.

 
That's more or less what we saw with the X3 vs. X5 - even though the UI was different.  James FiiO said a lot of X3 code was migrated to the X5.  A good thing. The relative lack of complaints from X5 users has grabbed my attention.

 

[AmberOzL]

   
That's more or less what we saw with the X3 vs. X5 - even though the UI was different.  James FiiO said a lot of X3 code was migrated to the X5.  A good thing. The relative lack of complaints from X5 users has my grabbed my attention.

For a simple user like me and you, X5 is more than functioning perfectly even before the international release. All I need is folder view/playback and if possible gapless. James said they will provide gapless with FW update so I am fine. There are still a few issues with database system I guess but I couldn't care less about it. The unit works pretty fast, response to controls lightning speed. It is something we rarely see in high end daps.
 
As for DX90, we shall wait and see whether iBasso learned something from their DX50 experience or not.

 

[highfell]

Ok, so I've had the DX50 loaner unit with me a few days, which arrived on firmware 1.2.2, I had a quick listen it seemed to sound a fraction cleaner than I remember way back on release date? I really can't remember which firmware I was on back then (it would of been one just after that volume bug was fixed). Anyway, separation is the same  rather weak, the stage sounded roughly the same, narrow, maybe a little bit wider on firmware 1.2.2? I got the firmware installed to 1.2.8 and it sounds better than I remember way back last year, at least it seems to not have that labouring effect I remember where I had to pump the amp section super hard to get detail to push out.


 I also noticed between firmware 1.2.2 and 1.2.8 I need much less volume on  1.2.8 to get my desired listening level. I can report the player has not frozen once since I've had it these few days, it has been running rather well actually and scanned my cards no problem. There is however an awful pop sound going through my IEM's when powering up the DX50, apart from that it's doing everything it's suppose to, so far. The person I borrowed it from offered me to buy it for basically peanuts so I've taken up the opportunity as a long term project and will continue to use the player and test it. They seem to hold resale value so moving it on again won't be a problem.


I don't mind the sound of it to much on this most recent firmware, but if they could just tighten up the separation I'd be much happier.


I must say though it does appear a lot more stable on this most recent firmware, if you guys went through what I did way back last year with the volume bug, card reading problems, random freezing, the touch screen becoming unresponsive, battery meter not working you would fully understand why this thread was created originally. Moving on almost 7 months later of firmware updates it seems DX50 is close to stable. But lets not speak to soon. 

Nice review.

I realise that you state later on that you don't intend to Rockbox it. But on the basis it's dual boot with the 1.28 FW or you can just reinstall the original FW any way, there isn't much to lose in doing so. And a few people like me believe it sounds cleaner & even better having been Rockboxed.

If you are keeping the Dx50, you may want to give it a try and see & let us know if you also prefer the sound.

 

[batteraziiz]

I realise that you state later on that you don't intend to Rockbox it. But on the basis it's dual boot with the 1.28 FW or you can just reinstall the original FW any way, there isn't much to lose in doing so. And a few people like me believe it sounds cleaner & even better having been Rockboxed.

If you are keeping the Dx50, you may want to give it a try and see & let us know if you also prefer the sound.

Why put in effort when someone's happy with the product as-is? Doesn't make sense...

 

[highfell]

Why put in effort when someone's happy with the product as-is? Doesn't make sense...

Unless you have a desire to listen to the apparently different and improved sound signature of a Rockboxed Dx50

 

[highfell]

Back to the Pono player. Interesting article about that and high rez music generally


http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57620489-93/sound-bite-despite-ponos-promise-experts-pan-hd-audio/

 

[miceblue]

How about this, eh? Looks pretty nice!

Source

This was just announced in the last few days and I already know more about this than the Pono player. XD

 

[davidcotton]

How about this, eh? Looks pretty nice!
This was just announced in the last few days and I already know more about this than the Pono player. XD

Looks a bit like a sony rip off tbh!  Still nice to see the 128 gig internal AND external sd slot.  With 128 gig microsd cards becoming more available that'll be 256 right off the bat.

 

[batteraziiz]

All electronics are "rip-offs". I'm just glad to see the buttons on the side.