Scubadevils
Previously known as Scuba Devils
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The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
salwani8888
100+ Head-Fier
Take a look at Madoo 512. Warm & fun with its' really good bass. Not the most resolving but quite a bargain.
it graphs really well, the bass is extremely solid, the mids sound great, very low distortion,... the price?! cca trio really turned my world around with totl iems. maybe I'm just a broke dum dum who doesnt understand "summit-fi" iemsI am extremely happy with the modest CCA Trio
It's become the benchmark single-/all-DD for me, after hearing so many others at orders of magnitude higher price points that didn't work for me including Advar, Perpetua and Trifecta, each of which had spiky upper mids/treble in different unacceptable ways.
I'm still holding out hope that maybe Quattro or Duality will offer a more technical listen with even larger stage than the Trio, but if not the $30 for these will have been well spent.
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salwani8888
100+ Head-Fier
You sure ? RS8, for real ? Perpetua ? Really, 100% sure ? Just one more listen....go on....
chickenmcnug
Formerly known as 8481
What type of music do you listen to?
Iāve done it twice with the perpetua myselfā¦but every time I listen I take the ad down
.I think itāll stay!
Alexzander
500+ Head-Fier
Empire Ears EVO, Campfire Bonneville
audionewbi
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2010
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Perpetua is the only iem I will never thinking of selling, or even touching anything on it.
I trier the Celeste cable, it changed the sound too much.
Don't sell your PPT, you will regret it.
I trier the Celeste cable, it changed the sound too much.
Don't sell your PPT, you will regret it.
iBasso is a prominent player in the HiFi audio market. They have a wide range of products including Portable DAC/AMPs, DAPs, etc, but what always attracted me in their line up is their top-cream products. I am talking about their mid to high end products such as the DX260(which i recently sold), to DX320(which i actually acquired after selling my DX260). Quite recently, iBasso came up with its new portable/transportable stack, the iBasso D16 and PB5. Each of these are priced at 1499$, making the stack a little hefty at 3000$. I got a chance to listen to the stack as a close friend of mine has bought the stack for himself and i requested a few days with the set from him. SO today, gonna share my initial impressions here.
A short disclaimer before I begin:-
The iBasso stack belongs to my friend(Sandeep Aggarwal) who bought it from Jaben Singapore. I am no way affiliated or connected to iBasso by any means, all the impressions here in this blog are my own based on my own experience. For this initial impression, I have used the stack as my daily driver since the past week. Will spend another week before I share my review in Video format mostly.
Basic Intro of D16 TAIPAN and PB5:
First, the iBasso D16 TAIPAN, Well this is a DAC/AMP with a true 1-Bit DAC architecture. The D16 TAIPAN can be used on its own as well as it can handle both decoding as well as amping part and has analog headphone output as well. The PB5 on the other hand is a dedicated high-end balanced portable tube amplifier. It houses dual NuTube 6P1 tubes for a true vaccum tube experience in a portable form factor. It requires a source device that can feed it analog signal in the form of 4.4mm input. As for output, we have both 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone outputs on both devices.
For the past week, I have used the D16 as a standalone as well as with PB5 as a proper stack as well.
Design & Build:-
Both the devices are very identical to look at. They come in a green colored leather case. The PB5 has a glass window that shows the dual NuTubes while the D16 houses a display screen at that place. Both of them look very well-built. Well, they both are a little huge for being portable as a stack, so thatās why I call this actually a transportable source(but way smaller than other transportable sources in the market as of now). They are very well-built and have a premium feel to them(well they better have that because they are 3000$ together).
PB5 comes with two 4.4mm interconnect cables, one short and the other a bit long.
Sound Impressions:-
First about the D16 alone.
iBasso D16 is a very capable device. It is super clean with no audible background noise even with sensitive IEMs. Tonally, I find the D16 to have a neutral, natural tone. It doesnāt sound coloring at all and brings out the basic signature of the connected source without affecting it much. For my usage, I have tested the D16 with a bunch of IEMs so far including Madoo Type 512, Nightjar Singularity, Flipears Artha, etc.
The main attraction for me so far with the D16 Taipan is its technical performance. The device is highly capable of producing a massive stage, it literally feels massive with a full 3D enveloping presentation. if you pair it right, you can get the best experience of your life which I had with the Flipears Artha. Every minute detail, Bass texture, Vocal texture, everything is so cleanly presented that it was an instant love affair for me. Another thing to appreciate is its silky smooth presentation. The overall signature of the D16 has an effortless, buttery-smooth presentation. It literally made me feel I needed to upgrade my DX260 to a better source and finally ended up at DX320.
Now on to the PB5, PB5 adds a bit of warmth and another layer of smoothness to the instrument notes. It adds that tubey flavour that I love. As an Amp and basically as a companion to the D16, the PB5 works excellently. Both the devices have a lot of power, I never had to go to high gain for any given IEM that I have tested so far with the combo. The way my Artha sounds on this particular stack has got me sold and I have already started saving for this combo.
How do I find the Stack against my recently bought DX320:-
Well, the stack is a step above in terms of output power and overall performance. But the overall signature is quite different to what I have on the DX320. I can call them complementing each other in terms of tone. D16 makes the sound smooth and buttery, DX320 is raw and edgy in nature. Soundstage, both are identical and produce a massive stage, but the addition of PB5 just takes the performance to another level on both devices. I want to take the D16 as well because it provides me with a different sound signature and I feel like the D16 has the upper hand in terms of battery life as well.
For me the key points:-
>Outstanding stage size, it feels massive.
>PB5 adds a rich tubey taste while not making the sound go muddy or lifeless.
>D16 on its own also works quite well, so we can buy them one by one and not rush into buying both together(yeah the stack is a bit pricey).
>The volume control on the PB5 is a little noisy, so i prefer using the volume control through the D16.
>I find the stack a bit too costly, like a 3000$ setup for portable :/ But after listening to it, I am like letās save up and get this beauty someday
A short disclaimer before I begin:-
The iBasso stack belongs to my friend(Sandeep Aggarwal) who bought it from Jaben Singapore. I am no way affiliated or connected to iBasso by any means, all the impressions here in this blog are my own based on my own experience. For this initial impression, I have used the stack as my daily driver since the past week. Will spend another week before I share my review in Video format mostly.
Basic Intro of D16 TAIPAN and PB5:
First, the iBasso D16 TAIPAN, Well this is a DAC/AMP with a true 1-Bit DAC architecture. The D16 TAIPAN can be used on its own as well as it can handle both decoding as well as amping part and has analog headphone output as well. The PB5 on the other hand is a dedicated high-end balanced portable tube amplifier. It houses dual NuTube 6P1 tubes for a true vaccum tube experience in a portable form factor. It requires a source device that can feed it analog signal in the form of 4.4mm input. As for output, we have both 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone outputs on both devices.
For the past week, I have used the D16 as a standalone as well as with PB5 as a proper stack as well.
Design & Build:-
Both the devices are very identical to look at. They come in a green colored leather case. The PB5 has a glass window that shows the dual NuTubes while the D16 houses a display screen at that place. Both of them look very well-built. Well, they both are a little huge for being portable as a stack, so thatās why I call this actually a transportable source(but way smaller than other transportable sources in the market as of now). They are very well-built and have a premium feel to them(well they better have that because they are 3000$ together).
PB5 comes with two 4.4mm interconnect cables, one short and the other a bit long.
Sound Impressions:-
First about the D16 alone.
iBasso D16 is a very capable device. It is super clean with no audible background noise even with sensitive IEMs. Tonally, I find the D16 to have a neutral, natural tone. It doesnāt sound coloring at all and brings out the basic signature of the connected source without affecting it much. For my usage, I have tested the D16 with a bunch of IEMs so far including Madoo Type 512, Nightjar Singularity, Flipears Artha, etc.
The main attraction for me so far with the D16 Taipan is its technical performance. The device is highly capable of producing a massive stage, it literally feels massive with a full 3D enveloping presentation. if you pair it right, you can get the best experience of your life which I had with the Flipears Artha. Every minute detail, Bass texture, Vocal texture, everything is so cleanly presented that it was an instant love affair for me. Another thing to appreciate is its silky smooth presentation. The overall signature of the D16 has an effortless, buttery-smooth presentation. It literally made me feel I needed to upgrade my DX260 to a better source and finally ended up at DX320.
Now on to the PB5, PB5 adds a bit of warmth and another layer of smoothness to the instrument notes. It adds that tubey flavour that I love. As an Amp and basically as a companion to the D16, the PB5 works excellently. Both the devices have a lot of power, I never had to go to high gain for any given IEM that I have tested so far with the combo. The way my Artha sounds on this particular stack has got me sold and I have already started saving for this combo.
How do I find the Stack against my recently bought DX320:-
Well, the stack is a step above in terms of output power and overall performance. But the overall signature is quite different to what I have on the DX320. I can call them complementing each other in terms of tone. D16 makes the sound smooth and buttery, DX320 is raw and edgy in nature. Soundstage, both are identical and produce a massive stage, but the addition of PB5 just takes the performance to another level on both devices. I want to take the D16 as well because it provides me with a different sound signature and I feel like the D16 has the upper hand in terms of battery life as well.
For me the key points:-
>Outstanding stage size, it feels massive.
>PB5 adds a rich tubey taste while not making the sound go muddy or lifeless.
>D16 on its own also works quite well, so we can buy them one by one and not rush into buying both together(yeah the stack is a bit pricey).
>The volume control on the PB5 is a little noisy, so i prefer using the volume control through the D16.
>I find the stack a bit too costly, like a 3000$ setup for portable :/ But after listening to it, I am like letās save up and get this beauty someday
iscorpio71
100+ Head-Fier
It does not, it's OK. Thin and more treble focus. I'll give it, that has maybe a more significant sound stage because of it. Instruments and voices are not nearly as lush and beautiful as on the Quattro's; its timber and realistic sound is amazing.
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red12391
New Head-Fier
pkcpga
1000+ Head-Fier
Campfire trifecta and Fir XE6
Trifecta you can find open box for under 3k on campfire marketplace.
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Looks great! Please let us know how it performs! I wonder which cable (The orange colour) that is on your 2nd pic, thick cables...It's a new amp from a Korean company, and if you've heard of it, it's supposed to be unique in portable amplifiers, so I'll give it a listen this Sunday and report back.
red12391
New Head-Fier
Sorry I don't know your cable info.Looks great! Please let us know how it performs! I wonder which cable (The orange colour) that is on your 2nd pic, thick cables...
Check it out here...
https://smartstore.naver.com/jupiteraudio?
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