iBasso DX100 Reference DAP Impression

[dqwong]

My DX100 is rooted. I used superoneclick:

[APP]SuperOneClick v2.3.3 - Motorola Exploit Added! - xda-developers

What's the advantage of rooting? Does it improve performance or battery life?

 

[Hitsugaya87]

Rooting is like jailbreak for the fruits =)

Although Android can already find those "you know what" apps for free without rooting. Rooting allows use of custom roms and supports other apps that need rooting. =D

 

[dqwong]

Rooting is like jailbreak for the fruits =)

Although Android can already find those "you know what" apps for free without rooting. Rooting allows use of custom roms and supports other apps that need rooting. =D

I mean I don't think anyone would want to run ANY other apps(except audio players) with the DX100.. the touchscreen is pretty bad for anything else, the CPU + memory is also pretty low-end by today's standards and not to mention the weak battery life.

but if rooting can underclock cpu.. it might be a good thing.

 

[Hitsugaya87]

I believe you can do overclock and underclock after rooting. Can use battery calibration on the DX100 as well =)

I did battery calibration on my phone and my DX100. Do try the battery calibration app here: For rooted users only

 

[XP]

I rooted for titanium backup. Used it to freeze off those bundled apps that I deem useless. Will look into modifying clock speeds and battery life improvement soon.

 

[Hitsugaya87]

Titanium backup is a good app to use as well.

 

[mark_twain]

I think the Colorfly C4 support 24bit-192khz as well? Anyway, there are discussions all over the net about the best compromise being 24bit/96khz, which is likely the best ear can hear.

As for the minor details, breathing of the singer, ambience, etc. all the 3 monster DAP (C4, DX100, 801) can deliver it very well (in fact, Korg MR2 is very strong in this aspect as well). I am guessing if we do a blind test with the 3 DAP, it will be difficult to differentiate which is which.

Anyway, congrats for the wonderful DAP that you have purchase and enjoy it! Really like the quality of the materials used on the DX100, as compared to 801, besides the bigger screen and android UI. I wonder if any users tried to open the DX100 to check if internal batteries could be replaced?

I agree with mark_twain as well about not judging solely on reviews itself, my jump towards the DX100 was the close to flat frequency response that I see on the frequency chart. I knew it was the kind of sound I like and it definitely met my expectations.

One main difference the DX100 gives me was how real the music was. The ability to catch minor details, the breathing of the singer during a live performance and not forgetting the ambience of the stage itself.

Another reason was that its the only player that still support 24bit-192khz through the digital out. =) Do correct me if I'm wrong about this.

 

[Dreammusic]

I think the Colorfly C4 support 24bit-192khz as well? Anyway, there are discussions all over the net about the best compromise being 24bit/96khz, which is likely the best ear can hear.

As for the minor details, breathing of the singer, ambience, etc. all the 3 monster DAP (C4, DX100, 801) can deliver it very well (in fact, Korg MR2 is very strong in this aspect as well). I am guessing if we do a blind test with the 3 DAP, it will be difficult to differentiate which is which.

Anyway, congrats for the wonderful DAP that you have purchase and enjoy it! Really like the quality of the materials used on the DX100, as compared to 801, besides the bigger screen and android UI. I wonder if any users tried to open the DX100 to check if internal batteries could be replaced?

C4 does 24/192 but only in WAV, if you prefer FLAC then I think DX100 can do that.

 

[Randius]

I wonder if any users tried to open the DX100 to check if internal batteries could be replaced?

Internal battery is definitely replaceable. The upgrade to 1st batch and partially the reason to delay in 2nd batch were to make removing the back plate and replace the battery easier. Unfortunately, the instruction have not been released by iBasso yet. Also heard there's a Taiwanese guy who tried to open up the DX100 to mod but failed to do so

 

[Hitsugaya87]

Modding the DX100... Sounds interesting. =)

 

[mark_twain]

That's great! I see business opportunity to make "extra powered" extended battery for this power hungry DAP, with increasing number of buyers!

Maybe double the battery size with a small hump behind, like some handphone extended battery? Haha....

I know which Taiwanese guy... are you referring to the guy who tried modding the HM-801 as well?

Internal battery is definitely replaceable. The upgrade to 1st batch and partially the reason to delay in 2nd batch were to make removing the back plate and replace the battery easier. Unfortunately, the instruction have not been released by iBasso yet. Also heard there's a Taiwanese guy who tried to open up the DX100 to mod but failed to do so

 

[Randius]

That's great! I see business opportunity to make "extra powered" extended battery for this power hungry DAP, with increasing number of buyers!

Maybe double the battery size with a small hump behind, like some handphone extended battery? Haha....

I know which Taiwanese guy... are you referring to the guy who tried modding the HM-801 as well?

Yup, that GameGuy fellow Seems like he is quite well respected for modding iQube.

 

[Hitsugaya87]

A 20 hour battery DX100 would be totally awesome. =)

 

[bobozhang137]

A 20 hour battery would be the reason I'll buy it.

 

[dqwong]

I think I might have finally heard/identified the difference between this dac vs other sigma delta dac. If you listen to tracks with a lot of attack(e.g. Heavy metal, heavy rock), I notice the other dacs(crystal/akm) all have slightly more distortion/noise/non clarity during the transient period(strike of cymbals or drums).

 

[dqwong]

Found a tool which makes the DX100 become super responsive:

It's called Ram Manager Free

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartprojects.RAMOptimizationFree&hl=en

I set to Balanced mode and it became "lightning fast"(in relative to dx100) to access my 3.5K worth of songs. Touch screen has improved responsiveness.

 

[Hitsugaya87]

Thanks for sharing I just paid for the pro version to unlock more features can use on my phone as well!

I changed from the chinese keyboard to the stock android keyboard on the DX100 as well. At least we don't see any weird chinese words popping up.

 

[d4rkm4st3r]

Just tried kenny's dx100 for a fast 5 mins.. Wow.. The sq was really good.. Warm mids, great soundstage straight out from the headphone out.. But it really feels warm n its huge! And price is hard for me to swallow..

Overall great audiophile dap..

 

[dqwong]

I do find the dx100 headphone out to be a tad too bright for gr07, so now using line out or O2 amp as source.

 

[arcanehacker]

anybody knows where I can find a spare charger for this? I went to fe hw shops, even to SL Tower. Its either 12v 1000mAh or 12v 2500mAh.. Others are just way too high or low.