Review and Measurements of iBasso DX200 DAP

[amirm]

Interesting driver issues. I have owned a few Ibasso devices, and never ran into issues downloading, installing and or using their device(s) in USB DAC mode. The win 10 USB dac driver is less than 3MB, you were downloading the firmware files (700mb+).

I have done both. The device is recognized in Windows but for some strange reason, there is no analog output from it when fed from it when used as a DAC.

Also why was the testing not performed on the balanced output?

Two reasons: 1) I was very frustrated with the unit and 2) the single ended matched their specs so I trust you can look up their balanced output for that.

 

[tential]

You mean on Windows or on the device? If the former, nothing causes it to output anything. On the latter, it seems bit perfect to me using their own player.

Ya I meant on Android. If it's able to bypass the android src (unlike our phones) and output bitperfect for flac files, then I'll be able to use these Android daps.

I've held off forever, since when I last asked you on the LG g7 you said that snr would be effected by non bitperfect playback if I remember correctly.

 

[amirm]

Why not post the full measurement, akin to the detail compiled for the Cowon Plenue P2?

With that unit I could use it as a DAC and run all my tests. Without that mode as I explained in the review, it is not possible to run most of the tests ince my analyzer is a Windows software and can't control the unit when used in DAP mode.

 

[amirm]

I've held off forever, since when I last asked you on the LG g7 you said that snr would be effected by non bitperfect playback if I remember correctly.

Yes, SINAD would get limited to 96 dB when played in 16 bit mode. The fact that it goes much past that, it must be doing it right.

 

[tential]

Yes, SINAD would get limited to 96 dB when played in 16 bit mode. The fact that it goes much past that, it must be doing it right.

Thanks, I really appreciate that. Finally I can confirm that this issue with Android is fixed with these new daps.

You said you've got some other daps on hand? Mind sharing what's coming down the pipeline?

 

[amirm]

You said you've got some other daps on hand? Mind sharing what's coming down the pipeline?

I have a Hiby R6 Pro on hand for testing.

 

[Tks]

I have a Hiby R6 Pro on hand for testing.

Any teasers for UserExperience ?

Your adventure with the Basso was pretty funny. Love the software rants

 

[tential]

Any teasers for UserExperience ?

Your adventure with the Basso was pretty funny. Love the software rants

Ibasso uses rockchip cpu, hiby used entry level snapdragon. Ibasso has a far worse experience.
Fiio m11 uses a more modern Exynos, best experience. Benchmarks obviously demonstrate the same story as the performance of these chops are well known since they're all old news.

Ibasso will not upgrade. I have asked and last time they said "whatever you use just enjoy the music!" to which their fans were quite happy with how "classy" the response was for asking them to upgrade their processor.

I'll be interested in his amp measurements as the hiby r6 pro is supposed to be one of the stronger amps out there

I haven't heard of the usb dac being an issue or any software stuff just not working just being slow due to Ibasso milking profits since audiophiles are happy to deal with slow ui, if the company says they did it to "focus" on audio quality.

 

[amirm]

Any teasers for UserExperience ?

No, I have not turned it on yet. Will review soon as the owner has been waiting for a while. Worse yet, he is local so he can come and beat me up in person.

 

[irrationophile]

This! You can get New LG V20s for around $120-$130 on eBay. I can't really understand why anyone would choose something like this iBasso over that.

Marketing is powerful. DAPs shouldn't exists in this day and age, nor should they be so expensive given how inferior they are to a smartphone. Horrible UI, much less processing power, no camera, no speaker, lower battery capacity, chunkier etc. Pretty much a stone compared to modern smartphones.

 

[graz_lag]

Marketing is powerful. DAPs shouldn't exists in this day and age, nor should they be so expensive given how inferior they are to a smartphone. Horrible UI, much less processing power, no camera, no speaker, lower battery capacity, pretty much a stone compared to modern smartphones.

Sure but no unwanted pop-up ads & malware at least! Hahaha!

 

[Patrick1958]

Sure but no unwanted pop-up ads & malware at least! Hahaha!

And privacy, no tracking.

 

[irrationophile]

Sure but no unwanted pop-up ads & malware at least! Hahaha!

The chances of malware is probably much lower than the chances of a Dap glitching or malfunctioning. Besides, I could buy multiple Lgv20 with the same amount of money as these Daps, who cares if one gets malware hahaha. Power shouldn't be a problem unless you're some crazy person who commutes with a hifiman He6.

There's no ads unless you use some streaming service like Spotify and don't pay for premium.

 

[JJB70]

The only reasons I went back to using a DAP were the low headphone output of my Xperia Premium and the fact its battery was dying. However I found the Sony smart phone to be perfectly satisfactory at lower volumes or with very efficient headphones. I paid £170 for a Shanling M3s and see no reason to pay any more really.

 

[q3cpma]

Marketing is powerful. DAPs shouldn't exists in this day and age, nor should they be so expensive given how inferior they are to a smartphone. Horrible UI, much less processing power, no camera, no speaker, lower battery capacity, chunkier etc. Pretty much a stone compared to modern smartphones.

Never heard of the "do one thing and do it well" philosophy? What a DAP can have that a smartphone can't or usually doesn't:
1) Physical buttons for activation without looking at it thus a smaller screen (no touchscreen).
2) Special purpose OS like Rockbox as opposed to a general purpose one like Android allowing for way weaker hardware.
3) Greater battery life and lower price (for equal or greater SQ) because of 1) and 2).
4) Not automatically designed as something like 1984's living room TV/camera.

Now, I agree that there's a certain amount of redundancy when you alreay have a smartphone, but if you don't, they're mandatory.

 

[JJB70]

Thing is, smartphones tend to have better battery life than DAPs and most DAPs I see seem to use Android apart from the IPod. The only things I can see they offer is a more powerful headphone output (not always the case) and balanced out for enthusiasts of balanced headphones. The other thing that they do offer is that they separate music from a phone and leave you undisturbed to just enjoy music.

 

[graz_lag]

... The other thing that they do offer is that they separate music from a phone and leave you undisturbed to just enjoy music.

Indeed, that's is the greatest of the pros of DAPs vs. phones, which in my case are merely working tools, forced to keep them open for 16 hrs. / day ...

 

[q3cpma]

Thing is, smartphones tend to have better battery life than DAPs and most DAPs I see seem to use Android apart from the IPod. The only things I can see they offer is a more powerful headphone output (not always the case) and balanced out for enthusiasts of balanced headphones. The other thing that they do offer is that they separate music from a phone and leave you undisturbed to just enjoy music.

About the battery life, it's quite difficult to compare them since most DAPs are sized so you can easily put them in your pocket. Modern smartphones killed the "phablet" word by their ridiculous size, so the comparison is hard to make. By trying to look on gsmarena, I found the iPhone 8 (4.7"), which has a smaller battery than my cheap Xduoo x3 II.

Sadly, you're right when saying that a lot of modern DAPs use Android, but I still find a lot using some homebrew stuff (probably still the Linux kernel underneath).

 

[pwjazz]

lower price

The economies of scale inherent in a mass market products like a phone tend to drive prices down relative to a niche product like a DAP.

 

[JohnYang1997]

The economies of scale inherent in a mass market products like a phone tend to drive process down relative to a niche product like a DAP.

Not really unless you use 200 dollar smartphones.