iBasso DC02 USB Phone DAC & Amp Review

[xxiii]

I tested the DC02 with the Sennheiser HD-650 headphones.

lol. 300 Ohm headphones! You measured its power. dc02 more than 60 Ohms can not be. his characteristics are like this. for Sennheiser HD650 need dc01 balanced. Gentlemen! What are these charts for? Do our ears listen to impedance? Well, if it's the ears of the robot, Yes. We are living people. These graphs will not show brightness and so on. I bought the original apple type_c to 3.5 and compared it to dc02. most importantly: apple has background noise. this is very bad. at the same time, your apple has a good performance. very strange. the sound in apple is almost slightly louder than from the phone. that's all.

 

[Veri]

@xxiii strange, my Apple USB-c dongle has no noise problems and is quite powerful for a dongle..

 

[xxiii]

track: Dennis lloyd - Unfaithful.mp3. on apple some ringing. too ringing \\. track: Simon Le Grec-Sophie in Love.mp3, time 3: 23-3: 28, lisping. as if the headphones are the cheapest. tin!\\ Honor 9 phone, UAPP player with bit perfect, audio technica m50x headphones. More. In Russia, all bloggers say that it (ibasso) is not worse than Meizu DAC\DAC Pro ( ? ). The same bloggers say that e1da rips ibasso dc xx and Meizu doc (it's true). Who to trust?
Veri, that's why I was confused.

 

[xxiii]

And Meizu doesn't know how to DSD. On forums, people complain about this.

 

[Zek]

@xxiii You use bit perfect player to listen to .mp3 files?

 

[xxiii]

I have every right to do so. and plus means that there were no unnecessary distortions.

 

[Veri]

Thanks to ASR I've read about E1DA and immediately ordered 9038S. Hope this will be an endgame gear in this formfactor.

Make sure to get a balanced headphone cable and use no unbalanced adapters

 

[xxiii]

@xxiii strange, my Apple USB-c dongle has no noise problems and is quite powerful for a dongle..

tell me someone on this track there is noise on your DAC ? in the beginning, for example. in apple C, I hear noise. maybe I have a problem with the device. unfortunately I don't have a dc02 right now. I'll delete the track later. 24/96 flac

Spoiler: ---

Michael Kiwanuka - Hero
https://yadi.sk/d/SkOMGwUpCnZnfg

 

[Saidera]

DC02 was promoted in Japan and is quite popular. Compare to Hidizs S8 in Japan and many go for DC02 because it is cheaper. For us, knowing Sonata HD Pro is cheaper than DC02, and measures way better, there's no need for DC02.

Apple USB-C is limited to 24/48, so one needs another dongle to get bitperfect 32/384 - it so happens that Archimago tested an ALC4042 TX Hifi USB DAC which subjectively sounds only slightly better than Apple Cirrus Logic CS46L06, but costs twice as much and doesn't measure as well as the Apple dongle. Now ALC4042 dongles are replaced by ALC4050 which quickly became ALC5686. But even ALC5686 which has SNR 120 dB has its DSD switched off. WASAPI DoP just doesn't work properly without distorting. Hence for native DSD via ASIO driver, one needs Sonata HD Pro.

For unlocking DSEE HX on Music Center app for Android, use Apple USB-C. For 32/384 and DSD256 ASIO use Sonata HD Pro.

Finally, with measured and proven USB dongles we can be assured that the DACs in random phones and computers are not introducing problems as we don't have to use them!

 

[pavuol]

DC02 was promoted in Japan and is quite popular. Compare to Hidizs S8 in Japan and many go for DC02 because it is cheaper. For us, knowing Sonata HD Pro is cheaper than DC02, and measures way better, there's no need for DC02.

Apple USB-C is limited to 24/48, so one needs another dongle to get bitperfect 32/384 - it so happens that Archimago tested an ALC4042 TX Hifi USB DAC which subjectively sounds only slightly better than Apple Cirrus Logic CS46L06, but costs twice as much and doesn't measure as well as the Apple dongle. Now ALC4042 dongles are replaced by ALC4050 which quickly became ALC5686. But even ALC5686 which has SNR 120 dB has its DSD switched off. WASAPI DoP just doesn't work properly without distorting. Hence for native DSD via ASIO driver, one needs Sonata HD Pro.

For unlocking DSEE HX on Music Center app for Android, use Apple USB-C. For 32/384 and DSD256 ASIO use Sonata HD Pro.

Finally, with measured and proven USB dongles we can be assured that the DACs in random phones and computers are not introducing problems as we don't have to use them!

Are you shure it is not a mistake mentioning ALC5686? It is hard to find datasheets for realtek chips, though with this one I was lucky - here, which is from 2009 (!) and states 100dB SNR and -86dB THD+N...

 

[Saidera]

Realtek never replies, as IVX once said. They're just too common in all computers. The 'DD TC35B Type-C to 3.5mm Cable Adapter' uses ALC5686.

 

[Taltalon]

I just got my iBasso DC02 - I have firmware 0.07 per Apple System Report (connected to my MacBook Pro via USB-C) - I did not firmware flash from their website.
I must say the sound is quite amazing. I tested with B&W P9 (32 ohm) and its quite amazing. I also connected it to my Magni 3 amp and used the Sennhesier HD800 I have - its quite good... a huge surprise.

A Question - as this DAC has no line out - and I connected it to the Magni 3 input - how should I set the volume of the DAC ? Maximum output or keep it low and use the Magni to turn up the volume.

How can it be that although the review is not so great - when using this DAC - its pretty awesome.... how can all the numbers do not add up to what happens when you actually use it?

Thanks for you help and great review. I learn new things every day.
Tal

 

[killdozzer]

Here's a question for you boffins: imagine you "Mandlebrot" a DAC. Imagine you DAC > ADC > DAC > ADC > DAC etc. the signal. How much would it take to be able to clearly hear deterioration in sound by bear ears?

 

[killdozzer]

Here's a question for you boffins: imagine you "Mandlebrot" a DAC. Imagine you DAC > ADC > DAC > ADC > DAC etc. the signal. How much would it take to be able to clearly hear deterioration in sound by bear ears?

Sorry, bare ears. I wrote bear. Thats' probably why you didn't answer me.

 

[Ufasas]

who's got iBasso DC03 ?

 

[Jet Black]

Me. But this is my first dac dongle so I can't compare it to other dongles or older models, i can just tell its good quality. Both build and sq.

 

[Jet Black]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the iBasso DC02 USB Phone DAC and headphone amplifier adapter. It is kindly sent to me by a local member. The DC02 is quite expensive for a dongle at US $67.50 with Prime shipping in US. It sports an AKM AK4490 DAC chip that implies great performance and support for high resolution audio.

The DC02 is a bit more beefy than a typical phone headphone adapter:

View attachment 43673​

In person it looks a bit cheaper than the pictures on company website.

In use the dongle gets a bit warmer than ambient temp which is unusual for a dongle.

The DC02 was plug and play on Windows 10 but the ASIO4ALL wrapper (software) that I use to measure it would truncate samples to 16 bits. So for some of the tests I used WASAPI exclusive access on Windows to feed it 24 bit data. That made a tiny bit of improvement so for other tests I used the ASIO interface instead.

USB DAC Dongle Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard of 1 kHz tone:

View attachment 43674

The specification says we would only get 0.9 volt output. Here, we are exceeding that by a bit at 0.97 volts. Alas, this is not high enough to drive high impedance headphones as we will see later.

Distortion and noise as summed in SINAD measurement is not bad but not great either:
View attachment 43676

The $9 Apple dongle does better for example.

Distortion is not an issue as we see in the FFT spectrum with highest spike at -105 dB. It is noise that is the problem and we see that in dynamic range test:
View attachment 43677

Jitter test shows the myriad of noise sources:
View attachment 43678

This issue may be system dependent and be worse or better in other setups. A good design however won't have system dependency.

Intermodulation versus level shows the same noise issue:
View attachment 43679


Most important test is how much power we have for different load impedance of headphones. Let's start with 300 ohm load:
View attachment 43680

As I suspected in the Dashboard view, there just isn't much power available here at just 3 milliwatts. Sadly the same situation persists at the other spectrum at 33 ohm:
View attachment 43681

These numbers are very low as compared to other dongles:
View attachment 43682

View attachment 43683

Headphone Listening Test
I tested the DC02 with the Sennheiser HD-650 headphones. The results were very disappointing. There was hardly enough volume. No bass response to speak of and the sound was dull overall as a result of it.

Conclusions
The iBasso DC02 seems to have focused on DAC chip rather than headphone amplifier for performance. The DAC chip is not the bottleneck: the low power and high noise level of the headphone amp is. They paid so much extra for the DAC chip and are passing on that cost to customers even though no value is provided there. I hope everyone here knows that it is all about implementation than what components are in an audio device.

Needless to say, I can't recommend the iBasso DC02.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Well, for a change, I don't need anything for the panthers as they got a ton of gifts for Christmas. I hope those of you who celebrate had a good time as well. If you feel like donating, here is the link again: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Pls pls do this same review on dc03 because that one is i believe a totally different beast

 

[RHO]

who's got iBasso DC03 ?

Me.
I compared it directly to the Topping DX3pro (V2 = higher output impedance), because I have both.
The DC03 performs quite well. Connected to my One+ Nord I can have to play at very low volume levels to not damage my ears. I tried Tin Hifi T2plus IEMs and Sennheiser/Drop HD6XX. So I think the DC03 is a fair bit more powerful than the DC02.
Connected to my laptop I could compare the DC03 to the Topping.
Sound-wise I had the impression the bass sounds a bit fuller, rounder compared to the Topping. I also think I can hear some differences in the higher mids.
So I think the Topping is more accurate, while the iBasso sound more rounded, warmer.
But that's just my inexperienced impressions.
I have nothing to complain about the iBasso. Got it for ~€40 from AE.

 

[Jet Black]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the iBasso DC02 USB Phone DAC and headphone amplifier adapter. It is kindly sent to me by a local member. The DC02 is quite expensive for a dongle at US $67.50 with Prime shipping in US. It sports an AKM AK4490 DAC chip that implies great performance and support for high resolution audio.

The DC02 is a bit more beefy than a typical phone headphone adapter:

View attachment 43673​

In person it looks a bit cheaper than the pictures on company website.

In use the dongle gets a bit warmer than ambient temp which is unusual for a dongle.

The DC02 was plug and play on Windows 10 but the ASIO4ALL wrapper (software) that I use to measure it would truncate samples to 16 bits. So for some of the tests I used WASAPI exclusive access on Windows to feed it 24 bit data. That made a tiny bit of improvement so for other tests I used the ASIO interface instead.

USB DAC Dongle Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard of 1 kHz tone:

View attachment 43674

The specification says we would only get 0.9 volt output. Here, we are exceeding that by a bit at 0.97 volts. Alas, this is not high enough to drive high impedance headphones as we will see later.

Distortion and noise as summed in SINAD measurement is not bad but not great either:
View attachment 43676

The $9 Apple dongle does better for example.

Distortion is not an issue as we see in the FFT spectrum with highest spike at -105 dB. It is noise that is the problem and we see that in dynamic range test:
View attachment 43677

Jitter test shows the myriad of noise sources:
View attachment 43678

This issue may be system dependent and be worse or better in other setups. A good design however won't have system dependency.

Intermodulation versus level shows the same noise issue:
View attachment 43679


Most important test is how much power we have for different load impedance of headphones. Let's start with 300 ohm load:
View attachment 43680

As I suspected in the Dashboard view, there just isn't much power available here at just 3 milliwatts. Sadly the same situation persists at the other spectrum at 33 ohm:
View attachment 43681

These numbers are very low as compared to other dongles:
View attachment 43682

View attachment 43683

Headphone Listening Test
I tested the DC02 with the Sennheiser HD-650 headphones. The results were very disappointing. There was hardly enough volume. No bass response to speak of and the sound was dull overall as a result of it.

Conclusions
The iBasso DC02 seems to have focused on DAC chip rather than headphone amplifier for performance. The DAC chip is not the bottleneck: the low power and high noise level of the headphone amp is. They paid so much extra for the DAC chip and are passing on that cost to customers even though no value is provided there. I hope everyone here knows that it is all about implementation than what components are in an audio device.

Needless to say, I can't recommend the iBasso DC02.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Well, for a change, I don't need anything for the panthers as they got a ton of gifts for Christmas. I hope those of you who celebrate had a good time as well. If you feel like donating, here is the link again: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Pls review dc03 too pls?