iBasso DX50 Quick Review

iBasso DX50 Quick Review

Thanks to Advanced MP3 Player's (AMP3) for the loan.

Brief:  Darkly sumptuousness in DAP form.

Price:  £199

Specifications:  Line out: Frequency Response: 20Hz~20KHz +/-0.2dB, S/N: -109dB +/-3dB, THD+N: 0.003%, Output Level: 1.5V rms (1kHz 0dB), Headphone out: Frequency Response: 20Hz~20KHz +/-1dB, THD+N: 0.004% (32ohm load), Output Level: 1.2V(Low gain), 1.7V(Mid gain), 3.1V(High Gain), S/N: -103dB +/-3dB(Low gain), -106dB +/-3dB(Mid gain), -108dB +/-3dB(High Gain) (32ohm Load), Output Impedance: <0.5ohm, Battery Life: 14hours, Battery Charge Time: 3hours with AC adapter, 5.5hours with PC USB port, Case dimension: 2.52W x 3.98L x 0.67H (inch), 64W x 100L x 17H (mm), Weight: 146g or 5.15oz

Accessories:  A micro USB charger/ data cable.  A 3.5mm to coaxial out adapter. 2 screen protectors and lastly, a silicon case to keep it safe.

Aesthetics:  To my eyes its look is strangely monolithic and I rather liked it, I’ve been told the metal back can be scratched easily if that sort of thing bothers you.  You do get the case but with the case in I thought it looked ugly.

Build:  Felt good and solid.  A touch light but it’s snugly put together.  So much so it was a real effort to get to back off to expose the battery.

Power:  It has oodles of power available.  It comes with low, med and high gain options and it happily drove the big HD600 beasts and the notoriously power hungry RE-0’s.  In volume too it could go to louder than I would ever care to subject my ears to.  Lots and lots of power here.

Sound:  Dark, warm, sumptuous Wolfsonness.  One of its big selling points is its Wolfson heart and rightly so, their chips are very widely loved in audioland.  In my experience they have a warm and smooth flavour and here it’s the most marked display of that I’ve dealt with.  It’s really quite flavoured for a DAP and it’s a gorgeous sound.  Music flows and oozes and my word it’s beautiful to behold.  Here comes the but you knew was coming, but its so very warm if you pair it with warm IEM’s it’s all too soft and smooth.  I want a little more drama and excitability in my DAP’s.  Now I’ll grant you when you hook it up to lighter and brighter IEM’s then they can complement each other very nicely.  Indeed with the highly resolving HD600 the pairing was quite excellent but most things left me wanting.  I wanted more passion and excitability and the DX50 just isn’t that.  It’s a bar of 50% coco chocolate with salted toffee.  Dark yet creamy and sweet then with that hint of salt cutting through in the top end.  It’s so inviting and indulgent but sometimes you just want a grapefruit, something light and crisp and the DX50 just is not that.  Lovely but with a distinct flavour so long as you love that flavour it’s an exquisite DAP.

Value:  Its beautiful sounding, it’s got a really excellent UI, removable battery, it can use exFAT so it’ll do up to 2TB SD cards, all pretty unique attributes for a DAP.  If you care about audio and like a warm sound this is leaps and bounds better than the Ipod you’d get for the same money.

Pro’s:  Beautifully exquisite sounding, great UI, power, 2TB SD card capability.