iBasso DX90 High Resolution Dual Sabre ES9018K2M DACs with ProStudio USB Charger & Coaxial Connection Kit [Full One Year USA Warranty]

For those of you who want as simple an answer as possible, here you go: this player is worth every penny, or more, and I am completely happy with it in every way: sound quality, build construction, usability (admittedly it did take me a short amount of time to get used to it, plus I have Fred-Flintstony hands and fingers so it's like trying to dial a phone with a Christmas ham, but this is not the device's fault), and battery life (I don't expect a device this small with such amazing performance to last an eon and don't mind plugging it in or buying a backup battery).The rest of this is for those who want more detail. I use this player with my new Sennheiser IE800 IEMs/earbuds, both I bought to use at work, and it's incredibly tough to imagine how my music could sound better (frankly, my wife and wallet are begging me not to try imaging it). I haven't tried this player with any other headphones, but I have tried the earbuds with other players; which is to say there was a substantial and dramatic improvement in sound using the IE800 when I switched from my Samsung S5 to the DX90, but your mileage may vary. Every song on every album I've listened to so far (aside from bad recordings/mixes or scratched up CD sources) came alive and danced across the imaginary sound stage I hear audiophiles talk about. Music I've listened to hundreds of times (maybe thousands for the older albums) found new life and is reborn. I find myself fascinated and riveted to each song. I repeatedly say, "ok, I'll just listen to part of this song and then skip to the next." Then 30 seconds later, I'm thinking, "ok, I'm not going to skip it because it just sounds sooooo good; I'll skip through the next one." And then the process repeats. I'm listening as I write this, and intended to just peruse a couple songs... that was 3 hours ago. One of the most incredible things is that this player sounds amazing with any genre of music that I listen to: classical/orchestral, jazz, standards/vocals (Frank Sinatra for example), rock, pop, heavy metal, or just simple instrumental (I have a 12 string guitar CD that's dazzling on this player). I think a good way to sum it up is to say this player takes good quality digital music and puts it back on a brand new vinal LP like no other player I've heard... smooth, non-digitized-sounding, rich, clear, beautiful.I'm no audiophile, just FYI. So the most technical info I can give you are my simple impressions: the bass is deep and perfectly punchy without being muddy or overpowering, the midrange is clear and blends beautifully with the bass and the higher end without loss of separation, and the high end is wonderfully crisp and detailed without being harsh. Since I'm not the best judge of sound quality except to say that I know what I like, I gave this little powerhouse setup to my wife to see what her impression would be... given that I asked her to listen to her own album, I figured I'd get a very realistic review of how closely a musician would feel the sound compares to what she intended to be heard. She said it's amazingly close to how she meant it to sound: the separation and clarity were spot-on, the detail is breathtaking; the only difference was that she thought the bass was a just a tiny bit light. We always disagree on the bass subject... I thought her album sounded more balanced, hauntingly beautiful, pure and impactful than I have ever heard it before. But I suppose, if you like more bass, there's always the EQ built into the DX90 for that purpose.Review details:- The above review is based on all music being captured from audio CDs in FLAC format, or from HDTracks also in FLAC format.- All music is playing from the 128Gb SD card I put in it, not the internal memory.- The DX90 is in factory-delivered configuration: no EQ, no filters, no changes at all, (I prefer no artificial flavors in my tunes), with the latest firmware installed (2.1.5 as of this writing).- I haven't the foggiest clue if the "burn-in" phenomena is real or not, and I don't really care. It didn't hurt to let it play for 48 hours with the little burn-in dongle provided with the player, so I did. I don't really hear a difference... it sounded amazing right out of the box.I hope this helps someone. Oh, and on a side note, if you have the need for a truly incredible set of earbuds (IEMs), you seriously can't go wrong with the IE800s; but that's a different review. :)

it's old, it's out of date, and you really can't find anything better for the price - still. Battery life is pretty poor (6-7 hours), so get a second battery and keep one charged. One really good feature of this is that it can be Rockbox'd easily. I'm using a hacked rockbox version from about 2016 because I like the interface better, but the latest version works too (a few minor glitches, but nothing that impacts playing quality or usage). You'll want to do the same if you want to do ramdom play, unless you just want to dump all your files into one folder and use the database to access them. Also, and I think this is a problem just having to do with Mac computers text file format, but if you want to create an m3u8 playlist on a computer and then move it to the device, any diacritical marks in the playlist won't be recognized - only a problem if you like tunes in languages other than english. Anyway - it sounds great and properly interfaced is easy to use.

I gave one star just based on its quality. The one I got was dead in the second day. At first, the screen couldn't get back from the power save mode even I pushed the power button. Then the display was gone totally. Have to return it to Amazon.About the SQ, it is better than Rockbox Sansa Fuse and it does have more power. It sounds good with Er4p. So I would say the SQ is acceptable, but not impressive.. The build quality is not good, especially the buttons and the screen. I don't know how long it can last. The touch screen is very sensitive, which is annoying. Also the DAC drive installation under Windows 7 64 bit is tricky, but it can work.So for sound quality, I may give it 3/4 stars. And I may try luck again to re-order one since I like the replaceable battery. .

Purchased this due to all the raving reviews. Not wowed at all. I have been a cowon user for at least a decade now and thought I needed to give it a try and well it does perform but not for the money level it's at. Cowon models that are cheaper than this comes with radio! This in comparison to sound quality isn't even a huge difference in sound when comparing this model with various cowon models I own. I bet some people are just hearing it more believably due to the money they spend on this product. Would not spend this much money again for something that doesn't even come with all the features that cowon models do and but much larger screen sizes. Barely could tell the difference. Cowon's seem to be more dynamic! This product is overpriced!