The IBasso DX50 digital portable audio player worth 20,000 rubles puzzles many potential buyers in the electronics market. Users do not understand who is interested in such an expensive gadget, if there is a cheaper alternative - a mobile phone. Many experts in their reviews assure others that it is better to hear the sound of music on a High-End device once, rather than be content with a second-class acoustics built into smartphones all their lives. And this is the logic.
Substitution of concepts
The world of digital technologies is daily replenished with new electronics, which constantly amazes customers with its abundant functionality, but most users are so bogged down in Internet technologies that they forgot about what quality sound actually is. Naturally, many people consider a portable audio player to be nothing more than antiques. True, some users managed to feel the difference in the sound of a smartphone and an expensive digital player, which immediately fell into the category of professional acoustics for them.
In fact, both those and other users are mistaken. After all, the IBasso DX50 gadget is positioned on the market as a regular device for playing any audio files. There is no question of any legend - this is a simple player with a regular sound card. But all the electronics that surrounds people of the 21st century, including mobile devices and phones, have integrated solutions that reproduce low-quality sound.
First meeting
It is noteworthy that the manufacturer introduced his product to the market in a luxurious brown package, vaguely reminiscent of a box with perfume or expensive alcohol. True, the sense of sophistication is violated immediately when unpacking, because the appearance of the gadget can disappoint many buyers - three huge buttons clearly do not cause users to trust the device. True, this feeling does not last long, literally until the first inclusion of the audio player.
In addition to the gadget itself, in the box you can find a nice case for the player, a micro-USB cable and a short RCA - TRS interface adapter. It is rather strange that the manufacturer did not provide headphones for his gadget, because most of the expensive equipment is fully equipped. Judging by user reviews, the new owners were not very upset, because each buyer has his own taste, and, accordingly, the choice of decent acoustics in the market will be individual.
The appearance of the gadget
The IBasso DX50 player is made of metal, not plastic, as it might seem when you first met. And this fundamentally changes the situation, because metal products with a printed texture on the surface of the body have always belonged to the elite. True, plastic is still present - the niche for placing the buttons has a plastic insert, and the keys themselves are made of the same material.
But the build quality can not be faulted - everything is done at the highest level. All joints of the panels are perfect, there are no gaps or distortions. Even the connectors for interface cables and headphones are superbly centered. The metal case is a priori protected from squeaks, but the plastic panel with buttons can cause doubts. However, everything is perfect here, the keys have a very small stroke and work silently.
Connectors and control panel
Three huge buttons located on the front of the IBasso DX50 player perform the task of the control panel (“forward”, “back”, “play / pause”) and, as practice shows, nothing more is needed, because the LCD screen is touch-sensitive. On the top panel, the manufacturer placed an RCA connector, a micro-USB interface and a card reader for reading memory cards (microSD).
On the bottom panel, the user will find the amplifier mode switch (the device supports headphones with high impedance), a linear output and a headphone jack. A rather strange placement of a contact for connecting a stereo system, because, logically, the ports should be on top, as on most smartphones that are supposed to be carried in a case. On the left side is the power button and the device lock slider, which turns off not only the screen, but all the buttons. The right panel is occupied only by buttons to control the sound volume.
Touch screen
In the pursuit of portability, many well-known manufacturers provide their digital audio player with a small display, solving the issue of managing functional control buttons. However, IBasso acted very strangely: a small-sized liquid crystal display does not combine with large buttons at all. And under the control keys there is a lot of free space.
It would be possible to solve the issue of managing the software on the player’s screen programmatically, providing the device with an application with large touch buttons (for example, as it is implemented in the Sony Walkman audio player). But here, the best player disappointed many owners. In their reviews, many users claim that managing an IBasso player is difficult for many adults. As for the quality of the screen itself, it has a 2.4-inch IPS-matrix with a screen resolution of 320x240 dpi.
Specifications
The gadget IBasso DX50, whose price is within 20 thousand rubles, is simply obliged to have decent characteristics. The frequency range is in the range of 20-2000 Hz, while the error is only 0.2 dB. Such an indicator is demonstrated only by professional stereo equipment. The output power is 1.5 watts, which is quite good for such a device.
Many owners are confused by the amount of internal memory - only 8 GB, but the manufacturer claims to support memory cards up to 2 terabytes. A removable battery with a capacity of 2100 mAh is enough for 15 hours of continuous listening to music. As for the supported audio formats, here the player is able to surprise all music lovers, because the omnivorous codec understands all types of files, including FLAC.
Difficulty setting
For the IBasso DX50 device, the manual is a guide to the digital world, because it is very difficult to figure out the proprietary software yourself. Regarding the operating system of the player, there is a lot of controversy. The manufacturer used the Android OS in its gadget, but limited the use of third-party programs, providing its device with a shell of its own design. It is clear that this was done in order to protect the owner from poor-quality software, but this restriction does not allow the user to change, for example, the size of the control buttons.
In the user manual, the user will discover many hidden features of the IBasso DX50 player, a review of which simply does not fit in one article. But nowhere is it said that the audio device can be flashed. And this is done directly from the official website of the manufacturer.
Direct competitors
In the price category “up to 20,000 rubles” this model has many competitors in the market, but many experts say that all disputes end with a demonstration of sound quality, therefore it is recommended that the rating of audio players be done in a slightly different perspective. In fact, the closest competitor in the market of High-End devices, which can surpass the quality of a portable player, is in the price range of 100-120 thousand rubles (we are talking about the Astell & Kern AK240 gadget).
As for the Sony Walkman NW-ZX2 audio players, iPod and other well-known representatives, they simply fade in comparison with the IBasso device both in assessing the sound quality by ear and when using professional equipment to measure the sound of acoustics. From the outside, all this looks very strange - the Chinese market representative is superior in quality to the Japanese, American and Korean giants.
The right approach to choosing headphones
Which only headphones for the IBasso DX50 do not offer in the store. For some reason, all sellers believe that the choice of the buyer should fall on devices whose cost corresponds to the price of the player itself. In fact, this is an erroneous opinion, and the user should choose stereo devices based on technical specifications and amenities, and not on the manufacturer and fashion.
Naturally, the headphones should work in the full frequency range of 20-20 000 Hz. There are no special requirements for resistance, but, as practice shows, the higher it is, the deeper the sound itself. But the type of stereo systems is determined only by the owner of the player: inserts, closed or open type, plugs or headsets - it's up to the user. In no case should you be attached to the recommendations of sellers - they are interested in selling expensive equipment.
Feedback
As for the sound quality and reliability of the device, the media will not find reasonable negative reviews. But as for the functionality, management and convenience, here the owners are not restrained in criticism. First of all, I got a stereo output, which is designed to connect headphones. Having placed the gadget in the case for the player with the contacts up, many at first forget that the device is in an upside-down state, of course, in order to get to the screen, you need to remove the player from the case completely.
People with a missing ear for music will certainly notice the difference in sound on an expensive gadget and on the same phone. However, many users cannot afford to conclude where they play better. It is this factor that stops many buyers. Accordingly, the IBasso DX50 device is more suitable for music lovers who know a lot about music and are free to navigate in sound quality.
Finally
Summing up, we can immediately draw several conclusions that contradict each other. On the one hand, this seems to be a unique audio player with very high-quality sound, and on the other hand, this very sound does not bring any result to many users, because everyone has a different hearing. Convenient functionality and workmanship are closely intertwined with the dampness of software and the complexity of management. Not to mention the many interfaces that are not clear how the manufacturer is located.
If we talk about the IBasso player as a whole, then this is the best player in the segment “up to 100,000 rubles” accessible to many music lovers. And if you want to feel the real, high-quality sound, then this gadget is a must-have for any music lover. And the rest remains content with imitation - an integrated solution built into the smartphone, because the difference is still not very noticeable.