![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/108_techweek.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAfter the triumph of the mid-budget player iBasso DX160, which became a popular hit, we were all interested in imagining its future successor. Moreover, not only audiophiles, for whom the DX160 was a standard of adequate choice for a long time, were waiting for its appearance, but also skeptics who ironically criticized the sound potential and speed of operation of this beauty, recognizing only its advantages in terms of design and convenience.<\/p>\n
And so, despite the difficult circumstances, I managed to get the new\u00a0iBasso DX170\u00a0for testing .\u00a0I am very satisfied.\u00a0It’s always easier for me to write articles about the devices of those audiophile brands that treat the development of their products with the utmost scrupulousness than about mass novelties.\u00a0Both older players\u00a0of the iBasso company\u00a0, released recently,\u00a0DX240\u00a0and\u00a0DX320\u00a0, evoked pleasant emotions in me.\u00a0But rest assured, I intend to give an honest opinion about the more affordable and sought-after DX170.\u00a0Is it worth its claimed $450?\u00a0Let’s figure it out.\u00a0To the point.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We are greeted by a small box in a cardboard cover, on which, according to tradition, the key characteristics of the model are listed.\u00a0By the way, the packaging is designed in our patriotic blue and yellow colors, such a bonus attraction for my audience.<\/p>\n
The iBasso DX170 comes with a basic, but practical, no frills: thick USB-C\/USB-A charging cable wrapped in fabric, 2 protective films for the screen and a case.\u00a0I can thank the manufacturer separately for the availability of the latter.\u00a0Nowadays, cases among the accessories of Hi-Fi players in stock are devilishly rare.\u00a0Ordinary TPU, nothing special, but for the first time it will come in handy.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/109_techweek.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Regarding visual impressions.\u00a0In terms of design, the DX170 seemed to me to be closer to the DX240 than to its predecessor, the DX160.\u00a0In a certain sense, his appearance has become simpler, less sophisticated and refined.\u00a0The body has a familiar shape, the choice of materials is also expected, the combination of an aluminum frame and glass panels is used by many.\u00a0But in fact, the device has its own character and is very stylish.\u00a0I really liked its glass back with an incredibly beautiful iridescence of shades, thanks to which the model is perceived as very expensive.\u00a0CNC metal processing is also done with high quality, and I have managed to love the texture of frosted glass ever since the DX240.\u00a0The assembly, of course, is impeccable.\u00a0So I like the appearance.\u00a0The company offers several color options: black, gray and blue.\u00a0As you can see, the gamma is more restrained than that of the DX160.\u00a0We are growing up.<\/p>\n
There are no complaints about the ergonomics of the player, the weight of 165 g and parameters of 124.5x70x15 mm allow you to use it on trips without any problems.\u00a0It fits comfortably in the hand and does not take up much space in the bag.\u00a0It would be ridiculous if it weighed 170 g. Did you know that the iBasso DX240 weighs exactly 240 g?\u00a0Okay, I’m not distracted, let’s continue.<\/p>\n
The controls on the DX170 are standard: 3 mechanical track switches, a slim silver volume wheel combined with a start\/lock button, and a 5-inch Full HD 1080×1920 Sharp IPS touchscreen display with 480 nit brightness and 16.7M color range , covered with Corning glass.\u00a0Frankly, the screen of the new products has become an order of magnitude better, during interaction it is really pleasing.\u00a0But the potentiometer was disappointing due to insufficient fixation, in my copy, even when pressed, it tried to scroll a little.\u00a0When you need to quickly change the volume, this is a plus, but you can accidentally touch it and see stars.\u00a0Fortunately, he has a small step.<\/p>\n
For switching, in addition to the USB Type-C port and\u00a0the MicroSD card slot\u00a0, the model offers two headphone outputs: asymmetrical 3.5 and symmetrical 4.4 Pentaconn.\u00a0They didn’t add a balanced 2.5 jack, but I think it’s unlikely that any audiophile will miss it very much in 2022.\u00a0More importantly, the 3.5 output can also work as linear and coaxial.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/110_techweek.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
We smoothly move on to the section on characteristics.\u00a0The new iBasso DX170 received a double Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC.\u00a0Maximum signal resolution: PCM 32 bit\/384 kHz and DSD256.\u00a0Noteworthy is the top dynamic range of 130 dB, as well as the THD+N of 0.00022%.\u00a0Well, my readers know that I still love Cirrus.\u00a0Later we will find out how he will show himself here.<\/p>\n
Other components of the player are of high quality, it could not be otherwise.\u00a0To combat jitter, 2 femtosecond NDK crystal oscillators and an FPGA matrix are used.\u00a0Individual silicon steel alloy internal shielding protects against interference and crosstalk.\u00a0The amplifier circuit allows the device to give 6.4 Vrms on the balance and 3.2 Vrms on the normal output.\u00a0The power is not a record, but it is not bad for a compact device, it is similar to the DX160 level.\u00a0Through Pentaconn, you can connect most\u00a0full-size headphones\u00a0, except tight planars.\u00a0At the same time, background noise with sensitive IEMs is absent.<\/p>\n
The firmware is Android 11 “without SRC”.\u00a0Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz\/5 GHz allows the installation of third-party applications via APK, including for listening to music on streaming services with MQA 8X decoding.\u00a0If you don’t need streaming, there is a modest 32 GB of built-in memory and a slot for a MicroSD card up to 2 TB.\u00a0There is Bluetooth 5.0 for receiving and sending with aptx and LDAC codecs.\u00a0You can also use the player in external DAC (PCM 32 bit\/384 kHz and DSD128) or digital source mode.<\/p>\n
Now it’s the turn of the item that alarmed me.\u00a0Engineers installed a fresh RockChip RK3566 processor in the iBasso DX170, plus 2 GB of RAM.\u00a0And I have only one question – where is Snapdragon?\u00a0Where is Qualcomm, gentlemen?\u00a0Yes, well, let us be promised that in AnTuTu tests, this new generation RockChip outperforms the Snapdragon 420\/430 processors, which, it is claimed, Hi-Fi brands usually use for players of this price class.\u00a0And the fact of the presence of such a processor, by the way, can really be seen on the example of the same\u00a0Shanling M3X\u00a0.\u00a0But you don’t need to be a guru to distinguish between indicators in sterile stationary tests and real results when using the device in everyday conditions.<\/p>\n
You know that the iBasso DX160 has been in my personal player collection for a long time, and as an owner I remember that it was very lacking in performance in heavy applications.\u00a0That was his problem, he even took forever to start up.\u00a0And the DX170 did not depart from it too far, although it took a step towards progress.\u00a0It copes with ordinary tasks faster, but under load it still works quite slowly, so I do not advise you to plan to play games, watch videos or otherwise actively roam the network on it.\u00a0This is a music player.\u00a0I don’t think that it was worth saving here, taking into account modern realities, but as it is.<\/p>\n
The autonomy of the model is up to 11 hours on a single charge. A lot depends on the volume and the impedance of the headphones, but the indicator is quite acceptable. Quick charging QC3.0, PD2.0, MTK PE Plus Quick Charge is supported, you can fully charge the DX170 in just one and a half hours.<\/p>\n
Also read: Top 8 best Hi-Fi players early 2022<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The main testing was carried out on headphones\u00a0Focal Utopia\u00a0, 64 Audio tia Fourte, Noble Audio Khan, Shanling MG600 and\u00a0Dunu DK-3001 Pro\u00a0.<\/p>\n I’ll start by saying that the iBasso DX170 plays about as well as you and I expected.\u00a0This is a slightly improved DX160, the previous concept of combining analytical and musicality is preserved.\u00a0The player offers an airy and detailed handwriting with a bit of gambling drive, it builds a colorful, refined and informative picture, which consists of many clear strokes, like a mosaic.\u00a0The perfect delineation of instruments, good resolution and control allow it to correctly work out any genres, it is really interesting to listen to it.<\/p>\n But we will not forget about the reverse side of such a setting.\u00a0I can call the DX170 a little thin-voiced and sonorous, it is similar to its predecessor.\u00a0If you are looking for a device with a soft, thick delivery that stealthily fills the space and turns into a whole universe for the viewer, the new iBasso may seem dry and bright to you.\u00a0I also have questions about the naturalness of timbres.\u00a0However, I personally am not a fan of tube sound, so for myself, on a limited budget, I would choose the DX170.\u00a0Its smoothness, technicality and attention to small nuances are what you need so that listening to music in any mood is not tiring.\u00a0But for you, my tastes are not a criterion, it is more important to focus on individual preferences.<\/p>\n Figuratively speaking, some players turn a melody into a velvet stream of singing notes, while others weave it from light threads, and the DX170 belongs to the latter.\u00a0I noticed that in their older models, even iBasso themselves began to add physicality and plasticity to the instruments more often, making their reflection more natural, while preserving the signature detailing.\u00a0And even the DX170 moves in this direction, its delivery seems a little tighter and more articulate than the DX160, but it can still, unlike, say, the DX320, noticeably cut into the ears of HF-phobes.\u00a0At least on the firmware on which testing was carried out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bass is precise, linear and fast.\u00a0The variety of textures is clearly and legibly presented here, the woofers are tactilely firm, confident, without rubbery homogeneity.\u00a0The depth of the saba is not extreme, but it is not bad, the rhythmic pattern is worked out very carefully.\u00a0You shouldn’t expect an increase in mass, as well as an increased roll, but the aggression of the punch did not cause me any comments, and a moderate forcing of impact adds drive.\u00a0The model is not for bassheads, of course, there are such audiophile, normally readable low frequencies, but you cannot call them boring, and they build the foundation correctly.<\/p>\n The middle is mobile, lively, refined.\u00a0Well, literally.\u00a0There is a slight bias in microcontrast, the resolution of the player is decent for its price class, so you will be able to hear a lot of details.\u00a0But, as I already wrote, there is a little lack of weight on the midrange, because of this, the upper mids sometimes sound more synthetic than they could.\u00a0But the delineation of the tools is beautiful, their location in space is free, and they are quite holographic, with a relief texture.\u00a0The timbres are recognizable for the iBasso technique – warm and illuminated.\u00a0Vocal temperament is conveyed cleanly and realistically, but the player is rather stingy in terms of winding up emotions for the sake of effectiveness.\u00a0And I would say that it is good.\u00a0On the negative side, the scale of the scene was not particularly impressive.<\/p>\n High frequencies are also lightweight, whippy and small.\u00a0In this part of the range, we notice that we have an inexpensive player in front of us.\u00a0For all the grace and flexible obedience of the HF, they are a bit simplified, I wanted to get a more serious level in processing the upper layers and overtones.\u00a0The notes somewhat lack delicacy, a noble iridescent fullness, the length of the decays is also not exemplary.\u00a0However, the DX170 surpasses the younger DX160 in terms of the quality of upper frequencies, so I heard enough brilliance on acoustic genres.\u00a0But there is a criticality to the material, take that into account.<\/p>\n I have to admit, recently I rarely get my hands on\u00a0Hi-Res players of\u00a0the initial segment.\u00a0They are increasingly being replaced by compact\u00a0DACs for smartphones\u00a0, including flagships such as Cayin RU6, Questyle M15,\u00a0iFi Go Bar\u00a0, etc.\u00a0Examples do not matter, other favorites will soon appear, the assortment of “whistles” is growing rapidly.\u00a0The bottom line is that audiophiles often now prefer good dongles over stand-alone players when it comes to the budget price range.\u00a0Of course, there are no such changes in the premium category.<\/p>\n But if we’re talking about the affordable DX170, fair comparisons must be made.\u00a0I have not yet tested the updated\u00a0FiiO M11S\u00a0and Shanling M3 Ultra models, so I will have to limit myself to the iBasso DX160 and Shanling M3X examples.<\/p>\n So, what are the main changes in the sound of the successor, if you compare it directly with the DX160?\u00a0In fact, there are not many of them, this is not the case when you need to run and update without thinking.\u00a0They added a little resolution to the upper frequencies, increased the density and elasticity in the middle ones, slightly emphasized the impact of the bass for fun liveliness, slightly expanded the imaginary scene.\u00a0What I definitely liked was the more colorful timbral palette of the new midrange.\u00a0And if you like iBasso’s trademark way of highlighting details in batches, you have a pure breed representative in front of you.\u00a0The DX170, like the DX160, has an equal mix of melodiousness and linearity, all in a thin, light handwriting.\u00a0Well, if you experienced the slow operation of the firmware in the DX160 or DX220, the new model will test your nerves less in the future.<\/p>\n And fans of smooth, integral sound with a warm color can choose Shanling M3X.\u00a0It is less focused on technicality, its delivery is organic, soft and rich, rounded rather than sharp, with a chamber stage, velvety lows, singing mids and iridescent, less extended but more comfortable highs.\u00a0The level of part separation, scale and micro-detailing here, compared to the DX170, is simpler, the Shanling player is made harmonious, cheerful and unobtrusive.\u00a0Regarding the characteristics – the speed of operation of the firmware is also compromised, without revelations.\u00a0The M3X is several times inferior to the iBasso model in terms of power, but naturally surpasses it in terms of autonomy.\u00a0This is a compact IEM-only device for on-the-go listening.\u00a0So, these two rivals have different audiences.<\/p>\n iBasso DX170 is a completely high-quality update for its famous predecessor.\u00a0Like any technique, it has both disadvantages and advantages.\u00a0Personally, I expected more changes in the sound and in the electronic filling from the hero of the review, but it seems that the time has not yet come to bring the company’s youngest player to a higher level.\u00a0Nevertheless, to the audiophiles I know, who will once again ask me for advice in search of an inexpensive device with high detail and an honest presentation without excessive dryness, I will now be able to recommend not only the iFi Gold Bar, but also the current iBasso DX170.\u00a0If you take this player for listening to music, and not for surfing the Internet, this is an excellent option for your money.\u00a0Hi-Res to all, society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After the triumph of the mid-budget player iBasso DX160, which became a popular hit, we were all interested in imagining its future successor. Moreover, not only audiophiles, for whom the DX160 was a standard of adequate choice for a long time, were waiting for its appearance, but also skeptics who ironically criticized the sound potential […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10404,"featured_media":151921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[642],"tags":[778],"class_list":{"0":"post-151920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hi-fi","8":"tag-reviews"},"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sound<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/111_techweek.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFrequencies<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/112_techweek.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCompetitors<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/113_techweek.jpg\")
<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h3>\n