Look, as with all things…”there are levels to this”. Some levels are smaller or greater than others, yes, but levels nonetheless. And while this is not a review but a initial impression article on the IBasso dx180, there is still so meat here. I am only a couple of hours into my listening and experimenting with this thing and yet I’ve learned much about this thing that makes huge differences between what I had with the Hiby R4.
Possibly the biggest thing I’m blown away is the difference in both form and function. The unit just feels so much better in the hands. Everything from the lighter weight, volume wheel, even to the flatter overall thumbprint just stands out. When you use the unit, the OS is smoother, more advanced, and even the frames are faster in the overall operation of the unit especially when videos play on YouTube or something. You can basically tell this immediately, and it’s helped out thanks to the larger screen and resolution. See the difference below.
As the burn in continues, this thing, off the bat, has greater power than the Hiby R4. Volume matching created a very noticeable advantage thanks to the specs on the IBasso Dx180. Everything from the noise floor and the Overall olm and DB abilities the DAP has is felt over the Hiby R4. What I thought would only produce a matching quality with maybe a little more treble at best, but as turned out it was a outright complete dominance on every front. From texture of bass, mid range timbre, to details in treble resolution and imaging. All of it just stands out so well, so personal and yet so well imaged in songs all around me. It’s flat out wonderful and easily better than the R4 despite its system wide EQ advantages that it has while the Dx180 has no universal PEQ advantage. And even when I had the R4 on medium gain and the IBasso dx180 only at low(it has no mid gain only low and high)…the Dx180 was clearly a superior champ while just on low gain.
Then when it came to the storage … It wasn’t even a contest. At 128gb on board vs 32gb on board was not a fair fight or worth comparing but again it’s a part of the reason there is such a difference and dominance present over the R4. You don’t have guess at all, the Dx180 is just so much more responsive on screen and great to look at vs the R4, and when you add the superior sound, interface, and build quality, you have . I’ve heard so many other reviewers claim that these were close and on the same level, when they aren’t. And this is what I’m hearing without proper burn in of even 5 hours on the Dx180 vs over a week of burn in on the R4 which I EQ to make better vs the Dx180 default sound out of the box.
Ibasso has blown my mind with its entry/mid teir DAP. Friends of mine like Mike Wat who have the Dx260…I can only imagine what they are going through because for the first time in years I feel the cost difference actually matches the performance. I actually feel I’m getting the difference of $200 if not more over what the R4 presented to me. This could very well be the easiest and quickest comparison decision against another product I’ve ever done. This dominance was so clear I reset the R4 and boxed it up within the first 20 minutes of comparing it to the Dx180. Amazon will be picking it up tomorrow.
It was that much of difference and it was easily apparent from the moment I put it in my hands. But at the same time, the $250 R4 should have come up short against the $599 Dx180, despite some people claiming them to be close, they weren’t to me. But the R4 is something I still recommend for a person that wants to start his journey into DAPs. But this DAP, the Dx180 makes me understand the reason for DAPs and why it’s such a thrill to have one.
This also again lands me in the $599 realm of greatness. Every time I’ve landed into this zone I’ve found the greatest difference and best enjoyment compared to any other price range. Could the IBasso Dx260 be just as big over the Dx180? Could it prove it’s $500 better? Maybe, maybe not, but for now…I’m going to just sit here and appreciate the greatness I have with the Dx180. The info I’ve seen is that the Dx180 is more musical with more weight to the tuning while the dx260 has more soundstaging and less weight and more sterile but this could as useless as the other info that claimed that there was no difference in the R4 vs dx180. As far as I can tell , the dx180 could be a endgame for DAPs for so many people or the gateway drug that leads them to the Dx260. All I can say right now is that I’m blown away so far and I haven’t even put on my best IEM yet or used the balance port. I’ve only been rocking my my Final Audio B3 who once again compliments another DAP that it’s assigned to again. I’m sure this would be the case with the dx260 too but $1000 is a lot.
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