IBasso DX50: overview, specifications and reviews

The digital portable audio player IBasso DX50 worth 20 000 rubles is perplexing 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 the High-End device once than to settle for life with the second-rate acoustics built into smartphones. And this is logic.

Substitution of concepts

The world of digital technologies is supplemented daily with new electronics, which constantly surprises customers with its abundant functionality, but most of the users are so bogged down in Internet technologies that they have forgotten what really is a quality sound. Naturally, a portable audio player is regarded by many people as antiques. However, some users managed to feel the difference in the sound of a smartphone and an expensive digital player, which immediately fell for them in the category of professional acoustics.

In fact, both those and other users are mistaken. After all, the IBasso DX50 gadget is positioned in the market as a regular device for playing any audio files. There can be no talk of any legend - it's a simple player with a usual sound card. But all the electronics that surrounds people of the XXI century, including mobile devices and phones, has integrated solutions that reproduce low-quality sound.

First meeting

It is noteworthy that the manufacturer presented the market its product in a luxurious brown color, reminiscent of a box with perfume or expensive alcohol. However, the feeling of sophistication is broken 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 is not long, literally before the first turn on the audio player.

In addition to the gadget, in the box you can find a nice case for the player, a micro-USB cable and a short interface adapter RCA-TRS. Oddly enough, the manufacturer did not provide its gadget with headphones, because most of the expensive equipment is fully equipped. Judging by the feedback from users, the new owners are not very upset, because each buyer has his own taste, and accordingly, the choice of worthy acoustics in the market will be individual.

Appearance of the gadget

Player IBasso DX50 is made of metal, and not plastic, as it may seem at the first acquaintance. And this fundamentally changes the situation, because the metal products with the applied texture on the surface of the body always belonged to the elite. True, the 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 quality of the assembly does not carp - everything is done at the highest level. All joints of panels are ideal, there are no gaps or distortions. Even the connectors for interface cables and headphones are perfectly centered. The metal case is a priori protected from squeaks, but a plastic panel with buttons can cause doubts. However, everything is perfect, the keys have a very small stroke and work silently.

Connectors and control panel

Located on the front of the player IBasso DX50 three huge buttons perform the task of the control panel ("forward", "back", "play / pause") and, as practice shows, nothing more is required, because the liquid crystal screen is touchscreen. On the top panel the manufacturer has located RCA-connector, micro-USB interface and card reader for reading memory cards (microSD).

On the bottom panel, the user will find an amplifier mode switch (the device supports high-impedance headphones), a line-out and a headphone jack. Quite a strange location of the contact to connect the stereo, in fact, logically, the ports should be on top, as on most smartphones that are supposed to be worn in the case. On the left side is located the power button and the device lock slider, which disables not only the screen, but all buttons. The right panel is occupied only with buttons for controlling the volume of the sound.

Touch screen

In pursuit of portability, many well-known manufacturers supply their digital audio player with a small display, solving the issue of controlling the functional buttons of control. However, the company IBasso acted very strangely: a small size liquid crystal display does not match with the large buttons. Yes, and under the control keys there is a lot of free space.

Solving the problem of managing software on the player's screen could be a software option, providing the device with an application with large touch buttons (for example, as implemented in the Sony Walkman audio player). But even here the best player disappointed many owners. In their responses, many users claim that the management of the IBasso player for many adults is difficult. As for the quality of the screen itself, it has a 2.4-inch IPS-matrix with a screen resolution of 320x240 pixels per inch.

Specifications

Gadget IBasso DX50, whose price is within 20 thousand rubles, simply must have decent characteristics. The frequency range is in the range of 20-2000 Hz, with an error of only 0.2 dB. This indicator is demonstrated only by professional stereo equipment. The output power is 1.5 watts, which is quite good for such a device.

Confuses many owners of the amount of internal memory - only 8 GB, but the manufacturer claims support for memory cards with a capacity of up to 2 terabytes. A removable battery with a capacity of 2100 mAh is enough for 15 hours of continuous music listening. As for supported audio formats, then the player is able to surprise all music lovers, because the omnivorous codec understands all types of files, including FLAC.

Configuration Difficulties

For the IBasso DX50 device, the instruction is a guide to the digital world, because it's very difficult to understand yourself with proprietary software. Regarding the operating system of the player generally a lot of controversy. The manufacturer used in its gadget OS "Android", but limited the use of third-party programs, providing its own shell with 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 a lot of hidden features of the IBasso DX50 player, the review of which simply does not fit in one article. But nowhere is it said that an audio device can be stitched. And it is made directly from the official website of the manufacturer.

Direct competitors

In the price category "up to 20 000 rubles" this model has a lot of competitors in the market, but many experts say that all disputes end in demonstrating the sound quality, therefore it is recommended to rank the audio players from a slightly different angle. In fact, the closest competitor in the market of High-End devices that is capable of surpassing 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 famous representatives, they simply fade in comparison with the IBasso device both in the evaluation of the quality of sound by ear, and when using professional techniques to measure the sound of acoustics. From the outside it all looks very strange - the Chinese representative of the market surpasses the quality of Japanese, American and Korean giants.

The right approach to choosing headphones

Which only the 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 the device, the cost of which corresponds to the price of the player. In fact, this is an erroneous opinion, and the user should choose stereo devices based on technical characteristics and convenience, 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 with the type of stereo systems determined only the owner of the player: liners, closed or open type, gags or headsets - to solve the user. In no case can one adhere to the recommendations of sellers - they are interested in selling expensive equipment.

Feedback

As for the sound quality and reliability of the device, the reader will not find any valid negative feedback in the media. But as for functional, management and convenience, the owners do not restrain themselves in criticism. First of all, I got a stereo output, which is designed to connect headphones. Putting a gadget in the player's cover for contacts upwards, many initially forget that the device is in an inverted state, of course, in order to get to the screen, you need to remove the player from the case completely.

People with a missing musical ear will certainly notice the difference in sound on an expensive gadget and on the same phone. However, it is not within the power of many users to make a conclusion about where the best plays. It is this factor that stops many buyers. Accordingly, the device IBasso DX50 is more suitable for music lovers who know music and are free to orientate themselves in sound quality.

Finally

Summing up, we can immediately draw several conclusions that contradict each other. On the one hand, it's like a unique audio player with very high-quality sound, and on the other, it's the sound itself that many users get no result and do not bring, because everyone's hearing is different. Convenient functionality and quality of production are closely intertwined with the dampness of software and the complexity of management. Not to mention a lot of 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 that is accessible to many music fans "up to 100 000 rubles". And if there is a desire to feel a real, high-quality sound - then this gadget is an obligatory purchase for any music lover. And the rest remains to be content with imitation - an integrated solution built into the smartphone, because the difference is still not very noticeable.