Well, here we go. I've been looking for a DAP for quite some time. This one checks all the boxes. So, Happy Father's Day! Appears that it won't disappoint. Cirrus Logic has taken over AKM and ESS.
It's the sum of the whole and iBasso pulled off a banger with this one even people with thier DX320 are saying this is 90% of that at a fraction of the cost!
Fantastic review. Really appreciate the depth you went into on all aspects of the 180. Between this and your posts on head-fi I've pulled the trigger on this with confidence. Thanks!
Another great comprehensive review. I'm still loving the Shanling ME600 iem's you recommended, they sound fantastic even directly from my Sony Experia headphone jack with it's tiny power output. I haven't ever owned or even used a DAP but £440 is quite affordable when you start looking at what's out there. If the dx180 makes the Me600 sound significantly better than they do via the Sony Phone I'm in for a serious Eargasm!
Hiby sounds great can't be beat for the price. The FX180 tho is a upgrade in terms of resolution, details and stage, build quality, screen. Is it worth double yeah I think it is.
Thank you Thank you, I could not for life of me figure how to navigate in the Mango player, talk about unintuitive UI ... ok so its that little gray bar .. wow... I love the DX 180 I love the sound but need to work on that interface.
Great review. How well do the third party streaming apps work on this? Is the android 13 software bloated or buggy and can you clear it of everything you don't want and have this as close to a bare bones player as possible?
Yes, I'm tired dangling the dongle around. It feels unsafe and inappropriate. Thank you so much for the complete review. The HiRes sticker really sold me out, just ordered the blue one. Seriously, your brief conclusion vs Hiby R4 really made up my mind 🙏
The R4 is fantastic but in comparison feels cheap the buttons the screen show the compromises Hiby had to make to get the price down. They didn't compromise on the SQ so there that but the DX180 is just solid all round and feels premium 👌 Thanks for watching and sharing 😀
Enjoyed the review. I had it on order already, but excited to receive mine. Hope they update Mango Player cause it does look nice, but functionality is key. I don't know what I will use instead yet. Coming from my first DAP which is a M300, I am hoping it is a nice upgrade. I hope to never buy another because of the ability to swap the battery.
The screen and hardware of this model looks definitely superior compared to the Hiby R4. Now just focusing in the “sound quality”, how close is the R4 in comparison with the DX180? Thanks, great review!
I thought the DX180 competes with my $1200 Kann Max. The R4 can't be beat for $250 bit can't compete on overall SQ in comparison the R4 sounds good the DX180 sounds expensive
Yes it can it got enough juice , If you want to tightened up the bass this would be a good choice but if you like you big boom then ONIX XM5 1070mW of juice
I'm really interested in this DX180. but! already exists M11S which have almost same power, 660 instead of 665 processor and 3/32 Gb. kinda same but costs less. I really struggle in this comparison. do you have any thoughts?
@@tonedeafmonk I've listened both few days ago just less then hour. they really really similar. or difference negligible for me personally. that's why hard to choose.
Nice review. I used to review a lot of DAPs back in the days the the first Cayin, Fiio, Hiby, iBasso, and Shanling DAPs. They've come a long ways since then! My question is twofold... 1. Can you store offline Tidal songs in the mSD card? 2. Can you download an enormous amount of offline Tidal songs, say 100Gb or more, and have Tidal still function properly? Asking because I've had some issue with Tidal + mSD storage in the past and have also had issues with Tidal totally stalling out until reset with very large offline storage.
MX5 is bass boosted and colored in a Lovley way. The DX180 is more neutral with a brighter top end. Depends on your preference and gear. For me I pick up the XM5 more at home and take the DX180 mobile.
Until now i was 100% to buy the Hiby R4, i love that, but when i found out this DX180 can replace the battery, i guess this is the one i would choose in the end, as i am not a rich person and i wish to have this for many years from now, and to not throw to garbage when battery dies. What do you think, R4 or this Dx180?
@@tonedeafmonk Thank you very much, for advice. The only thing for DX180, i wished to have a lock button like R4, to avoid accidental opening, scrolling, etc...
Both are comparable with those metrics bit different sound signature, Shanling is warmer and thicker in the bass. iBasso more neutral and balanced. Shanling is certainly more powerful power wise.
@tonedeafmonk so they both have same resolution , detail and soundstage but differents in presentation of the sound and ofc shanling more power full . That's great then having more power , same resolution and detailed and almost same price is seems shanling the way to go . Thank u
I was looking for a review of the "SHANLING ONIX Overture XM5' & I came across both your reviews of the basso DX180 & also the Shanling M5 Ultra. Still undecided, but great reviews. I have a Fiio M11 Pro, that I find laggy and difficult to navigate at times & also an basso DX 170 that always goes flat battery on me when not in use, even when plugged into USB. I turn it off when i am not using & have battery management set to pause when headphone disconnected. Then when I pick it up to use, the battery is completely flat. The lag and the battery issues are my driving force to upgrade! Love your work! 👍
DAPs don't really fit my use case, so I either use dongle or transportable DAC/amp. But sound quality wise I'm curious: how the DX180 (or 260) compares against DAC/amps like the XD05 Pro or iBasso D16?
Happy with my DX180. Easy trigger pull. Curious how the volume wheel feels? Mine feels loose but turning feels creaky though there's no actual creaky sound. Want to make sure before I reach out to the seller.
This looks like a GREAT device. I alrady have a Chord Mojo2 That I comnect to my Android phone. -Do you think this will out perform my Mojo2/Android comb for SQ??
Hi, can the DX180 output 3.5mm coax spdif and 4.4mm analog simultaneously? When you turn on coax output in the settings, can you still hear music from the 4.4mm? Thank you!