[RIGATIO]

My first impressions about the Amp13 with Dx320 is actually….it is full of bugs , which is related to the firmware level, LOL!

Sound performances wises, the Amp13 is amazing with DX300. There are still bugs , but with the latest firmware, it was resolved mostly.

There is no distortions , no reverse volumes, and no weird power distributions On Dx300.

Now, I have burned in with Dx300 most of the time. It is also most comfortably working with Dx300. Therefore, sound impressions is based on Dx300 for now

Driving power, there is actually no lacking in driving power here as opposed to Dx320. I am using Lower gain port, which is first stage amplifying with Tube as the output if I am not mistaken. The clarity and airiness is top notch. It is unlike the feelings from N8ii, the Korg tubes here is more liquid, the tubes harmonic is full, satisfying, not too thin, neither is it too thick, but the dynamic that it Carrie’s with each notes and timbres are amazingly done. The performances can be expressed by having a very liquid pre-amp + a high end desktop amplifier. If the N8ii reminds me of how a great WE-300B sounds like. The Amp13 reminds me of the fluidity, lushness of the sophisticated 2A3 Tubes. It is very engaging, full of emotions, great dynamic.

Soundstage is focused, intimidating, but not lacking of even the nuances details, and within it field of presentations, the imagines are vivid and amazing. I always prefer 2A3 over 300B in tubes amplifiers. The only time I enjoy the 300B is when I paired it with liquid DAC/Preamp as the last picture, the Sony TA-ZH1ES and S-Master.

Needless to say, I love the Amp13 more than the Korg tubes done on N8ii. No questions about it. Now….only if there is less bugs on the Dx320 LOL! It feels to me that the latest firmware on dx320 only addressing the sound signatures from the last one , but that is just me

Yes, you don’t need balanced to be able to fully enjoying the Dx300 and Amp13. Ibasso has engineered an amazing tubes module!

Thats pity that youre having so many bugs with your 323. In my case, latest update fixed literally every single issue. Even rapid charging from my standard samsung charger!
And the sound.. well what to say. Thats the most musical experience ive ever had from any dap to date. I actually have no idea how they managed to push all the detailes from the stock amp, exceed them even farther in hights but still keep this beautiful, musical and organic timbre. Im actually listening the whole library with my Xelentos right now and they sound flawless, emotional, engaging. I couldnt stand them with dx300. The Monarchs sound FANTASTIC but even more engaging and beautifull, thats why i keep them for evenings, to sit and get lost. All my iems, headphones sound flawless, there is nothing i would change.
And the staging.. damn. These reverbs, huge amount of air, combined with liquid/crunchy, realistic timbre. Im melting.

 

[javahut]

Finally got an Amp13 for my DX320. Unfortunately, only sound outta left side. Right side is dead. And only 1 tube lights up on the rear panel.

Contacted Paul, and did the 660 tool reset, updates, reseated board... still sound from only left side and only 1 tube powering up.

Looks like I'll have to send it back and wait a few more weeks for a replacement. Hopefully it's only a problem with the board, and not an issue with my DX320 that I'd have to send in for repair.

Anyone else heard of this problem before?

 

[Blotto80]

My first impressions about the Amp13 with Dx320 is actually….it is full of bugs , which is related to the firmware level, LOL!

Sound performances wises, the Amp13 is amazing with DX300. There are still bugs , but with the latest firmware, it was resolved mostly.

There is no distortions , no reverse volumes, and no weird power distributions On Dx300.

Now, I have burned in with Dx300 most of the time. It is also most comfortably working with Dx300. Therefore, sound impressions is based on Dx300 for now

Driving power, there is actually no lacking in driving power here as opposed to Dx320. I am using Lower gain port, which is first stage amplifying with Tube as the output if I am not mistaken. The clarity and airiness is top notch. It is unlike the feelings from N8ii, the Korg tubes here is more liquid, the tubes harmonic is full, satisfying, not too thin, neither is it too thick, but the dynamic that it Carrie’s with each notes and timbres are amazingly done. The performances can be expressed by having a very liquid pre-amp + a high end desktop amplifier. If the N8ii reminds me of how a great WE-300B sounds like. The Amp13 reminds me of the fluidity, lushness of the sophisticated 2A3 Tubes. It is very engaging, full of emotions, great dynamic.

Soundstage is focused, intimidating, but not lacking of even the nuances details, and within it field of presentations, the imagines are vivid and amazing. I always prefer 2A3 over 300B in tubes amplifiers. The only time I enjoy the 300B is when I paired it with liquid DAC/Preamp as the last picture, the Sony TA-ZH1ES and S-Master.

Needless to say, I love the Amp13 more than the Korg tubes done on N8ii. No questions about it. Now….only if there is less bugs on the Dx320 LOL! It feels to me that the latest firmware on dx320 only addressing the sound signatures from the last one , but that is just me

Yes, you don’t need balanced to be able to fully enjoying the Dx300 and Amp13. Ibasso has engineered an amazing tubes module!

Whitigir, I really respect your opinion on the matter so I will ask a simple question: Is the AMP13 worth buying for the the DX300 if streaming from Tidal is my main use case?

After an unfortunate incident with my (self-modded) 12W I'm either going to order another 12 and have it EXN'd or an AMP13. I'm a little concerned with the reported noise that is encountered with the AMP13 while using wifi.

 

[jamato8]

Finally got an Amp13 for my DX320. Unfortunately, only sound outta left side. Right side is dead. And only 1 tube lights up on the rear panel.

Contacted Paul, and did the 660 tool reset, updates, reseated board... still sound from only left side and only 1 tube powering up.

Looks like I'll have to send it back and wait a few more weeks for a replacement. Hopefully it's only a problem with the board, and not an issue with my DX320 that I'd have to send in for repair.

Anyone else heard of this problem before?

I know the contact with the slot inside, whatever you call it, is critical. You might just to know if the board is working, dismount the board from the front panel and slide it in that way and see if you get both side of the tube to light up.

 

[Onurb8690]

Hehehe I been listening to amp11.2s in 3.5mm all along all the time!!! With my T5 3rd gen and the sound has been terrific threw the whole journey till now and I got over 200h burn in done.

Today I will have my new amp13 and got all the new fw updated to latest and cant wait to hear the tubey goodness.

Btw me to I hover around 40/63 and medium G with D1 I have dsd compensation on and set to low.

Dx320 is very remarkable dap, so much features , new ibasso sound with film capacitors is si

How do you describe the sound of the amp that comes with the Dx320? Amp 13 I'm told it's "hot"

 

[RIGATIO]

How do you describe the sound of the amp that comes with the Dx320? Amp 13 I'm told it's "hot"

It's warmish but clear and detailed and organic.

 

[ginandbacon]

Heh, what cable are you talking about? Maybe will order one for myself

Ha, it's this cable. Was 20 bucks off a week ago but now back to regular price. Outside the volume improvement with the Monarchs MKII''s on the middle port the AMP13 card (at least for me anyways but it's noticable and not placebo) it's actually way more comfortable than the stock cable, especially around the ears and the modular design is better as there is a very tiny bump that lines up with modular jack so easier to change.

I need to go back to the stock 11.2 amp. I honestly only used the 4.4mm port but now you have peaked my curiosity to see how both the 3.5mm and 2.5mm Jack's sound.

 

[samandhi]

Ha, it's this cable. Was 20 bucks off a week ago but now back to regular price. Outside the volume improvement with the Monarchs MKII''s on the middle port the AMP13 card (at least for me anyways but it's noticable and not placebo) it's actually way more comfortable than the stock cable, especially around the ears and the modular design is better as there is a very tiny bump that lines up with modular jack so easier to change.

I need to go back to the stock 11.2 amp. I honestly only used the 4.4mm port but now you have peaked my curiosity to see how both the 3.5mm and 2.5mm Jack's sound.

2.5mm should sound just like 4.4mm.

 

[ginandbacon]

Somebody try Meze Advar with DX320??

Yes, I have the Meze ADVAR's and the DX320 and it's a great combination. Regardless if you use the stock amp or get the amp13 card although guitar's on the AMP13 is just amazing, especially emotional effect.

With that said, the only other DAP I e owned was the FiiO M11 Plus. I wasn't particularly impressed with it. More digital, a bit brighter. Based on posts here I decided to get the DX320 as I had 2 weeks left to return the FiiO. The FiiO went back the next day and while obviously a huge price difference it was close to twice as good for MY personal tastes. More analogue, yet very detailed and I honestly feel asleep once while listening. Some of that is because of how lightweight and comfortable the ADVAR's are though.

I honestly don't think you would regret the purchase. The difference was night an day vs the M11. Mid bass was way batter and tighter on the drums, more layered, easy to pick up each instrument, nothing muddled together. Slightly better deep bass but the ADVAR's do not have the best lower bass frequencies because of the design which is fine for the music I listen to.

If you like the ADVAR's, the DX320 will make them better, that I can guarantee.

 

[ginandbacon]

Finally got an Amp13 for my DX320. Unfortunately, only sound outta left side. Right side is dead. And only 1 tube lights up on the rear panel.

Contacted Paul, and did the 660 tool reset, updates, reseated board... still sound from only left side and only 1 tube powering up.

Looks like I'll have to send it back and wait a few more weeks for a replacement. Hopefully it's only a problem with the board, and not an issue with my DX320 that I'd have to send in for repair.

Anyone else heard of this problem before?

Having worked on computers for 20 plus years it really sounds like a bad card. From the design, unless you use any real force to.try and get the amp card into the DX320 it would seem almost impossible to damage by putting it in.

Once you get it lined up correctly it slides right in and very little force was needed for it to snap into the slot after it slides in. That and if you can screw both screws in all the way without any force, then it would seem impossible for it not to be securely plugged in correctly.

Also, it would seem odd for one of the tubes to not work.while.the other is working perfectly fine just from plugging it in. I'm guessing it's that pesky ribbon cable or the actual tube but there is no way the ribbon cable could touch anything when plugging in the amp card correctly due to the ribbon cable.placement.

 

[jamato8]

Having worked on computers for 20 plus years it really sounds like a bad card. From the design, unless you use any real force to.try and get the amp card into the DX320 it would seem almost impossible to damage by putting it in.

Once you get it lined up correctly it slides right in and very little force was needed for it to snap into the slot after it slides in. That and if you can screw both screws in all the way without any force, then it would seem impossible for it not to be securely plugged in correctly.

Also, it would seem odd for one of the tubes to not work.while.the other is working perfectly fine just from plugging it in. I'm guessing it's that pesky ribbon cable or the actual tube but there is no way the ribbon cable could touch anything when plugging in the amp card correctly due to the ribbon cable.placement.

The ribbon has the standard clip on the board. Maybe the ribbon got unseated. The it could be flipped up and the ribbon pushed in a little to make sure it is seated then close the connector.

 

[Whitigir]

Whitigir, I really respect your opinion on the matter so I will ask a simple question: Is the AMP13 worth buying for the the DX300 if streaming from Tidal is my main use case?

After an unfortunate incident with my (self-modded) 12W I'm either going to order another 12 and have it EXN'd or an AMP13. I'm a little concerned with the reported noise that is encountered with the AMP13 while using wifi.

I appreciate but, I don’t use Tidal or streaming, so I can’t really comments
@jamato8 , my modules has distortions when used with dx320 And reverse volume controls. Could be just the module itself

 

[twister6]

Somebody try Meze Advar with DX320??

Excellent pair up synergy. I reviewed Advar a month ago, and with a number of DAPs the mids were slightly pulled back, bringing sub-bass and treble more forward and in some cases even making lower treble of Advar a bit too hot. With DX323 + Advar, the sound signature is W-shaped, with mids/vocals really shining in this pair up and treble sounding quite natural, very deep sub-bass rumble as well. BUT, you absolutely must use Maximized output, these single DD drivers need both higher current/voltage to shine. You can literally hear how soundstage shrinks when connecting to low noise (lower voltage) output.

 

[RIGATIO]

Yes, I have the Meze ADVAR's and the DX320 and it's a great combination. Regardless if you use the stock amp or get the amp13 card although guitar's on the AMP13 is just amazing, especially emotional effect.

With that said, the only other DAP I e owned was the FiiO M11 Plus. I wasn't particularly impressed with it. More digital, a bit brighter. Based on posts here I decided to get the DX320 as I had 2 weeks left to return the FiiO. The FiiO went back the next day and while obviously a huge price difference it was close to twice as good for MY personal tastes. More analogue, yet very detailed and I honestly feel asleep once while listening. Some of that is because of how lightweight and comfortable the ADVAR's are though.

I honestly don't think you would regret the purchase. The difference was night an day vs the M11. Mid bass was way batter and tighter on the drums, more layered, easy to pick up each instrument, nothing muddled together. Slightly better deep bass but the ADVAR's do not have the best lower bass frequencies because of the design which is fine for the music I listen to.

If you like the ADVAR's, the DX320 will make them better, that I can guarantee.

Will write some essay about how great tuned the dx323 is.
With the dx323 i discovered my beloved old good Beyers Xelento again. I love their V shaped signature and a great fun factor. I bought them 4 years ago and loved them from the first notes with my Pioneer xdp-300r. But they were slightly sharp with it. Then i purchased dx311.3 and it wasnt the best pairing due to the more aggressive higher mids/lower trebles (Xelentos have agile bass and very smooth mids but they have a significant peeks around 5 and 8k so it doubled the piercing effect).
To tame them down, i purchased amp12 which helped a lot but they still didnt sing as i really wanted them to, because the amp12 was slightly thick in microdetail dynamics. They sounded bit greyish with this combo.
Then i tried some daps from AK, like sp1k, sp1kM, sp2kT, Kann Alpha, sr25. They sounded the best with the sp1k but quite narrow (! how, they are very wide sounding iems) and still piercing at times. On the sp1kM i couldnt listen to them through balanced- very piercing hights, so only SE was in play and it was quite good, until i discovered that the filter i used with them was a bug. Other filters were quite piercing in hights but more lower to mid treble which was more bearable for me than higher mids peeks. But this warmish filter was a bug!
The Shanling m9 was bit bland and distant so they lost their fun factor completely.
And now, after 4 years, i finally know what they are capable of. I alread went through the most annoying songs, that were unlistenable on other daps and im actually amazed.
All those moments that were sharp and piercing before became engaging actually. They arent sharp, they dont cut my ear, they are delightfully crunchy. It's like eating a crunchy, chocolate waffle hah!
Im not even mentioning Monarchs 2, they are a poetry.
Thanx

 

[samandhi]

Will write some essay about how great tuned the dx323 is.
With the dx323 i discovered my beloved old good Beyers Xelento again. I love their V shaped signature and a great fun factor. I bought them 4 years ago and loved them from the first notes with my Pioneer xdp-300r. But they were slightly sharp with it. Then i purchased dx311.3 and it wasnt the best pairing due to the more aggressive higher mids/lower trebles (Xelentos have agile bass and very smooth mids but they have a significant peeks around 5 and 8k so it doubled the piercing effect).
To tame them down, i purchased amp12 which helped a lot but they still didnt sing as i really wanted them to, because the amp12 was slightly thick in microdetail dynamics. They sounded bit greyish with this combo.
Then i tried some daps from AK, like sp1k, sp1kM, sp2kT, Kann Alpha, sr25. They sounded the best with the sp1k but quite narrow (! how, they are very wide sounding iems) and still piercing at times. On the sp1kM i couldnt listen to them through balanced- very piercing hights, so only SE was in play and it was quite good, until i discovered that the filter i used with them was a bug. Other filters were quite piercing in hights but more lower to mid treble which was more bearable for me than higher mids peeks. But this warmish filter was a bug!
The Shanling m9 was bit bland and distant so they lost their fun factor completely.
And now, after 4 years, i finally know what they are capable of. I alread went through the most annoying songs, that were unlistenable on other daps and im actually amazed.
All those moments that were sharp and piercing before became engaging actually. They arent sharp, they dont cut my ear, they are delightfully crunchy. It's like eating a crunchy, chocolate waffle hah!
Im not even mentioning Monarchs 2, they are a poetry.
Thanx

Then this song/band should sound really good on a fun pair (Amazon link and Youtube link). They are a very well recorded/produced band IMHO. The rhythm on this song almost has a (modern) Zepplin sound to it:

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0162RGILO?trackAsin=B0162RGSAK&ref=dm_sh_b215-3bb7-8b46-5ed3-70429

Youtube: