iBasso DC05 Portable USB Dongle DAC, Black

Product Information

The DC05 features a parallel dual DAC chipset configuration with two high-performance ES9219C to achieve better SNR and THD. The dynamic range is excellent for such a dongle and the DC05 is doing a great job in presenting large scale works in a grand scale manner.

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It should be noted that I have absolutely no affiliation with iBasso. I’d like to thank iBasso for providing the sample for this review. This review reflects my personal experience with iBasso DC05. Every opinion expressed is mine and I stand by it. The purpose of this review is to help those interested in iBasso DC05 find their next music companion.Mids sound open, spacious, with fine articulation and fluid expression in the vocal range, timbre is mostly natural without severe digital artifacts while instruments sound well textured. iBasso DC05 vs Audirect Beam 2 (69 USD vs 100 USD) – Beam 2 is a bit more ergonomic with the cable detachable, but it draws quite a bit more power from the smartphone, shortening its battery life. The overall driving power is comparable between the two. The sound is actually fairly similar, and both are pretty peppy, pretty forward, lively and punchy, and also dynamic. Beam 2 is a bit brighter than DC05, and where DC05 has a stronger bottom end, Beam 2 has a stronger treble edge, and sounds a bit wider, at the cost of depth. The overall presentation of DC05 is detailed, clean, but also has a strong bottom end, with a nice amount of impact and depth. The treble is on the smoother side, fatigue-free, yet it is brighter, more lively, more aggressive and forward, also more dynamic and vivid than the vast majority of dongles that I reviewed to date. With a more intimate soundstage, DC05 works well with brighter and wider sounding IEMs / Headphones, and as it has quite a bit of power, should be fine for most portable headphones and IEMs. This allows the users to use both sensitive as well as demanding earphones/headphones with the DC05 with a good range of adjustment.

iBasso DC05 DAC/AMP Dongle – Power For Androids iBasso DC05 DAC/AMP Dongle – Power For Androids

The ES9219C is a third-gen chip from Sabre Technologies that handles both decoding and amplification duties. There is a lot of competition in the market and it would be difficult to call it the best of the bunch but it certainly belongs among the leaders. Please keep in mind that these are rough estimates and shipments can be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, like postal strikes or severe weather.I have tested the iBasso DC05 with their own ITX01, FiiO FD3, DUNU Falcon Pro and with the Sennheiser HD660S that did an excellent job in driving them with ease and headroom.

IBASSO DC05 Portable USB DAC/AMP - SHENZHENAUDIO IBASSO DC05 Portable USB DAC/AMP - SHENZHENAUDIO

iBasso DC05 vs Matkar Spectra X2 (69 USD vs 200 USD) – I was able to compare those loosely, since they are not interchangeable , DC05 being a Type-C dongle for Android, and Spectra X2 is made for iPhones. The sound is actually comparable, but Spectra X2 has a bit more dynamics and more detail, where DC05 has more punch in the lows and more impact in the bass. We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. PRaT, Texturization, Detail, Resolution, Dynamics, Impact, and overall tonality are all revealed by those songs. We recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music!

Upon hooking the iBasso DC05 to the host device, a window pops-up asking for a permission to access the UAC application. Unfortunately they were short lived due to the chip shortage that is plaguing the industry for almost two years now. iBasso has developed a custom volume control application that uses the latest UAC2.0 USB protocol to enable 64-step volume control by a connected source device. Treble is extended, sounding lively and agile with excessive energy but without any disturbing sharpness. DC05 is the latest USB DAC from the house of iBasso. iBasso has designed it with a premium Dual DAC chipset featuring two ES9219C Sabre DAC chips. It is loaded with premium features such as HyperStream III audio architecture, Time Domain Jitter Eliminator that provides crisp high-res signal decoding with ultra-low THD+N and high dynamic range. Turn your regular smartphone into a high-end audio player with the DC05 today!!