iBasso DC-Elite | Hi-Res Balanced Portable DAC and Amp

I’ve owned several portable DAC/Amps, one DAP, a portable headphone amp and a desktop Amp. The DC Elite is a fantastic standalone portable device that offers superb resolution, crystal clear audio throughout the frequency spectrum, incredible dynamics, with precise and fully impactful bass. As a standalone device, my only critique is that the upper mids and highs can become a bit fatiguing on highly resolving IEMs, like the Tia Trio, Elysian Annihilator or Elysian Diva. But as soon as you connect this to a power bank, or go a step further by connecting to an external amp, this thing is insanely good. Highly recommended. I primarily use my iPhone 14 Pro as the source. I have a magnetic power bank that can attach to my phone to charge the DC Elite alone or both devices. Definite scaling of detail, resolution, dynamics and bass is observed, which is cool. It’s stellar all on its own, but gets even better. It’s fun to tinker around and pair it with other devices. With it, I’ve tried AK SP100M, Sound Tiger Potenza portable amp, and Musical Fidelity MX-HPA desktop amp. All offer different flavors, but the latter really gives it authority and pushes it to an insane level of greatness. The most impressive thing about the Elite is how great is sounds on its own, for portability, but it gets even better by connecting with other devices while at home. It’s a win-win.

I have zero issues with the volume knob. The volume knob is super easy to manage and the steps give me plenty of range, even with a super easy to drive set like the Tia Trio with 5.5 Ohm impedance and 104dB sensitivity. I was concerned about this after reading reviews, but rest assured it works well. Just utilize the dB increase/decrease function by pressing the button on the left until you get a good volume range for your headphones. I think there are 4 options and the changes are audible.

Pros:
- very powerful
- very transparent
- small
- works with all my devices including iPhones

Cons:
- volume knob very hard to turn/grip
- volume steps are bigs and you’d want something in between two steps
- lower volume/knob steps have weirdness like lower volume on one side, soundstage is reduced or just sometimes has some noise — although this will probably not be an issue we are talking about the lowest volumes, even at night and in bed I wouldn’t use those

I find myself listening to this fantastic dongle with my Monarch MK3s more than the rest of my collection as it’s a great pairing for my preferences. Build quality is awesome (as expected) and the stepped attenuator is very useful. Slight static when changing volume isn’t bothersome to me and worth the tight channel balance at any volume. Started with the Fiio Q15 which was pretty neat, but the sound signature didn’t do it for me.

Next I ordered the Questyle M15i and the DC Elite at the same time. While the M15i sounds excellent, it requires a usb OTG cable while the DC Elite works fine with a standard usb C cable and generally sounds better to my ears, for all genres I’ve tried. I find myself preferring the DC Elite to my Schiit stacks with the MK3s, but haven’t tried running anything else off it yet. That’s saying something for me because I love Schiit’s house sound in the two units mentioned. When compared to my Ifi Black Label, it’s obvious the DC Elite is a massive improvement, IMO.

I also noticed this unit was less prone to RF interference than the M15i and though I did experience some while streaming on LTE at work, the issue was solved by using a standard usb C cable and keeping my phone at least 12” from the DC Elite. Seems only prone to RF interference from some bands of LTE but not all.

I’ll list my other current gear for comparisons sake:

Amps / DACs: Schiit Jot 2 / SMSL D6S, Asgard 3 / SMSL SU-1, Ifi Micro Black label

Headphones: HE1000 Stealth, Denon D9200s, Modded HE500s (two pairs…lol) OG Anandas, XTC Opens, LCD2 Classics, LCD i4s, i3s, iSine 20s / 10s, SE846s and others not worth mentioning.

I previously used a THX Onyx which costs 200 bucks and immediately noticed a fuller, more dynamic sound with this dongle. The wow factor of the upgrade faded fast, and I'm still happy to know I have the best, but I don't think most people would say it's worth it. If you're serious about getting the best performance and aren't as concerned about "value" then you should get it.

Are there better? Yes, but they're larger and likely run off an internal battery. If you want a self-powered DAC/amp, this thing has tons of clean power.