iBasso DC04Ultra | Portable DAC and Amp

Two issues. The motion VU meter stopped working after a couple days and after trying to troubleshoot it using ChatGPT and Google searches I have yet to find a repair solution. Second issue is the ibasso app, which is generally pretty impressive, has only Chinese writing in the equalizer "custom" settings. There are like 20 selections all listed in Mandarin which just happens to be one of the 7168 languages I am not literate in. And since I am unable to copy/paste from the app(unless I root my phone again) there is no way for me to know what those settings are or if I even need them. Heck, I don't even really know for sure if the writing is Mandarin. It could in fact be Miao, Bouyei, Hani, or even Vietnamese or Korean which all use similar Hanzi characters like Mandarin.

What I do know is that when I select the Hanzi character settings the audio changes tone a bit with each setting and that in itself makes me really curious to know what each setting is and makes me disappointed that it is not written in English even though I have the dongle and the app set to English.

Besides all that the DAC really impressed me. It's quite powerful and has no problem powering two stereo paired JBL Xtremes or Bose Soundlink Plus's and the sound quality is impressive, actually it's fantastic. I honestly don't think I could ever not use a DAC after hearing the sounds that are coming from this little device. The difference is very slight but at the same time very impactful. There are sounds of instruments that I now hear coming out of the speakers that I had not heard or only faintly heard before. I notice this especially when listening to recordings of live music.

And finally after years of wondering if it would ever happen I finally am able to hear classical music as I want it to sound. Film scores sound amazing now. I'm no audiophile nerd so I can't explain it to you with all the esoteric audiophile terminology but I do know what sounds good and what doesn't and I know that classical music is one genre that just sounds like crap on almost all sound systems. But with the DC04 Ultra it sounds awesome like it should.

The EQ on the app is very good, not great but very good. The very good part is that at least one of the settings will be a perfect fit. Sometimes the r&b setting will be perfect for some rock music. Sometimes the rock setting will sound great with some classical playlists. Sometimes the dance setting is perfect for metal. At least you're guaranteed to get a near perfect match with one of the EQ settings which is a huge plus because I've almost never found a present EQ that has any decent settings. Rootless JamesDSP and Viper are all that I can think of but the ibasso DC04 ultra has really impressed me with their EQ tuning.

I really wish my device didn't malfunction with the motion VU meter and the app didn't have all those Hanzi characters when it should be in English because I would have given it 5 stars.

Very good sound, better than my DC04PRO in every way. Hard to imagine anything better for the price. BLOOM THE BEST!

I bought the DC04U as part of a YouTube review. The Tin HiFi P2 Ultra is a very difficult IEM to drive. The DC04U had no problems driving it and matched some full size DAPs in its power.

https://youtu.be/lQ6vu0R8kv8?si=_0eJok4HZUBMhY-6

Well the title says it all, this little thing will run most anything. It's compact, made of stainless, and has a wonderful screen. Also has peq and three settings of DRE well 2 really, 8 filters and 7 colors for the display. 3 levels of gain and you can also set the voltage output. The sound is nice and sharp with a little added warmth. It can take on most dongles at this amazing price. My only gripe is it's not the most natural sounding and the stage although roomy could be bigger. But for the money it's tops 😀 Thanks Bloom, you guys rock.

I've been reading a lot of reviews about the iBasso DC Elite, but it's out of my price range. For 25% of the price, I'm extremely happy with the DC04 Ultra. It's clean, resolving, and delivers a nice soundstage. The only drawback is it drains the battery on my android cellphone because it's so powerful. It punches way above it's price bracket though.