iBasso DC02 USB-C DAC Adapter with 3.5mm Output

This device has attracted a lot of mixed messages in reviews. Keep in mind there are so many factors impacting the overall experience someone can't just make graphs for the end to end experience. This device is definitely a cut above the rest 3.5 mm ones for convenience, build quality and sound.I can tell you USBC dacs are a crowded market and I grabbed one in the 20£ price range in October after getting a note 10 + (no headphone jack) . Of course my Westones need to still get driven.. I was not enjoying the sound quality particularly the bass and highs from the previous dongle even though they said it was hi res.Took a look this year , iBasso is well known for making great DACs and the AK chip here was enticing, with 3.5 mm support, I was surprised I didn't see this before when looking at options. The DC01 is apparently better but it's bad enough I need to faff with adapters and wireless charging now, since I lost a port after my phone 'upgrade' ; the DC01 requires new cables and would limit the other devices I can use it with. So anyway I took a punt on the dc02, people complaining online tend to be a bit unreasonable in my view so I wanted to see for myself.Immediately I noted a massive increase in depth and strength of the sound stage, power is higher than anything I've heard from a smartphone, excellent bass, rumbles and details coming through my Westones. I'm annoyed I didn't find this earlier. I find the build quality to be excellent. Metallic housing, flexible cable covered in tough plastic, it's really nice. Matches my silver / aluminium themed phone. Makes me feel more confident this will survive Vs some flimsly cables in other competition devices.There's a bug on Samsung where you need to always reboot to get this working but I visited the ibasso website and upgraded the firmware, that fixed it I haven't had an issue since and it works perfectly plug and play every time so hope this information helps someone as I don't see it anywhere.This thing gets proper loud. There's an app on the play store to set your maximum threshold so you can protect your ears. It also gets hot but they all do ... So that's fine. Battery does take a hit as this is an amp and headphone port in one so .. I needed to buy a QI charger to keep it topped up and listen at work at the same time. So much faff and expense and additional gear for a missing headphone port Samsung 🤐. That being said at least I'm getting far better sound quality than I had on my note 9.I love the sound quality it's not perfect but it's pretty neutral and is miles ahead of any dongle I've tried so far in terms of clarity, bass response, and sound. For 40£ and a dac made by a well known company, with possibility of additional future firmware releases its worth the price and place in the bag - just be aware of battery implications and upgrade the firmware.

Ive had my DC02 a few months now and I am very happy with the sound - far superior than what you get as standard with a phoneGower the other day the silver housing came loose and it can slide back revealing the circuitry inside.I have just slid the covering back into place on mine and it works fine, but I am a bit disappointed that it happened on a not so cheap product.I was going to buy the 2.5mm version, but now I am not so sure

Tested with beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro and Grado SR80i headphones.I purchased this DAC wanting better sound quality and higher power output than my OnePlus 5 as well as wanting to use it on my Galaxy S5e tablet which does not have a headphone output.The sound is worse than the headphone output on my OnePlus 5, it sounds clinical and unrefined though the power output is much higher.When I first connected the adaptor, the right channel was very quiet compared to the left. I rectified this by installing the iBasso UAC app from the Play Store. I had to do the same with the S5e tablet.Switching back and fourth between the OP5 and the USB DAC showed how good my phone sounds. More natural and less harsh.There are some small differences though, there's a bit more bass and the sound stage is a bit wider. I would think for a £40 DAC it would be night and day, not more or less worse than a three year old phones integrated output. It's not actually much better than the Samsung USB C headphone dongle either in sound quality, power yes it has a big advantage.I've listened to my fair share of DACs, headphones, speakers and amplifiers. I wanted to try this first on my quest for better audio before the Fiio and Cyrus alternatives.I will return this product as it is not worth the money, not better than included solutions (SQ wise) and costs a fortune.

Left channel not working properly. Returned and reimbursed promptly. Good administration, pity about the item.

Good pigtail DAC for mobiles - probably overpriced

I had high hopes for this little DAC for use with my S10+. I used it both straight through the phone dac and as a direct dac via the USB Audio Player Pro app from Google Store. I am not an audio expert so I can just give information as to how I reacted to using this product. At no stage could I listen to it for more than 10 minutes or so, without having to remove the my IEM’s (FH7). There was just something dry and unpleasant about the sound. I could say that the soundstage was a little wider, maybe slightly more treble, compared to S10+ internal amp/ dac, but everything was overwhelmed by the sheer unpleasantness of the overall sound. Dry, hissy, thin and slightly distorted comes to mind as a discription. It also runs quite hot which I found a bit disconcerting, especially when in my pocket. I really wanted to like this dac, but it’s quite an unpleasant listening experience. Also none of these deficiencies improve with use and time. If you don’t like it at the start, it’s not going to get better.

Not impressed with the build of the product, it comes apart to easy in your pocket !It's the first dac I've tried, I'm not impressed with the sound at all. I'm using it with a Sony Xperia 1 because there's no headphone jack. I think I'll be going back to bluetooth Ldac connection.