iBasso DC06 Portable DAC

Product Information

Digital glare is under control, especially with the NOS filter, and while the DC03 Pro is not that analogue or organic sounding as the Cayin RU-6 or the iFi Go bar, it is still very musical and engaging.

The treble of DC06 is clean, sharp and vibrant. The treble extension is super good, and it can easily reach 16-18kHz if your headphones and music can too. DC06 is good at revealing micro details, and although it costs just 119 USD, it has the resolution and detail comparable with most midrange DAPs. It will be interesting to see how iBasso’s new DX170 fares against DC06.This time around the iBasso DC06 has dual headphone outs and went with a removable wire design. The iBasso DC06 has the 4.4mm balanced out and the 3.5mm single-ended out from both previous models on one end and a female USB-C port on the other end of the dongle. I say they got it right this time around and employed the removable wire which is my favorite design.

Once again, this new unit is absolutely flawless in terms of build quality. It doesn’t scream “POWER” like the DC06 could, but instead gives a subtle sense of finesse with the hollow design of its volume guard, and lightweight body. Lotoo PAW S1 also produces a fairly smooth and neutral sound, but in my opinion, DC03 PRO beats it by a small margin in terms of intelligibility, better bass control, and in general, sounds more academic and correct. While the original DC06 did a good job reproducing an accurate signal, the Pro version goes further with its overall power potential. This brings the DC06 to the next level, supplying different headphones and IEMs with plenty of headroom to play around with. The dedicated volume control adds a lot to the versatility of your headphones. Both your phone’s volume control and the DC06Pro can independently adjust gain, leading to more adaptable power.

I must say, this is my first dongle review, and expectations are pretty high. Thus, battery life may be on par or better. The Type-C input works with all Android and Windows machines I tested DC06 with, and it is generally a hassle-free experience. There are no volume buttons on it, so the only way to control the volume is from Windows or Android. Although iBasso recommends installing the driver, DC06 works just fine with my PC without any driver and is simply plug and play. I noticed no delay while playing music or movies or sound through DC06. You can install UAC volume, a dedicated app that allows DC06 to achieve a more granular volume control, and a lower noise floor than your average smartphone can pull. Cause yes, in case you haven’t listened to any of iBasso’s latest products, you’d be surprised to find out how linear and analytical they all sound. The iBasso DC05 was mostly neutral, with a wide sound stage and a surprisingly good layering – and the DC06 does follow the exact same way, with some refinements. Paired with the right headphones/earphones you can spot each instrument and each singer with ease and there is no channel imbalance to ruin the experience.

All those specifications seem very good for a unit of this size and cost. The DC05 has almost twice as much output power as the DC03 which is rated at the same 2v but with only 80mW at the same 16 ohms even though they’re both identical in size and use the same exact body. So, how does iBasso’s latest USB dongle fare, compared to its older-but-smaller brother, the DC05? Does size matter and is bigger… better? Actually, yes. At least for the DC06. The treble is lively and sparkling, transients are fast and detail retrieval is above average, the low noise floor helps a lot and allows the listener to concentrate and hear deep inside in the recording.

Comfort and Specifications

The iBasso DC05 uses a small amount of power to operate particularly with my Android devices. It seems to be very efficient more so than other similar dongles which is a plus considering dongle DACs are usually hefty power consumers. And following that last review, today we get its big brother, the iBasso DC04Pro. A DAC/Amp with twice more power, even less distortion than before, and a dual output (3.5mm + 4.4mm) to drive hungrier headphones – for twice the price. The perfect one? Time to find out. The latter is, and remains, one of my favorite portable DAC/AMP thanks to its small size, nice design, and excellent performance-to-price ratio. But, a year later, the market has become a lot fiercer, with competitors from established brands like FiiO or Hidizs, and newcomers like ddHiFi.