Welcome to my review of the iBasso D14 Bushmaster High-Performance Stereo DAC & Headphones Amplifier. The iBasso D14 Bushmaster is ideal for connecting to your iPhone, Android phone, computer or MAC via the lightning, optical, USB or analogue line in port to substantially improve the sound of your headphones.
Key Features and Specifications
– Sabre32 ES9018K2M DAC chip with XMOS USB receiver for superb sound conversion
– Up to 32bit/384kHz PCM signal and native DSD up to 256x directly from computers/mac
– Asynchronous USB transfer
– Works as a DAC for Android smart phones via a USB OTG.
– With Apple Camera Connection Cable works as a DAC with iOS devices
– Built in battery lasts 13 hours as a DAC+AMP combo or 25 hours as just an AMP.
– Other than the USB input the D14 can take up to 24bit/192kHz optical input coaxial input and analogue line in.
– Amp uses an OPAMP based high output headphone amplifier which can output up to 400mW into a 32ohm load.
– Frequency Response 17hz – 20khz DAC, 17hz to 100khz AMP
– Weight 149g
– Dimensions 60mm x 104mm x 20mm
– Recommended Headphones 8 to 300ohm
Audio Quality
iBasso provide many extras with the D14. These include a protective pouch, OTG Mini USB to MicroUSB, Mini USB to USB A,3.5mm analog cable and a 3.5mm SPDIF cable. These are all short length cables. You also get the mini USB cable for recharging. The D14 is fairly neutral sounding with speed and plenty of detail. The mid range and vocals are superb. The D14 has a deep and wide soundstage.
The D14 sound quality improved during the course of its burn in which was around 50 hours. During playback it gets slightly warm but this has absolutely no impact on its performance, quite the opposite actually. iBasso have included many different ways of connecting to the D14 making it fairly versatile.
At its price point of around £175 nothing sounds quite as good. But if you have the budget I would recommend the Oppo HA-2 which costs £259 and is far more smartphone friendly. See my review – Click HERE.
Conclusion
A little bit larger than most portable headphone/DACs and still using mini USB, but well worth the extra bulk as its powers your headphones in a way to reproduce beautiful tunes.
For more info and the latest pricing on Amazon UK – Click HERE.
Video Review
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 
Gavin at £175 it is about £25 more than the B&O HiFi Plus for the LG G5. Is the portability of the HIFi worth it when you compare sound quality of these w options?
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Hi Jah. Good question. Portability is always a consideration. The D14 is big versus other options, but it does sound terrific. The OP Amp section is worth every penny. But the HiFi Plus is far more portable and pocket friendly. It boils down to ultimate sound quality vs a little less quality but highly portable.
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