iBasso DX160 Mods for Better Performance



The iBasso DX160 is a nice Android-based Digital Audio Player (DAP) that has excellent sound quality and features for it's asking price, but there's a couple issues I find with it. First, it doesn't have the best battery life, and it's a little slow, and the other is that it doesn't have Google Play Store installed by default.

Disclaimer: The following content is to be performed at your own risk. It's generally safe to perform these mods on the iBasso DX160 and iBasso has tools to undo any soft-bricks. But again, this is for advanced users only!

Lurker0's Modified Firmware


To remedy this is actually really easy. Lurker0 has created a firmware that installs Google Play Services and Google Play Store and removes bloatware. For this article, you need Lurker firmware installed which is linked with instructions.

Magisk Manager


Using Magisk Manager, you can use the following Magisk Modules, by downloading in the Download section of the app.

To download the modules, you can open up Magisk Manager and click the menu and go to Download and look for the modules. If Magisk doesnt open, you probably need to reinstall Magisk Manager. https://magiskmanager.com/

FYI - you wont be able to update Magisk to the latest version as John Wu won't be supporting rockchip anymore apparently. You can just disable update notification so it wont be annoying, or if you want, you can use a custom channel URL:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/antdroidx/customMagisk/master/magisk.json 

 This will show the current versions as up-to-date.

Magisk Modules

L Speed - using it on performance mode currently for best speed. makes a huge difference. (update: im using a custom user mode now to balance battery life and power handling)

NFS Injector - Alternative to L-Speed Manager -- I prefer L-Speed Manager because it's easier to manage.

zRAM/Swap Manager - makes a swap ram file - not sure this is really needed

Energized Protection - Blocks Ads/Spyware

I also installed the XPosed Framework and within that, i use Amplify. This is an alarm/wakelock controller. I used it heavily on older android OSs but didnt really need to on modern Android OS. I have only reduced some of the android Android Syncing wakelock, so its not really necessary, but may improve battery life slightly.

I tried to use Viper4Android on previous firmware and it was very buggy. I haven't tried it on the current version yet. This would provide systemwide EQ and other filters.

Other Useful Apps

Rotation Manager - this lets you use reverse Portrait mode. Useful if you want to dock the DX160 on a usb-c dock stand!

Poweramp - my favorite android music player, and it supports DX160 natively and has a quick and simple user interface with customizable skins, and auto-downloads album art, band photos, and more!

Niagra Launcher - This is a very simple and FAST launcher to replace the stock one from iBasso.


Using SPDIF on a Budget

The iBasso DX160 and other iBasso DAPs have 3.5mm to digital coax capability. You can buy an expensive cable that'll convert the signal to your DAC if you want, or you can just use any off-the-shelf RCA Coax to 3.5mm male cable (sometimes called an aux cable). Just plug the 3.5mm into your DX160, and the LEFT channel into your DAC's Coaxial input and it should work just fine! Obviously, you'll need to set your DX160's output to SPDIF to activate the circuit.

This won't work if you use any adapters along the chain.

Future Projects

I've also unlocked bootloader, but I haven't had much luck doing much else with it as of today. I've been a little lazy to try to make a TWRP port.

Comments

  1. Stumbled across this page while searching for a new MP3 player -- high capacity, multiple file formats accepted, newest Bluetooth capable -- to go with my earbuds (Between Pro from Status Audio; they're Bluetooth 5.2, and, though I'm allegedly not supposed to have trouble connecting them with prior versions of Bluetooth, they would not pair with my Philips GoGear Arias [SA5AZU16KF/37] to save my life).

    I finally came across this iBasso model, which ticks as many boxes as I'd like (and even throws in a micro-SD card slot so I can literally carry around my entire music collection), but it's crazy expensive for what's essentially a dying format in this era of streaming from any device rather than a single one dedicated largely to music, and one of the most detailed reviews I saw suggests it needs nearly all of the mods you list here in order to be worth that purchase for me. I mean, I'd do it if I knew I'd never have to purchase another one again, but this is ridiculous.

    While I understand these mods are technically for advanced users only, is there any way to learn how to input the Lurker firmware, the L-Speed (specifically that custom user mode), Energized Protection, Rotation Manager, Poweramp, and Niagra Launcher into this beast if it means I never have to purchase an MP3 player again after this?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I managed to delete on of the Apps: HiBy Music. Is it possible to repeat the process, to get it back?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hiby Music is in the Play Store, so you can just re-download it there

      Delete
  3. Would be nice to share your L speed settings! Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I followed the instructions but when I tried to open Magisk Manager to load modules, it wouldn't let me as the Manager version wasn't compatible to the Magisk version. I didn't try to update Magisk, but found an old Magisk Manager (19.3) and that let me at least see the modules. Now when I try to install them, it tells me I need Magisk 20.1+, when I am on 19.3.
    How can I install modules if I can't update Magisk?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for the late response. I don't have this DAP any longer, so it would be hard for me to troubleshoot with you.

      Delete
  5. I followed the instructions but when I tried to open Magisk Manager to load modules, it wouldn't let me as the Manager version wasn't compatible to the Magisk version. I didn't try to update Magisk, but found an old Magisk Manager (19.3) and that let me at least see the modules. Now when I try to install them, it tells me I need Magisk 20.1+, when I am on 19.3.
    How can I install modules if I can't update Magisk?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment