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Author Topic: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.  (Read 32994 times)

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Sforza

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #30 on: November 09, 2012, 08:06:44 AM »
Quote from: rhythmdevils on November 09, 2012, 03:32:18 AM
Yeah it's strange that they just made the Nano bigger, so now it's just a slightly smaller ipod touch.  It's kind of a different product than the old nano and I agree Quest, it seems like they should have just made them separate products, call this new one the ipod mini ala ipad mini, and update the tiny nano.  My friend has one and it's kind of an amazing device to use, that touch screen on such a tiny device.

^ This. I was surprised that they actually chose to increase the size of the 6th gen nano, since it was so convenient to wear as a watch/DAP for the gym. My female friends also liked the size because it was easy to store inside a clutch bag -- not that the current one would be any more difficult to store. I'm definitely not going to get the longer nano, in fact I might get another 6G as a backup to my current one.

Quote from: DaveBSC on November 09, 2012, 07:43:22 AM
Speaking of iRiver, does anybody know what the deal is with this thing?



It costs around $500-600, has 32gb internal storage. The DAC is a WM8740. Other pertinent info:

SD card slot
Micro SD x 2ea (SDHC max 32GB) storage hoes rejoice. max 64gb each slot when formatted to fat32

Optical In / Out
- Optical DAC with PC
- Source player with digital AC receiver & AMP

I really thought about it at first but decided to pass because of the DAC chip. I know that implementation is more important but I haven't been impressed with any WM8740 based DAC as of yet, and I've heard a lot of Chinese made ones. 8741/2 are another thing altogether.
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frenchbat

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #31 on: November 09, 2012, 08:21:04 AM »
Tried it a the Tokyo Headphone show. Sonically, there's nothing to write home about. Output impedance is high (22 ohms), measurements not very good, and definitely not up to the numbers from the marketing material. Here you go :
http://www.cdpkorea.com/zboard4/zboard.php?id=cool_review&no=297

Otherwise, it's well built, and quite small actually. The stepped wheel for the volume is kind of awkward though. Doesn't read ALAC apparently. Still I have the feeling it could be a good transport with say a Leckerton or a Pico Slim, but it's just too expensive for that.

Quote from: DaveBSC on November 09, 2012, 07:43:22 AM
Speaking of iRiver, does anybody know what the deal is with this thing?


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Deep Funk

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #32 on: November 09, 2012, 09:11:58 AM »
A Fuze V2 is the better buy in that case...
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frenchbat

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #33 on: November 09, 2012, 09:19:14 AM »
I meant to say, "digital transport". But still too expensive for that anyway.

Quote from: Deep Funk on November 09, 2012, 09:11:58 AM
A Fuze V2 is the better buy in that case...
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Sforza

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #34 on: November 09, 2012, 09:21:29 AM »
Quote from: Deep Funk on November 09, 2012, 09:11:58 AM
A Fuze V2 is the better buy in that case...

Speaking of the Fuze, I have the version that doesn't do LOD output even though it has a port. I read somewhere on HF that the signal from the LOD as opposed to the headphone out using Rockbox at max volume isn't of significantly better quality because the Fuze has one chip for both the DAC and amp stages. Can anyone comment on this?
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Deep Funk

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #35 on: November 09, 2012, 09:41:23 AM »
What version of the Fuze do you have?

If you know the production year and model you should be able to look it up on the Sandisk website. I'm eyeing the new Fuze because the Clip Plus was just too damn small for my hands and pockets and the new Fuze (V3 for that matter) is ergonomically more convenient for me.
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jGray91

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #36 on: November 11, 2012, 12:15:26 AM »
Quote from: Deep Funk on November 09, 2012, 09:41:23 AM
What version of the Fuze do you have?

If you know the production year and model you should be able to look it up on the Sandisk website. I'm eyeing the new Fuze because the Clip Plus was just too damn small for my hands and pockets and the new Fuze (V3 for that matter) is ergonomically more convenient for me.

Wait what? Where have you seen this?
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Anathallo

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #37 on: November 11, 2012, 12:50:13 AM »
Quote from: Deep Funk on November 09, 2012, 09:41:23 AM
What version of the Fuze do you have?

If you know the production year and model you should be able to look it up on the Sandisk website. I'm eyeing the new Fuze because the Clip Plus was just too damn small for my hands and pockets and the new Fuze (V3 for that matter) is ergonomically more convenient for me.

V3 = Fuze+?
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rhythmdevils

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #38 on: November 11, 2012, 12:55:25 AM »
Quote from: ocswing on November 09, 2012, 04:25:32 AM
I think the main thing is that the old one was difficult to navigate around. It was more like a shuffle than anything else. That's why I liked the increased size. Should be decent enough to navigate, but not cumbersome.

I thought it was easy to navigate, I loved using the touch screen on that tiny little thing I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie
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maverickronin

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Re: Let's Talk DAPs - Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Hisound, etc.
« Reply #39 on: November 11, 2012, 01:06:19 AM »
Quote from: jupitreas on November 08, 2012, 11:51:40 PM
Hmm.. am I the only one who thinks that Rockboxed clips pretty much exhaust the entire topic of DAPs? They play anything you throw at them with very good quality and offer all the sound manipulation options you could wish for (except for DSP such as BBE).

I don't see any point at all in investing in a supposedly high-end player like the Hifiman stuff (which coincidentally measures very badly) for portable use. How much can you really hear in a crowded street or in a subway? Certainly, with well-isolating headphones, you can have a pretty good sound but lets face it - it will never be as good as what you can get with a nice desktop amp and a quiet home environment. For this reason, it seems completely useless to me to invest in anything expensive when a basic Clip+ or Clip Zip will already provide more fidelity than you can hear in a portable situation anyway...

Pretty much agree with this.  Even if something else would sound noticeably better in whatever situation I'd be using it in I'd probably still go with my Rockboxed Clip Zip.  Just by itself, and with most IEMs, it's already reached the point of diminishing returns on the DAC/amp side plus it's the most convenient and easiest to use DAP  in current production that I know of.

I'll spare everyone my usual rant about how the Rio Karma is the god-king of UI, usability, and overall good design in a DAP and how the current state of the DAP market is a cluster molest.

 :)p3

Quote from: munch on November 08, 2012, 11:56:08 PM
I think a lot of people (including me) use DAPs in a more quiet work area, for example offices and such. so it's nice to have something portable but still good to carry around.

If I'm stationary I'd rather get out my Laptop and ODAC/O2 or something similar but I suppose everyone's needs are a little different...
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