Audiophilepure

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“The NW-A45 is more natural, precise and convincing through the treble and midrange, but the iPod just edges it for dynamic punch, momentum and timing as we listen to Zimmer’s synth-layered drum fills. Put simply, the Sony offers a hi-fi sound in the best possible way, but the Apple product sounds marginally more fun on occasion.

It comes down to what you want from a player. If you’re looking for a personal music player (PMP) that has wireless internet support for Deezer, Tidal, Spotify streaming and the like, then go for the iPod Touch. If you want something that requires a bit more work, but lets you listen to hi-res PCM and DSD files on the fly with optional noise-cancelling, then this Walkman is for you.

But the Sony has one other advantage over the iPod Touch: it doubles up as a DAC, so can upscale the sound quality of your laptop. Simply plug the Walkman into your computer’s USB port and select the DAC function from the device’s home screen. The signal is then processed by the Sony’s DAC, levelling-up your computer’s inbuilt digital-analogue-converter.”

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“A discriminating DAP buyer, given the means, could easily spend two, three, or more times the Fiio M7’s price, yet only modestly outpace its sonic performance. I found the M7 to be an outstanding value that had a quick and intuitive user-friendly interface and sonically valued detail and transparency. In A/B comparisons to DAPs three times its price, the M7’s presentation was perhaps a bit too forward and bright, but compared to DAPs of equal or slightly higher price, Fiio’s M7 proved a sonic heavyweight to be reckoned with. For an example of the open transparency I came to associate with the M7, listen to the Gary Bartz’s opening saxophone on “Love Ballad” from the 1977 jazz-fusion classic Music Is My Sanctuary [Capitol]. The effortless detail and space around Gary’s saxophone immediately let you know the M7 is worth every penny. For $199 you are going to have a tough time finding better bang for your buck.”

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“Previously, sensitive earphones were real buggers to pair with the D. They hissed. Really sensitive ones might even render audible screen interface calls. The D2 so shields all that from the signal that all is black and quiet. Yes, that includes earphones like Shure’s SE846, which hiss even when plugged into the vacuum of space.

All is not perfect, though. Under extreme load at max volume, jitter jumps way up over unloaded targets, and otherwise pristine signals suck to extreme separation at 2k and 5k with a small mountain of minor joined stereo between them. Can you hear this? I doubt it. Will you be listening to similar loads (Earsonics SM2) at such volumes? No. But when pushed beyond reason, the D2’s output fails there.”

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“Headphone compatibility wasn’t an issue with the SE100. It had sufficient gain, even from its single-ended output, to drive Abyss Diana headphones and Beyerdynamic DT-990 600 Ohm headphones with no issues. At the other extreme, the SE100 exhibited no extraneous noise or hum when playing music through a set of 115 dB-sensitive EarSonics EM10 CIEMs.

Sonically the SE100 delivers the goods. If you want to tailor the sound, you can make and save your own EQ settings. My early Rolling Stones albums especially benefitted from some EQ adjustments. When I compared the default “normal” EQ settings with EQ off, the normal EQ setting had slightly lower volume coupled with a tighter, more controlled low end. I made several “UserEQ” configurations for “bad” recordings such as my Charlie Christian box set. I especially like the fact that you can easily erase especially egregious EQ experimentations.”

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“Connection with all Bluetooth devices around is smooth and the experience is very much alike when you use your phones with other Bluetooth devices, no reconnection/ connection lost happened when I bring the device around for normal use and the signal strength is quite alike M6. Higher resolution codecs will only allow short distance connection as usual and the M11 works perfectly with Hiby W5 on LDAC mode. You could change the priority of Codec used for connection in the Audio menu.

The M11 doubles as a Bluetooth receiver and you could pair it with phones/ PCs for wireless playback, there are no glitches and it supports the ALL TO DSD function as well which means you could up-sample your songs from another host device during Bluetooth mode!”

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“Spending time with the Cube makes one realize the level of flexibility it offers owners. While it was initially easy for me to experience the Cube as a portable player, in today’s networked home it fits in as media server too. Hooking it up to the KEF LSX Wireless Speaker System I have at home was a snap, with the Cube seeing the LSX immediately. Playback through the two-channel wireless KEFs was less warm or analog-sounding than through wi-fi with Roon, but that’s a direct reflection of the Cube’s accuracy to source and its pull-no-punches playback ethos. This is a device of incredible resolution to its sonic signature; there’s no sweetening to the sound happening with the Cube. What you hear is what’s on the recording, great or not-so-great.”

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“The DX200/AMP1 sound has this slight bloom of warmth in the lower mids, nothing extreme but enough to create a little softness in the tone of the DX200. The DX220 timbre is more neutral to my ear, not as soft and not as warm but nothing I would describe as overly analytical or cold sounding.

The control on the treble presence on the AMP1 MK2 is excellent and partly why the DX220 sounds a little more neutral in timbre compared to the AMP1 first gen. It injects a little more odd-harmonic presence in the DX220 instrumental and vocal timbre so notes sound a touch cleaner and more articulate.

The accuracy and details levels seem to have gone up a notch even if the overall lower-midrange instrumental body drops down marginally.”