Originally Posted by breezy_amar
Novasol, how does the sound quality of the 829 compare to the 818? and also, does the new sony media manager support gapless?
I don't own the 829, so I can only say that I didn't notice any difference in sound quality between it and my 818 in the store. It's not critical listening, but I did transfer some of my high quality CD rips at Lame VO to the 829 and with my Altec IM716's the players sounded the same. I don't know about gapless, never use the software.
The Clear Bass is a much lower frequency than the lowest on the EQ. There is a decrease in overall loudness, however, when using the EQ..it's just that the bass is as equally suppressed as the mids and highs.
You'll be fine with the Se530's. The Im716's are twice the impedance(if not more). You'll have enough volume to play with the Clear Bass.