While not exactly aesthetically pleasing, maybe this change is moving towards a more open era for Head-Fi. Let's face it, the site has always been about promotion of the sponsors primarily. At least now it's a bit more transparent what sort of site you're on.

  I wonder if you've got the backlight switched off.   If you can mount the device, try deleting/ renaming /.rockbox/config.cfg.   Alternatively, try shining a torch/ flashlight on the LCD.   Edit: Sorry, reading back through the entries, I see you've restored the OF.

Kouzelna: Assuming your audio is all 44.1/48kHz, have you tried the DX50 Rockbox port?   I've never had any problems with large playlists with it, plus you'll get true gapless and many other features.

  To follow up on this, it looks like it's possible, just need to buy one now :)   The Windows .exe file is a cabinet file;   $ cabextract -l NW-A30_V1_10.exe -F Data/Device/NW_WM_FW.UPG Viewing cabinet: NW-A30_V1_10.exe File size | Date Time | Name...

  I'm still trying to decide whether to buy one, it'd be a gamble without knowing whether I can upgrade the firmware or not.   I'll probably just buy a device where you can copy an image to the root of the device.

  That's a pity, I run Linux on my machine.

  You copied a Windows executable directly to the device and it did a successful update?   https://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/content/cnt-dwnl/prd-dna/NW-A30_V1_10win_eu/NW-A35   To be clear, I won't be able to install "Sony MediaGo".

Does this device act as a USB mass storage device, or do you have to install some Sony application on a commercial OS?   Edit: I only ask because apparently you need an application to update the firmware (rather than placing an image in the root) and it got me worrying;  ...

I find the isolation of the T51 to be just as good as my Senn HD-25.

At the root, it's probably so they don't have to pay licensing fees for AptX.

 

I'd have a read through the Fiio X1 2 thread before you buy it, seems the firmware needs a lot of work;   http://www.head-fi.org/t/819817/fiio-x1-ii-2nd-gen-w-bluetooth

  Are you using an ASIO driver at very low latency?   They were originally designed for musicians who needed the responsiveness.   For audio playback, a larger buffer gives a much smoother experience with a lower overhead.

  Do you hear a pop when the sample rate of the preceding/ following files is the same (i.e. the same album)?

LOL at all the WMA fixes, I wouldn't have bothered supporting it in the first place.

  I think manufacturers also have to sign NDAs for the SOCs they use, so they can't publish details.   It's a shame though, in an ideal world companies with a talent for hardware would concentrate their efforts on that.   Rockbox also downsamples to 44.1k/48k, but I haven't a problem with...

Absolutely a firmware update will fix this. There's an amazing amount of crud in modern software, much snappier code was written decades ago with much slower processors.   Installing Rockbox on a supported DAP brings this home, assembly and tight code makes a big difference.

I wouldn't take it on a plane.

  Is there a way for loyal fans of FiiO to win prizes who aren't loyal fans of Facebook?

Is it possible to SSH/ telnet to the device over USB?

  I doubt upscaling would enhance the audio.

  The arrangement of the zones looks very clever to me.   I'd imagine at any location you'd get different values from two zones at once, from which you could calculate the exact position.

Beyer T51's are very comfortable and isolate well.

When they first came out (series 1), people were modding the ear pads and saying the muddiness disappeared.   I could never be bothered, but I'm very interested if they've redesigned them but the still fit the back.   I wouldn't be surprised, the spec is exactly the same.