Oppo V9 (V9H) impression, + comparison to other DAPs by Meizu, Samsung, iAudio

Intro:
Oppo seems like an unknown brand around Head-Fi, and mp3 world in general. Having owned a Meizu M6, I originally planned to buy the recently-released M6SL, supposedly an improvement over the original M6 in both looks and SQ (less hiss). While I was searching for the best price of the M6SL, I came across the Oppo V9. I could find almost no info about it in English, so I tuned my search to Chinese and got the following impressions about Oppo:

• A well-known brand in its homeland - China
• One of the biggest mp3 / mp4 brand in China. A close competitor of Meizu.
• All its daps were claimed to be made "SQ first", and with less hiss than most others.

This was enough to catch my attention, and eventually led me to order its newest DAP - Oppo V9 (V9H). I bought it at HouseOfDap, if anyone is interested.

Basic facts about the Oppo V9 (since it's pretty much unknown here):




Samsung T9 vs. Oppo V9

• MicroSD expansion slot
• Lossless playback: FLAC, APE, WAV
• Lossy playback: MP3, WMA
• Video playback: flv, avi
• Audio chipset: Wolfson WM8987
• Display: 2.4inch 320x240
• Dimensions: 86mm x 50mm x 7mm
• Earbuds: Sennheiser MX400
• Other functions: photos viewing, ebook, recording, FM, FM recording, resume functions, calendar,

SQ impressions:
After I bought the player and waiting for it to arrive, I read some bashings around the net, and I half expected myself to sell it after testing it. Surprisingly, after I tested it, I think I'm keeping it.

• Perfect playback of FLAC and VBR mp3s.
  Of the few players that I have owned, only the iAudio's flawlessly play my FLAC and VBR mp3s. The Meizu M6 often has problem with the first and last few seconds of the files (playback faster, or stutters). The Samsung T9 has the same trouble with the first few seconds of some VBR mp3s. I am actually surprised that the Oppo V9 has no problem with my files so far.
• Intimate but clear mids
  I am a mid-and-high-head (thin contrary to bass-head). While DAPs are prone to distant-sounding and muddy mids, the Oppo V9 performs above average here.
• So-so highs
  Nothing much to praise about here. The highs doesn't sparkle much, which means it doesn't fatigue even when listening with the ER4P.
• Light bass, for sure.
  Especially when compared directly with the Meizu M6, probably its closest competitor, but then of course the M6 is well-known for its heavy bass. The Oppo marketing people defended their decision of "keeping the highs, mids, and lows in balance". They recommend users to turn on the DBEE effect if they like heavier bass.
• Overall sonic signature
  Lives up to their claim of "keeping the highs, mids, and lows in balance, rather than going another direction to please the crowd".
• Hiss, or lack thereof
  With the MX50/500 earbuds, no hiss at all. The Meizu M6, on the other hand, hisses even with buds.
  With the Sony EX85 canal buds, still no hiss.
  I know it wouldn't pass the ER4P test, no DAPs did, but I still tried it. Sure enough, there's hiss on silent parts, but it wouldn't be noticeable out on the street, where DAPs are for. From this point on, the testings are done by using the ER4P.
  In comparison to some othe DAPs:
  Less hiss than Samsung T9. (Note that the T9 actually mutes the audio when the volume is at 0, creating an illusion that it has no hiss. I did the comparison as fair as I can, by listening to the same quiet intro.)
  Just a bit less hiss than Cowon iAudio 5. This is a close call, as the iAudio5 is pretty impressive as well. However, while we are on the issue of noise:
• Skipping songs are silent, no cracks, no pops, no stutters, zip.

The above are factual points. The following is my personal opinion, comparing the few DAPs:

While I still own several DAPs, I have almost abandoned them. They are so far away behind in terms of SQ, in comparison to my computer/desktop setup, that I can't really enjoy listening to DAPs alone anymore. DAPs simply don't drive earphones well enough, when used alone. There always seem to be some distance/substance between you and the music - not transparent enough.

Here I rate the DAPs that I've had, in terms of my rating of transparency and how well it drives earbuds/canalphones/iems (only):
Samsung T9 < Meizu M6 < Cowon D2 < (Oppo V9, Cowon iAudio5)*

Notes:

• I'm calling the iAudio5 and Oppo V9 a tie now. I'm leaning towards the iAudio5 for its sparkle, but the Oppo V9 is better overall. iAudio5's irregular hisses hurt it a bit as well.
• The Cowon D2 hisses some more.
• The Meizu actually drives well, but it hisses too much and affects at least the perception of transparency.

UI impressions:

• The Oppo V9 applies no EQ as default.
  Maybe they took a lesson from the Meizu, when some users complain of cracks and pops when they first use the Meizu, which has a bass-heavy EQ as default.
  Available EQ: Normal (off), 3D, DBEE, Rock, Pop, Classic, Bass, Jazz, User.
• Menu lags
  That's right, probably the biggest dent of this player, if I need to choose one, though it's not uncommon for touch-sensitive interfaces.
• Three phrases remains Chinese under the English interface.
  The three phrases are "Title", "Artist", "Album" on the audio playback screen. Not like it's critical since it is not a menu choice, but Oppo should still get points deducted.
• During audio playback, one press of the "Return" button puts the user back in browsing mode - a good thing.

FM impression: Surprisingly good.

• Crystal clear. Miles ahead of Meizu M6.
• In stereo when it should be... Simple thing, but can't be said with some other DAPs.

One issue during my testing though, it fails to pickup a couple of FM stations where I'm sitting (where I test all my DAPs). So for a couple of stations, I saved them to the list manually.

Update: Did some more testing while at work, where any DAP I try always pick up noise, and the only choice is simply picking a spot where the noise is the least. The Oppo V9 is no exception, though it is already better than the Meizu M6 and the Samsung T9. It also remains stereo for stereo stations (a further sign that indicates its FM reception quality).


Other random notes:

• I visually compared the included Sennheiser MX400 with the one that I have (that came bundled with my Cowon iAudio5). Every bit looks to be the same.
• The softwares and intro text comes with the flash memory (which can be deleted). No more useless CDs.
• An interesting track comes preloaded - a biaural recording demo.
• The Oppo V9 will double as a hand-warmer.
• I may test the DAP with more VBR mp3s later. So far I have just tried FLACs and preloaded files.

I have not tried the other functions, but so far it's a keeper. I think Oppo should at least be on your list if you are looking for a budget DAP.

Other than the points that I made under the heading "UI impressions", I just want to add that so far only two interface languages are available: English and Simplified Chinese.

1GB (V9L), 2GB (V9H), and 4GB (V9I) only. Mine is the 2G version.
I have not tested this myself. According to a user who posted in the official forum, 16GB cards don't work.
During my brief research on the reputations of the Chinese DAP companies, it seems to be a consensus that Meizu and Oppo are the largest and the best. And Oppo actually mentioned "SQ first" and "less hiss", so I turned my attention to them this time.

Try looking for some operation videos on the DAPs you're interested in, perhaps some will break the deal for you, for example an extremely laggy interface.

Nope, only a headphone out.