Amp3 Pro2 and the STUDIO - Page 20

Is this the final version or is there still scope for Head-Fi feedback in the design?

And I can't wait (but I guess I'll have to for 3 more weeks - or a little longer) for your comparisons of the AMP3 to the Studio! And we can be thankful that we have our AMP3's to enjoy while we wait - those of us who do, that is.

I was wondering about the quick description of the Studio as "more amp than player" that had been posted a few times previously. Realizing that the Studio was originally being put forward with no screen certainly helps to grasp what that description meant. I'm glad to know that the player portion of the Studio won't be limited to "dead reckoning" navigation.

X2

Hey Craig,
I was wondering, because you sent my Amp3 Pro2 off to someone else (I only ordered it because you said you had units available) how long before you get another batch in? Also, three more weeks on the Studio you say? OK. (hard to believe the thing didn't have a screen) Might as well cancel the recabled Zinos and send refund please. From here forward I have officially quit ordering things that aren't actually in stock. Too frustrating.

If it's not right, Craig will fix it for you.

Craig,

In fairness, I wrote: Post #261 and email

Craig,
Was hoping to get all three items together but is there any chance you can send my Amp3 Pro2 and recabled Zino's now and the Studio One a little later when it comes in?
Thank You

The Studio I want no matter what but if the Amp3 runs beyond I will want to cancel. Also, PLEASE DO NOT SEND RECABLED ZINOS WITHOUT AMP3 PRO2 OK PLEASE?

I SINCERELYTHANK YOU


***If it's not right, Craig will fix it for you.***

Hiss in AMP3 PRO2?

Craig,

I'd like to ask you to allow me to post here in order to determine the nature of the hiss in AMP3 PRO2, or to be precise to ask for comparison / opinion. I described the problem in email sent to you and I'm grateful you've already offered replacement without any questioning. However, I might be wrong in my judgement, thus I want to confirm it here.

Thank you very much.

-----

To all of you lucky owners of AMP3 PRO2

I consider AMP3 PRO2 to be a great product but I must have got defective one since somehow I feel that the amount of hiss in the background is too high. In all other aspects AMP3 PRO2 shines but I'm not sure what to think about hiss. Let me elaborate...

I understand that low-impedance headphone are prone to hiss. At least I think it's like that. PAA-I is 32 Ohm.

My findings:

I noticed that there's certainly a constant level of hiss. It doesn't go up with volume. There's no change whether the volume is at 1 or 20. When there's a quiet part in the song, it's there.

Amount of hiss: I'd say it's at medium level. Clearly there and annoying at lower listening levels. This shouldn't be a problem outside when you play music louder, but may be issue at home in the evening when you don't need pump up the volume ...

I tried RE0 with the same result.

I tried HD650 (which may be too difficult to drive by AMP3) and there's indeed lower level of hiss. Here I'd like to apologize to Craig. I mentioned in my email to him that hiss was audible and I meant it to be at similar level as with PAA-I, but truth is that it's definitely less that with PAA-I or RE0. I checked once more. Apologies again.

File format should not be a problem. It was the same with all songs.

I tried PAA-I with my old iAudio X5L through headphone out. Almost no hiss, definitely below any annoying level. Same headphones, very different results (in favour of more than 4 years old product)

I'd love to listen to someone else's AMP3 PRO2, but I'm not aware of anyone here in Cyprus? Anyone?

Question: if you'd like to describe the amount of hiss in PRO2 version, how much would it be? Almost nothing, clearly audible, medium level or way to much?

This is very subjective, I'm aware of it. Anyway, prior to sending it for replacement, I'd like to make sure I'm not just too sensitive or something. I decided that something must be wrong with my AMP3 only after 2 days of reasoning. Especially, when so many people appreciate it. I simply think that something's wrong here.

Thanks a lot for sharing your opinion.

Craig, I appreciate your offer for quick replacement. Great service. Thanks again.

I have spent considerable time evaluating my Pro.1 vs Pro.2, especially comparing the firmware issues that were niggling annoyances in the Pro.1.

My Pro.2 has 2.99GB on the Internal memory, with 717MB free, and 10.1GB on the external card, with 4.77GB free.
Albums are stored by folder, one album per folder.

For the most part, the only issue that has been fully resolved in the Pro.2 is the charging issue. The charge light does properly extinguish when charging is complete.

There are some other new user interface issues that are NOT an improvement over the Pro.1, as listed below:


The following are several problems that need to be resolved before the same or similar firmware issues become apparent in the upcoming Studio model.

1. Still unacceptably long boot times when in "Random" play mode. (See item 6 for times)

2. Approx 30 secs delay between songs when in Random mode.

3. When in "Normal" playback mode, each time the player is restarted, it now begins at the start of the music list rather than at the last-played selection. This is a major aggravation, in comparison to the Pro.1 which resumes where it left off when last shut down in Normal mode. This is as it should be.

4. When selecting the Menus by a long press, my unit, by default, goes to a sub-menu in "Internal Media", which then necessitates a lot of key pressing to back out of this sub-menu and reach the main menu list.

5. When bootup is completed, rather than the music beginning to play, the Pro.2 comes alive in "Pause" mode, requiring one to press "Play" in order to begin the listening session. This requires one to watch the screen continually until startup is complete, rather than just putting on the headphones and waiting for the music to start.

6. When manually selecting the next tune via the fwd button while in "Random" play mode, it takes anywhere from 50 seconds to over 2 minutes for the next selection to begin playing. When in "Random" play mode, boot times are anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes, both unacceptably long, considering that my memory card is only about 2/3s full.

I do not find the new button design to be a significant improvement over the previous design. Rounding the corners of the case would be a useful improvement. I would also suggest incorporating a "double-click" entry of the Play/Pause/Menu button to return to the "Now Playing" selection. This would be of much value to both sighted and visually-impaired users and would not require an extra dedicated button. I think this feature could easily be incorporated into the interface firmware.

Overall, there is much work to be done yet before the AMP3 can be considered to be ready to compete with the rest of the DAP marketplace, regardless of SQ.

The Random play mode is an important feature of any DAP, and unless the very long boot times and long delays between tunes can be addressed, IMO, the AMP3 as well as the upcoming Studio will never get beyond "niche" status.
All other players, even the cheap $39.00 department store DAPs can shuffle randomly without these delays. Eliminating the Random play mode is not a satisfactory means of addressing this problem.

On the positive side, I do find that the SQ is slightly improved, with a somewhat more spacious soundstage. It appears as though the charging issues have been corrected, as the light now reliably extinguishes when charging is complete.
The Pro.2 now recognizes 16GB cards and also supports FLAC encoding.

Overall, with many firmware issues remaining unresolved, I still consider the Pro.2 to be a work in progress.

Craig at Whiplash Audio has spent countless hours corresponding with Hisoundaudio addressing these issues...I sincerely hope that his efforts are successful in resolving these shortcomings.

Thanks for that Ron and I agree, the Amp3 is an excellent niche player/amp right now based on SQ, but they need to get the nav issues resolved, as well as hiss. These should not be tough to fix.

Hello Ron, Thanks ever so much for your clear statements on positive and negative aspect of the amp3pro2. This is what is needed so htat htings might get fixed in the future and potential buyers know what to expect, I totally agree with you double click would be nice as well as autoplay when you start up the unit/resume were you left off. Also with my players I ALWAYS use shuffle mode. I hope these nav issues and hiss issues will be fixed by the time the studio 2 rolls out.
Thanks again Ron,
Greetings, Anouk,

What are the delays like between songs in normal play mode? I almost never use shuffle mode, so this is more important to me (although 30s-1min for shuffle mode is just stupid...)

In "Normal" play mode, the delay between songs is very short, only a second or two, sometimes almost immediate.

Thanks guys for the feedback on the drawbacks for this player. I'm very close to getting this player till i read some of the posts here. 3-6 mins to boot up from random play order is incredibly long. In the meantime, i'm just going to wait and hope there will be a firmware coming up to fix all the nav issues.

There will surely be firmware updates if Hisoundaudio intends to be competitive in the DAP marketplace. They have been responsive to Craigs input so far.