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Sony PS Vita (and PSP) has a Wolfson DAC!! :-O - Page 3

post #31 of 40
9/10/12 at 6:39am

Hi!

The Vita has not already been hacked?

That let's me think twice to buy one.

I don't like having to carry a case with me just for swapping games.

Also the memory cards are costing way too much.

If Sony continues this way, they will have no chance against Nintendo.

Sorry if I sound like a pessimist, but after making such a PR attack, they can't fulfill what they promised. frown.gif
 

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post #32 of 40
9/10/12 at 11:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CollectoR13 View Post

Hi!

The Vita has not already been hacked?

That let's me think twice to buy one.

I don't like having to carry a case with me just for swapping games.

Also the memory cards are costing way too much.

If Sony continues this way, they will have no chance against Nintendo.

Sorry if I sound like a pessimist, but after making such a PR attack, they can't fulfill what they promised. frown.gif
 

Quite frankly I hope the Vita fails and falls off the market soon, then Sony will stop fighting so hard and we can get REAL hacking done (native emulators, installing other OS's like Android or Linux, etc) instead of just using existing exploits to load PSP homebrew... which I have an actual PSP for.

 

But I don't get what you're saying about "having to carry a case just for swapping games". The 3DS has bigger cartridges, and both the 3DS and Vita can load games from a memory card... The Vita can even install full games to a memory card, and the 3DS can't. What are you talking about?

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post #33 of 40
9/19/12 at 4:24pm
Thread Starter 

I've been one to poke fun at all the Sony fan boy (any fan boy, actually).  It really has done horribly in both the US and Japan, but now I really don't care too much whether the vita fails or not, but I'm glad that they at least are rolling out Little Big Planet for it.  That's the game that got me to buy the PS3 in the first place.  There are a couple other pretty good games on the Vita so far (some just downloadable mini games).  Kinda overpriced, but well worth it to a first time player like me for Pixeljunk Monsters ($10), which is arguably the best tower defense game ever.  There are a lot more games I'd get for the 3DS like Mario games, but there are certain ones which can be best enjoyed on a Vita---exclusive titles such as Lumines, Soundshapes (a total bargain for $15 including the PS3 version of the game, Little Big Planet...maybe some others). 

 

For the same reason I use the Vita, I love the DS as well.  Games that are easy to pick up and play for very short burts.  Don't currently own one now, but had many of the older models and the mod chip.. Someday will pick up that 3DS XL which is quite nice :)  I could care less about the single analog stick (besides, they have already announced the attachment for the 2nd). 

 

It's well worth it to me--you can EASILY buy a lightly used Vita with accessories and memory card/games for $150 on craigslist.  I got mine for that price many months ago....  It makes for a terrific music player (it's improved) with the awesome sounding Wolfson DAC.  If you use lower impedance headphones or an amp, near max volume sounds perfectly fine.  I love watching Youtube and listening to Youtube music vids - uplifting trance especially in HD).  The screen is really gorgeous and to me it looks better than any other smart phone Youtube app I've ever seen....It looks better than my laptop 1080p screen! 

 

Nice and convenient for plane rides and falling asleep watching Netflix.  Crunchy roll app is coming soon.  I use flickr a lot and it's perfect for that...  I'm sure the web browser will improve with time as well. 

 

Paid $35 for a 16gb memory card used several months ago.  Deal like that is easy to find now..    Even if developers abandon it, it's well worth having for me, especially at $150 price which is easy to come by. 

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post #34 of 40
9/19/12 at 5:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hyogen View Post

I've been one to poke fun at all the Sony fan boy (any fan boy, actually).  It really has done horribly in both the US and Japan, but now I really don't care too much whether the vita fails or not, but I'm glad that they at least are rolling out Little Big Planet for it.  That's the game that got me to buy the PS3 in the first place.  There are a couple other pretty good games on the Vita so far (some just downloadable mini games).  Kinda overpriced, but well worth it to a first time player like me for Pixeljunk Monsters ($10), which is arguably the best tower defense game ever.  There are a lot more games I'd get for the 3DS like Mario games, but there are certain ones which can be best enjoyed on a Vita---exclusive titles such as Lumines, Soundshapes (a total bargain for $15 including the PS3 version of the game, Little Big Planet...maybe some others). 

 

For the same reason I use the Vita, I love the DS as well.  Games that are easy to pick up and play for very short burts.  Don't currently own one now, but had many of the older models and the mod chip.. Someday will pick up that 3DS XL which is quite nice :)  I could care less about the single analog stick (besides, they have already announced the attachment for the 2nd). 

 

It's well worth it to me--you can EASILY buy a lightly used Vita with accessories and memory card/games for $150 on craigslist.  I got mine for that price many months ago....  It makes for a terrific music player (it's improved) with the awesome sounding Wolfson DAC.  If you use lower impedance headphones or an amp, near max volume sounds perfectly fine.  I love watching Youtube and listening to Youtube music vids - uplifting trance especially in HD).  The screen is really gorgeous and to me it looks better than any other smart phone Youtube app I've ever seen....It looks better than my laptop 1080p screen! 

 

Nice and convenient for plane rides and falling asleep watching Netflix.  Crunchy roll app is coming soon.  I use flickr a lot and it's perfect for that...  I'm sure the web browser will improve with time as well. 

 

Paid $35 for a 16gb memory card used several months ago.  Deal like that is easy to find now..    Even if developers abandon it, it's well worth having for me, especially at $150 price which is easy to come by. 

The Vita isn't a good portable player.

 

For one, its massive. I have difficulty fitting it in my pocket. Second it has absolutely deplorable battery life, which is a no-no for portable players. Third, the amp is woefully underpowered and has trouble driving my ATH-M50s, which are my easiest-to-drive can. Fourth, the maximum memory card size as of now is 32GB, which is tiny for people who use lossless or even just higher bitrate sources. Plus, that space isn't just devoted to music, it's also needed for pictures, games, game saves, videos... you get the idea. Just because it has a not-terrible DAC doesn't mean it's an ideal portable player, not by any means. 

 

And if price is an issue, a RoCoo P costs about $180. The RoCoo P is a fraction of the size, has GREAT battery life, an amp that can power headphones up to 300 ohms, AND it can handle MicroSD cards up to 64GB in size. It also supports more formats than the Vita, including FLAC, and unlike the Vita it has 4GB of onboard storage straight out of the box, so you don't absolutely need a memory card to use it.

 

 The Vita, while it is a very very good piece of hardware, is not suitable as a DAP. 

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post #35 of 40
9/19/12 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 

i agree, it shouldnt' be your main portable DAP.  I've found the battery life to be STELLAR however. but maybe it's because I don't go for long sessions of gaming a lot.  I just use it in quick bursts and sometimes don't touch it for a few days.  The battery lasts me a good 2 weeks to a month :o  Best stand-by battery life I've ever found

 

I wouldn't sacrifice it's screen size for a more compact pacage, though.  Really, it has trouble driving your M50s?  My ultrasone hfi550 and triple fis seem fine with it.  Even DT880 250ohm sounds pretty good to my ears unamped (at full volume).  Maybe it's the type of music?  I'm not really into huge bass, if that's where you find it lacking. 

 

The PSP was a much better MP3 player for controls and size.  Almost regret getting rid of it... was easily modifiable with custom firmware also..     As for memory prices--they'll fall eventually. 


Edited by hyogen - 9/19/12 at 5:21pm
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post #36 of 40
9/19/12 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hyogen View Post

i agree, it shouldnt' be your main portable DAP.  I've found the battery life to be STELLAR however. but maybe it's because I don't go for long sessions of gaming a lot.  I just use it in quick bursts and sometimes don't touch it for a few days.  The battery lasts me a good 2 weeks to a month :o  Best stand-by battery life I've ever found

 

I wouldn't sacrifice it's screen size for a more compact pacage, though.  Really, it has trouble driving your M50s?  My ultrasone hfi550 and triple fis seem fine with it.  Even DT880 250ohm sounds pretty good to my ears unamped (at full volume).  Maybe it's the type of music?  I'm not really into huge bass, if that's where you find it lacking. 

 

The PSP was a much better MP3 player for controls and size.  Almost regret getting rid of it... was easily modifiable with custom firmware also..     As for memory prices--they'll fall eventually. 

Memory prices are not the issue. Sizes are. Plus, I understand the battery life you gave, but keep in mind that's assuming you rarely use it. I tried using my Vita for a 5 hour listening session during one of my college classes, and it died halfway through the 4th. 

 

Volume isn't the issue, the M50s just <do not> sound good out of the Vita, and it can't drive my K240s either... and my T50RPs were disgustingly unlistenable out of it when I had them. 

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post #37 of 40
11/4/12 at 3:33pm
Wow, always loved the community over here at head-fi; and I kinda hoped this would have 'righted' itself, but bloody fell foul to 'fan boy isms'.
no ones cares about the vita, and people who do, talk about them on game sites or a vita (or 3ds thread aka Gaming threads)
this thread was about the Wolfson dacs, hence a sound quality enquiry.
no one cares how many power supplies or layers of glass circuit board are in my parasound dad (3/5 respectively), and it is my job when analysing/reviewing it to match electronics accordingly (a musical fidelity headphone amp 'valves' the sound for me...
my point is this thread was valid, and should have remained so...
that head-fiers missed its' mark saddened me to (finally) contribute.

I bought the vita for the dac and OLED

sure I have put a few hours into littlebig and uncharted (and gravity rush, disagea, ridge racer, and rayman and a few downloads, demos etc), but most time spent has.been as a music player!

when the vita came out I was being a carer for a relative and had limited space to have a setup (a nakamichi soundspace3, running from a laptop (via Samsung tv dacs), that's right - no real sound system!

I love OLED, and wanted a decent sounding front end, so a vita was an easy toy to consider.
driving b&w c5(s), no worry, very clean, clear with nailed micro dynamics in seperate 'airspace', it wasn't till I put on the Roland ie3(s) that I could tell how deathly (in a good way) neutral the system could be...
rolands are very easy to drive studio in ears
I seldom turn my system up, sometimes 1/3 of the way, rarely half the way, and occasionally 80% up (this is loud even for the c5's).. black soundstage that allows such gradients of volume anywhere and everywhere, and a ***** load of differing music genre's played well (i listen to everything except bad death metal and bass laden and or compressed recordings)

sure I had to buy an extra memory card for uncompressed music files to have some permanent space, but I as a user can see this device for what it is (a beaut multimedia source)

I would like to have said beaut multimedia player, but.Sony really get in the way of making THAT an easy task, so caveat emptor, 'let the buyer beware', as YMMV regarding 'usefulness'

OLED screen is b grade compared so galaxy s2 (blotchy non uniform black, not a black value of 0,0,0)

But sound is nice
xba-75 (or whatever model number Sony gives their Bluetooth balanced armature earphones) suck on vita. simple stuff like a running stream in uncharted sound digital and HORRIBLE. Complex music genre's become compressed and sound ***** (true of most things they pair with, vita being worst, a bandwidth issue and they don't support apt-x, though nor does the vita)
wish I'd stuck with vita dacs and not invested in more sony!

anyhow as the thread is abouth wolfsons, yes, they rock as implemented on the vita.
lot less grainy sound than first 3ds (xl nothing to write home about, though may still.be 'breaking in'), And better than any" i " device I have heard, admittedly few.

my favorite portable rig/front end, though nano for a light walk around the block, or my HTC via Bluetooth when music genre's allow
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post #38 of 40
11/6/12 at 11:11pm
Thread Starter 

still enjoying my vita.  there are a lot of fun mini games for the system now.  such as super crate box!  there's a new one that looks really good that just came out today - viking something...

 

I still use my vita mostly to watch youtube videos and music videos and look at Flickr...  also Netflix sometimes.... It's pretty nice to have and the screen is gorgeous for video and pictures.  I dont really care about the non-uniform blacks...apparently most oled screens suffer from this--but it's never bothered me.

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post #39 of 40
11/7/12 at 5:14pm
To clarify, OLED on Vita is awesome (per usual organic displays), colours nice, resolution resolves everything thrown at it with aplomb!
The black 'blotches' need be pointed out,or no one will notice. (need a black room, wait for vita to display black.screen, look for irregularities. !! - spoiler alert - don't look and ye shall not find)

compared to a galaxy s2, where black is off/black; the 'lit'/?backlighted? black of vita has to be killing quotable contrast range (which OLED can normally boast 'infinite' contrast)

these non issues aside, I came back to inform I have an Australian Vita (means without logging in with a US account, heaps less demos to download/ software to choose), but we have an unrestricted volume.

believe I read US vitas' are software volume capped (save little people's,aka kids, ears)
this will effect sound performance noticeably.
though to confirm my 18ohm Rolands fine at 30% and equivalent to my b&ws' 32ohm 50% volume levels. 80% on the c5's is overkill, but I challenge others consumer 'toys' to sound as good.
I agree sound is a 'package' thing, and other threads quote this thread as saying vita has poor amps is not entirely true.
quality of amps is clean, clear 'grain free' sound. very black to visualise, very dynamic in scope and soundstage, without taking anything away. best of eastern sound signature, highly recommended for those running one piece rigs with easy to drive headphones
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post #40 of 40
11/8/12 at 11:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by whitedragem View Post

believe I read US vitas' are software volume capped (save little people's,aka kids, ears)

Why the HELL would Sony do that? That's absolutely retarded. 

 

Putting an option in the settings to cap the volume is fine, enforcing it indefinitely is just f-cking stupid..

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