Nagra SD as a DAP. Has anybody tried?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aqtaket 

Noone?
At least maybe any Chinese speaker can tell how Nagra performs compared to Sony PCM D50?
http://www.erji.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=39&id=915

Try google web pages translate.I did always worked for me, when i wanted to read about AK100

Quote:

Originally Posted by aqtaket 

Thanks, but I tried... The translation really leaves much to be desired- i got no useful info at all:(

Now how can you say that, before this I had no idea that "Nagra" (apparently) means "pumpkin" in Chinese.

That being said, I have a Nagra SD, but unfortunately I'm not the right kind of person to help you with your questions - I don't find any noteworthy differences in sound quality among modern DAPs, for example. The only thing that bothers me on the Nagra in this regard is the lack of gapless, but I'm more willing to forgive that in this case as it is a recorder engineered by recorder engineers, not an audio player designed by people who should care about playback.

My reasons for buying it were the metal construction, physical buttons, usage of AA batteries, and that I can put all my music onto it (it works with 128GB SD-cards). However, it is not very userfriendly for playback. Music selection is file based, but it can display some tag info. No playlists, no equalizer or any other sound settings except volume. The interface feels clunkier than on Sony recorders, some aspects are designed quite poorly. It seems stable, though. At first it could not even play back files in any reasonable order, but that was fixed by a firmware update.

The word "pumpkin" should be "Nan Gua" (南瓜) in Mandarin.

Pronunciation of "Nagra" in English is somewhat similar to that of "Nan Gua" (南瓜) in Mandarin.

However, AFAIK the brand "Nagra" itself should have nothing to do with "pumpkin" whatsover.

Basically they were using "pumpkin" in Chinese as a nickname of "Nagra" just for fun. That's easier to remember the brand that way.

Similarly, they also had another funny nickname for the brand(s) Colorful / Colorfly. The official brand in Mandarin should be "七彩虹" and that literally means "Seven Rainbow" in English. Then someone creative enough started calling the brand "凄惨红" because of remarkably similar pronunciation and that literally mean "Miserable Red" in Mandarin. It's just really hilarious because the quality (or lack thereof) of Colorful display cards should be pretty miserable as well.

Infomedia PAW-V

http://www.infomedia.com.cn/EN/NewsView.asp?AttachID=4&ClassID=36&NID=170

Lotoo L300

http://www.lotoo.cn/listen.asp?id=34

Nagra SD

http://www.nagraaudio.com/pro/pages/products_nagra_SD.php

Speaking of similarities, those recorders listed above were almost like siblings and there were plenty of controversies with heated debates between those forum members in China

http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1125327

http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1229824

http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1246454

Personally I was somewhat curious about Nagra SD until I saw what's really going on.

@seeteeyou: Ah, I thought it was some mess-up in Google's autotranslate, did not understand they actually did use "pumpkin" on the forums. :)

Interesting, this about the recorder clones. I cannot make much sense of the threads you linked, but it sure looks like some OEM shenanigans. I know Nagra has been outsourcing some production to China, and given that the SD is quite a bit cheaper than most of what they sell, I would not be too surprised if it is made by someone else.

If the size were no biggie, $579 Marantz PMD661 with 6.3-mm headphone output and RCA connectors for line output could be another avenue

http://www.head-fi.org/t/422360/marantz-pmd-661-as-a-portable-source

This forum member as well as his spouse actually liked PMD661 more than HM-801 and others, LOL

http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1143838

Another thing about Nagra SD is really what they said before and obviously those copied+pasted answers originally in English should be opened for interpretation

http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1183144

http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1184537

http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1230224

Could you tell me whether the Nagra SD is designed by your compony and  manufactured by Lotoo seperately or both designed and manufactured by Lotoo.

Dear Sir,
The Nagra SD is a product designed by Nagra and built in China. Every SD unit is individually tested and certified in our factory in Switzerland. The units come with a 2 year SWISS warranty and are supplied from Switzerland through our international distribution network.
Kindest regards,
John OWENS
Sales Director
Audio Technology Switzerland

Dear sir,
Thanks for you explanation. I have another question, last time I saw the Nagra SD in one store, I found that there is not a sign, which show where it is made, for example "made in US" or  "made in China",  on the back of the recorder. Does it mean the product is a fake one or other reasons for it since most of my digital products have such signs?

No, it is not maked "made in..." As I told you, it is physically made in China for us, and some of our clients do not like products made in china so we have not written on it.

The back looked pretty clean and clear without stating where it was made in.

Sometimes I might wonder why putting the word China on a product would make such a huge difference while many of us are already buying tons of gadgets coming from that part of the world.

It is just nothing more than part of the "cut throat competition" reality when willing employees are paid to work (relatively ) long hours and employers are able to cut costs without hiring (costly) workers in other countries. Personally I am so grateful for our fellow Chinese workforce who somewhat "sacrificed" by leaving their families and contributed to the production of consumer electronics etc.

about this comparison http://www.erji.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=39&id=915 , in a word , the PO of SD is better than D50 .

As expected but many of these type devices don't have 'special' amp stages and are meant either for cans and generally just for monitoring, not top playback. They also tend to play only one file at a time.

 Of course the Nagra is made in China or it would cost double and not sell. Doesn't mean it's just another Chinese product. It will still cost a premium and be QC'd as such.

Sure looks kick *****. Wish Nagra would biuld a proper DAP