[Hutnicks]

Quote:

Hah, that leaves more money for audio gear!
i've been looking for a stray AKG K1000 at busstops but never found one

You are not living in the right areas. The stuff that comes up here in thrift shops is astounding.

 

[CH23]

You are not living in the right areas. The stuff that comes up here in thrift shops is astounding.

If i ever come to Canada, i'll make sure i check out every thrift shop on my journey

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

If i ever come to Canada, i'll make sure i check out every thrift shop on my journey

Let me know if you do. I can give you a Michelin guide of where to go.

 

[CH23]

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Let me know if you do. I can give you a Michelin guide of where to go.

thanks! i'm sure i will!

 

[cyberalpha11]

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ES9018 need a lots of power , and also quite expensive. 

Just curious why HiFiman manage to design the HM-901 with dual Saber ES9018 32-bit DAC chips but has 8 hrs playback?

 

[JamesFiiO]

Quote:

Just curious why HiFiman manage to design the HM-901 with dual Saber ES9018 32-bit DAC chips but has 8 hrs playback?

 
you should ask our friend Dr.Fang, and you can also compare the size between X3 and HM901. 

 

[cyberalpha11]

you should ask our friend Dr.Fang, and you can also compare the size between X3 and HM901. 

sorry James. I mean X5 not X3.
I believe Fiio X5 is in the same league like iBasso DX100, HiFiman HM-901 or the latest iRiver AK-120.

 

[JamesFiiO]

Quote:

sorry James. I mean X5 not X3.
I believe Fiio X5 is in the same league like iBasso DX100, HiFiman HM-901 or the latest iRiver AK-120.

 
It is OK, I just mean that it is not suitable to me to talk about the other brands, but you can compare the size, battery life, and the battery volume. and take care the battery of HM901 is not 3.7V. 

 

[LarsHP]

sorry James. I mean X5 not X3.
I believe Fiio X5 is in the same league like iBasso DX100, HiFiman HM-901 or the latest iRiver AK-120.

This is of course speculation. We will have to wait for the X5 to judge the SQ. BTW: From what I gather the AK120 is not in the same league as the iBasso and HiFiMan top DAPs in terms of SQ. I guess A&K DAPs selling points are size, build and design more than raw SQ.

When looking at the size of DX100 and HM-901 (and 801) they are much bigger units than other DAPs. Battery size is obviously playing a major role here. These big DAPs will drive full size headphones with ease. If you only intend using IEMs and easy to drive headphones, then the smaller DAPs may be more convenient.

 

[AmberOzL]

Quote:

This is of course speculation. We will have to wait for the X5 to judge the SQ. BTW: From what I gather the AK120 is not in the same league as the iBasso and HiFiMan top DAPs in terms of SQ. I guess A&K DAPs selling points are size, build and design more than raw SQ.

When looking at the size of DX100 and HM-901 (and 801) they are much bigger units than other DAPs. Battery size is obviously playing a major role here. These big DAPs will drive full size headphones with ease. If you only intend using IEMs and easy to drive headphones, then the smaller DAPs may be more convenient.

X5 will have some juice too, I don't know if it will be able to drive HD800 like DX100 but really, I don't think it will be a problem for MOST of us. It will have less than 1 output impedance, that's very important.
 
I think the headphones around 300 ohm should be ok, however only James knows for the moment. I do believe SQwise, X5 will be a very strong rival against HM801/901 and DX100. AK100/120 is different, you need synergy for these daps because of their strange OI and you are right, most people do think and believe, they are not on the level of high ends as long as the sound is concerned. If you ask me, I would call iriver and ak group just greedy.

 

[cyberalpha11]

X5 will have some juice too, I don't know if it will be able to drive HD800 like DX100 but really, I don't think it will be a problem for MOST of us. It will have less than 1 output impedance, that's very important.

I think the headphones around 300 ohm should be ok, however only James knows for the moment. I do believe SQwise, X5 will be a very strong rival against HM801/901 and DX100. AK100/120 is different, you need synergy for these daps because of their strange OI and you are right, most people do think and believe, they are not on the level of high ends as long as the sound is concerned. If you ask me, I would call iriver and ak group just greedy.

In my opinion iRiver is a main stream DAP maker with a huge organization structure which is similar to Cowan or Sony.

You need to pay more because part of the cost for that reason.

So far has anyone from iRiver commenting or answering questions posted in Head-Find? May be not.

Unlike Fiio or HiFiman, the founder or CEO is so closed to the end users. And they are really listening to us for any suggestion or comment. This make the difference between them and the mainstream DAP makers.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[AmberOzL]

Quote:

In my opinion iRiver is a main stream DAP maker with a huge organization structure which is similar to Cowan or Sony.

You need to pay more because part of the cost for that reason.

So far has anyone from iRiver commenting or answering questions posted in Head-Find? May be not.

Unlike Fiio or HiFiman, the founder or CEO is so closed to the end users. And they are really listening to us for any suggestion or comment. This make the difference between them and the mainstream DAP makers.
Just my 2 cents.

Well, they won't get my extra money for huge organization blabla thing. I trust companies which are open to their customers and respect them, change ideas with them and listen to them. FiiO is def. one unique company.

 

[LarsHP]

Agree, however, I certainly don't think iRiver is a big company like Cowon, and certainly not like Sony.

 

[Retrias]

Quote:

Agree, however, I certainly don't think iRiver is a big company like Cowon, and certainly not like Sony.

they are not as big as say Sony, not sure about cowon, but I am pretty sure they are more corporate than say Colorfly , ibasso, or hifiman

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

In my opinion iRiver is a main stream DAP maker with a huge organization structure which is similar to Cowan or Sony.

You need to pay more because part of the cost for that reason.

So far has anyone from iRiver commenting or answering questions posted in Head-Find? May be not.

Unlike Fiio or HiFiman, the founder or CEO is so closed to the end users. And they are really listening to us for any suggestion or comment. This make the difference between them and the mainstream DAP makers.
Just my 2 cents.

If Sony had built the AK120 it would have hit the streets at under 600 dollars.
and I would not have needed a firmware update before you opened the box.
 
I am going with greedy as stated in the previous post. A 20 dollar parts increase in cost over the AK100 and the price doubled???  Nice try iRiver, nice try.