I too would be happy with 24/96 and >100GB ( or zeroGB and a slot! )
If I'm honest, my dream device wouldn't even be a straight DAP.
I'd prefer an 'audiophile' cell phone which would wring every last drop of audio 'quality' out of Spotify, whilst also allowing reasonably high rez/quality playback when out of signal area.
I know it's impossible for this type of device to compete with hair-shirt DAP's on sound quality, but the content available on Spotify is just so compelling!
But, if anyone could do this it'd be Sony.
Maybe I should just get an Xperia and be done with it
Mython I am sorry but you have an overly important opinion of the worth of you own opinions....you spread your gospel like the new Messiah on all all DAP threads as if announcing a new world order...threatening greedy DAP makers of downfall. It is quite laughable I am sorry to say. The ak100 is overpriced and it sold like hot cakes, the ak120 is even more overpriced and it sold like hotcakes...they have way broader distribution and a sexier product than iBasso and Fiio and that sells. And if Sony sells a new sexy player at 800$, with none of the features you advocate, it will sell like hotcakes. Because the guys like me who buy a Hifiman 901 even if it is ugly just for SQ and expandability are a minority. Your opinions are always interesting and well argumented, but you are starting to rave and be condescending. I am sorry if this comes of strong as I have always appreciated you, but I think you get carried away in you anti expensive DAP vendetta.Yeah, whatever.
By that logic, just because sheeple around the globe buy iPhone's with no expansion, one would expect that the same would be true for non Apple fanbois...only that isn't the case....the biggest-selling Android phone (SG2, SG3, SG4) has had expandable memory for several years and is wildly successful with non-sheeple / non fanbois, who appreciate the benefits of expandability and (relatively) open devices.
It is EXTREMELY easy for manufacturers to include card slots on their devices. EXTREMELY easy.
The primary reason why the likes of Sony and Apple refuse to incorporate memory expansion slots on their pocket devices, above all else, is sheer corporate selfishness/greed. Security considerations are not the reason, since there are plenty of other ways to corrupt a device with rogue code.
A high-res DAP deserves high capacity. That's not niche, it's appropriate. High-res files take significantly more space, and why should a customer who is willing to pay a hefty sum for a high-end DAP be expected to limit their choice of music, on-the-go? If a manufacturer is willing to include high capacity as standard, and at reasonable cost, then OK, but Sony and Apple most certainly do not cover both those bases, because they want you either to unfairly pay through the nose for larger capacities, or upgrade when the next larger capacity device becomes available, 12-24 months down the line.
Anyway, I'm bored of debating this issue. The days of Apple and Sony's disrespectful attitude towards customers are limited. The sheeple/fanbois who are willing to pay to be handcuffed, just so long as the device is glitzy or fashionable, will not drive the market indefinitely, in an increasingly-competitive marketplace:
1) It used to be that small independent vendors couldn't possibly compete with the big boys (Matsu$h1ta, Sony, Toshiba, Apple, etc.) but the times, they are a changing! Just wait and see. The next 5 years or so will see huge shifts in the way firms operate, because those that don't truly serve the feature demands of their customers will begin to fall by the wayside.
2) As technology evolves, customers around the world become more and more tech-savvy, and thus more aware of when they are being screwed / denied legitimate features.
3) Sony and Apple are no longer distinguishing themselves from their competitors, in terms of technological innovation, to the same extent that they used to. This, in itself, will lead to their lofty positions falling more into line with humbler independent companies snapping at their heels.
I'll keep an eye on this upcoming Sony DAP, and if it turns out to be the high-end DAP Sony are capable of making, whilst not having certain features selfishly omitted, I might just buy one. My aging D-777s are wonderful PCDPs that pushed the boundaries of what was possible, without deliberately omitting features, and I'd genuinely love to see a return to that kind of form for Sony; they were products Sony could be proud of. Will they do that or will they choose the selfish corporate greed route, a la Apple? ...I wish I could be more optimistic that they'll prioritize customer features over corporate greed...
You're quite entitled to your opinion, and I don't take it personally at all. I, too, though am entitled to my opinion.
That's all good. We all have different perspectives.
Just for the record, I have never 'threatened' any DAP makers with downfall - how could I possibly do such a thing? All I have done (yes, in more than one thread) is state an observation that if manufacturers put themselves before their customers to too great an extent, then it is only a matter of time before they will lose sales to less selfish competitors. The business world is absolutely littered with tales of giant corporations who thought they were too big to fall but they still (eventually) came crashing down. Apple, Sony etc. are extremely shortsighted in the way they very deliberately & obviously deny customers certain legitimate features. That's not even a matter of 'opinion'; it's a simple observation.
As for your remark about 'anti-expensive DAP vendetta', you've misinterpreted me. I don't have a problem with some DAPs being expensive, within reason. What I do object to (AK120, I'm particularly looking at you) is shameless profiteering / price-gouging. There absolutely is a place in the market, for expensive DAPs, as long as they legitimately deserve their asking price. To charge DOUBLE the price of an AK100 for the AK120 is outrageous.
Anyway, no offence taken, and although sometimes I type late at night, when I'm tired, and perhaps get a bit full-on (if you look in the X5 thread, you'll see I have already conceded that, before you typed your above message), I nonetheless stand by the general sentiment of what I've said about Sony, Apple, and iRiver.
We're all enthusiasts about high-end portable audio hardware, here, and all of us have our own perspective on what's important or legitimate in such devices.
I should also add that even the most mellow head-fier has a tendency to go a little outside the comfort zone with a post or two, once in a blue moon. Sometimes we just get a little irked by something and clamber up on our soapboxes, posting stuff that, when we look back on it, hours, days, or weeks later, we realise it came across stronger than we meant to sound. I am honest enough to acknowledge that in myself, and many longterm headfiers will quietly realise it is true in themselves; I don't think there are many longterm head-fiers who can honestly claim to have never posted something they later thought better of. We are all human. Cest la vie...
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Thanks for taking it this way, I have to admit my own post was at 4 in the morning after feeding my son
Anyway this DAP looks nice. I just have one worry now is that I have found out that such sleek looking DAPs cannot have the power and authority of bricks such as the dx100 and 901 and will often be lacking in the amp section.
