To be honest my 901 is quite easy on the go...since it feels much less fragile than AKs, I put it in any pocket or bag...much more scared with the 240. Of course the best is Tera for that. My hopes for P1 are high.

soundblast75 said:

You either have too much money or you are curious/stupid..im in the latter category))

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I guess all audiophiles, and us headfiers have some of both these attributes don't we?     We all listen different and there is even entire threads dedicated to showing "how sad the DAP market is", or how little difference ANY totl DAPs has over the iphone.... it really is a game of inches!
 
 
 

warrior1975 said:

Unfortunately for me, being a lover of electronics as well, the UI is up there almost as important as SQ. If I had a choice of best UI with great sound or vice versa I'd choose sound. however, choosing awesome sound with terrible ui won't work, has to be some middle ground for me.

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Totally agreed.  For me it has to be a combination of look & feel, design, UI, size, battery life, features and SQ.  Considering everything my overall best DAP is AK240 hands down.  But SQ for me it has been the 901+balanced or discrete amp boards.
 
In fact I was surprised myself my HM901 stuck with me for so long.  Coming from ipods stacks, to hating bulk and going with DAPs exclusively DX100 -> AK100 -> AK120 -> HM901 -> DX50 -> AK240 -> DX90 and back to occasionally Hugo stack now, I find 901's SQ good enough for me to bear with it's other short-comings (and similar with Hugo to bear with a huge stack).  In fact I was surprised I even purchased the HM901 in the first place as IT IS UGLY.  But thus far I haven't been able to find a good enough replacement, even with my AK240.  
 
Was (and still is) eyeing the Calyx M as it share some of the more euphoric sound and warm sig I like with the 901 but it seems to lack some transparency and a sounded bit too full. It's UI is pretty looking but has it's fair share of issues too.  Will keep tracking that.
 
P1 would be another great possibility for put away my HM901.  Anxiously waiting to demo it!  Cowen had a long and good track record with their players and given there's a market for more premium DAP, I do have a lot of confidence they will do well with the P1 and have less firmware/UI issues typically seen with new DAPs these days.  The design and spec looks good and it's price indicate it's at least punching at a certain level.  Really excited to get another major player to challenge iriver. 

mimouille said:

To be honest my 901 is quite easy on the go...since it feels much less fragile than AKs, I put it in any pocket or bag...much more scared with the 240. Of course the best is Tera for that. My hopes for P1 are high.

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Lol feeling the same with my ak240... got a few near misses on my trips and found that my insurance's single item limit won't even be enough to replace it's leather case.... thoughts of losing or drop it are really scary... so much so I get the dx90 to bring on trips where I would be very distracted (boss, kids, inlaws, etc) and might not have much chance to listen!
 
Are you seeing any physical stores in Beijing where you can preorder this already?  Or even some dates for demo units?  Stores here don't have much idea on availability....  

kkcc said:

Lol feeling the same with my ak240... got a few near misses on my trips and found that my insurance's single item limit won't even be enough to replace it's leather case.... thoughts of losing or drop it are really scary... so much so I get the dx90 to bring on trips where I would be very distracted (boss, kids, inlaws, etc) and might not have much chance to listen!

Are you seeing any physical stores in Beijing where you can preorder this already?  Or even some dates for demo units?  Stores here don't have much idea on availability.... :confused_face(1):  

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I want to order on export prive, I tried them already a long time ago and they are serious.

soundblast75 said:

Glad you are enjoying it,to me its a pointless device,at home i have better desktop stuff and for outdoors..u know..been discussed long
AK240 is better in the same way 901 is to dx90,nothing i would notice massively on the street imo.
Cowon wont be any different,there's only so much u can do in a portable,differences are insignificant in relation to a home sound setup.
Thats where im coming from anyway
You either have too much money or you are curious/stupid..im in the latter category))

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Thumb down.
 
This thing better be zippy, and easy to navigate.

I wish I could get over the looks of the 901... Just too damn ugly. Still eyeing this and Calyx M... neither is probably worth the minor upgrade in sq or the less dependent UI vs the zx1 I have. Curiosity will inevitably get the best of me.

warrior1975 said:

I wish I could get over the looks of the 901... Just too damn ugly. Still eyeing this and Calyx M... neither is probably worth the minor upgrade in sq or the less dependent UI vs the zx1 I have. Curiosity will inevitably get the best of me.

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To me it's ok. And the UI is just fine if you need to listen to music. Besides it is still the best sounding DAP out there. And very robust. And with exchangeable amp cards. I advise you buy it and hide it in a pouch
 
From what I hear concerning the Calyx, it will be 10 times warmer than the ZX1.
 
Cowon P1 has the best design amongst DAPs so far for me. Just hope the sound will be up to par. If it is between 240 and 901, then I am all set.

mimouille said:

To me it's ok. And the UI is just fine if you need to listen to music. Besides it is still the best sounding DAP out there. And very robust. And with exchangeable amp cards. I advise you buy it and hide it in a pouch

From what I hear concerning the Calyx, it will be 10 times warmer than the ZX1.

Cowon P1 has the best design amongst DAPs so far for me. Just hope the sound will be up to par. If it is between 240 and 901, then I am all set.

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LMAO... Good point Michael! I would like a warmer sound, that's the reason I'm very interested in Calyx M. I'm not sure what's my next move, waiting on Ref1 then either new DAP or CIEMS...Then a couple of months what ever is left to get. I'm thinking DAP should be last, more reviews, possibly. more options, etc.

Call me a skeptic....i witnessed the same excitement on the Calyx M thread

Why not get a nice external DAC/AMP for a smartphone? Possibly there is one out there than can match or better the 901.  Given the size of 901, a smartphone + external dAC/Amp wouldn't be that bad, and it will have much better interface.

I'm looking for a single unit. I have my zx1, which I love... But like everyone else would like more. I have an external amp as well, just doesn't go well for portability. I prefer one device whenever possible. With the Intruder or PHA2, love the sound of the zx1. Without, sounds amazing, just needs a bit more.

warrior1975 said:

I'm looking for a single unit. I have my zx1, which I love... But like everyone else would like more. I have an external amp as well, just doesn't go well for portability. I prefer one device whenever possible. With the Intruder or PHA2, love the sound of the zx1. Without, sounds amazing, just needs a bit more.

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People pay mucho bucks for these so called, audiophile DAPs, and they get an external amp...   I'm glad the DX90 I got is from Amazon because they are going back.  There is nothing special about them.   I can probably amp my smartphone HPO or my ipod LO sounds better than those. These new DAPs do not do anything revolutionary sonically.  Only big difference I see is in marketing of the dual DACs and the doubling or tripling of the prices.  

soundblast75 said:

Hifiman should have known much better than to come with that UI and lack of responsiveness.
Especially that nothing seems to have been much improved since release long time ago,
Considering sound is not that much better than any of the other totl daps it represents bad value for money imo.

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The UI is basic and primitive for sure but I don't think it's unresponsive at all. 
 
It's probably the best DAP I've tried sound wise and a lot better than most unlike what you feel. I think it's pretty good value for money in that respect. 
 
When was the last time you've used a 901? Which IEMs and amp cards did you use? Very curious because your opinion isn't something seen very often regarding this DAP. 

kkcc said:

   
Well I happen to find the hm901 sounding A LOT better than most of my DAPs.... only my AK240 came close.  Considering the price, even with it's primitive (but effective and usable) UI, I think it's great value.  YMMV.
 
I just hope the P1 would equal the 901 SQ and it IS great value with a much sleeker profile and probably prettier UI.

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+1

silverears said:

People pay mucho bucks for these so called, audiophile DAPs, and they get an external amp... :confused_face_2:   I'm glad the DX90 I got is from Amazon because they are going back.  There is nothing special about them.   I can probably amp my smartphone HPO or my ipod LO sounds better than those. These new DAPs do not do anything revolutionary sonically.  Only big difference I see is in marketing of the dual DACs and the doubling or tripling of the prices.  

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I had my fair share of amps/dacamps and the ones I like include headstage arrow 3g, alo international, rsa intruder, translucent T1, and Pico. Had also loan a portaphile 627 that I quite like. Key for me has always been pocketability. It is true a combo like iphone+arrow is still slim, but when you add the interconnects it's dimensions increased substantially. Not to mention thicker models. For me, even the "bulky and ugly" 901 is more usable for me than answering my phone strapped to arrow on the train. Eventually I found myself just leaving the amps/dacamps in my drawer all the time...

For those who always carry a bag and don't need porketability, dacamp would probably be better value. Really courses for horses. And of course being "audiophile" is really trying to split hairs 're SQ and how noticeable, relevant or important it is in the mobile/on the go use scenarios is also highly subjective to each and every individual.

Re excitement for P1, I think with cowon's experience in designing and manufacturing DAP, it is more reasonable to expect them doing a better job than say a first timer like Calyx (or even LH for that matter) did. If they simply deliver all the listed features smoothly at launch, I think it would be a strong competitor.