[d9chere]

After 3 weeks together with M1 can make few statements already.
Pro:
1) Sound (as I mentioned above the sound is awsome: speed, sound stage, details)
2) design and size (very nice, I have a grey color. It's pretty small and suitable almost everywhere)
3) screen (very good quality of image for portable player)
Neg:
1) Reboot is permanently required (once a day). For some reason player goes to shut down mode and not react to any buttons. The small reboot button located on a right side.
2) DSD 128  is not supported
3) scrolling, it's not possible to go from up to bottom via up button
4) languages, only 3 available (2 chinese, 1 english)
5) there is no gapless mode
6) sleep and power off must be upgraded as well
7) menu is also very raw

 

[jrazmar]

@d9chere, do you have any other daps that you can compare it with? even from memory will be okay. i just want to know if it's worth the $500 price tag. I also wonder why penonaudio has it at 499 while shenzhenaudio is at 599. what's the difference?

 

[d9chere]

I bought it for 600$ and then found for 500$, that's why I have the same question.
About other players, I'm quite new in portable audio, my previous experience there was x3 ii +e12a, and I may say that sound is absolutely different

 

[jrazmar]

I noticed that with the $600 price you are given an option to choose the color aside from whether its Vitality or Analog. With $500 price, the Vitality version only comes in Silver color.
 
So coming from X3ii+e12a, is the SQ better with Esther M1? How much better based on your personal preference? For me it should be way better just purely because of the price gap. If the SQ gap is not significant, the Esther is way overpriced then. Cannot verify this for now as there is no formal review seen here at Head-fi or anywhere in the web.

 

[d9chere]

It's just my personal opinion, if take M1 as 10, x3 II + e12a will be 3,5-4 in SQ.
I made my choice based only on several comments on head-fi, I was not able ti find any cooments in web as well.
Waiting for professional review.

 

[jrazmar]

That's good to hear about the M1 but yes will wait also for further reviews especially the amp section of the M1. thanks for your inputs.

 

[fumoffuXx]

  That's good to hear about the M1 but yes will wait also for further reviews especially the amp section of the M1. thanks for your inputs.

the M1 line out is not a true line out? coz u can still adjust the volume on the line out port. so not really a amp bypass? the amp can power 470ohms r70x at 80% volume. but i dont think it drives well.

 

[jrazmar]

thanks for the info. I am not an audio professional and have only known some or a little about audio technical information by reading threads here at head-fi. I just want to ask how are we supposed to know if a phone is well-driven either directly from a source or via an amp? is the answer to this purely subjective or is there a concrete basis for that? also, does a 300ohms IEM need the same driving power as a 300ohms headphones or earphones? Running the volume high will not increase overall SQ, right? So if the M1 sounds great with a low impedance phone, it may not be the case for high ohms phones. Is it always true?

 

[fumoffuXx]

Basically it can be loud but that does not mean it will sound at its best. Reason being current is not strong enough to power the drivers. So esther is a slim device which i chose over my n6. N6 combo with r70x is the best i evrr heard with the r70x.so Esther sounds really good with my 1964 v8 and its slim hence chose it

 

[jrazmar]

i'll be running the 320 ohms VE Zen earphones without an amp. do you think the Esther can handle that? What's the Esther sound signature?

 

[fumoffuXx]

cant answer that

 

[d9chere]

You said you have both M1 and N6. Can you give a brief comparison of these units? I was thinking about N6, but finally took M1. Thanks

 

[fumoffuXx]

N6 s a much more powerful device with 13 opamps. the drawback is it heats up like hell and i RMAed 2 sets in 6months. There will ALWAYS be a background hiss due to its shear power. it can drive 470ohms at 50% battery life 6hrs. Esther no background hiss, doesnt heat up as much. I find esther sounding more musical? compared to the N6 but N6 wins in soundstage as well as in the bassful impacts. The best comparison i heard someone describe is the Esther sounds similar to the Hugo k bye haha

 

[d9chere]

Ok, thank you)

 

[d9chere]

To Soundaware:
1) It'll be my fifth one - when new firmware will be available? It doesn't play a lot of music in many formats now, even you described as shoud be.
2) when player will be officially presented worldwide?
To other users:
Can you help me understand an answer from Soundaware (Mary) about a work of player amp: "Besides, for the line output, as the amp operation is closed so the volume is smaller. And also the bottom noise with the amp part is avoided, so the sound is more quiet."
My question was why signal from phone output is stronger than from line one.

Thank you all.