Walnut Hi-Fi V2 WAV (& MP3) Player by wt - :ok_hand: screenless budget killer combo DAP/Amp :ok_hand:

saoshyant said:

Ready... Aim... FIRE!

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The next Olympic Sport

I got a shipping notice already from Rose Electronics on AliExpress. I just ordered that one yesterday.
 
The one I ordered from CKLewis several days ago hasn't shipped yet.

ancientsw0rd said:

The one I ordered from CKLewis several days ago hasn't shipped yet.

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Same here. I think I'll go with another seller.

brucebanner said:

  Hi guys, new Walnut guy here joining the fray. I will eventually go through each page of this thread, but till then I wanted to ask a couple of things;
 
1) Mines hiss, apparently normal, can swapping out that chip thingy and replacing with another one make it less hissy?
2) What's the deal with these thingy chips u swap out and replace with another, can anyone point me to a place to go learn about all that etc.
 
In short I am really impressed with my unit, just wanting to learn more about it and what's possible from it.

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Congratulations, Bruce!
 
You're a long-term Hidizs AP100 owner (just as I am). From your first impressions, how would you compare AP100 vs V2 in terms of sound quality?

vapman said:

  Some sellers won't offer ePacket because of a misunderstanding on the shipping batteries rule. Some sellers understand this and will send you an ePacket walnut. Some won't - CKLewis won't.

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If CKLewis won't ship with epacket, shouldn't we just go with a better seller? ePacket should always be an affordable choice.

laughmoredaily said:

If CKLewis won't ship with epacket, shouldn't we just go with a better seller? ePacket should always be an affordable choice.

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Who else are you gonna use? Maybe when the eBay seller gets more stock

vapman said:

Who else are you gonna use? Maybe when the eBay seller gets more stock

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Rose Electronic ($30.66US)? However, I think someone mentioned something bad about them, but I might be wrong. 14 orders in total so far, no reviews, though.

mgunin said:

   
Congratulations, Bruce!
 
You're a long-term Hidizs AP100 owner (just as I am). From your first impressions, how would you compare AP100 vs V2 in terms of sound quality?

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First off AP100 is def a few decibels louder and is cleaner signal, that I am confident in saying. After this it becomes more subjective.
For me the AP100 is the clear winner due to it's EQ and SRC buttons that opens the player up to supporting a wide variety of signatures.
 
Yesterday I did some A/B testing of the walnut going against some other contenders I felt more fair (than a AP100 vs Walnut).
 

 
First off, this is very basic direct sound comparisons, I have no volume matching and I know I am very guilty of giving the nod to the player that sounds the loudest to having the 'best' sound quality, so bare that in mind, I was simply just fine tuning each player so to my ears they sounded at a similar volume.
Having said that here were my findings in this contest;
 
Files tested started off as mp3gained mp3 files @ 96db, then converted to WAV as that format is supported on all 3 devices being tested here. All tested through PFE 232 IEMs.
 
Shozy ($200AUD, new)
 
Shozy is loudest amongst the 3. Where the other two are at max volume the Alien can keep going. However, it holds out only for a decibel or two more before massive distortion and crappy sound kicks in. I think I read this elsewhere on an Alien review, that it's good up to 85% volume or something, then after that it doesn't handle well.
Shozy sounds the most 'bright' and 'sparkly', magic sound fairies are clearly here giving the treble some love.
At low volumes the hiss is practically non existent, but at higher volumes, that treble magic comes at a price, hiss creeps in.
It has a softish feel to the sound, very 'user friendly'.
 
Colorfly C3 ($80AUD, new)
 
This player is the quietest of the bunch, at max volume a decibel or two lower than the Walnut, and a few more behind the Shozy. It also seems to be the blackest background of the bunch yet once again that hiss kicks in in higher volumes. To me it just seems a very 'boring' flat neutral sound, maybe the way things are supposed to be, but I find it just a bit 'meh'. Compared to the Walnut it feels like it (and the Shozy) lacks subbass and emphasises treble more. *tested non Eq'd fyi*
 
Walnut V2 ($44AUD, new)
 
The first thing that's noticeable is the hiss. Some users report this lessons as time goes on, I cannot confirm or deny this as I am still in my first charge of testing. I am very sceptical of widely changing characteristics of audio equipment from 'burn in', I am not saying it doesn't exist but I believe placebo and our own ears adjusting to a new sound signature play a larger part in that thing (whatever it is) seeming to sound 'better' or improved.
The hiss isn't a bad hiss tho, that sounds like a stupid thing to say, but some hisses come across as annoying, this hiss feels quite 'low' and isn't magnified with further volume adjustments. In fact, it felt like on some recordings that the Shozy and C3 hissed more at loud volumes than the Walnut did, despite that at lower listening volumes the Alien and C3 seemed very black indeed and the Walnut the obvious hissy guy.
I feel the Shozy and C3 have a 'treble hiss' whereas the Walnut a bassy hiss, and somehow doesn't annoy me.
Other hisses I have heard from other DAPs like Cowon are 'artificially' introduced such as through using the DSPs that Cowon has on offer, the more extreme the DSPs the worse the hiss gets, this is one thing that annoyed me with Cowon. I feel as tho the Walnut hiss oddly get's a pass, and I'm usually pretty upset when hearing hiss.
 
The C3 and Shozy feel as tho the soundstaging is wider perhaps, like the music is to the left and right of you, the Walnut more like the music is in front of you, I guess narrower/more forward perhaps? What is more pronounced is subbass. On some BoC tracks I tested it felt like it rolled better, penetrated deeper, but that comes at a price, which is the overall sound was 'duller' or slightly more muffled, and definitely lacking that treble fairy sparkle.

Conclusion
 
I was only testing a handful of tracks, from various genres and albums. What I noticed was that depending on the actual song being played (could be from the same artist and even album!) I might favour one DAP over the other. For example, playing 'Reach for the Dead' from Board's of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest album might sound better on the Shozy or C3 than the Walnut, but then 'Come to Dust' from the same album I preferred the Walnut signature over the Shozy or C3.
Then, playing Nine Inch Nails 'Sunspots' song from the album 'With Teeth', the beginning bass line sounds best on the Walnut, but when that snare or whatever kicks in, it sounds 'not good' on the walnut, like weak or something, the same snare or drum hit sounded far nicer on the Shozy or C3 (but then lacked the subbass).
 
And thus this then backs up my whole mantra, in that in my pursuit of audiophile becomes really about hearing a specific song (not even artist or album... but actual song) to the best of it's ability to what I like and perceive as sounding best. This is one of the reasons I adore the AP100 so much, that with enough practice and patience you can set up the eight custom 7 band EQ presets to each giving off a slightly different signature or emphasis, and that during playback with the simply press of a button can toggle through those presets to finding the one that compliments the track the most.
 
From here I might play around with the foobar conversion tool and apply some EQ to the files, something perhaps with more treble spark to see if it can shine through better on the Walnut.

Overall I think the Walnut is a fantastic bit of kit, easily the best value of the three tested.

laughmoredaily said:

Rose Electronic ($30.66US)? However, I think someone mentioned something bad about them, but I might be wrong. 14 orders in total so far, no reviews, though.

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I do not remember reading any criticism of them. It is possible i forgot something from these last 125 pages

Two things;
 
1) My volume knob on my Walnut V2 really feels as tho the last 1/5th-1/4 turn results in barely any audible gain, in fact pretty much from 1/2 way to max is very little gain (tho it is there and audible, it just tapers off extremely quickly). Conversely there is a lot of audible steps/gains from switching on to 1/2 way. Is this normal? I'm just slightly bummed out as I would like that 1-2 more decibels of volume from the Walnut that you'd think should be there from the volume twiddling experience but it just kinda makes the last few turns redundant... :|
 
2) I have an A/B switch above, is there a tool/device I can buy to measure volume (so I can volume match and also ascertain what gain is present when turning the volume knob in the above scenario, ie actually get a measurable picture)?

ancientsw0rd said:

  I got a shipping notice already from Rose Electronics on AliExpress. I just ordered that one yesterday.
 
The one I ordered from CKLewis several days ago hasn't shipped yet.

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Your shipping notice may not mean what you think it does. I do hope that it does for sure!

BruceBanner correct me if i am misinterpreting you.

It seems like you want a way to measure the walnut volume. Any method of measuring volume works as long as it is consistent in the way you measure it.

The end of the walnut volume knob not doing much can mostly be blamed on the piece of junk volume pot it comes with. People have been switching them out with ALPS parts for better feeling, SQ and a better volume curve.


edit: It doesn't seem the charge light ever turned yellow on mine.

brucebanner said:

  1) My volume knob on my Walnut V2 really feels as tho the last 1/5th-1/4 turn results in barely any audible gain, in fact pretty much from 1/2 way to max is very little gain (tho it is there and audible, it just tapers off extremely quickly). Conversely there is a lot of audible steps/gains from switching on to 1/2 way. Is this normal? I'm just slightly bummed out as I would like that 1-2 more decibels of volume from the Walnut that you'd think should be there from the volume twiddling experience but it just kinda makes the last few turns redundant... :|

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I only ever use around 25-35% of the max analog volume with digital volume maxed (out of the box it is not maxed, hold next while music is playing), scratching my head at how anyone could possibly use 100% vol, and analog volume knobs are like that, they are tapered not linear, but vol knob at 100% is still walnuts max output.

I also rock it with maxed digital volume and only use the beginning of the volume knob unless the headphones are too sensitive for that.   You will get a more dynamic sound this way than running a low digital volume and maxing the knob.

vapman said:

I also rock it with maxed digital volume and only use the beginning of the volume knob unless the headphones are too sensitive for that.   You will get a more dynamic sound this way than running a low digital volume and maxing the knob.

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I tried upping the digital volume, but noticed no increase in volume. I assume it was already maxed out?