[destrozer]

  Since using the AK240 only wow I've heard has been the Chord Hugo, hope the Calyx surprises me.

I had the same sentiments as you. Love DSD on AK240. Was wow-ed by Chord Hugo. Hoped for the Calyx to surprise and kill all competition.
 
I heard the Calyx today. It was underwhelming. :\
 

 

[bmichels]

  I had the same sentiments as you. Love DSD on AK240. Was wow-ed by Chord Hugo. Hoped for the Calyx to surprise and kill all competition.
 
I heard the Calyx today. It was underwhelming. :\
 

 
pardon my poor english, but what do you mean by "  It was underwhelming. :\ " ?  is it very good or not so good ? 
 
(I have HUGO, and wonder if my HUGO is still the kind or... if this baster will take the lead...and force me to spend some more cash...

 

[destrozer]

   
pardon my poor english, but what do you mean by "  It was underwhelming. :\ " ?  is it very good or not so good ? 
 
(I have HUGO, and wonder if my HUGO is still the kind or... if this baster will take the lead...and force me to spend some more cash...

 
Sorry if what i wrote confused you. I meant that it wasn't that great at all compared to listening to AK240 on DSD and the HUGO.
 
I'd stick with the HUGO. I loved it the moment i heard it. 

 

[bmichels]

 
I'd stick with the HUGO. I loved it the moment i heard it. 

 
Same for me

 (I have AK100>HUGO)
 
But, what source do you use for the HUGO ?   If you use AK240>HUGO, then you loose the DSD Native playback of the AK240 ??

 

[destrozer]

   
Same for me

 (I have AK100>HUGO)
 
But, what source do you use for the HUGO ?   If you use AK240>HUGO, then you loose the DSD Native playback of the AK240 ??

I actually tried it with the Fiio X5 (Coaxial Out) more extensively. And yes, you do lose the Native DSD playback of the AK240. 

But then again, it sounded so good already playing PCM. 

 

[zachchen1996]

  I had the same sentiments as you. Love DSD on AK240. Was wow-ed by Chord Hugo. Hoped for the Calyx to surprise and kill all competition.
 
I heard the Calyx today. It was underwhelming. :\

 
While I'll still need to hear one for myself to pass judgement, the impressions so far are not very encouraging. For now I'll just get a resonessence concero hd to fulfill my portable on the go needs. 

 

[doublea71]

Maybe a better comparison now would be with the HM901 and AK120...how does it compare to players in its price range? Too bad about not measuring up to the AK240 (though it's a small sample I'm basing this on). Things that make me hesitant about the M:
 

1. Size - it's the size of a giant smart phone and then some....you may need to consider cargo pants.
2. That volume slider - appears to be as dopey as many predicted. Utilitarian design purists will be thoroughly annoyed. I guess they may yet remedy this with the production model....
3. No idea how it measures up to other players in its price range...time will tell, but at least the AK120 is small and they (A&K) didn't get cute with something as fundamental as the volume knob.

 
Well, I'm sure the thread is going to pick up a lot of steam now, which is nice. This is the one I've been anticipating the most...are there any other daps to be released this year? This could be it for awhile...

 

[zachchen1996]

  Maybe a better comparison now would be with the HM901 and AK120...how does it compare to players in its price range? Too bad about not measuring up to the AK240 (though it's a small sample I'm basing this on). Things that make me hesitant about the M:
 

1. Size - it's the size of a giant smart phone and then some....you may need to consider cargo pants.
2. That volume slider - appears to be as dopey as many predicted. Utilitarian design purists will be thoroughly annoyed. I guess they may yet remedy this with the production model....
3. No idea how it measures up to other players in its price range...time will tell, but at least the AK120 is small and they (A&K) didn't get cute with something as fundamental as the volume knob.

 
Well, I'm sure the thread is going to pick up a lot of steam now, which is nice. This is the one I've been anticipating the most...are there any other daps to be released this year? This could be it for awhile...

 
Well there is the FiiO X7 to look forward to! And ibasso most likely either has plans for a DX100 successor or is already in the process of developing it.

 

[headwhacker]

  Maybe a better comparison now would be with the HM901 and AK120...how does it compare to players in its price range? Too bad about not measuring up to the AK240 (though it's a small sample I'm basing this on). Things that make me hesitant about the M:
 

1. Size - it's the size of a giant smart phone and then some....you may need to consider cargo pants.
2. That volume slider - appears to be as dopey as many predicted. Utilitarian design purists will be thoroughly annoyed. I guess they may yet remedy this with the production model....
3. No idea how it measures up to other players in its price range...time will tell, but at least the AK120 is small and they (A&K) didn't get cute with something as fundamental as the volume knob.

 
Well, I'm sure the thread is going to pick up a lot of steam now, which is nice. This is the one I've been anticipating the most...are there any other daps to be released this year? This could be it for awhile...

 
The demo is the final production that would be shipping in 2 weeks or so as far as I know. I don't think they have time to change it by now.

 

[destrozer]

   
While I'll still need to hear one for myself to pass judgement, the impressions so far are not very encouraging. For now I'll just get a resonessence concero hd to fulfill my portable on the go needs. 

 
That is right too. Judge it for yourself. As I auditioned it intending for my own use, naturally I would be using what I own for the audition. Pairing might not be the best.  

 

[Greed]

Thanks for the impressions thus far. One thing that seems to be a common factor is the IEMs used. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of FitEar IEMs and I don't think they are very resolving. It stands to reason that this may be one reason why the unit sounds "warm". I know for a fact that the Calyx Femto was anything but warm sounding. I also know that Sabre chips rarely sound warm, the exception being the HM-901 which I felt was borderline too musical, especially with my SE5. I'm hoping we can get some varying impressions with other IEMs, specifically those that are tuned more neutral.

 

[zachchen1996]

  Thanks for the impressions thus far. One thing that seems to be a common factor is the IEMs used. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of FitEar IEMs and I don't think they are very resolving. It stands to reason that this may be one reason why the unit sounds "warm". I know for a fact that the Calyx Femto was anything but warm sounding. I also know that Sabre chips rarely sound warm, the exception being the HM-901 which I felt was borderline too musical, especially with my SE5. I'm hoping we can get some varying impressions with other IEMs, specifically those that are tuned more neutral.

 
Very true!

 

[AlanYWM]

SQ aside, the beautiful display and the 2 SD card storage feature (one standard and one micro) are what it has going for it compared to the current DAPs. If only it had an optical or coaxial output 

 

[doublea71]

Maybe a comparison to the ZX-1 is in order, too. Ah, the X7....that one is a ways off, so I'll just put it out of my mind for now. More impressions will give a better picture of how it stacks up to other players, but yeah, ultimately it comes down to personal experience with the thing - one man's ceiling is another man's floor (I think that's a line from Paul's Boutique fwiw).

 

[musicheaven]

Maybe a comparison to the ZX-1 is in order, too. Ah, the X7....that one is a ways off, so I'll just put it out of my mind for now. More impressions will give a better picture of how it stacks up to other players, but yeah, ultimately it comes down to personal experience with the thing - one man's ceiling is another man's floor (I think that's a line from Paul's Boutique fwiw).

So far it seems to be questionable but having to shed 1k to try it is extremely courageous. Great saying by the way.