[lin0003]

Are you listening to the DX90 LO directly?

You must also believe eating uncooked raw food will always give you the best nutrition.

 

  I've read enough of your posts to guess that you either are trolling, or are punking me. I'm fine with either one. It's obvious, however, that you believe in magic.

Lol, I don't even... 

 

[Caruryn]

Shigzeo really appreciate your measurements and your contribution to the thread.This is very helpful and insightful information about the pros and cons of the 2 daps not just to regular members but especially to guests looking to make a purchase based on their own preferences.

 

[Levanter]

Shigzeo really appreciate your measurements and your contribution to the thread.This is very helpful and insightful information about the pros and cons of the 2 daps not just to regular members but especially to guests looking to make a purchase based on their own preferences.

It's also a good reference that measurements does not always equal to better performance. Differences can still be heard even if numbers are equivalent or not.

 

[shigzeo]

Caruryn: I'm not usually one to pipe up about actual measurements. I think they are helpful in gauging performance, but are just a guideline. In iRiver's case, however, 'Be The Ultimate' caught me up... as has so many of their ridiculous claims. The DX90 has a lot of people excited, and for good reason. It sounds good, has great performance, and plays most formats without hitch. Honestly, I prefer using the iRiver players as they have better interfaces. But... there is about double the amount of noise in the output signal (still it is minimal), and unmodded, they don't really hold up that well to a player like the DX90-- when it comes to measurable and repeatable performance. Do those numbers make an audible difference? I'd argue both yes an no: at base, the two players sound different enough at certain points. AnakChan called the AK240 velvety or something like that. I kind of agree there. It is more flattering; whether that is good or bad, I do not know. 
 
One thing for sure: if more money means, in your mind, better actual output performance, you have been misled. The AK240 is nice, but it shouldn't be targeted at the ultimate-performance minded person. It should be targeted at the person that prefers the efforts taken in producing something expensive, and the steps in between. AK240 has done well on most fronts, but I have numerous complaints. DX90 lines up rather with expectations regarding build and UI. Performance, however, is excellent.

 

[Caruryn]

It's also a good reference that measurements does not always equal to better performance. Differences can still be heard even if numbers are equivalent or not.

Agreed.I have not heard the ak240 so i can not offer my opinion 

.

 

[Caruryn]

  Caruryn: I'm not usually one to pipe up about actual measurements. I think they are helpful in gauging performance, but are just a guideline. In iRiver's case, however, 'Be The Ultimate' caught me up... as has so many of their ridiculous claims. The DX90 has a lot of people excited, and for good reason. It sounds good, has great performance, and plays most formats without hitch. Honestly, I prefer using the iRiver players as they have better interfaces. But... there is about double the amount of noise in the output signal (still it is minimal), and unmodded, they don't really hold up that well to a player like the DX90-- when it comes to measurable and repeatable performance. Do those numbers make an audible difference? I'd argue both yes an no: at base, the two players sound different enough at certain points. AnakChan called the AK240 velvety or something like that. I kind of agree there. It is more flattering; whether that is good or bad, I do not know. 
 
One thing for sure: if more money means, in your mind, better actual output performance, you have been misled. The AK240 is nice, but it shouldn't be targeted at the ultimate-performance minded person. It should be targeted at the person that prefers the efforts taken in producing something expensive, and the steps in between. AK240 has done well on most fronts, but I have numerous complaints. DX90 lines up rather with expectations regarding build and UI. Performance, however, is excellent.

.Let's hope the ak240 owners feel the same way.

 

[shigzeo]

 

.Let's hope the ak240 owners feel the same way.

Sean Chan will borrow my DX90 after I'm finally done reviewing it next week. So another person will join the thread. And he has the AK240. Both of us like both devices very much. 

 

[Caruryn]

Looking forward to it.keep up the good work.

 

[SilverEars]

  Agreed.I have not heard the ak240 so i can not offer my opinion 

.

I've heard it, and when I heard it, it sounded great.  This was with UERM.  UERM is quite stable with high impedance as my NT6.  This was at a meet, and I was hoping for the worst since you know, the price of the thing..  I was surprised.  I spend a good day at the UE table that day, and I was mostly impressed with the UERM almost to the point of purchasing the damn thing, with the show price, it sounded like a good deal.  
 
I swapped the RM from the 240 to my Galaxy S4. S4 sounded muddy and uncontrolled.  I know my smartphone doesn't perform well sonically, but yet measures well with output impedance of 1.2ohm.  Sensitive IEMs are ok with it.  I would call UERM's sensitivity in a different level than others that are 119dB.  
 
Anyway, the tracks I've listened to on the AK were audiophile tracks, and they will generally sound great.  Also, this was based on demo, I believe in listening to a product on and off for several days before making a conclusion on it, as brain changes at different times.  
 
Basically, it just made the UERM sound great, and made me quite impressed with the UERM.  I guess there is a reason why they travel with the AK players, and having special offers for the combo.
 
Anways, if performance = measurements, according to the RMAA, comparatively DX90 did better.  I personally think the DX90 is lacking in several aspects sonically, and the LO performed much better soncially which lead me to think the amp section was poorly done.  Borrego has stated that the Chinese community regard DX90's LO better than the HPO, and some are modding it and forgetting about HPO.  Anway, I returned all the DAPs I've compared, and wasn't happy with all of them, I would have kept the X5 OR R10, but I have a home rig that can better them both(not the R10, R10 soncially performs well in a different way), so I didn't keep them.  Portably, I'm ok with clip+

 

[Caruryn]

  I've heard it, and when I heard it, it sounded great.  This was with UERM.  UERM is quite stable with high impedance as my NT6.  This was at a meet, and I was hoping for the worst since you know, the price of the thing..  I was surprised.  I spend a good day at the UE table that day, and I was mostly impressed with the UERM almost to the point of purchasing the damn thing, with the show price, it sounded like a good deal.  
 
I swapped the RM from the 240 to my Galaxy S4. S4 sounded muddy and uncontrolled.  I know my smartphone doesn't perform well sonically, but yet measures well with output impedance of 1.2ohm.  Sensitive IEMs are ok with it.  I would call UERM's sensitivity in the same level as others that around 119dB.  
 
Anyway, the tracks I've listened to on the AK were audiophile tracks, and they will generally sound great.  Also, this was based on demo, I believe in listening to a product on and off for several days before making a conclusion on it, as brain changes at different times.  
 
Basically, it just made the UERM sound great, and made me quite impressed with the UERM.  I guess there is a reason why they travel with the AK players, and having special offers for the combo.
 
Anways, if performance = measurements, according to the RMAA, comparatively DX90 did better.  I personally think the DX90 is lacking in several aspects sonically, and the LO performed much better soncially which lead me to think the amp section was poorly done.  Borrego has stated that the Chinese community regard DX90's LO better than the HPO, and some are modding it and forgetting about HPO.  Anway, I returned all the DAPs I've compared, and wasn't happy with all of them, I would have kept the X5 OR R10, but I have a home rig that can better them both, so I didn't keep them.  Portably, I'm ok with clip+

Ak480 for you.Start saving $4800 when it comes next year.

 

[SilverEars]

  Ak480 for you.Start saving $4800 when it comes next year.

I may try out the AK240, and it depends if I can drop 2.3K just to try it out for a long duration.  $4.8k, hello no, that's just robbery as I already thing AK series pricing is robbery as it is now.  There are lots of more reasonable priced DAPs than it out there.

 

[goodvibes]

My Korean battery looks real.

Yup. I stated earlier that some of the where manufactured differences may just be fake vs genuine and not so much the point of manufacture. Of course, that's conjecture as well.

 

[goodvibes]

  I may try out the AK240, and it depends if I can drop 2.3K just to try it out for a long duration.  $4.8k, hello no, that's just robbery as I already thing AK series pricing is robbery as it is now.  There are lots of more reasonable priced DAPs than it out there.

Do as you will but I would never buy anything without the intention of ownership.

 

[vwinter]

There is the small problem that no amplified signal can be better than the signal that feeds it.

It still takes the signal from the device and is limited to reproducing that signal. It's not suddenly a different signal.

I'm not saying that the amp may sound better to you, I'm saying the amp cannot outperform the signal it is fed. That is impossible.

Yea, but another amp can probably shape the sound in a different way than the internal amp that might be more pleasing to some people. I've recently heard an external amp that say vs internal iphone amp can pull a soundstage and images therein towards the vertical plane, ie producing more soundstage height at the expense of some width. For some earphones, this is a welcome change that I'd choose as a preference.

 

[hyper8]

Does the DX90 charge while connected to the computer in DAC mode?