[alphabetagaga]

nice review! i'm going to buy a few players and see what i prefer. before i take the plunge with this player, i want to check if the shure srh840 headphones i have will be at least suitable for the player (or vice cersa 

) these are the specs
 
Transducer Type: Dynamic, Neodym-Magnet
Driver size: 40 mm
Sensitivity : 102 dB SPL/mW
Impedance: 44 Ω
Max. input power: 1000 mW
Frequency range: 5 Hz - 25 kHz
 
http://www.shure.co.uk/products/headphones/srh840
 
anyone able to advise me either way? i've used them with a ipod and sony walkman player before but never thought about checking suitablility until reading these forums!

 

[KT66]

maybe try posting this in one of the headphone forums

 

[mark2410]

Quote:

nice review! i'm going to buy a few players and see what i prefer. before i take the plunge with this player, i want to check if the shure srh840 headphones i have will be at least suitable for the player (or vice cersa 

) these are the specs
 
Transducer Type: Dynamic, Neodym-Magnet
Driver size: 40 mm
Sensitivity : 102 dB SPL/mW
Impedance: 44 Ω
Max. input power: 1000 mW
Frequency range: 5 Hz - 25 kHz
 
http://www.shure.co.uk/products/headphones/srh840
 
anyone able to advise me either way? i've used them with a ipod and sony walkman player before but never thought about checking suitablility until reading these forums!

i have a pair and they pair up fine.  it may however show up the lack of refinement in the 840's highs but thats something you can hardly fault the Studio 3rd for.  the Studio is rather more capable than the 840 but it does pull the best out of them too.

 

[goodvibes]

Spot on review, Mark. It's not like you don't own other good things. They can send you one but they can't make you use it. LOL

 

[kendric]

It was a nice read, Mark. =)
 
Had it for a couple of months and i mostly agreed that how great the SQ is for something this small.
 
At home i am using it Aux-Out from my formerly ailing iBasso D4 Mamba, and the results through the Victor JVC FX-700 were just simply stellar, bringing the dynamics to another level (with the shure short extension cable, which does contributes a lil to the change of sound in the first place)

So i believe that the Studio-V 3rd Anv's Amp component is much more superior than their built-in Sigmatel DAC Chip used. Since the SQ difference between aux-out from D4 Mamba (Wolfson DAC) and playing as a player (Sigmatel) was highly audible, thanks to their premium amp component (as mentioned again here, which they did confess somewhere perhaps on head-fi i think)
 
All-in-all, Its one of the best audio purchase one could ever have for the year.

 

[doctorjazz]

Hi (that always comes up when you start the player), wanted to put in my 2 cents. Had the last Studio V, liked it until I had firmware issues, Jack sent me links to update it and get it corrected, but couldn't manage it from home, so he had me send it to him for repair. After shipping mishaps (my fault) which caused a long wait from when I sent it out, I read about the new version, and, for a fee (I forget exactly, in the $130 range I believe but don't quote me) I could update, so I did. Got the new version, my impressions. 1)love the sound, drives my new Senn 650's nicely, great combo. As I don't have the original, I can't do head-to-head, but my main impression is that is very similar, but the hiss issues of the original have been corrected (that was a bit crazy making, though you could get a high impedance cable to attach which helped). 2)UI is really the achilles heel-it doesn't seem to bother some people, but I find it hard to wait for the initializing each time I start it, and finding things can be difficult (can search under album, artist, or by files on internal and external memory-things that I find in 1 section aren't in the others, meaning I have to pop around a lot, and the buttons are not exactly all that user friendly, as others have commented on). I read that tutorial, installed the tagging software on my PC, and it helps, but doesn't cure the problem. 3)I never did a detailed analysis of the original for battery length, so it's hard to make exact comparisons, but my impression is that the current version has significantly less of it, recharges are more frequent. The cables and plug are also more finicky, so I can charge plugged into my PC (slow), didn't work in wall (using HiSound's supplied cables and charger). The unit can't be used while it is charging, so it just sits there for a while, leaving me to use other alternatives.
Having said all that, I do really like the unit, again, sound wise, it makes really nice music. I have also used it as an external amp using the line out on idevices, and find it works nicely this way as well (meaning buying another external portable amp isn't necessary, a savings if you would be using it that way).
There-wordy post (tend to be that way), curious about other's feelings on these issues.

 

[mark2410]

agreed, the waiting a min or so for it to initialise is just something you get used to.  i just remember to turn it on before i put my jacket on and its always ready to go before i get out the door.
 
why not charge it over night instead of waiting till its absolutely dead? 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

agreed, the waiting a min or so for it to initialise is just something you get used to.  i just remember to turn it on before i put my jacket on and its always ready to go before i get out the door.
 
why not charge it over night instead of waiting till its absolutely dead? 

Mine takes only 45 seconds max to load. I think its closer to 40 secs but I generally don't wait for it to initialize either lol. 40 to 45 seconds for 2,500 FLAC files is not long at all IMO. I also don't have a hard time navigating the unit because I have everything organized in folders so I use the resource menu to access everything. It is my preferred method of accessing my music anyways (like playlists). Just drag and drop the files you want in each folder and name them to the name you want and be done with it . I agree though that the album, artist etc function is very buggy and is a big fail. But I never used this function until someone asked me to confirm the bug issues on it lol. So in reality I would never use it anyways (but was a bit shocked when I found out how buggy that part of the UI is). I can tell you now though the DAP with the absolute worst UI I've ever used was the SFLO2. This player is like a walk in the park in comparison with ease of access. Still not perfect but so much easier to use . Not to mention the sound quality it outputs just crushes the SFLO2.

 

[kendric]

Generally my set ONLY took a long time to load when i put many new songs inside, 10 minutes or more so. But other than that just like above it would only took at most 45 seconds to load. =)

And occasionally when i used it as an amp and skip back to DAP mode, the U.I becomes very laggy and insensitive to the button controls. But that can be easily solved by switching off and on again. 

Other than the above-mentioned flaws, my experience with the HisoundAudio is pretty so far so good.

 

[329161]

Does anyone know if this player supports cue sheets for long files? I listen to a lot of dj mixes and it doesn't do gapless.  I figure a solution would be to rip the mixes as one long file with a cue sheet.
Also is the Anniversary Edition identical in sound to the black version? Thanks in advance.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Does anyone know if this player supports cue sheets for long files? I listen to a lot of dj mixes and it doesn't do gapless.  I figure a solution would be to rip the mixes as one long file with a cue sheet.
Also is the Anniversary Edition identical in sound to the black version? Thanks in advance.

Nope it doesn't support cue sheets nor does it sound identical to the older model. They sound similar though with the newer model having been improved in all aspects of the sound in comparison plus much less hiss.

 

[h2oxide]

Ah this was the write-up I was looking for!

 

[329161]

I posted this earlier elsewhere, but I think it's more appropriate here....
 
 
So I just got the 3rd Anniversary Edition Player delivered today....
Well, my first impression is that it is smaller than the pictures indicate. The build quality seems to be great. I love the silvercolour, and the thing reminds me of a slightly chunky cigarette lighter. It has a very sparse user interface, and is not entirely intuitive to use. 
 
The sound....
Well I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed. It does sound good, but not as good as the reviews say. It seems, to my ears, to be on the warmer side of neutral. Using the unit with the Shure 1440's produced a thicker and warmer sound than these cans usually do. The Shure's didn't sound as sparkly and detailed as they do when paired with other players. Other players I own (eg- Voodooe'd Galaxy S, and iHifi 812V2) have a sound which rivals this player, and they cost half as much. I was expecting a more "slamming" and dynamic sound. 
 
I also happened to receive my V-Moda m-100's in the post at the same time. Ironically these sounded very well balanced and pairs well with the player. The m-100's sound more bass-focused, and less mid-centric when used with other players. 
 
Mind you, these are all initial impressions straight out of the box. I'm not a huge believer in the beneficial effects of "burn-in" for audio equipment, but I hope the sound improves with time.

 

[goodvibes]

I think this unit may change your mind about break in. There's also BTN in the settings menu. Try disabled. It may just take some time to get it's flavor. Which Galaxy s? Before the intrnational s3, they had quite high output impedance.

 

[329161]

Quote:

I think this unit may change your mind about break in. There's also BTN in the settings menu. Try disabled. It may just take some time to get it's flavor. Which Galaxy s? Before the intrnational s3, they had quite high output impedance.

I'm certainly hoping so. I spent half a grand on it. I'll try your suggestion re" BTN settings ,thanks. I have the Voodoo'd Galaxy S 1