goodvibes
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2009
- Posts
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- 1,888
Here's my take:
Things like packaging, cosmetics and amount of tailoring have virtually no importance to me. If it sounds good and I can find and play my files, I'm happy
. That and lack of bulk for portability makes the Rocoo a winner for me.
That said, the packaging gives a nice and safe to ship presentation of the product. Needed accessories to charge are there with a USB cable and wall adapter. However, there's no US socket adapter included but no biggie. Who doesn't already have a wall power to female USB wall wart?
My particular unit looks great. This is no biggie for me but I do need to note that the top portion of the C in RoCoo is faded. It will not get worse over time as it sits under the clear face covering and being a portable DAP, it's not going to be perfect for long anyway. The display is useful and well laid out with all important info on hand with the play screen.
The OS takes a bit to master like most DAPs but it's easy enough to navigate and select what you want to do or listen to. Personally, I don't care for a function beep so I can turn it off. It has some EQ presets that I briefly tried and will never do so again. This is my bias as I never use EQ. This player does not have user adjustable EQ and that's great by me.
It's represented as a purist type product and I'm good with that description.
The RoCoo comes in 2 versions. Standard and Power (-P). The P version is intended for the added power requirements of full size and portable cans so my review will center on driving this load. On hand I have Beyer DT931, Grado 125 and the notorious AKG 701 which are always stated as hard to drive. I'll just say all sounded great. Revealing, solid in the bass and rhythmic. It's got a natural smoothness while still sounding very dynamic. An autoritative control that is both relaxed and interesting at the same time. It was clearly better than using an Ipod touch via LOD with an E11. It's possible a better amp would turn the tide but at what price and inconvenience for portable use? 3x the price or more with the added bulk?
I tested it with .wav, FLAC and various AAC files and it was excellent with all. I really like that it does AAC as I think AAC the best compression format and the Nero encoder can do 400 CBR which takes it up a notch. I prefer CBR as it seems to have better timing for me and the RoCoo decoded this higher bit rate without issue. For test I also tried other formats and high bit rate ABR and VBR without issue.
What else do I need to say? It rocks. The timing, resolution an control are all exemplary. Good with quartets both classical and jazz, orchestration, Nelly, Radiohead, folk, pop etc. That it does at this size without rubber bands, extra cables and bulk is wonderful. It played the AKGs louder than I'd ever listen without distortion. I don't really know or care what the power spec is or actually measures to. In use, it has enough. As long as it controls a devise and plays loud enough, more gets you nothing but additional unneeded volume.
I felt it a little weighty sounding on my IEMs but on the phones it was designed for, it had no hint of that. Overall I'd say this is a complete success for it's intended purpose and my comment on IEMs isn't shared by others with the unit. They love the added warmth. I would think if I still had B2s, Jays or another lean phone, I'd agree. I do have Phonaks (gray), M1's and Grado GR10s so I have 3 different type of drivers that I drew this overall conclusion from but my personal preferences don't lean as warm as most. If I was to get one for IEMs, I would opt for the designed for same standard version but you wouldn't go wrong with a P either. More to follow.
Addendum:
These definitely break in. I'm very happy with stock FW at this point, IEMs included. The top has opened up just enough where stock is preferred. It's also got more texture and the mids has lost that extra thickness. Really happy with this unit. I suspect I could give it a run with an Ipod touch3/lod/amp but it would need to be an amp that cost as much as the retail Rocoo on it's own and then we run into my bulk issue. I wouldn't mind trying a Studio at some point but the Rocoo is a sweet spot for me.
Things like packaging, cosmetics and amount of tailoring have virtually no importance to me. If it sounds good and I can find and play my files, I'm happy
That said, the packaging gives a nice and safe to ship presentation of the product. Needed accessories to charge are there with a USB cable and wall adapter. However, there's no US socket adapter included but no biggie. Who doesn't already have a wall power to female USB wall wart?
My particular unit looks great. This is no biggie for me but I do need to note that the top portion of the C in RoCoo is faded. It will not get worse over time as it sits under the clear face covering and being a portable DAP, it's not going to be perfect for long anyway. The display is useful and well laid out with all important info on hand with the play screen.
The OS takes a bit to master like most DAPs but it's easy enough to navigate and select what you want to do or listen to. Personally, I don't care for a function beep so I can turn it off. It has some EQ presets that I briefly tried and will never do so again. This is my bias as I never use EQ. This player does not have user adjustable EQ and that's great by me.
The RoCoo comes in 2 versions. Standard and Power (-P). The P version is intended for the added power requirements of full size and portable cans so my review will center on driving this load. On hand I have Beyer DT931, Grado 125 and the notorious AKG 701 which are always stated as hard to drive. I'll just say all sounded great. Revealing, solid in the bass and rhythmic. It's got a natural smoothness while still sounding very dynamic. An autoritative control that is both relaxed and interesting at the same time. It was clearly better than using an Ipod touch via LOD with an E11. It's possible a better amp would turn the tide but at what price and inconvenience for portable use? 3x the price or more with the added bulk?
I tested it with .wav, FLAC and various AAC files and it was excellent with all. I really like that it does AAC as I think AAC the best compression format and the Nero encoder can do 400 CBR which takes it up a notch. I prefer CBR as it seems to have better timing for me and the RoCoo decoded this higher bit rate without issue. For test I also tried other formats and high bit rate ABR and VBR without issue.
What else do I need to say? It rocks. The timing, resolution an control are all exemplary. Good with quartets both classical and jazz, orchestration, Nelly, Radiohead, folk, pop etc. That it does at this size without rubber bands, extra cables and bulk is wonderful. It played the AKGs louder than I'd ever listen without distortion. I don't really know or care what the power spec is or actually measures to. In use, it has enough. As long as it controls a devise and plays loud enough, more gets you nothing but additional unneeded volume.
I felt it a little weighty sounding on my IEMs but on the phones it was designed for, it had no hint of that. Overall I'd say this is a complete success for it's intended purpose and my comment on IEMs isn't shared by others with the unit. They love the added warmth. I would think if I still had B2s, Jays or another lean phone, I'd agree. I do have Phonaks (gray), M1's and Grado GR10s so I have 3 different type of drivers that I drew this overall conclusion from but my personal preferences don't lean as warm as most. If I was to get one for IEMs, I would opt for the designed for same standard version but you wouldn't go wrong with a P either. More to follow.
Addendum:
These definitely break in. I'm very happy with stock FW at this point, IEMs included. The top has opened up just enough where stock is preferred. It's also got more texture and the mids has lost that extra thickness. Really happy with this unit. I suspect I could give it a run with an Ipod touch3/lod/amp but it would need to be an amp that cost as much as the retail Rocoo on it's own and then we run into my bulk issue. I wouldn't mind trying a Studio at some point but the Rocoo is a sweet spot for me.
