Hi there,
I must say that from first hearing of the impending Alien+ some time ago, I was very excited to see what Shozy could come up with.
Having owned the original Alien, a fantastically musical and minimalist player that I used on my daily commute, I was like a kid at Christmas.
Some time later we have the Alien+ and shortly thereafter I have one in my hand.
Firstly, I need to clarify, I gave this unit a 5/5 rating as I believe that the player does exactly as advertised and does it exceedingly well. This does not mean it is not without shortcomings.
The Bad:
The unit is oldschool.
Now while I actually like this, many people these days wan't almost smartphone versatility from a DAP. Heck it is the way we consume media these days.
The unit has no touch screen, no wifi, no bluetooth, no user EQ, no Album art.
This is a no nonsense MUSIC playing machine.
The good of the bad:
What this lack of extra features means is a system that boots in a second.
It means that you can quickly navigate without lag from one screen to another using hardware buttons.
It means all of the electronics in the device are dedicated to getting the best sound to you, and on that front it delivers.
User Interface:
The UI as I stated above is very basic from a user perspective. You are presented with a list of options not that dissimilar to something you would see in Rockbox for those familiar. It is very utilitarian.
Navigation is fast and media is managed or selected from a Folder structure view. This will bother some, however this is how I have used all of my daps, (Even Android ones) so this is of no concern to me.
Getting your dang music on the thing:
Ok so here is a little gotcha moment. The unit will not boot without a MIcro SD card inserted. However it does not host the SD card when plugged into a PC via USB. So you will need a card reader.
Additionally your card will need to be formatted in FAT32, which is easy enough with small cards, but will require 3rd party software for anything 32gb. I used EaseUS Partition Master 12.5 with good results on my 128gb card.
Ok, so I have music, how does it sound:
In a word. AMAZING.
To elaborate, this is a very dynamic, in your face DAP. I has a very immediate sound, but in a good way. I dont feel that it is harsh or glaring, but you are quite literally thrust face first into the details. It kind of reminds me of a Circa 1995 screen saver on my PC.
The HIghs:
The highs are crisp, clean and sharp but I didn't find them overly airy or sparkly. There is a sense of unapologetic realism to them. Crash cymbals CRASH. Leading edges of some guitar sections bite. I absolutely loved listening to metal with this dap as it really carried the aggression without sounding harsh (somehow). With the caveat of Black metal. Black metal sounds terrible on everything and possibly even worse on the Alien +.
The Mids:
The mids really surprised me. Well no, I expected them to be great, in fact it was one of my favourite things about the original Alien. That euphoric or emotional mids. The Alien+ delivers this same flavour but to a slightly lesser degree.
The mids are neither forward nor recessed and sit nicely in line with the higher registers. They are however textured, layered and detailed. Vocals have a real presence that impressed me. Lips smacking, breathing, the texture of string instruments bows vibrating on the strings. Just fantastic.
I was also impressed by the Aliens ability to maintain a real crunch of distorted guitars, yet by intimate and smooth when listening to something like Nora Jones. Switching between Ne Obliviscaris to Nora to Pantera to Diana Krall, it just nailed it. Usually I find I love some sources with one or the other.
Bass:
While the bass isn't elevated, golly it has some slam and control. I think this may be due to the overhead in output power on tap, but even using my Aeons, I was surprised. From my experience with my Ethers and Aeons, from a lot of portable sources they go one of 2 ways, they sound bassy due to lack of power to control the drivers and everything gets flabby, or they sound lifeless and thin. Neither the case with the Alien+ which powered the Aeons to deafening levels on High Gain (there is one level above High).
Comparisons (w/ Aeon):
IDSD BL vs Alien:
The iDSD is one of my favourites. It has a gentle wide spacious presentation that is laced with details and nuances. Add to that phenomenal cosmic power, bass boost, cross feed, pre-amp/line out, line in, etc etc and it is a hard unit to knock.
Objectively I cannot rank one above the other but I can say the following.
When powering my Aeons, the iDSD Black presents a wider more airy spacious presentation. It is less immediate in its delivery. Everything is gentle and easy does it.
I feel also that the mids, while I know are not recessed on the iDSD from using it with other headphones, due to the spaciousness I believe, made the mids on the Aeon take a back seat. This made everything sound a little spread out and non distinct.
Detail on both units is similar, however again more subtle on the iDSD.
Comparatively the Alien has faster bass, more feeling and involvement in the mids and perhaps a slightly harder/harsher high region.
For me with this pairing, the Alien bests the iDSD Black.
Mojo vs Alien (w/ Aeon):
I find the Mojo to do everything the Alien does, but with just a bit more restraint.
They both present a more intimate sound stage than the iDSD and I think that allows them both a bit more focus within the mid range.
I find the mojo just has a softer leading edge on pretty much everything.
For me I prefer the Mojo to the Alien+ with the Aeon. Again though this is entirely subjective.
I will return and add pictures and some more details shortly.
I must say that from first hearing of the impending Alien+ some time ago, I was very excited to see what Shozy could come up with.
Having owned the original Alien, a fantastically musical and minimalist player that I used on my daily commute, I was like a kid at Christmas.
Some time later we have the Alien+ and shortly thereafter I have one in my hand.
Firstly, I need to clarify, I gave this unit a 5/5 rating as I believe that the player does exactly as advertised and does it exceedingly well. This does not mean it is not without shortcomings.
The Bad:
The unit is oldschool.
Now while I actually like this, many people these days wan't almost smartphone versatility from a DAP. Heck it is the way we consume media these days.
The unit has no touch screen, no wifi, no bluetooth, no user EQ, no Album art.
This is a no nonsense MUSIC playing machine.
The good of the bad:
What this lack of extra features means is a system that boots in a second.
It means that you can quickly navigate without lag from one screen to another using hardware buttons.
It means all of the electronics in the device are dedicated to getting the best sound to you, and on that front it delivers.
User Interface:
The UI as I stated above is very basic from a user perspective. You are presented with a list of options not that dissimilar to something you would see in Rockbox for those familiar. It is very utilitarian.
Navigation is fast and media is managed or selected from a Folder structure view. This will bother some, however this is how I have used all of my daps, (Even Android ones) so this is of no concern to me.
Getting your dang music on the thing:
Ok so here is a little gotcha moment. The unit will not boot without a MIcro SD card inserted. However it does not host the SD card when plugged into a PC via USB. So you will need a card reader.
Additionally your card will need to be formatted in FAT32, which is easy enough with small cards, but will require 3rd party software for anything 32gb. I used EaseUS Partition Master 12.5 with good results on my 128gb card.
Ok, so I have music, how does it sound:
In a word. AMAZING.
To elaborate, this is a very dynamic, in your face DAP. I has a very immediate sound, but in a good way. I dont feel that it is harsh or glaring, but you are quite literally thrust face first into the details. It kind of reminds me of a Circa 1995 screen saver on my PC.
The HIghs:
The highs are crisp, clean and sharp but I didn't find them overly airy or sparkly. There is a sense of unapologetic realism to them. Crash cymbals CRASH. Leading edges of some guitar sections bite. I absolutely loved listening to metal with this dap as it really carried the aggression without sounding harsh (somehow). With the caveat of Black metal. Black metal sounds terrible on everything and possibly even worse on the Alien +.
The Mids:
The mids really surprised me. Well no, I expected them to be great, in fact it was one of my favourite things about the original Alien. That euphoric or emotional mids. The Alien+ delivers this same flavour but to a slightly lesser degree.
The mids are neither forward nor recessed and sit nicely in line with the higher registers. They are however textured, layered and detailed. Vocals have a real presence that impressed me. Lips smacking, breathing, the texture of string instruments bows vibrating on the strings. Just fantastic.
I was also impressed by the Aliens ability to maintain a real crunch of distorted guitars, yet by intimate and smooth when listening to something like Nora Jones. Switching between Ne Obliviscaris to Nora to Pantera to Diana Krall, it just nailed it. Usually I find I love some sources with one or the other.
Bass:
While the bass isn't elevated, golly it has some slam and control. I think this may be due to the overhead in output power on tap, but even using my Aeons, I was surprised. From my experience with my Ethers and Aeons, from a lot of portable sources they go one of 2 ways, they sound bassy due to lack of power to control the drivers and everything gets flabby, or they sound lifeless and thin. Neither the case with the Alien+ which powered the Aeons to deafening levels on High Gain (there is one level above High).
Comparisons (w/ Aeon):
IDSD BL vs Alien:
The iDSD is one of my favourites. It has a gentle wide spacious presentation that is laced with details and nuances. Add to that phenomenal cosmic power, bass boost, cross feed, pre-amp/line out, line in, etc etc and it is a hard unit to knock.
Objectively I cannot rank one above the other but I can say the following.
When powering my Aeons, the iDSD Black presents a wider more airy spacious presentation. It is less immediate in its delivery. Everything is gentle and easy does it.
I feel also that the mids, while I know are not recessed on the iDSD from using it with other headphones, due to the spaciousness I believe, made the mids on the Aeon take a back seat. This made everything sound a little spread out and non distinct.
Detail on both units is similar, however again more subtle on the iDSD.
Comparatively the Alien has faster bass, more feeling and involvement in the mids and perhaps a slightly harder/harsher high region.
For me with this pairing, the Alien bests the iDSD Black.
Mojo vs Alien (w/ Aeon):
I find the Mojo to do everything the Alien does, but with just a bit more restraint.
They both present a more intimate sound stage than the iDSD and I think that allows them both a bit more focus within the mid range.
I find the mojo just has a softer leading edge on pretty much everything.
For me I prefer the Mojo to the Alien+ with the Aeon. Again though this is entirely subjective.
I will return and add pictures and some more details shortly.
