[CosmicHolyGhost]

Well i demo-ed the pre production unit and wasn't really impressed with it, especially im comparison with the DX90. But I must say the unit was faulty and was not able to read my sd card, so I cpuldnt test with tracks that I am comfortable with. Also, I was told the production unit might be tuned further, so lets see how it goes!

It means I would not be the first few to jump the boat however, until I demo the production unit at least.

it reads FAT32 and NTFS formatted sd card. your card could be in exFAT format which can be read by DX90

 

[doublea71]

  It can drive the 6 BA Noble very well, I can only use less than 50% volume, and that's for extremely loud. So I'd wager it can drive 8-12 BA iems with no problems.
 

Thanks - the bit on power and numbers being deceptive was helpful and I'm pretty confident it will be fine with a set of Miracles. The only question left for me is whether it's too bright as some have said. The M is still in the cards, but it will have to be exceptional for me to spend that kind of loot.

 

[cooperpwc]

To be clear, volume (Vrms) and power (wattage) are different concepts. Low impedance IEMs require current. How much they benefit from wattage is much discussed. In my experience, especially with the Heaven VI, they can benefit a lot. And the Heaven VI is pretty much all that I listen to on the go.

 

[Solude]

Couple of things.  Damn near all amps have caps on the supply line.  And at 15mW max output it would be a tiny cap to feed the circuits maximum  output of 700mV and 20mA.  And the caps don't increase power they prevent supply line ripple, ie distortion when outputting at or near max output.
 
Also impedance alone doesn't really mean much for whether it is a voltage or current limit because without efficiency taken into account.  At a basic level lower impedance draws more current, high impedance needs more voltage.  But a low impedance iem will use less current than a high impedance full size can.  It will also use way less voltage.
 
So yes the Sony will drive multi ba iems because they are efficient but will struggle with an HD800, HE-500 or even ER-4S.  The more drivers the easier it gets.  Which is the point of doubling or quadrupling the drivers in the first place

 

[cooperpwc]

(Oops, I meant to say that low impedance IEMs need current. Corrected above.)

 

[Solude]

True but when you take efficiency into account and using the 846 as an example... it needs 1mA to play at 90dB

 

[Tobias89]

  it reads FAT32 and NTFS formatted sd card. your card could be in exFAT format which can be read by DX90

Oh ok, that may be the case. I couldn't even test it actually, as the guy said there was a problem with the unit when I asked. Maybe he didn't realise that either.

 

[SilverEars]

  Couple of things.  Damn near all amps have caps on the supply line.  And at 15mW max output it would be a tiny cap to feed the circuits maximum  output of 700mV and 20mA.  And the caps don't increase power they prevent supply line ripple, ie distortion when outputting at or near max output.
 
Also impedance alone doesn't really mean much for whether it is a voltage or current limit because without efficiency taken into account.  At a basic level lower impedance draws more current, high impedance needs more voltage.  But a low impedance iem will use less current than a high impedance full size can.  It will also use way less voltage.
 
So yes the Sony will drive multi ba iems because they are efficient but will struggle with an HD800, HE-500 or even ER-4S.  The more drivers the easier it gets.  Which is the point of doubling or quadrupling the drivers in the first place

This.
 
I think trance is talkin about charge pumps. 

 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_pump
 

  To be clear, volume (Vrms) and power (wattage) are different concepts. Low impedance IEMs require current. How much they benefit from wattage is much discussed. In my experience, especially with the Heaven VI, they can benefit a lot. And the Heaven VI is pretty much all that I listen to on the go.
 

Looks like I need to look into these.  

 

 

[Solude]

  I think trance is talkin about charge pumps. 

 

 
One that would sound like ass.  Two it would be reflected in the maximum power output since as you approached the low supply maximum the controller would cycle in the cap bank, increasing supply and output. 
 
It's the supply cap.  Same reason 16 year olds buy those big old 1F foot long caps for the subs in their dad's car... no supply sag.
 
I could be wrong though.  The Sony is an interesting piece.  It's essentially a Sony iPod Touch, no fancy dac or amp, just a nice ui, screen and high price.  Boom audiophile grade /facepalm  But like the iPod we just don't know what's going on inside that audio ic that they use.  That's the beauty of being a Sony or Apple.  You can ask a TI or CL to make you an ic to your spec.  Which could very well be a single ended, low power, AK240 on a single chip.  We just don't know.

 

[Greed]

Tech specs are nice, but trust your ears. Personally, the Sony is the best all around DAP IMO. It wasn't meant to drive anything other than IEMs and portable headphones. It has plenty of power for my 120 impedance CIEMs although a bit more grunt would be nice. With the new FW update, the improvements have balanced out the sound and is now an extremely well rounded player. Not much bad to say about it other than limited memory.
 
In regards to sound quality it held its own against everything I've owned and heard with the exception of the HM-901 with Balanced Card and an DAP/Hugo combo. The AK240 is not worth the price in my opinion.

 

[hellGeeea]

Haven't seen you for a while.( I mean, personally.... from now on, I'll start to say things to the people who read this thread)
Well... I'm back.
Some of you might know me n some don't, but anyways, I'll be back w/  review of the actual product in a few days, as I promised quite a while ago... which will be no.184 of the production line , I reserved approximately  2 months ago.
I don't want to say more than what you guys want to know... so please ask me some pre- review questions before I review, so I can focus on what you people really want to know.
I could hear the sound of actual produced Calyx M while I wasn't around... but I will strictly answer the questions based on the actual good what I'm getting in a few dayz...
Once again... I'm making sure of myself that I'm not the one who is related to the Calyx company in any possible ways, if you believe or not. Well, If I got a cent from Calyx Company, My Dad Is A Dog...
Expect a lot out of Calyx M, 'cause It sounds incomparable to any other DAPs out there... or around the market....(at least in my point of view... some might don't agree though.)
It will be only a personal feeling about the product, so don't take it so seriously... I'm not a tech guy or any sort of professional.
But I will answer your questions as honest as possible, and as accurate as possible.(again, in my point o' view) 
Well, I'm talking about Calyx M ... which I will get,  in a few days.
 
I don't know about the spec... but seemed not bad... 
Only sure things you can perfectly rely on... are your ears...
To me?... It was like Femto... only smaller in size.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

   
One that would sound like ass.  Two it would be reflected in the maximum power output since as you approached the low supply maximum the controller would cycle in the cap bank, increasing supply and output. 
 
It's the supply cap.  Same reason 16 year olds buy those big old 1F foot long caps for the subs in their dad's car... no supply sag.
 
I could be wrong though.  The Sony is an interesting piece.  It's essentially a Sony iPod Touch, no fancy dac or amp, just a nice ui, screen and high price.  Boom audiophile grade /facepalm  But like the iPod we just don't know what's going on inside that audio ic that they use.  That's the beauty of being a Sony or Apple.  You can ask a TI or CL to make you an ic to your spec.  Which could very well be a single ended, low power, AK240 on a single chip.  We just don't know.

 
Don't ever compare the ZX1 to a iPod , the ZX1 uses a special charge pump, but not the typical type your thinking of. The ZX1 uses a Phase Locked Loop. A Crystal Ocillator acts as the Phase Clock for the Digital Amp, which has its signal split into 4, each Left and Right channel has a Positive and Negative signal accompanied by a Sanyo Os-Con Capacitor for 4 caps total, 1 for each signal. The two signals for each channel steer current into or out of a capacitor, causing the voltage across the capacitor to increase or decrease. In each cycle, the difference in voltage between two caps on one channel is proportional to the phase difference, hence the charge delivered is dependent on the phase difference also. The voltage on the capacitor is used to tune a voltage-controlled oscillator, generating the desired output signal frequency.
 
The reason Sony uses it is to increase transparency, as its a very accurate way of amplifying a digital signal. We already know how the Sony works, it doesn't use DAC + Analogue Amp like most traditional audio devices. Instead It uses a very elegant method of using a Digital Amplifier to directly amplify the digital signal described above. This has advantages because it means the signal is remaining pure and uncoloured and as short as possible. Whereas traditional DAC and Analogue amps seem to always add some coloration to the sound. Its a very well engineered and modern solution by Sony. They even went the extra mile to ensure the battery and all cable impedances where extra low by using high gauge silver wire.

 

[Solude]

Interesting.  Link?

 

[headwhacker]

   
Don't ever compare the ZX1 to a iPod , the ZX1 uses a special charge pump, but not the typical type your thinking of. The ZX1 uses a Phase Locked Loop. A Crystal Ocillator acts as the Phase Clock for the Digital Amp, which has its signal split into 4, each Left and Right channel has a Positive and Negative signal accompanied by a Sanyo Os-Con Capacitor for 4 caps total, 1 for each signal. The two signals for each channel steer current into or out of a capacitor, causing the voltage across the capacitor to increase or decrease. In each cycle, the difference in voltage between two caps on one channel is proportional to the phase difference, hence the charge delivered is dependent on the phase difference also. The voltage on the capacitor is used to tune a voltage-controlled oscillator, generating the desired output signal frequency.
 
The reason Sony uses it is to increase transparency, as its a very accurate way of amplifying a digital signal. We already know how the Sony works, it doesn't use DAC + Analogue Amp like most traditional audio devices. Instead It uses a very elegant method of using a Digital Amplifier to directly amplify the digital signal described above. This has advantages because it means the signal is remaining pure and uncoloured and as short as possible. Whereas traditional DAC and Analogue amps seem to always add some coloration to the sound. Its a very well engineered and modern solution by Sony. They even went the extra mile to ensure the battery and all cable impedances where extra low by using high gauge silver wire.

 
 

  Interesting.  Link?

Interesting indeed, if you could share a link for more information about the ZX1's design it's much appreciated.
 
I have got to try the ZX1 for myself and see how it sounds. It is low on my radar because I had the PHA-1 and I thought it sounded a little weird. It has very crisp, clean sound but it feels like it's souped up and unnatural.

 

[Currawong]

I had a chance to listen with the Calyx M and my UERMs at the Tokyo Headphone festival on the weekend. They only had one track on there that I had on my AK240, 52 Street from David Chesky's The Body Acoustic, so don't read too much into this. Also, I was comparing using the SE out of the AK240. 
 
Something to note: The firmware might have been newer than which was shown at other shows or other people may have experienced, so that may have affected things. 
 
What I did hear I liked. It was probably on the darker/smoother side of things, compared to, say, the Sony ZX-1, which I prefer. The AK240 sounded a bit clearer I thought, but this was one track at a meet so I wouldn't say I'm reliable in my assessment. 
 
The UI was interesting. I didn't realise at first that one has to swipe between screens. Having a big screen was nice for album or track views, but I didn't like the way they did the now-playing screen. The magnetic volume slider doesn't concern me, but the UI is a bit jerky and laggy. The president of Calyx was there and tells me that they are going to add a search function, so I expect in the next few months, as the past few, things will improve considerably. 
 
An interesting tidbit is that they said they fixed an un-documented issue with the ES DAC that improves it. It very much doesn't sound like an ES DAC-based player.
 
They can't make them fast enough for the Korean market apparently, so international sales wont come for a while. I hope that when they do, I can review a unit, as it sounded pretty good, at least with the UERMs. Dynamic headphones and IEMs will be an interesting test (I should have brought my DITAs, now I think of it).