[bcarr112281]

I can't tell if he prefers the dark/smooth signature of the M or the ZX-1.

 
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  I read it that he prefers the M. Yeah read it again and it is definitely the M.

 
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Originally Posted by doublea71 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Grammatically-speaking, the 'which' that follows 'ZX-1,' points to the ZX-1 as the thing ('which' is a relative pronoun) it is referring to rather than the subject, 'It'. This is my understanding, but I've been wrong before. Reading between the lines, I think he means the M, too. Teaching English grammar can sometimes make it harder to know exactly what a person means - I get caught up in the minutiae of syntax and semantics...anyways, I'm dying to hear these two, but I suspect the M is a better match for my iems. Unfortuntely, Saigon isn't the best place to seek out auditions. If only Jaben would set up camp here....

 
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  ^You might teach it but I disagree. The comma after ZX-1 points the preference back at the M.
 
It is true that I misread it the first time and I think that Currawong would be the first to admit that it was not his clearest statement ever.

 
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  The way I interpret it is if Currawong wrote it without any commas to break the flow of the sentence when referring to the ZX-1 in the middle of his sentence, then I would interpret it as he was saying "which he prefers" refers to ZX-1 as the subject of reference just immediately preceding the relative pronoun "which". But since he added commas to break the flow of his sentence between the ZX-1 and the "which", it then renders the subject of reference further back to the front of the sentence prior to the comma leading to the ZX-1, in which case I think he is referring to "It" which is Calyx M.

 
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  Hmmm, totally off topic thanks to me, but I'm really curious now. With a comma, it's a non-defining relative clause (extra, non-essential information) and still points to the item immediately preceding it afaik, but I'll check with some colleagues with more experience - this is exactly the type of thing that would keep me up all night (aside from the conflict in the sea over here, which DID keep me up until about 3am).

 
Folks, you'll find the answer in Currawong's "DAP-off" thread. Of the ZX-1, he writes,
 
"The Sony, on the other hand, is functionally awesome and I want to use it...but the "brighter" sound annoys me. It did the first time I tried it and, even with the firmware update (which seems to have improved things) I couldn't sit and listen for any length of time without becoming a bit annoyed."
 
Perhaps we can all rest easier now?
 

 

[headwhacker]

Well, I can imagine full sound vs thin is completely personal preference. To me personally a thinner note presentation is more natural for bass and treble, but a thicker presentation for mids is more natural. I've been playing with my new DX90 all day and comparing to ZX1. I find them equally proficient, and even their frequency balance and tonality is very similar being neutral.


 


The biggest difference between them is a thicker vs thinner note presentation, So its as I first said, DX90 has more natural mids, ZX1 has more natural bass, treble and sound stage. I just can't have enough of how wide open and transparent the ZX1 sounds, while the fuller sound of the DX90 has more body and weight behind many instruments and vocals which is very pleasing, but it also has a smaller sound stage and less treble airiness than ZX1.


 


ZX1 bass presentation is another love of mine, nothing extra is added at all, bass is extremely defined and textured with no bloom whatsoever, where as the fuller sounding DX90 in comparison to the ZX1 has fuller more bloomy/boomy bass (only in comparison to ZX1). Yet if I had heard the DX90 alone I would have said it has one of the most exquisite bass I've heard. I would also wager most people would prefer the fuller more impactful bass of the DX90 over the leaner tighter ZX1.  


 


I love the treble on the ZX1, so very airy and limitless sounding, While DX90 has very good treble it doesn't sound as airy, but at least its not rolled of or exaggerated, just like the ZX1.


 


The mids of the DX90 is where the the magic happens, just great, while also not as airy and open as ZX1 mids, they just sound more convincing in weight, timbre and naturalness of vocals, male or female.


 


It would really be amazing if a dap could provide both of these sonic elements, sound stage and airiness of ZX1 plus weighty instrumentation and vocals of DX90, bass though is highly divisive preference between lean and accurate vs full and impactful. The DX90 and ZX1 actually complement each other extremely well!


 


I still don't know what to think of the M, several impressions say it is even fuller and smoother sounding than the DX90, which I know would not suit me, so I guess I won't bother with it for now. I am way too happy with my daps at the moment to have any itch to buy a new dap anyway lol.

 


Could you mention what headphone/s you used for comparison? I appreciate the detailed comparison but the headphone used is an important factor to consider when looking at the big picture and to establish a clear assessment for anyone who reads it.

 

[Bluebear]

  Yes, iem and amps can all change the sound, but the under laying sound of the dap will still be present and the most important being the first part of the sound chain impacting everything after it! If the dap has bad sound stage, even the best iems and amps coming off the dap will suffer in their sound stage and not be using their full potential for example.

 
Very true. +1. That is what happened when I plugged my EX-1000, 1plus2 and ASG-2 to the Calyx M. I cannot shake off that thick/warm signature from the DAP.

 

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

Could you mention what headphone/s you used for comparison? I appreciate the detailed comparison but the headphone used is an important factor to consider when looking at the big picture and to establish a clear assessment for anyone who reads it.

 
Well, I tried to use a variety of different sounding iems and headphones to come to my conclusions, I used the following:
 
iems: Westone W3, Yamaha EPH-100, Monster Gratitude, Brainwavs R3 and Brainwavs S1.
 
headphones: Koss Portapro, Beyerdynamic T70, Audio Technica AT700, Allesandro MS-Pro and Sony XB1000.
 
In my comparison I was specifically trying to highlight the DAPs characteristics, But I should say that pairing is quite important, Some of the bright and thin headphones with the ZX1 for example will be too bright for some people and will prefer them with the DX90, and a others might find a very warm and thick headphone with the DX90 to congested, but perfect on the ZX1.
 
Basically said, if you take a fairly neutral headphone or iem and compare it on the DX90 and ZX1 is where my comparison and impressions make the most sense, I consider the T70 the most neutral out of those headphones for example.

 

[Currawong]

I prefer the M and the AK120 for preference over the ZX-1, even after the update. Some people are obviously the reverse. It could be the music I listen to and that I'm using a NOS DAC (with computer up-sampling) at the moment to listen to a lot of jazz, so the smoother presentation is preferable to me.
 
My current detail reference album is Julia Fisher playing Sarasate from HDTracks. I should really carry a micro SD card with me to these events as just about every DAP has a slot for one.

 

[goodvibes]

Couple things. It's new. It likely needs run in even if it's not mentioned by the maker so reviews should be taken with a grain. The other is that anything warmer than a DX90 is not for me. Of course the Calyx may end up similarly warm and perhaps just different than some other top players. It's personal but warm in the lower registers like an x5 wouldn't be favored by me.

 

[doublea71]

   
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Folks, you'll find the answer in Currawong's "DAP-off" thread. Of the ZX-1, he writes,
 
"The Sony, on the other hand, is functionally awesome and I want to use it...but the "brighter" sound annoys me. It did the first time I tried it and, even with the firmware update (which seems to have improved things) I couldn't sit and listen for any length of time without becoming a bit annoyed."
 
Perhaps we can all rest easier now?
 

We (the royal 'we') got hung up on the grammar, not so much his opinion, though it is at the heart of the whole thing. I have my answer on the syntax, but I'll spare everybody the additional OT. 

 

[doublea71]

I'm wondering how the UM Miracle pairs with the M/DX90/ZX-1...can anybody speak to this? It seems the Miracle is passé or something - I think Noble and JH have gobbled up all the folks who have the latest daps.

 

[musicheaven]

I prefer the M and the AK120 for preference over the ZX-1, even after the update. Some people are obviously the reverse. It could be the music I listen to and that I'm using a NOS DAC (with computer up-sampling) at the moment to listen to a lot of jazz, so the smoother presentation is preferable to me.

My current detail reference album is Julia Fisher playing Sarasate from HDTracks. I should really carry a micro SD card with me to these events as just about every DAP has a slot for one.

Make sure the microSD card is formatted FAT32 or NTFS

If you can test it again, would it be possible to try varied genres?

 

[hellGeeea]

I'll get mine sometime in the end of next week..(just got e-mail from Calyx today)
but some of the early pre-order got to home of a member of  my DAC user community today...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here are some  open-box pictures of the actual commercial product.
 
Seems like every single Calyx got its own number... this one is marked as 102...

 

[kantana]

Let the impressions and reviews begin

 

[hellGeeea]

yeah... one of my online community member was mentioning about that today....
By the way, seems like Calyx announced that M will support exFAT w/ their first firmware update.
Don't perfectly trust on what I'm saying though, 'cause I got that info from my online community...
I presume its 80 percent sure thing, based on my experience of checking info out of gossip around...

 

[kantana]

I'll let others be on the bleeding edge to try out the Calyx M.  I still have nightmares from the early release DX100 and DX50 firmware...

 

[hellGeeea]

well... I've already checked during the tryout period in a shop called Scheherazade for more than 15 hours...
The UI is  state of the art and the sound was incomparable as far as I've understood...
I hope you can have your chance to check as soon as possible. 
Just by some chance, Anyone who comes to korea, visit Harman-Kardon Gallery or Scheherazade for your maximum experience...there are some other shops where you can give a try to listen to M, but those two shops are the best place to listen /their awesome listening facility. If you visit those shops, you will recognize that people aren't even looking at other DAPs... of course they have X5 or DX90 ...even ak240. ZX1?  sure... thought that was on sale or something.  Good thing is you can compare all the DAPs matching w/ the best receivers around in one place cost nothing... very fancy shops.
I have a doubt that this is the best what I can get.
 
early info out before my review :
matching w/HD598 of Sennheiser(50ohm...) is some of the best match I've heared in the shop, but I ordered Focal Spirit Professional,
because the resolution was a killer one. Sad that i'm not in the states in this case, because Focal Spirit pro cost around 500 bucks in S.Korea.
not to mention if you can get lcd3 or k812pro(some of the best w/k812)... or HD800.
the output wasn't that bad w/those to my ears... but lacks a bit(except k812pro. it was perfect)...
 
A very sleek-ended product with its sound...  great finish superficially, too.
it was worth waiting to me.

 

[D3Seeker]

I heard someone describe it as "thick and aggressive" a while back. my eyes are still fixed