[mochill]

Thank you for checking

 

[Loquah]

No worries. 64Gb card (FAT32 formatting) works fine

 

[mochill]

Perfect, thank you my friend

 

[Shawn71]

So max 64gb can be utilized using F32 to recommended max of 32gb.......

 

[Loquah]

I'm guessing any size will be fine if formatted in FAT32

 

[Loquah]

Testing finished. The Alien played for roughly 9.5 hours using a pair of Alessandro MS1i's (at moderate listening volume). Interestingly, the player seems to "freeze up" when it runs out of battery. It was still on according to the LED, but the sound started to skip / repeat on the same spot in the track (a track that has played many times with no problems so I know it's not the track itself) and when I tried to skip forward it stopped playing altogether, but the LED stayed on.
 
That probably explains why it looked like the player was locking up when I first got it - with low battery, it looks like the player is on, but it won't actually function. Solution? Give it some charge time and you're back to enjoying blissful sounds in no time at all!

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Testing finished. The Alien played for roughly 9.5 hours using a pair of Alessandro MS1i's (at moderate listening volume). Interestingly, the player seems to "freeze up" when it runs out of battery. It was still on according to the LED, but the sound started to skip / repeat on the same spot in the track (a track that has played many times with no problems so I know it's not the track itself) and when I tried to skip forward it stopped playing altogether, but the LED stayed on.
 
That probably explains why it looked like the player was locking up when I first got it - with low battery, it looks like the player is on, but it won't actually function. Solution? Give it some charge time and you're back to enjoying blissful sounds in no time at all!

Thank you muchly for all the pre testing Loquah. How are you finding navigating and getting around.

I gather each time you turn Alien on it starts from the first folder? Are you finding you tend to listen to the same albums a lot because of this.

Also, how quick can the device change folders, is it instant or a few seconds, for example I wanted to navigate to folder number 15 in a hurry.
 

 

[twister6]

Just to confirm, this is Wav/Flac *only* ?  No, mp3 support?

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Just to confirm, this is Wav/Flac *only* ?  No, mp3 support?

Yes, only WAV & FLAC. 

If it didn't have FLAC support forget it, that's the reason I never went ahead with Aune M1. (WAV only)

Even if you are an MP3 user, there's nothing stopping you from buying a card and begin collecting some FLAC albums.

I know many places they can be found such as bandcamp and.........

 

[twister6]

 

Yes, only WAV & FLAC. 

If it didn't have FLAC support forget it, that's the reason I never went ahead with Aune M1. (WAV only)

Even if you are an MP3 user, there's nothing stopping you from buying a card and begin collecting some FLAC albums.

I know many places they can be found such as bandcamp and.........

 
Gotta think about it.  Lack of display will drive me crazy, though I think this is more suitable when working out or biking where you don't care about song selection and rather hit random for continuous play.  I always wanted a solid small mp3 player that I can drop and toss around without a worry in the world.  Plus, the sound quality description really intrigues me.  Almost sounds like 3D space/separation of C5   I can always convert my mp3s to flac.  Btw, is there a clip or any attachment?
 
I had high hopes for HM700 which is very small and sturdy build (surprised it doesn't get as much love on head-fi), but to appreciate its full potential of 3D spacing you need to use balanced wired headphones, like a bundled RE400B it comes with.  Soundstage difference while listening to a regular RE400 from X5 and comparing to RE400B from HM700 is very noticeable.  So, I was hoping Alien can achieve that with any standard plugged headphones.  Or perhaps I should wait for whatever Shozy going to come up with next after Alien dap and Magic dac/amp...

 

[mochill]

I don't worry about a screen on my players, but only care about sound and build

 

[H20Fidelity]

   
Gotta think about it.  Lack of display will drive me crazy, though I think this is more suitable when working out or biking where you don't care about song selection and rather hit random for continuous play.  I always wanted a solid small mp3 player that I can drop and toss around without a worry in the world.  Plus, the sound quality description really intrigues me.  Almost sounds like 3D space/separation of C5   I can always convert my mp3s to flac.  Btw, is there a clip or any attachment?
 
I had high hopes for HM700 which is very small and sturdy build (surprised it doesn't get as much love on head-fi), but to appreciate its full potential of 3D spacing you need to use balanced wired headphones, like a bundled RE400B it comes with.  Soundstage difference while listening to a regular RE400 from X5 and comparing to RE400B from HM700 is very noticeable.  So, I was hoping Alien can achieve that with any standard plugged headphones.  Or perhaps I should wait for whatever Shozy going to come up with next after Alien dap and Magic dac/amp...

HM-700 is actually a decent player from my experience but the lack of a standard 3.5mm jack is a deal breaker. Well, more to the point that absolutely ridiculous included adapter one must use for standard IEMs. I actually enjoyed HM-700 more with Dunu DN-1000 than RE400B but in the end that thing had to go away from my house.

I'm with you on the no screen, but you've already picked up it may create variety what I listen too which for me is a good thing. When ones at a stage in this hobby (I don't know about you) when I just listen to the same 4-5 well mastered tracks all day with different gear I'm hoping something like Alien can change that but I also fear listening to only first 3 albums instead.

 

 

[Loquah]

It takes about 2-3 seconds to play once you switch albums, but it might be possible to keep skipping during that time - I'll have to check.

The fact that it always starts from the top when powered on is why I suggested a while back that a large number of folders isn't really ideal because it's unlikely you'll get to the middle ones often (you can skip back to get to the last folders easily).

Gapless lovers should know that there is a small gap between all tracks.

I'm about to commute with it for the first time today so will post some "real world" usage impressions later today.

 

[goodvibes]

  Ipod shuffle 1gen was distinguised from other DAPs out at the time because it was not capacitively coupled output.  I believe capacitively coupled will roll of the lows.  He conducted 40Hz square wave test with and without load(earbuds).  It's interesting how the shuffle was the only one that wasn't capacitively coupled of the group he tested at the time(includes 2 other ipods?

)
 

1. iPod Shuffle
2. Zen Micro
3. Dell DJ 20GB
4. 15GB iPod (3rd Generation)
5. iPod Mini 

 
http://home.comcast.net/~machrone/playertest/playertest.htm

It's not that they're capacitive coupled, It's that the coupling capacitors are too low a value for low impedance IEMs. All to common back then and not that unusual now either. It's not as bad a practice as some make it out to be as it can simplify circuit design. Of course quality of parts and voicing comes into play here as well.

 

[SilverEars]

  It's not that they're capacitive coupled, It's that the coupling capacitors are too low a value for low impedance IEMs. All to common back then and not that unusual now either. It's not as bad a practice as some make it out to be as it can simplify circuit design. Of course quality of parts and voicing comes into play here as well.

Wrong.  Have you looked at the site?  The square wave distorts from the capacitive output to the dynamic load.  
 
Quoted from the site: All but one of these players use single-ended, capacitively coupled output stages. It's an inexpensive and effective way to deliver acceptable, if not superb performance, but the size of the coupling capacitor and the impedance of the headphones have a significant effect on the player's ability to sustain a complex bass tone.