[Sasaki]

http://vaiopocket.up.seesaa.net/image/amp3e.jpghttp://vaiopocket.up.seesaa.net/imag...thumbnail2.jpg

As the title suggests, this is not read as "amp-three". No Amp1 nor Amp2 here. This is a "Audiophile MP3" player. Also, A is for Affordable, Accurate reproduction and so on. As the name implies, this is a one-piece solution for us portable amp lovers who does not happy with DAP alone.
We will have HifiMan at higher-end which have 96/24 capability, but some may need more budget and even smaller solution.

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I got AMP3 from Jaben at $178 include shipping to Japan.
They offered me an intro price. You can also buy this from hisound directory.

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The build quality is better than I expected, solid and well built. Small but thick, a bit heavy but that is no actual problem.

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As for the spec, please refer to hisound audio web-site. The leftmost picture is AMP3.
I use Transend MicroSDHC 8GB and Panasonic MicroSD 2GB. Both works well.

Sound-wise, surely this is very nice. Detailed, crisp and lively as others stated. Soundstage is wide and impressive, bass is punchy and

dynamic. The sound is audio-gear-like, this may be a step beyond from ordinal DAPs, comparable to budget external amps.
I prefer loss-less but I changed my mind a bit with trying this. I thought lossy data is harsh and life-less, but the MP3 sound from AMP3

is vivid and dynamic.

However, there is a flaw. Background hiss/static is fairly evident. Needless to say for UE11, and this is noticeable even with ordinal 16

ohm IEMs. But it's totally gone using YUIN PK1 or OK1. As long as I am listening with PK1/OK1, AMP3 is remarkable.

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The accessory ear-buds are also nice . This ear-buds looks cheapish but sounding good. HD25-1 and ESW9/10 is good too. You will have a good <br />
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bass with them.<br />
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AMP3 has a line-in plug and it works as a portable amp.
iMod+AMP3 is better than AMP3 alone. This mean the amp portion of AMP3 is nice but player/dac portion is not so good. So there is a room

to improve.
Although works as an external portable amp, hissing still exists. I guess the hissing is come from amp circuit.

Operation-wise, here is another issue. First, screen is too small to display long titles. (though it scrolls)
You need MP3 tags to be correctly filled to navigate, no directory navigation like Rockbox. I use Wave file for AMP3, so this is a issue.

But AMP3 works as a "shuffle" DAP using random play mode. I use this mostly.
Responses are not slow, this is a good thing.

I think this is a nice concept product but still has some major issues.
I hope the next version clear them, especially hissing.
I wanted to use this with ES3X or UE11, it would be a great compact combo.