[Jeffyue]

Well, actually no matter how we complain on all these price hike, at the end of the day we are still going to sell our kidneys / wives to go after the last 5% right?

 

[seanwee]

Ya'll are lucky you aren't PC Enthusiasts then lol. Prices went up 100-200% due to a combination of increased component prices, high demand, low availability, price scalping and mining.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Well, actually no matter how we complain on all these price hike, at the end of the day we are still going to sell our kidneys / wives to go after the last 5% right?

Some of us are all out if kidneys and wifes tho...

 

[zen87192]

Some of us are all out if kidneys and wifes tho...

That’s true… I’m now onto my kids….

 

[ThanatosVI]

That’s true… I’m now onto my kids….

Smart...

 

[jmills8]

Well, actually no matter how we complain on all these price hike, at the end of the day we are still going to sell our kidneys / wives to go after the last 5% right?

Game gets strong when one is married or live with parents.

 

[zen87192]

ooooohh… Parents…. Wonder what I’d get for them….

 

[MarkParity]

ooooohh… Parents…. Wonder what I’d get for them….

Don't sell the parents that's where the money is. Better to bury them in the garden and claim the inheritance. Too dark, perhaps.

 

[Narrative]

I will express an unpopular opinion: the problem with modern pricing is partially solved by eliminating all unnecessary elements. What do I mean by "unnecessary elements": 1. High-performance processor. You can say whatever you want, but I don't understand why the DAPs need Snapdragon 660 and higher when a processor from the 400 series would be enough. I own a DAP built on a Rockchip processor, and even with such a processor I have no problems with the speed of the device. When they put processors and graphics in the DAPs that can run heavy 3D games, it looks ridiculous to me. 2. In the case of Cayin, the company's passion for tube amplifiers is questionable. A high-quality implementation of a tube amplifier in a DAP greatly affects the final price, and in the end... in the end, the solid-state amplifier still sounds better. Sad but true. 3. Display with the best matrix. I think it is obvious to everyone that DAPs do not need displays of the HIGHEST quality, you can implement displays and simpler ones — this is a DAP, not a smartphone. 4. Android OS. For some it is convenient, for others it is not, but there is no great need for Android on the DAP. Although I would be glad to get an opinion from Cayin on this matter — it is more expensive to implement Android on a DAP or create a Linux-based system from scratch, so do not be too strict with point 4.

This is not an axiom, but still, given such a strong rise in the cost of components, DAP manufacturers could take into account some of these comments and stop the arms race... at least for a while. Because it's pretty weird to see a DAP for the price of a car, huh.

In any case, the example of iBasso and Quloos shows that it is still possible to create players with an adequate price. So it’s still not that bad, guys.

 

[ThanatosVI]

2. In the case of Cayin, the company's passion for tube amplifiers is questionable. A high-quality implementation of a tube amplifier in a DAP greatly affects the final price, and in the end ... in the end, the solid-state amplifier still sounds better. Sad but true.

This is certainly not true.
If you prefer Solid state sound, that's totally fine, but there is no truth to the Statement that a solid state Implementation generally sounds better than a well done tube Implementation

 

[Narrative]

This is certainly not true.
If you prefer Solid state sound, that's totally fine, but there is no truth to the Statement that a solid state Implementation generally sounds better than a well done tube Implementation

Depends on personal taste, of course. But I was listening to the N8... Perhaps tube amplifiers sound better in a stationary implementation.

 

[Skullar]

Ya'll are lucky you aren't PC Enthusiasts then lol. Prices went up 100-200% due to a combination of increased component prices, high demand, low availability, price scalping and mining.

Unfortunately i am both. And i "need" to upgrade my rig towards end of the year.
Will be selling my 2 bengal cats furs soon...
Sphinx is also a cat you know.

I will express an unpopular opinion: the problem with modern pricing is partially solved by eliminating all unnecessary elements. What do I mean by "unnecessary elements": 1. High-performance processor. You can say whatever you want, but I don't understand why the DAPs need Snapdragon 660 and higher when a processor from the 400 series would be enough. I own a DAP built on a Rockchip processor, and even with such a processor I have no problems with the speed of the device. When they put processors and graphics in the DAPs that can run heavy 3D games, it looks ridiculous to me. 2. In the case of Cayin, the company's passion for tube amplifiers is questionable. A high-quality implementation of a tube amplifier in a DAP greatly affects the final price, and in the end... in the end, the solid-state amplifier still sounds better. Sad but true. 3. Display with the best matrix. I think it is obvious to everyone that DAPs do not need displays of the HIGHEST quality, you can implement displays and simpler ones — this is a DAP, not a smartphone. 4. Android OS. For some it is convenient, for others it is not, but there is no great need for Android on the DAP. Although I would be glad to get an opinion from Cayin on this matter — it is more expensive to implement Android on a DAP or create a Linux-based system from scratch, so do not be too strict with point 4.

This is not an axiom, but still, given such a strong rise in the cost of components, DAP manufacturers could take into account some of these comments and stop the arms race... at least for a while. Because it's pretty weird to see a DAP for the price of a car, huh.

In any case, the example of iBasso and Quloos shows that it is still possible to create players with an adequate price. So it’s still not that bad, guys.

I have touched the smartphone wannabe daps topic so many times... Just dont bother.... People are ok to pay 1k extra so their library does not lag ever 15 secs when scrolling down the library.
I will leave tune topic alone as i really dont like tube sound so cant comment on it at all.

 

[armstrj2]

Will be selling my 2 bengal cats furs soon...
Sphinx is also a cat you know.

That nearly made me spit out my tea

I have touched the smartphone wannabe daps topic so many times... Just dont bother.... People are ok to pay 1k extra so their library does not lag ever 15 secs when scrolling down the library.

Yep. People now expect their DAP to be as fluid as their smartphones. The only way for this to happen is with components that are capable of running games.

I think as Andy has pointed out before, small volume orders for components mean their hands are tied when picking chips etc and what is available is all aimed at running Android.

Also for streaming apps, which I think most people want now, you need to run Android. If you create your own OS or run a version of Linux you'd have to create bespoke apps for Tidal and Spotify and so on so that would be a nightmare.

I know people will say straightaway, "but I don't want Tidal so just get rid of Android" but I think most people do want these services now so that is what will prevail.

 

[ThanatosVI]

That nearly made me spit out my tea

Yep. People now expect their DAP to be as fluid as their smartphones. The only way for this to happen is with components that are capable of running games.

I think as Andy has pointed out before, small volume orders for components mean their hands are tied when picking chips etc and what is available is all aimed at running Android.

Also for streaming apps, which I think most people want now, you need to run Android. If you create your own OS or run a version of Linux you'd have to create bespoke apps for Tidal and Spotify and so on so that would be a nightmare.

I know people will say straightaway, "but I don't want Tidal so just get rid of Android" but I think most people do want these services now so that is what will prevail.

Yes I want a fluid experience on a DAP, just like on my Smartphone.
However, for basic music streaming Smartphones have been fluid a decade ago, I can't see why replicating that requires the fastest current CPUs.

I consider streaming Services for DAPs as the new Standard and incompatibility after a few years for an huge issue.

 

[armstrj2]

Yes I want a fluid experience on a DAP, just like on my Smartphone.
However, for basic music streaming Smartphones have been fluid a decade ago, I can't see why replicating that requires the fastest current CPUs.

I consider streaming Services for DAPs as the new Standard and incompatibility after a few years for an huge issue.

The issue happens when people dump 20K songs and cover art onto the DAP and that has to be indexed and the images rendered every time you scroll up and down a page. You need the capacity of the faster CPUs/GPUs and RAM to handle that or it lags.

I think most of the DAPs out there now are more than capable of running streaming services fluidly and could probably do it with far fewer resources but if the option is there to add terabytes of music and image files to the system then the resources need to be there to handle it.