[flymetothemoon]

  @flymetothemoon It's kind-of scary. I was lent a vintage DAC once, knowing nothing about it. On first listen I thought "It sounds like it has tubes or OPA627s in it." and on the latter guess I was right! 
 
A bit of an aside: I have contemplated the argument that the differences between a lot of these DAPs and DACs is really too small to matter. I've found those small differences to add up over many hours of listening. My air conditioner uses only half a cent more for each degree I turn it down during summer, but during the hot, humid summers here that adds up to a lot when you have it switched on all day and night almost the whole time!
 
Back to the Calyx (since I'm listening now) and I like it again. It's a bit clinical sounding (relatively) but not in a bad way. Someone who'd never heard anything more expensive sure as heck wouldn't notice and would be very impressed. In the absence of any experience with the new AK players it is on my recommended list, if one can tolerate how slowly it scans media. An almost full 128 GB micro-SD card takes quite a while to scan. I'm just going to leave it switched on and plug it into USB to charge when I'm not using it. I need to work out if I can get playlists onto it too.

Currawong,
 
I never paid attention to what chip a DAC is using and only care about how it sounds.  
 
After my previous home system was sold, Lavry DA11 was introduced by my brother and I entered the world of CAS with a pair of Adam S2x.  Over the last 3 years, the original CAS was gone and replaced by the current Meitner MA1 & a bigger brother Adam S3x.  
 
Not sure what chip that Meitner is using and this machine sounds amazing as it decodes income digital signal only in the form of DSD (converting all incoming PCMs to DSD before decoding).  It has a very open but musical sound signature and I've been using it for over two years now and I'm quite sure that I will stick with it for a long time to come.
 
I'm now craving for RWAK to my 240 and not quite sure how it brings (apart from reading what Vinnie wrote on his site).  Any experience here you can share (RW vs. stock)?
 
Cheers
 
Fly 

 

[Currawong]

The RWAK240 is warmer though the bass and mids, but I am starting to wonder if it doesn't deviate away from neutral. I say this because I was comparing the X5/Pico Power with the AK240 and RWAK240. It is a bit like the Audeze planars in that they can sound a bit too thick in the mid-bass, though that maybe isn't a really great comparison.  Anyway, ultimately it means vocals sound darker and more intimate. With some music the difference isn't really noticeable. I think it affects some frequencies more than others. I'm also not sure if the caps don't need some use before they settle down. 

 

[flymetothemoon]

  The RWAK240 is warmer though the bass and mids, but I am starting to wonder if it doesn't deviate away from neutral. I say this because I was comparing the X5/Pico Power with the AK240 and RWAK240. It is a bit like the Audeze planars in that they can sound a bit too thick in the mid-bass, though that maybe isn't a really great comparison.  Anyway, ultimately it means vocals sound darker and more intimate. With some music the difference isn't really noticeable. I think it affects some frequencies more than others. I'm also not sure if the caps don't need some use before they settle down. 

Thanks for sharing.
 
How new is your RWAK?  Yes, you might need to further evaluate if the RW just returned from Vinnie.  For sure the mod will change the electrical characteristic from the stock and thus affect the SQ balance and thus you've found some frequency is more obvious while the other don't.  

 

[cooperpwc]

   
That's very helpful. What was wrong with the tags on the files?

 
It is difficult to say what went wrong with the rips. They played fine in Foobar. What I did for the version of the files that I would transfer to the M was to strip them of all tags in Foobar. Then I used the Foobar numbering tool to renumber them and retagged them with the band and album. There was no need to retag the song names (thank god) since the M firmware looks through to the original file names in such situations and displays those transparently.
 
The challenge for you is gong to be to figure out which files have the corrupted/unsupported tags. Only those ones did for me and I identified it by the problem emerging when I installed them. All of my other files are fine.

 

[kkcc]

 
The worse an ES9018 is set up, the more "flat" the music sounds, such as the DAC 24/192 using USB from a computer as source and power. 
The worse a BB/TI DAC is set up (either the old R2R ones or new SD ones) the more harsh and unpleasant they sound, eg: Luxman DA100 and DA200.
The worse a Wolfson is set up, it just loses resolution (which is why I think they were more popular in portable devices). They fail gracefully.
The worse a Cirrus Logic DAC is set up, the more dull they sound.
AKM DACs seem to have something of a graceful failure too. They seem to sound OK regardless of what they are in from cheap to expensive.
 

 
Very concise summary that I am finding out myself the costly way...!   I'd need to borrow this quote whenever trying to respond to questions regarding generic DAC chips characteristics on a high/macro level..... 

 

[Currawong]

I might have to change my wording on the Cirrus Logic DACs to "excessively smooth" or something. Some people seem to like that though.

 

[soundblast75]

Currawong, Go try the new Sony's please

 

[toears]

Hahha i dream about it too... Then woke up when the thought of my wife strangling me when she knew i blew 2.5k on a gadget haha

Tjen I'm not insane. Or just as much you guys.. I woke up with an idea about a long dream comparing saps..

 

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

Today I was listening to the 901 with the new FW with discrete amp card and my NT6 with Beat Oslo II cable...well as much as I like the RWAK240, well the 901 remains my best sounding DAP. So impressive everytime. Even if the Hugo is technically superior, the 901 has that something.

 
Well that makes it REALLY hard for me to go and buy a 240 now, I was so close. Maybe I should just get a 901. I JUST DON"T FRIGGIN KNOW NYMORE!

 

[zachchen1996]

   
I JUST DON"T FRIGGIN KNOW NYMORE!

 
I'm in the same boat!
Patiently waiting for the perfect DAP for me to come out...
(really hoping either the FiiO X7 or Geek Wave XD 128 will do it for me)

 

[warrior1975]

I really think the x7 will be something very special. The X3 is quite good, I feel one of the best values out there. Fiio does an amazing job for the prices they charge.

 

[toears]

I mostly use the Hugo as USB DAC honestly. Stacks are too complicated for me. If I wanted to stack, I would not spend 2.5k$ on a DAP. But if the RWAK240 is not almost perfect, it will up for sale. To be honest though, the 901 is more natural and musical but the clarity of the AK240 is refreshing, without sounding a bit artificial like on the ZX1.

Which one of the three has the funniest and honest sound?

 

[Mimouille]

It really depends on the pairing.

 

[warrior1975]

Mim, which do you prefer with your Ref 1? Mine sounds incredible with all of my players but especially nice with my Rwak120b.

 

[Fungus]

Is the amp section of the x5 identical to the fiio x3? 
 
I heard the x3 amp section on high gain will have higher output volume. Is this true?
 
Also can the battery for both be easily replaced (soldered on the circuit board/accessible by removing a few screws of the case)?