Alright, here's my review. Remember, this is just my initial impression after listening it for four or five hours.
It's subject to change. I'll post a follow-up tomorrow after I've gotten a few more hours on it.
The packing itself was very nice. The player comes in a small cardboard box with three compartments. The center contains the player, nicely stored in the purple carrying case. Yes, the carrying case is purple. Personally I think it's a nice little thing but if you don't like the colour then, well... You might want to get something else. Anyhow. The rechargable stand it comes with is pretty cheap. It gets the job done, but it gets it done with a lightweight plastic build that easily tips over and looks like it cost about $0.35 to make. Maybe this is a bit hard
but it's a cheap little thing. It also comes with a connecting cord, the remote, and the little earbuds.
The remote is plastic. It's the one-line one that the Japanese unit ships with. I personally like it. It seems a bit cheap, but it's easy to get used to and has everything you need at your fingers. Sony remotes usually have a small amount of buttons with a ton of features. This Sharp remote has ten buttons, plus a "Hold" switch for walking. It allows you to do absolutely everything fairly quickly. I guess I wish it wasn't so plasticky.
The player is beautiful. I got the silver model, and it's got to be one of the prettiest little things I've seen.
It's not quite as small as the e10, and it weighs twice as much. However, it's still damn light!
I can fit it in my shirt pocket and walk around. The nice thing is, you can use the player itself without the remote. The sound quality doesn't change incredibly with plugging the headphones into the player rather than the remote. It does improve the sound quality a little, though. I think that while walking outside I would never notice it and the convenience of the remote outweighs the the tiny sound change. (In my opinion.
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The sound of the player itself is outstanding! I have not had the chance to hear the e10 but to anyone considering between these two players like I was, I reccomend the ds8 fully. It just sounds so good! All ranges are just so, well, perfect. The ds8 really brings out clear and articulate highs, perfect mids, and whoa. What a bass.
Coming from the n505 I have to say, the ds8 is amazing. The one thing I wish the ds8 had was more sound. It has a 5mw amp and to listen comfortably I have to have the volume above 20 (out of 30). 23-25 is a comfortable level.
The dolby headphone system built into the thing is pretty neat. It somehow "rearranges" the sound to create different effects. The first time I turned it on I reached over and turned my speakers off. I thought they were on
but it was just the dolby system. It really seems like the music is coming out of speakers somewhere in the room. (That's on "studio" setting.) When switched to "live", the music gets much more forward. Paired with the grados this sounds pretty good.
It sounds great with the stock sharp earbuds too. When switched to the "dome" setting it sounds like the music is being played above you. It's strange, but it sounds good.
The earbuds that come with the ds8 are pretty decent. Their 4 pole connection seems to widen the sound out a lot, if that makes sense. The music is a lot more separated and, in my opinion, I think it makes it much easier to listen to. Of course, I have nothing other than the Grados to use for comparison. I've already posted what I thought they did to the sound.
They don't make it worse, of course. It's just different.
Well, this is the end of the first half of my review. I'll post more tomorrow after I've had time to listen to this thing more.
If any of you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them.
I just recieved my sharp ds8 from Audiocubes and I want to say it sounds great! If anyone's thinking of buying this little thing, go for it.
It looks pretty cool and has great sound quality. The dolby headphone option is pretty cool too. I'm not sure if I like it or not yet (I've only been listening for a few hours!) but it's certainly interesting. If you guys'd like I'll post more on what I feel about this little player.
