I was searching for a neutral sounding, transforming the sound to the headphone without changing anything, DAP under $1k, but every DAP I found colored the sound in some way. According to the reviews DX 200 is the perfect product. My search is finally over?
Ok, long read here.
Spoiler : the dx200 is worth every pennies, and if you are not satisfied with it performances, keep moving on. Most importantly, known your preferences well, and personally audition it out before purchasing.....Neutrality does not exist under a perfected definition, and here is why
Speaking from experiences, all DAP will color the sound in some way. Even desktop pieces, so let alone talking about under $1k bracket. But that depends on how you look at your definition of “coloration”. Precisely speaking, for DAP in general, the Dx200 can be said to be all about neutrality and airy presentation, so it does compromise some to gain some just like any other DAP. What most important is that it compromises less than it can perform which rake it into “high-end category” and for it price, and versatility, the Dx200 is a steal for the money. The Dx200 can easily be comparable to other much more expensive DAP at over 3x pricing, it depends on personal preferences, and with amp modules, the Dx200 has great capability to satisfy some one needs.
Again, just like their DAP, the amp modules are all about neutral signature and airy presentation, but the latest amp 8 module is the most differences where it may emphasize the sub bass and mid bass in some way that may be enjoyable for some, and bothering to some others (definitely a little more bass and warm favoring module which make it stands out the most of the rest of other modules)
In my experiences and opinion, Neutral “words” is throwing around irresponsibly, even high-end equipments can not all be neutral, and should not all be neutral, hence in reality even high-end still have some colorations done here and there. What matter most is the striking into the “tonal balances or the timbres of each instruments, and play”. In order to reach this, people have to match and listen carefully to chose between which piece is to pair with another to get the “desired result”. For example, an amp can be emphasizing that airy treble from mid to upper section, and the rest of it is very realistic in tonal body balances, so he/she has to find a headphones that is not emphasizing anything on the low to mid spectrum but will need to have warmer emphasis in the mid to upper section of the treble spectrum and balances it out. This action is called “synergies”.
Even with carefully matching and “synergize” between all pieces, there will still be sections of the spectrum in general to be “off balances”, because there is nothing perfect, only close to it....and this is where you would have to look into “cable upgrades”. But even so, there will still not be perfection.
In the end, the word “neutral signature” is very irresponsibly tossed around, period. When you look at a device this way, there is only 1 thing left , the “price to performances ratio”. If the DAP is high-end and the price is high-end, it is a good buy, if it is mid performer and the price is high-end, it is a rip off, and if the performances is high-end and the price is mid-performers ? It is a steal. *how to judge ? Experiences! Which ever compromises the least but performs more will mostly be high-end”. There are 3 main things to categorize them: Tonal body and it density, Soundstage and imagines presentation, detail retrieval. Any high-end DAP will compromise 1 for other 2, where as Mid-performers May strike to excel at 1, compromise some in 2 others, and beginner tier is introducing people all of these 3 sections in their musics without breaking a bank and not excel at any of them specifically. *the dx200 compromises tonal body and it density for great soundstage and imagines with great detail retrieval*
The Dx200 is a steal for the money, except if you are looking to pair with multi driver iems , be wary about the “hiss”, and under such situation, it is better to personally try it out with your earbuds before making decision to purchase. I sold my WM1Z to be out of portable gears due to whatever I just explained above as I have Stax system....but here I have Dx200Titanium.
This is where I give my hat off to many Chinese origin products for Hi-Fi enthusiasts, as a hobby, many of their products are greatly design and engineered with performances that can jawdrop and competitive to very expensive products of other brands.
