[JAnonymous5150]

I got those NiceHCK Traceless buds with the mic, the mic is way too low though. It sits at like stomach level compared to the B40 where it's at your neck. They sound pretty good though but that big MX500 shell is only for limited listening to me. For office usage, I'll stick to either the B40 or Edifier H190 I have.

Btw anyone know of any good deals on an mp3 player right now under $100 or 150ish that has a really solid interface? My iPod Nano 7G has a great interface but the battery sucks and I've reached the 16 GB capacity even after compressing songs from 320 to 192 kbps. Obviously I'm not looking at the absolute best sounding DAP if I'm compressing songs down to 192 lol.

I would take a look at the Hifi Walker H2. They're $123 on Amazon and I love mine. I purchased mine to use while traveling after leaving my A&K Kann Alpha at home figuring it would basically be something I would give away when I got home because it would be subpar. Instead I have kept it around because it has a wonderful, slightly warm tone to it, plenty of detail, and quite a bit of power behind it to. The fact that it's easy to use, has a clickwheel, and is built like a tank is all just icing on the cake. I've enjoyed this little DAP so much that I'm actually putting together a little collection of low cost, non-Android players.

 

[dsonance]

I would take a look at the Hifi Walker H2. They're $123 on Amazon and I love mine. I purchased mine to use while traveling after leaving my A&K Kann Alpha at home figuring it would basically be something I would give away when I got home because it would be subpar. Instead I have kept it around because it has a wonderful, slightly warm tone to it, plenty of detail, and quite a bit of power behind it to. The fact that it's easy to use, has a clickwheel, and is built like a tank is all just icing on the cake. I've enjoyed this little DAP so much that I'm actually putting together a little collection of low cost, non-Android players.

It's $99.19 on Amazon right now, while the Black Friday deal lasts. I just got one.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

It's $99.19 on Amazon right now, while the Black Friday deal lasts. I just got one.

That is an absolutely fantastic deal! The H2 is a great low cost DAP. It has a great slightly warm tonality that lends a bit of musicality to it's presentation and can be great for pairing with with brighter leaning transducers. I love mine! Congrats on the new DAP. You'll have to let me know what you think of it once you've had some time with it.

 

[forestitalia]

That is an absolutely fantastic deal! The H2 is a great low cost DAP. It has a great slightly warm tonality that lends a bit of musicality to it's presentation and can be great for pairing with with brighter leaning transducers. I love mine! Congrats on the new DAP. You'll have to let me know what you think of it once you've had some time with it.

Looks just like my Dodocool

 

[FranQL]

Check out the Sony A55. I bought mine at $130 USD during sales first hand.

The stock form is a bit meh. But Mr Walkman has kindly provided a free firmware update that unlocks its potential:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-walkman-custom-firmware-non-android.943661/
https://www.mrwalkman.com/

With the firmware update, region locks are unlocked (so no volume cap), and you can customize it to 4 different sound signatures - bright to neutral to warm. The stock sound is buttery smooth and warm like the Sony housesound, but with the custom firmware, technicalities, layering and imaging are better. It sounds like a midFI DAP with the
custom firmware.

There is 2 way BT (very stable), and battery life is about 32 hours.

Only issue is the A55 cannot drive too demanding transducers.

over a year ago this sony was really cheap here, now it costs almost as much as the android model. I hope Mr Walkman does something for the NW a105

I would take a look at the Hifi Walker H2. They're $123 on Amazon and I love mine. I purchased mine to use while traveling after leaving my A&K Kann Alpha at home figuring it would basically be something I would give away when I got home because it would be subpar. Instead I have kept it around because it has a wonderful, slightly warm tone to it, plenty of detail, and quite a bit of power behind it to. The fact that it's easy to use, has a clickwheel, and is built like a tank is all just icing on the cake. I've enjoyed this little DAP so much that I'm actually putting together a little collection of low cost, non-Android players.

I have xduoo X3II, I got power and great sound, hard to think of an improvement for the price and what it offers

 

[ian91]

Can’t stand Serratus + megatron combo. Harsh, thin, strident.

That combo is pretty abrasive. Tubes are a good match for Serratus, leaning into expansive staging and smoothing some of the treble. I'm not a fan of the RU6 with any of my high impedance buds to be honest and I'm thinking of selling it on.

 

[o0genesis0o]

That combo is pretty abrasive. Tubes are a good match for Serratus, leaning into expansive staging and smoothing some of the treble. I'm not a fan of the RU6 with any of my high impedance buds to be honest and I'm thinking of selling it on.

Is there anything attractive about RU6 besides R2R gimmick? I'm very curious about that one but paying full retail for a device that likely sound poor just to write a review is kind of ... tricky. As far as I know, it is widely panned by measurement folks. Clear-headed ones like Precogvision are not on the R2R hypetrain either. Other reviewers seem to love the fuzzy sound of this dongle.

 

[ian91]

Is there anything attractive about RU6 besides R2R gimmick? I'm very curious about that one but paying full retail for a device that likely sound poor just to write a review is kind of ... tricky. As far as I know, it is widely panned by measurement folks. Clear-headed ones like Precogvision are not on the R2R hypetrain either. Other reviewers seem to love the fuzzy sound of this dongle.

It's not exactly fuzzy but it doesn't have great treble presentation (as Precog noted). It's very dry and mid-centric. I feel the limit of the dongle sits at my 64ohm buds. I do like the 'organic' texture of it, which I'm putting down to R2R, but it's not enough for me to keep it.

Have you heard the ifi Go Bar? It's very expensive but damn does it drive my buds gloriously. There's slightly less texture but the dynamism and staging is incredible for an on-the-go option. The only reason I'm hanging onto my Shanling M8 is because I'm using it to feed my Valhalla 2, otherwise I'd sell that and just keep the Go Bar.

 

[samandhi]

Is there anything attractive about RU6 besides R2R gimmick? I'm very curious about that one but paying full retail for a device that likely sound poor just to write a review is kind of ... tricky. As far as I know, it is widely panned by measurement folks. Clear-headed ones like Precogvision are not on the R2R hypetrain either. Other reviewers seem to love the fuzzy sound of this dongle.

I am personally not a fan of R2R either. The one thing that it has going for it is that you can play PCM natively though.

 

[FranQL]

Is there anything attractive about RU6 besides R2R gimmick? I'm very curious about that one but paying full retail for a device that likely sound poor just to write a review is kind of ... tricky. As far as I know, it is widely panned by measurement folks. Clear-headed ones like Precogvision are not on the R2R hypetrain either. Other reviewers seem to love the fuzzy sound of this dongle.

For example Tri TK2 is highly criticized and qualified as rubbish, with graphic tests of how the sound changes blah blah blah.... Sony NW a105 in ASR is rated even worse....

I adore both, so I guess I'm going against the many audiophile and technical absurd sentences I read. Or I just judge by what I hear, that it is music.

 

[o0genesis0o]

It's not exactly fuzzy but it doesn't have great treble presentation (as Precog noted). It's very dry and mid-centric. I feel the limit of the dongle sits at my 64ohm buds. I do like the 'organic' texture of it, which I'm putting down to R2R, but it's not enough for me to keep it.

Have you heard the ifi Go Bar? It's very expensive but damn does it drive my buds gloriously. There's slightly less texture but the dynamism and staging is incredible for an on-the-go option. The only reason I'm hanging onto my Shanling M8 is because I'm using it to feed my Valhalla 2, otherwise I'd sell that and just keep the Go Bar.

Interesting, no idea about the Go Bar. Thanks for the heads up. I'll try the Go Bar when I have a chance. My G5 chews all the dongles that I have, so I have not been looking for dongles for a while.

 

[o0genesis0o]

For example Tri TK2 is highly criticized and qualified as rubbish,

Really? I always remember that brick as an excellent device. I guess I have been reading too many Head-fi reviews

Sources are annoying beasts. I'll just grab a good brick and get it over with.

 

[FranQL]

Really? I always remember that brick as an excellent device. I guess I have been reading too many Head-fi reviews

Sources are annoying beasts. I'll just grab a good brick and get it over with.

I use it in combo with my sony, but keep in mind that I am not an expert in sources and I think that all the ones I use more than fulfill their function and I use them constantly with my transducers. I mean, there's nothing I have that I think is bad.

I don't have a DAP tolt because I think that paying that outrageous amount of money for it is not something that I can afford, given that I spend that amount I have other priorities in my day to day.

But instead of having variety, I think an All-in-one can be the best solution for anyone, hands down. However I have inexpensive DACs, DAPs and Amps.....

 

[o0genesis0o]

I use it in combo with my sony, but keep in mind that I am not an expert in sources and I think that all the ones I use more than fulfill their function and I use them constantly with my transducers. I mean, there's nothing I have that I think is bad.

I don't have a DAP tolt because I think that paying that outrageous amount of money for it is not something that I can afford, given that I spend that amount I have other priorities in my day to day.

But instead of having variety, I think an All-in-one can be the best solution for anyone, hands down. However I have inexpensive DACs, DAPs and Amps.....

Yup, those bricks are luxurious goods with limited shelf life (battery + unsupported android). Boy I want one, but in the end I settled with topping g5 strapped to an old phone. Clunky, but can be 10 times cheaper (vs the A&K SP2000). I imagine the TK2 is in the same class as G5.

 

[baskingshark]

For example Tri TK2 is highly criticized and qualified as rubbish, with graphic tests of how the sound changes blah blah blah.... Sony NW a105 in ASR is rated even worse....

I adore both, so I guess I'm going against the many audiophile and technical absurd sentences I read. Or I just judge by what I hear, that it is music.

Ironically, a lot of the so called good measuring sources (eg Topping) sound not so great to my ears. It seems like gaming the measurements to get the approval of the measurebators.

Then you have gear that don't do so well on measurements - eg Schiit, Sony etc - that sound superb.