[glassmonkey]

  Clean detailed but not at all clinical, there is a good solid foundation in the bass and smooth mids that are neither in your face nor lost on the back. A Cowon P1 with a bit more detail and air, better battery life and streaming! Borderline my ideal DAP. Really sings with CE6P, I will try the Edition S and hopefully I will find something a bit more exotic to pair it with during headroom. 

I'll be at Headroom Saturday. This sounds like a photo-op waiting to happen. It's always nice to put faces and names to usernames.

 

[vrapan]

  I'll be at Headroom Saturday. This sounds like a photo-op waiting to happen. It's always nice to put faces and names to usernames.

Sure why not! 

 

[glassmonkey]

Some more impressions/observations:

1. You can feel the Class A amplification as it does get a bit of warmth going.
2. Sideloading apps is easier if you download using computer and then transfer over (I used apk-mirror)
3. The program that Echobox showed in a video is APK Pure. I didn't use it to download anything--Google Play store attempted install didn't work from APK Pure.
4. microSD card reloads every time the Echobox shuts down (only takes about 10 seconds, but still annoying). Have to wait till errors are checked to do anything, or risk having to restart the device.
5. The amplifier is works better higher in the volume control. The UERR had to be turned up louder than my normal listening to fully open up, which is not the case on other players (might also be volume control issue). A software gain control would help with this (could be a flat sound reduction for 'low' gain). I think this is doable, as it has been done by others in Android
6. It sounded excellent with the Meze 11 Neos and the and the RHA CL750. The mids have excellent clarity and female and male vocals are nice. There is good separation between instruments and a natural feel to the stage. 
7. Noble K10E have soft very subtle hiss. Many won't even know it's there.
8. UAPP update will be rolled out soon, may solve some UAPP problems (volume control?)
9. Clicking between the tracks is a common hardware issue that they are working on
10. Have had some tracks not play the first few seconds, but it isn't consistent and happens mostly in UAPP.
11. WiFi interferes a bit with sensitive, low impedance headphones. Generally silent once music playback begins but buzzing and blipping can be heard when music isn't playing. Tested turning WiFi on and off, and other devices without WiFi. It's definitely the WiFi.

 

[bearFNF]

My explorer arrived and is sounding very good.
 
A few niggles:
The top focus should be to get rid of the "tick" or pop between tracks. (I did notice that the "tick" only happens when hitting play or skip forward in tidal and UAAP. if you just let it play to the end and go to the next track there is no "tick" that I can hear.
 
I also found it difficult to get my sd card seated. the socket is too deep. If you have long finger nails this might not be an issue. I had to use a paper clip to push it in far enough to click into place.
 
The stock media player "music" has no "exit' that I could find. (I meet just be missing it???) had to force shut down for settings/apps.
 
Tidal is working very well.
 
UAAP works well
 
200 Gig sandisk scanned very fast. 167gig on the card. all flac
 
It got warm to the touch after charging and now after playing for about half an hour it is still warm but not any thing to worry about yet.

 

[ElMariachi]

Some more impressions/observations:

• You can feel the Class A amplification as it does get a bit of warmth going.
• Sideloading apps is easier if you download using computer and then transfer over (I used apk-mirror)
• The program that Echobox showed in a video is APK Pure. I didn't use it to download anything--Google Play store attempted install didn't work from APK Pure.
• microSD card reloads every time the Echobox shuts down (only takes about 10 seconds, but still annoying). Have to wait till errors are checked to do anything, or risk having to restart the device.
• The amplifier is works better higher in the volume control. The UERR had to be turned up louder than my normal listening to fully open up, which is not the case on other players (might also be volume control issue). A software gain control would help with this (could be a flat sound reduction for 'low' gain). I think this is doable, as it has been done by others in Android
• It sounded excellent with the Meze 11 Neos and the and the RHA CL750. The mids have excellent clarity and female and male vocals are nice. There is good separation between instruments and a natural feel to the stage. 
• Noble K10E have soft very subtle hiss. Many won't even know it's there.
• UAPP update will be rolled out soon, may solve some UAPP problems (volume control?)
• Clicking between the tracks is a common hardware issue that they are working on
• Have had some tracks not play the first few seconds, but it isn't consistent and happens mostly in UAPP.
• WiFi interferes a bit with sensitive, low impedance headphones. Generally silent once music playback begins but buzzing and blipping can be heard when music isn't playing. Tested turning WiFi on and off, and other devices without WiFi. It's definitely the WiFi.

What app did you use to test out volume? Were you using the volume icon in UAPP?

 

[glassmonkey]

 

Some more impressions/observations:

1. The amplifier is works better higher in the volume control. The UERR had to be turned up louder than my normal listening to fully open up, which is not the case on other players (might also be volume control issue). A software gain control would help with this (could be a flat sound reduction for 'low' gain). I think this is doable, as it has been done by others in Android
2. UAPP update will be rolled out soon, may solve some UAPP problems (volume control?)
3. Clicking between the tracks is a common hardware issue that they are working on
4. WiFi interferes a bit with sensitive, low impedance headphones. Generally silent once music playback begins but buzzing and blipping can be heard when music isn't playing. Tested turning WiFi on and off, and other devices without WiFi. It's definitely the WiFi.

What app did you use to test out volume? Were you using the volume icon in UAPP?

The volume testing referenced above was using the volume knob. Volume control is clearer using the UAPP in app control.

Sam has indicated that my WiFi issue may indicate that I got a defective unit, as this was a problem in previous units that was supposed to be fixed. Sam uses the Noble K10 and has no issues. So this problem may be mine alone. We'll be seeing if the firmware update fixes it, but I'm doubtful, as this type of WiFi issue came up on early development model Cayin i5s and they had to redesign the WiFi shielding.

 

[bearFNF]

LOL... I just got a tracking number for my Explorer that arrived yesterday. Heh..

So far no issues with WiFi for me. Will take it to work today and see how it goes.

 

[silverstare11]

@makethemusic Is there an official list of known issues that we can reference?  If so, how can we review it?  If not, can you drum one up, please?    I'm sure it'd be annoying for us early adopters to continually bug you about stuff your team is already addressing.
 
And if we stumble upon an issue that isn't on said list, how would you prefer that we report it to you and your team (email, a specific forum, FB, etc)?

 

[glassmonkey]

  @makethemusic Is there an official list of known issues that we can reference?  If so, how can we review it?  If not, can you drum one up, please?    I'm sure it'd be annoying for us early adopters to continually bug you about stuff your team is already addressing.
 
And if we stumble upon an issue that isn't on said list, how would you prefer that we report it to you and your team (email, a specific forum, FB, etc)?

That is a very good suggestion. Some of my issues may be unique to my unit, but it would be nice to have a list of known issues.
 
 

LOL... I just got a tracking number for my Explorer that arrived yesterday. Heh..

So far no issues with WiFi for me. Will take it to work today and see how it goes.

I had that happen for me, but my 'tracking' email didn't have a tracking number. Double weird.

 

[makethemusic]

Hey all,

As per your request, here is a short list of known issues on the Explorer we are currently working on addressing:

1) Clicking noise
2) SD Card mounting/unmounting issues
3) Gapless playback issues in UAPP
4) Bluetooth volume issues in UAPP
5) Home button stops music (btw, a nice work around is to multitask and access the home screen using the "expose" button)

Please keep the feedback coming! You guys are our world class QA testing team, and doing a great job!

 

[ElMariachi]

Hey all,

As per your request, here is a short list of known issues on the Explorer we are currently working on addressing:

1) Clicking noise
2) SD Card mounting/unmounting issues
3) Gapless playback issues in UAPP
4) Bluetooth volume issues in UAPP
5) Home button stops music (btw, a nice work around is to multitask and access the home screen using the "expose" button)

Please keep the feedback coming! You guys are our world class QA testing team, and doing a great job!

Thanks Sam! Can we please add Hardware Volume for UAPP to that list?

 

[bearFNF]

Works great with my Sennheiser PXC 550 NC headphones via Bluetooth.
 
Listened on and off all day today at work, no issues with Wi-Fi.
 
Will be switching to my Roxanne's next to see how they pair up.
 
So far loving the sound, very nice with good space and definition. The Roxanne's will be the ultimate test as they are very sensitive and I know exactly what they should sound like.

 

[AdVL]

I got mine yesterday and I'm loving the sound of it - I've used it with my Grado 325i's and T70p's and they both sound very clear but more full bodied and warm (I have changed the pads on both of them which already helped in that regard)
 
However, my unit is making all kinds of switching / clicking sounds when its not even turned on - its just sitting on my desk right now clicking away every 20 seconds.  It was doing similar stuff last night and this morning but its not continual (I had it at work today and don’t think it was doing it most of the time)
 
I also noticed that the specs on the website say the Explorer has 2GB of RAM but mine only seems to have 1GB?

 

[makethemusic]

Thanks Sam! Can we please add Hardware Volume for UAPP to that list?

Are you referring to the Hardware Volume option in the settings menu? If so, this is actually for the control of the hardware volume of an external device, not the Explorer. To my knowledge it works just fine, but there are only a select handful of devices it works with. 

 

[makethemusic]

  Works great with my Sennheiser PXC 550 NC headphones via Bluetooth.
 
Listened on and off all day today at work, no issues with Wi-Fi.
 
Will be switching to my Roxanne's next to see how they pair up.
 
So far loving the sound, very nice with good space and definition. The Roxanne's will be the ultimate test as they are very sensitive and I know exactly what they should sound like.

I have the Layla customs, and love them with the Explorer! Also, JH Audio used the Explorer at the recent NAMM show in LA to demo the Siren's, and the feedback was excellent. Keep us posted with your thoughts!