EDIT: Hisound Audio to Release New DAP Product-Line (NOVA with micro SD card support)
Jan 22, 2013 at 1:55 AM Post #528 of 1,083
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iirc all DAP have their own built in amp, it just so happen they are often not capable of driving a set of can , thus the need for amps


There's a difference Retrias to hisound products and most other DAPs out there. Hisound has an separate amp stage while most daps have the amp/DAC integrated all in one chip (like Sansa).
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 2:21 AM Post #529 of 1,083
Oh ? thats is new never knew that before. why is it made that way? what is the pro and cons on the player when they built a sepparate amp stage ? , would we be in a sense double amping when we use it with another amp?
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 3:12 AM Post #530 of 1,083
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Oh ? thats is new never knew that before. why is it made that way? what is the pro and cons on the player when they built a sepparate amp stage ? , would we be in a sense double amping when we use it with another amp?

 
The benefit of what they are doing is that you get more power and in that a better sound quality as well. Hisound DAPs are known to be quite powerful in comparison to your average DAPs.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 3:48 AM Post #531 of 1,083
Wondering anyone have the problem when using folder mode. After playing song in that mode, I unable to back to main menu, it will go to now playing song. I'm still using the factory firmware. Is the new firmware fix this?
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 4:05 AM Post #532 of 1,083
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Wondering anyone have the problem when using folder mode. After playing song in that mode, I unable to back to main menu, it will go to now playing song. I'm still using the factory firmware. Is the new firmware fix this?


Hmm sounds like what their other players do as well.... I was hoping they'd have fixed that by now....
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 4:55 AM Post #533 of 1,083
Quote:
Oh ? thats is new never knew that before. why is it made that way? what is the pro and cons on the player when they built a sepparate amp stage ? , would we be in a sense double amping when we use it with another amp?

These SOC chips often have options for amp or not and even if not, the performance of a chip like that will increase in all areas if it's output stage isn't drawing current of it's marginal voltage tracks. When the first amp is low power, it's really not much different than a pre-amp. You can't make a crappy sounding amp a good sounding one but you can make a good sounding amp that may not behave that way driving loads, much better while freeing up the codecs etc at the same time. For instance, you can even make a something that measures great like a clip+ slightly better with the right amp simply because it will have more solidity and control while demanding less of the clip itself.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 11:11 AM Post #534 of 1,083
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Wondering anyone have the problem when using folder mode. After playing song in that mode, I unable to back to main menu, it will go to now playing song. I'm still using the factory firmware. Is the new firmware fix this?


You have to hold the upper left button.
 
 
But we need a firmware update because the software is very unstable. I had to reset the player 3 times in 4 days...
1st time after changing the language
2nd time while setting user eq settings
3rd time the player didn't start
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 2:17 PM Post #535 of 1,083
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I received my N1 + Wooduo 2 today. Here are my first impressions:
 
Note: I don't have experience with other HIFI-players, therefore my comment may not be useful for everyone.
I can only compare them to my Creative Zen X-Fi 2 (standard consumer grade) + Ultimate Ears 700 (newer, more neutral revision).
Plus, my English is not the best...
 
It is paired with PAA-1 Pro, not PAA-1 vanilla.
 
The design is very stylish and the build quality is at average. The touchpad and UI work without problems, I didn't mistype so far. Only the German translation sucks, but English is ok.
 
It can read my microsd cards (8 GB and 16 GB class 10) without rebuilding them (you have direct access to the card), BUT every song has to load for about 1 second. The worst part of it: the first second of every song is cut off! I hope this can be fixed with a firmware.
 
Sound quality (comparison to Zen X-Fi 2):
- everything is more crisp and detailed (I can't be more specific at the moment)
- better sound stage and instrument separation
- slightly more hiss, but not very annoying
- the Zen X-Fi 2 eq options like the "crystalizer" make everything worse, while N1's options "Hi-Fi", "HSA V1.0" and "Wooduo" are useful for different kinds of music
 
BUT, like I said, I don't know how it compares with other Hi-Fi players...
 
Wooduo 2 vs. UE 700 (new Logitech revision)
- more bass in quality and quantity. But it's not too bassy, even albums with lots of bass (like Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik or Rage Against The Machine's debut album) sound great
- highs are more detailed, I can hear things I never noticed before
- highs can be too harsh at specific songs like Painkiller from Judas Priest when Hi-Fi profile is chosen (UE 700 doesn't have that problem, maybe the old revision)
- I'm still indecisive which one has better/more detailed mids... Wooduo 2 focuses more on lows and highs
- more hiss
- UE 700 is more neutral
- UE 700 has slightly better isolation and is smaller
 
In my opinion, the Wooduo profile of the N1 has too harsh highs (when paired with Wooduo 2), I like the Hi-Fi profile the most. The Wooduo profile boots lows and highs, therefore it might be good for "flatly" produced music.


I agree with Pyrrho, the Wooduo EQ is too harsh on the highs.  Hi-fi is a better option.  I have also been trying the User setting with totally flat EQ.  It's not bad, but doesn't sound as 'sexy' because all of the other EQs are highly boosted!  You have to jack the volume right up, but if the environment is not too noisy, better for me to have this accuracy.  If any user has time/effort to equalise the Wooduo2 with the N1 (see the tutorial on head-fi somewhere), that would be great!  Although it's only a basic 5-band graphic EQ so might not be accurate enough to be worth it (I don't know, maybe someone more knowledgable can comment).
 
I ordered a 32GB Class 4 Micro SD (as per Jack's post elsewhere).  Will confirm if it works. If anyone has successfully loaded a 64GB card, of whichever class, that would be good to hear about.
 
The cutoff at the start of flac files is becoming increasingly annoying too.  I hope this is not one of those issues that go on for years on the forums (like gapless playback :))
 
Luckily the firmware (updated one) is stable for me, and navigation etc. pretty intuitive.  I only play music from the folder/directory menu, and have not had a problem unlike another user mentioned.  The internal amp in this things is a big big plus for me, my old Fuze will seem forever underpowered now...as for sound quality, still haven't compared, maybe this weekend.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 9:35 PM Post #536 of 1,083
Yup. My preference of EQ is Hi-Fi too. Yesterday I paired with PAA-1 Pro. As many review said is a good earbud, so I give it a try. Well is really not bad. Quite like it too. Different sound compare with my FAD Adagio II. Now I let it burn-in and see how it response later. When I use FAD Adagio II, I can listen nicely at volume 10, but for PAA-1 Pro it need around level 20. I noticed one more thing, when the screen is up, the hiss sound is quite strong but when it off then seem like not much already. :)
 
Another thing is if I using locked screen, the screen won't sleep? Something that I don't like. Others player also like this? This is my first DAP. The cutoff of 1 sec is really a turnoff. Hope new firmware will solve that. Anywhere I still not yet update mine.
 
Now I have another problem with the front panel, it is coming out. Not sure is it the glue that they used is not stick well in between. Hope they can response soon to me.
 
Jan 23, 2013 at 3:22 AM Post #537 of 1,083
Hello,
 
i have loaded my NOVA with a 64 gb class 10 card and this is working for now on.
 
The music that is on the sd card is not showing under the onglet "Music", is it that so by everyone?
 

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