[davidcotton]

Lotoo Paw Gold Touch I believe.

Thanks, no wonder I didn't recognize it. That one's just a little outside my comfort zone spending wise

 

[gc335]

Thanks, no wonder I didn't recognize it. That one's just a little outside my comfort zone spending wise

No problem!! Haha, same here!! I'd love to at least try it one of these days. My DX150 is serving me well for now![/QUOTE]

 

[491326]

Thanks, no wonder I didn't recognize it. That one's just a little outside my comfort zone spending wise

I believe the cayin n8 is the same if not a little more pricey. I'm amazed the store is just gonna put then there open for demo. But then again, how else would they entice me

 

[deafdoorknob]

managed to get some additional headtime with the SD5, based on reviews and impressions of others, i really thought i would love but alas, it was not to be.

The great: it has one of the best bass of any BA iems i have tried, it’s very close to good DD bass, hard hitting, propulsive and well textured.

On well recorded tracks, together with the mids and treble, it sounds dynamic and exciting as all get out, reminding me of a brasher, rawer VE8.

The good: lively, clear upper mids dominant and sparkly, relatively detailed treble that is relatively free of sibilance. Well layered for a forward presentation.

The ok: Due to its very forward, projected in your face presentation, while it does width well, it doesnt really do depth. lower mids presentation is dry.

The “not to my taste”: broad upper mids-lower treble emphasis that, on already forward or compressed recordings, becomes strident and (too) raw sounding. There is a very slight “telephonic” quality to vocals that are recorded hot. not as extreme as the cupped colouration on, say, CFA polaris but past my own comfort levels. Note that if you listen to largely well recorded music, this may not present itself at all.

TL;DR think a bolder, less refined VE8 with remarkably textured and visceral bass and forward quasi DF upper mids lower treble that is a little too intense for me.

 

[gc335]

What's a cheap dap (under $200) suitable for iems? ie doesn't hiss with sensitive iems

@Mimouille
Dear sir,
How would you compare the se5u with the ve8? I figure if I'm considering getting an electro or ve6, I might as well get the se5u instead (blind buy) (sorry @Deezel177). I'm really curious why people are so torn about the se5u.

Be on the lookout for a used Pioneer XDP series 100 or 300. I have the 100R and seriously like it. It is on the analytical/cold side but zero hiss and great with warmish IEMs. I have the ES60s which is very sensitive and I never had any issues.

 

[noplsestar]

managed to get some additional headtime with the SD5, based on reviews and impressions of others, i really thought i would love but alas, it was not to be.

The great: it has one of the best bass of any BA iems i have tried, it’s very close to good DD bass, hard hitting, propulsive and well textured.

On well recorded tracks, together with the mids and treble, it sounds dynamic and exciting as all get out, reminding me of a brasher, rawer VE8.

The good: lively, clear upper mids dominant and sparkly, relatively detailed treble that is relatively free of sibilance. Well layered for a forward presentation.

The ok: Due to its very forward, projected in your face presentation, while it does width well, it doesnt really do depth. lower mids presentation is dry.

The “not to my taste”: broad upper mids-lower treble emphasis that, on already forward or compressed recordings, becomes strident and (too) raw sounding. There is a very slight “telephonic” quality to vocals that are recorded hot. not as extreme as the cupped colouration on, say, CFA polaris but past my own comfort levels. Note that if you listen to largely well recorded music, this may not present itself at all.

TL;DR think a bolder, less refined VE8 with remarkably textured and visceral bass and forward quasi DF upper mids lower treble that is a little too intense for me.

have you heard the PP8? If yes, how would they compare?

 

[davidcotton]

Be on the lookout for a used Pioneer XDP series 100 or 300. I have the 100R and seriously like it. It is on the analytical/cold side but zero hiss and great with warmish IEMs. I have the ES60s which is very sensitive and I never had any issues.

Bit on the large side though, which is one of the few downsides I had with it.

 

[gc335]

Bit on the large side though, which is one of the few downsides I had with it.

I haven't tried it personally but look into the Hiby R3 or maybe one of the new Fiio DAPs. M6/M9.

 

[KuroKitsu]

my iem store now has the big three 4.4mm daps

thats like... 9000 usd or something right...

How many disposable organs do you need to sell for that?

 

[gc335]

How many disposable organs do you need to sell for that?

IME 1 kidney and a lung.

 

[deafdoorknob]

have you heard the PP8? If yes, how would they compare?

it is a more W tuning than the pp8 even with the both switches “on”, the bass esp hitting harder and being more textured. it is definitely a more coloured listen than the pp8.

 

[491326]

How many disposable organs do you need to sell for that?

in theory, the liver can regenerate itself if part of it remains.

 

[Andykong]

i see, thanks for the description! you use a wm1z now right? have you ever watched videos on your computer while using it as a dac?

If you are refer to the lip sync issue, that is inevitable because most USB DAC are implemented in Asynchronous mode. This is one of the most frequently asked questions in DAP product thread, I'l quote one of my reply below for your reference:

A lot of users complain that when used as USB DAC, N5ii exhibits delays and/or cannot synchronize with the video signal on the computer. This will affect the user experience when lip-syn (movie, MTV) or special sound effect (computer game) is an important feature. Unfortunately this problem cannot and will not be modified through firmware upgrade.

N5ii is a digital audio player and we put audio performance as our primarily objective. To ensure we have best possible USB Audio performance, N5ii operates in Asynchronized USB transmission, I shall quote the following explanation on asynchronous USB for discussion purpose:

"Asynchronous USB (not to be confused with asynchronous samplerate conversion) uses a clock housed near the dac (usually in the external dac’s casing) and allows it to drive the converter directly, thereby not relying on the instable computer’s clock. It is called asynchronous because the DAC’s master clock isn’t synchronized directly to any clocks within the computer. Instead, the DAC is controlled by a (potentially high-precision) fixed-frequency clock. This clock controls the datastream from the computer to a buffer near the DA converter."

I would like to draw your attention to two issues in this explanation:

1. the DAC’s master clock isn’t synchronized directly to the clock of the digital source (a computer in most of the cases)
2. This controls the datastream from the computer to a buffer near the DA converter

In other word, the audio signal processing is deliberately "disconnected" from the computer clock but the video display remain connected to the computer clock, so the video and audio are not synchronized by nature. In addition, we need to create a data buffer in the audio circuit in order to hold the audio datastream from the computer, and the buffer will inevitably caused delays in the audio signal with reference to the non-buffered video signal.

If this is important to you, you can:
(1) Check if you can adjust the buffer size of your Window Audio Driver, a smaller buffer will reduce the latency but theoretically it will downgrade the audio slightly.
(2) Check if your TV has a video delay setting, lip sync is not unique to USB DAC, it will also happen with multichannel home theater system, some smarter TV or monitor has a video delay feature to solve this problem.

 

[papa_mia]

IME 1 kidney and a lung.

Breathing is overrated, I mean you hold your breath while listening to beautiful music anyway so you might as well just sell it to get them DAPs.

 

[491326]

Hi @ayang02

do you know where I can buy an ibasso dx150 in Taiwan? preferably a brick and mortar store, I'm guessing JM plus? Thanks!

Best Wishes