auricle74
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2016
- Posts
- 15
- Likes
- 10
Hello everyone at Head Fi!
Just a quick introduction first. My name's Dan, a British expat who is living in Moscow Russia. My passions are music (both making and listening) and photography (a Pentaxian).
Now, as I'm not an oligarch or an oil-trader, I don't have an eye-wateringly expensive house or flat where I can set up a decent hifi. I listen to all of my music on the hour commute to and from work. It really helps while away the tedium. Recently, I am getting tired of using a smartphone for many reasons - sound quality, touch screens (I miss buttons) and being a slave to whatever whims Google or Apple make to their music services. I remember fondly using my iRiver iH100 with Rockbox over ten years ago. It was easy to use and sounded great. It unfortunately died a death quite a while ago. Anyway, now I have decided to take music in my own hands and up my listening game once more.
I am hoping if you could help me with choosing a good DAP and IEMS pairing. I am a complete novice when it comes to high-end DAP and IEMS and haven't looked at the market since the iH100.
These are my requirements:
- It needs to be portable and be pocketable. I'd just like the DAP and the IEMS - not with any additional boxes such as DACs or amps.
- It needs to sound great over a wide-range of musical genres. I listen to everything from electronica to modern/classic rock, orchestral, pop, etc.
- FLAC compatible - probably nearly all high-end DAPs are now but I don't know
- Good storage capabilities
- Well built and durable - I'm talking about the external casing (can it stand a knock?) and OS (is it stable?)
From my initial research, I like the look of the following:
- Lotoo Paw Gold - Everyone who has heard it seems to think it sounds fantastic.It seems well built and rugged with physical buttons (a big thumbs up from me), and can take SD cards up to 2Tb!! The downsides I can see is that it's quite thick - I'm not sure how comfortable it would be in the pocket when walking to the metro. It also has a separate power supply - another one to lose or break.
- Cowon Plenue 1 - Again, the sound quality seems to be very well received. However, it's a touch screen (I prefer buttons) but is slim and the OS seems robust. The memory capacity isn't as good as the Paw Gold also.
- iBosso DX80 - Seems like a good combination of buttons and touch screen. It's thin and portable. I've only just discovered this one so have yet to get the general consensus on sound quality. The downside is that it only has 8Gb onboard but is compatible with up to 2Tb microSD cards.
As for IEMS, I am interested in either:
- Shure SE846
- Earsonic S-EM9
I have read good/bad reviews for both of these - however, whichever one I choose must be a good match for the DAP I choose.
I know that choosing anything like this is best done by listening first. However, finding somewhere here in Moscow that allows that is nigh-on impossible. I have to rely on recommendations on people such as your good selves.
Please give me your thoughts/recommendations. If you think another DAP/IEMS combination other that what I have recommended above is more preferable, please say. I'd be grateful for any advice given.
Thank you all so much
Dan
Just a quick introduction first. My name's Dan, a British expat who is living in Moscow Russia. My passions are music (both making and listening) and photography (a Pentaxian).
Now, as I'm not an oligarch or an oil-trader, I don't have an eye-wateringly expensive house or flat where I can set up a decent hifi. I listen to all of my music on the hour commute to and from work. It really helps while away the tedium. Recently, I am getting tired of using a smartphone for many reasons - sound quality, touch screens (I miss buttons) and being a slave to whatever whims Google or Apple make to their music services. I remember fondly using my iRiver iH100 with Rockbox over ten years ago. It was easy to use and sounded great. It unfortunately died a death quite a while ago. Anyway, now I have decided to take music in my own hands and up my listening game once more.
I am hoping if you could help me with choosing a good DAP and IEMS pairing. I am a complete novice when it comes to high-end DAP and IEMS and haven't looked at the market since the iH100.
These are my requirements:
- It needs to be portable and be pocketable. I'd just like the DAP and the IEMS - not with any additional boxes such as DACs or amps.
- It needs to sound great over a wide-range of musical genres. I listen to everything from electronica to modern/classic rock, orchestral, pop, etc.
- FLAC compatible - probably nearly all high-end DAPs are now but I don't know
- Good storage capabilities
- Well built and durable - I'm talking about the external casing (can it stand a knock?) and OS (is it stable?)
From my initial research, I like the look of the following:
- Lotoo Paw Gold - Everyone who has heard it seems to think it sounds fantastic.It seems well built and rugged with physical buttons (a big thumbs up from me), and can take SD cards up to 2Tb!! The downsides I can see is that it's quite thick - I'm not sure how comfortable it would be in the pocket when walking to the metro. It also has a separate power supply - another one to lose or break.
- Cowon Plenue 1 - Again, the sound quality seems to be very well received. However, it's a touch screen (I prefer buttons) but is slim and the OS seems robust. The memory capacity isn't as good as the Paw Gold also.
- iBosso DX80 - Seems like a good combination of buttons and touch screen. It's thin and portable. I've only just discovered this one so have yet to get the general consensus on sound quality. The downside is that it only has 8Gb onboard but is compatible with up to 2Tb microSD cards.
As for IEMS, I am interested in either:
- Shure SE846
- Earsonic S-EM9
I have read good/bad reviews for both of these - however, whichever one I choose must be a good match for the DAP I choose.
I know that choosing anything like this is best done by listening first. However, finding somewhere here in Moscow that allows that is nigh-on impossible. I have to rely on recommendations on people such as your good selves.
Please give me your thoughts/recommendations. If you think another DAP/IEMS combination other that what I have recommended above is more preferable, please say. I'd be grateful for any advice given.
Thank you all so much
Dan
