[Skullar]

Agree with all of the above. I'd love to hear your thoughts on a 'warmer' DAP like the M8 and how it compares to your two DAPs with the LX (mainly because I find the LX + R8 pairing almost perfect). Sadly I don't have access to any current DAPs in my neck of the woods unless I buy them blind.

Unfortunately M8 is one of few new kids on the block i have not tried. But from what i gather its tuning has resemblance to that of Sony daps. So i take it i could compare to WM1A. IF that is the case, where i might be wrong. I personally found LX pairing with WM1A not that good for my preference.

Its got quite thick bass and less presence in upper mids. So imagine how that thick bass pairs with LX. It just exaggerates it to the point where mids get really recessed. 1A had sparkly treble though so it made it more of a V shape but low mids were still present. So it might work for some genres i suppose.

What would make a difference between M8 and WM1A is M8 is much more powerful. So it might sound more dynamic and in turn make it more enjoyable pairing. A1 had mediocre staging and dynamic. I sort of always thought that main purpose for 1A is pairing with sensitive iems like Campfire line up, as the noise floor is very low on Sony's dap. You know well that LX is one power hungry iem.

Its all just an assumed WM1A relation to M8 and the actual owner would be more accurate to compare it.
I also know some people who actually like those warm pairings. I dont. As far as im concerned Sony daps are outdated big time.

 

[gLer]

Unfortunately M8 is one of few new kids on the block i have not tried. But from what i gather its tuning has resemblance to that of Sony daps. So i take it i could compare to WM1A. IF that is the case, where i might be wrong. I personally found LX pairing with WM1A not that good for my preference.

Its got quite thick bass and less presence in upper mids. So imagine how that thick bass pairs with LX. It just exaggerates it to the point where mids get really recessed. 1A had sparkly treble though so it made it more of a V shape but low mids were still present. So it might work for some genres i suppose.

What would make a difference between M8 and WM1A is M8 is much more powerful. So it might sound more dynamic and in turn make it more enjoyable pairing. A1 had mediocre staging and dynamic. I sort of always thought that main purpose for 1A is pairing with sensitive iems like Campfire line up, as the noise floor is very low on Sony's dap. You know well that LX is one power hungry iem.

Its all just an assumed WM1A relation to M8 and the actual owner would be more accurate to compare it.
I also know some people who actually like those warm pairings. I dont. As far as im concerned Sony daps are outdated big time.

Thanks for your thoughts Yep Sony is definitely in desperate need of a refresh. I'm sure that's coming.

 

[Newsee]

Oh yes I completely agree with you. The R8 brings flagship-level sound quality, tonality, technicalities and glitch-free software to its processing chops. Just saying that at face value other players have "caught up" but none offer the combination of performance, polish, features and SQ of the R8 IMO. None of the newly-released players have anything to offer me over the R8, and it's almost a year since it was released. Not bad going in this crazy competitive market.

One crash and one freeze (where hard reset was needed) during 5 months of daily use, almost never turned off, always just sleep. This sleep mode is crazy good and useful for preserving the battery while providing fast ready for music time.

 

[gLer]

This thread is super quiet because you're not dealing with software issue after software issue. It's quite reassuring actually.

 

[aaf evo]

This thread is super quiet because you're not dealing with software issue after software issue. It's quite reassuring actually.

Is this a dig at the M8? That thread is filled with issues.

 

[MatW]

One crash and one freeze (where hard reset was needed) during 5 months of daily use, almost never turned off, always just sleep. This sleep mode is crazy good and useful for preserving the battery while providing fast ready for music time.

Is the sleep mode just on, but with the screen off? Or is there another mode I haven't found yet?

 

[gLer]

Is this a dig at the M8? That thread is filled with issues.

Not at all, it's not a dig at any specific DAP, just an observation as I browse around the threads. It's true that the M8 is one of the DAPs that seems to be riddled with issues for anyone wanting to do anything other than play local music files, but it's not the only one. But then usability and stability aren't priorities for everyone.

 

[gLer]

Is the sleep mode just on, but with the screen off? Or is there another mode I haven't found yet?

Yep, pretty much. Works better with WiFi off too.

 

[Deferenz]

I did the update earlier and something I noticed is that the blue light on the side seems to be on when the Dap is idle. What I mean by that is normally when I’m not using it the blue light will flash every so often but will be mostly off. I normally keep the R8 switched on. It was only a few minutes after the update but I thought it was a little odd that the blue light didn’t go out after a few seconds like it normally does.

It also seemed odd that it started to do the update without me prompting it. After reading about the update on this thread, I went to settings then updates only to find it was already 52% into the download. It was a bit worrying that it said below the status circle not to use the Dap while updating was in progress - well that’s screwed because I was using it all day without any idea it was trying to update. I haven’t got it with me right now to check but if there is auto updates then I guess I may have it switched on. I do recall that it did show a banner across the screen that said the update was successful so I’ll take that as a win.

 

[Newsee]

Is the sleep mode just on, but with the screen off? Or is there another mode I haven't found yet?

When music is playing and you press the power button shortly, the screen goes off, the music plays further.
If you stop playing music, then press the power button shortly, the whole system goes to a power saving mode in a way that it uses only 1-2% of the battery per day. The blue light decreases the brightness after 2 seconds, goes out after 15 seconds. In the HP sometimes I hear a small click after either a few seconds or after a minute and a half, so the amplifier surely goes off as well.
I do not know if there is an official name for it, I just called it sleep mode. I could have called it "standby mode" as well. The advantage of it is if you press the power button again, even after days, the system is ready for playing music within a second.

It is a huge comfort advantage for me compared to the Kann Cube which I either power down properly and wait for the booting time later, or forget about switching it off, then I have to recharge for hours before the next usage.

 

[gLer]

I did the update earlier and something I noticed is that the blue light on the side seems to be on when the Dap is idle. What I mean by that is normally when I’m not using it the blue light will flash every so often but will be mostly off. I normally keep the R8 switched on. It was only a few minutes after the update but I thought it was a little odd that the blue light didn’t go out after a few seconds like it normally does.

It also seemed odd that it started to do the update without me prompting it. After reading about the update on this thread, I went to settings then updates only to find it was already 52% into the download. It was a bit worrying that it said below the status circle not to use the Dap while updating was in progress - well that’s screwed because I was using it all day without any idea it was trying to update. I haven’t got it with me right now to check but if there is auto updates then I guess I may have it switched on. I do recall that it did show a banner across the screen that said the update was successful so I’ll take that as a win.

I believe the blue light is also an activity light. If I leave Wi-Fi active, the light comes on occasionally if there's some process using Wi-Fi in the background. When I switch Wi-Fi off, no light after it goes idle.

 

[Deferenz]

I believe the blue light is also an activity light. If I leave Wi-Fi active, the light comes on occasionally if there's some process using Wi-Fi in the background. When I switch Wi-Fi off, no light after it goes idle.

I have been using it more this morning and you are correct. It just worried me a little at first but it seems to be ok.

 

[MatW]

I never look at the light so I switched it off in the settings.

 

[MatW]

I ordered an adapter. Good to have for other cables as well.

The XLR/4.4 adapter arrived, and I tried the Susvara from the R8... In high gain/turbo I turn up the volume to 70-90 (out of 100), depending on the recording. So the R8 can play the Susvara loud enough (for me), which is impressive. I would not recommend this as a regular practice though...

 

[mwhals]

My R8 was at 68% battery a couple of weeks ago. I have not had time to listen to it, so it has been off the entire time and now shows 31%. Is this indicative of mine having the battery issue like some others?

I wouldn't worry too much. As long as it holds its charge for a few full play sessions, it's easy enough to QC it to 80% in a few hours. I find battery longevity, assuming you can get a few hours in per day, quite low on the priory list. Depends on use case of course. I set mine to alert me to charge at 20% and stop at 80%, which means I'm charging every other day when I listen often. When not in use with WiFi off it drains 1-2% per day. I never switch mine off unless it dies from me forgetting to charge it.

My R8 dropped from 86 to 78 percent in 7 days when turned off for the entire period.