Hey, I guess it would have been no problem to nobody if I had reported enthusiastically about the iHP-120 sound, and nobody would have questioned the seriosity of the audition circumstances. I know it's hard to see some of the own expectations disappointed, and the impulse is strong to belittle such a judgement. But I also have to live myself with this disappointment. Well, after all it's just gear.
The bitrate of the songs heard yesterday (from different folders/albums) was not indicated on the display because they were all VBR. They were all loaded from the people at the store, and they don't use low bitrate stuff.
Omega has criticized the use of a «new ER-4». I don't know what your point is, but I have owned an ER-4 before (which has broken) and know its sound very well. Of course I have listened to it extensively the previous day, and it sounded surprisingly good right out of the box. So no break-in issue. What's wrong to audition a DAP in a
store? Of course the best thing is to have it at home and enough time to test it with the own music files. But that was not an option. Nevertheless, the few songs I've heard gave me a quite precise image of the player's sonic signature (as to its HP out). MP3s don't sound like what I heard, no matter what bitrate, it was the electronics which made the most part of the sound characteristic.
Today I've been in the store again to verify my experiences. This time the iHP-120 was ready for audition. I controlled all the settings for EQ, Wow, SDS...; I just had to change the EQ from «rock» to neutral. With «rock» engaged or disengaged, there was no difference as to the same metallic or glassy coating I already heard yesterday. I played the iRiver demo song encoded with 320 kbps which I know well from the iFP-395T, and it was very clear. It's not a matter of balance, no treble accentuation or the like. This sound is just not for me... too glossy and synthetic. I'm used to the much more natural and airy sound from my Archos and the iPod which I heard twice, and even the iFP-395T, although with a similar tendency (but much less pronounced), sounds much more to my liking. I'm not comparing it to my home system though...
So sorry for the people who don't like this kind of reports or already have ordered the iHP-120! But everybody's hearing is different, and maybe you like its sound anyway, which certainly is very clear and clean (I just wish it was a bit less so...).