[ttnl]

Is Zune + amp = Kenwood HD30GB9 in term of SQ? Assume that the amp is a Xin supermicro IV and the headphone is Shure E500? Thanks.

 

[Zodduska]

I'll say that I think Zune + TH sounds fantastic. However it seems unlikely to improve something further down the chain when you are talking about the source SQ itself. Does it sound better? Probably. Better Sound Quality? Im not sure..

 

[EFN]

Zune is superb even unamped. My only lament to zune was the inability to support lossless

 

[ZARIM]

Someone who posted here earlier "kenwoods HD30GB9 sound quality are better than imod ipods bundled with cheaper amps. So if you bundled Kenwood with XIN then you will get the best sound quality(maybe same as Imod ipod with XIN).

 

[EFN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZARIM /img/forum/go_quote.gif Someone who posted here earlier "kenwoods HD30GB9 sound quality are better than imod ipods bundled with cheaper amps. So if you bundled Kenwood with XIN then you will get the best sound quality(maybe same as Imod ipod with XIN).

To justify this claim we need more than one "someone". The number of iMod owners is quite high and claims made by iMod owners still accounted for being credible.

Nevertheless, I agree that iMod paired with crappy amp will sound as bad as an iPod Mini amped. Simply because iMod is 100% dependent on external amp. But iMod does offer that flexibilty to scale up quite high with proper cables and amps. I do not doubt the Kenwood sounds good, but it is still limited to headphone out and amping a headphone out has its limitation - so scalibility is somewhat limited. Double amping has the tendency to distort things up at the highest extremes.

 

[yjs]

Why are the Kenwood players so highly revered? Is there something in them that makes them superior to other HDD players?

 

[3X0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yjs /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why are the Kenwood players so highly revered? Is there something in them that makes them superior to other HDD players?

A digital amp stage.

 

[DRSpeed85]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif Zune is superb even unamped. My only lament to zune was the inability to support lossless

So the WMA Lossless isn't true lossless? 940kbps does seem a little low for it.

 

[wgr73]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRSpeed85 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So the WMA Lossless isn't true lossless? 940kbps does seem a little low for it.

No its not true lossless. I think 940kbps is a typo...

 

[antonyfirst]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do not doubt the Kenwood sounds good, but it is still limited to headphone out and amping a headphone out has its limitation - so scalibility is somewhat limited. Double amping has the tendency to distort things up at the highest extremes.

Please don't say these things, it hurts

 

[manhattanproj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif still limited to headphone out and amping a headphone out has its limitation - so scalibility is somewhat limited. Double amping has the tendency to distort things up at the highest extremes.

the same applies to the zune?

btw, how can you know whether a dap has a line out or not? is it listed in the specs?

 

[Andrew Jones]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manhattanproj /img/forum/go_quote.gif btw, how can you know whether a dap has a line out or not? is it listed in the specs?

Yes, it is listed in the specs, but you may need to hunt for it. Very few DAPs have line-outs. As far as I'm aware, the only flash device with line out capability is the IPOD. You can get a line-out (via a dock or a specially constructed cable) from some of the hard drive devices such as the Cowon X5 and the Creative Zen Vision:M, but it doesn't seem that common.

 

[3X0]

The Zune paired with an amp isn't quite as good as one would expect. The amp really brings out and improves upon what is there. However, I was a not comfortable with the lowest bass and highest treble.. with either of my amps it seemed kind of forced and uncontrolled in comparison with the rest of the Zune's sound.

 

[manhattanproj]

i tried to look for the line out fn on the ipod but cant find it on the specs or am i missing something

http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html

input and output

* iPod
o Dock connector
o 3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack
* Universal Dock iPod Universal Dock
o Dock connector
o Audio and composite video output
o S-video output

 

[lmfboy01]

so getting back to the topic, i too am interested in knowing the qualities of the Kenwood HD30GB9 comparing it to something that is amp'ed. I know if you use an amp, it would make sense to utilize a line-out function from your DAP, which unfortunetly not too many DAP's have these days... and it wouldn't make sense to run an amp through the headphone jack because it isn't making the quality better, just sound louder??? but dont quote me on that one. I too am also looking for something portable to utilize my shure e500's to its fullest without sacrificing portability, meaning no ext. AMP to carry. My pockets are already full, no need for something else carry along. I currently own a Cowon D2, but im not sure if it is pushing my headphones as much as it can, even with the 36mw headphone output.