hwanmeister
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2005
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The HD30GA9 I ordered 40 days ago (believe it or not) has finally arrived. So here are my first impressions and findings.
First of all, the overall sound hasn't changed. Still the full, warm and rich sound of HD20GA7. I wrote about the sound quality of the Kenwood players in my HD20GA7 review, and I don't think there's anything to add there with HD30GA9 (sadly I sold my HD20GA7 so any direct comparison is impossible). The headphone used was E5c.
Doubtless the main interest with HD30GA9 is the two new features: Supreme sound effect and the Kenwood lossless files (KLS).
Supreme: This is basically a 3-D sound effect you can find in most mp3 file players (I believe X5 also had one, if my memory serves me right). But unlike other, more commonplace 3-D effects that murder the vocals and the mid-range to ratchet up other areas of sound to bombastic levels, producing unnaturally full sound, Supreme is very subtle, almost eerily so. The first time I put on the effect, I couldn't notice any difference. But after a while I noticed that an electronic tinge was added to the vocals and the mid-range, giving my ears the impression that there was another dimension to the sound. Also, having Supreme on widens the spectrum of sound (is it what you might call sound stage? or head stage? I don't know) much more successfully than other 3-D effects, because it's very subtle and sensitive - almost none of the mid-range is sacrificed to widen the sound stage. I think Supreme is ideal for 128kpbs-and-below files that suffer from narrow sound spectrum. But the problem with it is that because of the aforementioned 'electronic' tinge the vocals sound a bit tampered with: the Supreme effect slightly frays the vocals, and a very soft tinge that reminds me of television static is run through the song. I guess this is the price you pay for wider sound stage. Definitely not for purists, but it's nice to have the option if you have some 128kpbs files that are rare or hard-won.
Next, the KLS. Disappointingly, it cannot be directly extracted from CDs (the software, KMA, being the cursed little thing that it is, cannot manage any CD ripping). You must first rip your CDs into WAV files, then run through KMA which will convert them into KLS as you put files into HD30GA9. The silver lining, however, is that, well, KMA converts all your files (be them MP3, WMA or WAV) anyway, so it doesn't take much extra time or effort to turn the WAV files into KLS. A poor excuse, I know, but here's more. KLS is approximately 60% size of WAV files. For example:
Radiohead's 'Airbag' - MP3 320kpbs: 11,125kb
- WAV: 48,995kb
- KLS: 35,478kb
'Paranoid Android' - MP3 320kpbs: 14,995kb
- WAV: 66,065kb
- KLS: 46,524kb
KLS could qualify for the smallest lossless file existing, but I'm not sure so someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, KLS might be useful for the space-conscious users out there. Also, as far as I can tell KLS supports gapless playback. For example, I'm sure people know that On 'OK Computer' 'Airbag' segues seamlessly into 'Paranoid Android' and 'Karma Police' into 'Fitter, Happier'. On HD30GA9 both WAV and KLS files achieve this gaplessly. Funnily enough I can't really notice any gaps with Mp3 files either, but if you put it in 'random' mode there are noticeable gaps in MP3 playback as the player jumps from one file to another. I haven't noticed gaps in 'random' mode with WAV or KLS files, but they need more testing. One more thing, although Kenwood said they improved on the white noise problem, it's still there. Slightly less than HD20GA7, but still very noticeable. When the music is playing it's no problem, and I'm not a white noise nazi so I don't mind it, but I was rather hoping that Kenwood fixed it definitively.
I've always felt ever since I got HD20GA7 that on the Kenwood players the user EQ actually helped the sound. I know most people here in head-fi are advocates of normal SQ, and my experience with iPod mini and X5 allows me to understand that sentiment. But with the HD-GA series, I really feel that having the EQ on is not a bad thing. Unlike other players, they don't really boost the sound. On the older iPods the SQ distorted the sound; on the X5 the SQ/user EQ crudely amplified the sound so that the result was coercive, very unnatural, alienating and unbalanced. But the user EQ on HD-GA series is a very subtle thing. To use a clumsy analogy, the SQ on other players is like steep stairs, on the Kenwood it's more like a gentle slope. Putting on the EQ doesn't make the sound go up pronounced levels, but rather subtly altering the layers of sound. Ok, I'm not describing it very well, but the purpose is to prevent people from dismissing Kenwood's EQ before they've tried it, simply because on most other players the SQs are crap.
I can safely say that I'm addicted to the sound of Kenwood's HD-GA series. It's by far my favourite sound of all the players I've hitherto used. But I'm sure that the ones I have not yet owned, like iriver H100 series and the Sony players, sound very good. I would like to try them out one day
p.s. I'll get some pics up before too long. Just can't be arsed at the mo.
First of all, the overall sound hasn't changed. Still the full, warm and rich sound of HD20GA7. I wrote about the sound quality of the Kenwood players in my HD20GA7 review, and I don't think there's anything to add there with HD30GA9 (sadly I sold my HD20GA7 so any direct comparison is impossible). The headphone used was E5c.
Doubtless the main interest with HD30GA9 is the two new features: Supreme sound effect and the Kenwood lossless files (KLS).
Supreme: This is basically a 3-D sound effect you can find in most mp3 file players (I believe X5 also had one, if my memory serves me right). But unlike other, more commonplace 3-D effects that murder the vocals and the mid-range to ratchet up other areas of sound to bombastic levels, producing unnaturally full sound, Supreme is very subtle, almost eerily so. The first time I put on the effect, I couldn't notice any difference. But after a while I noticed that an electronic tinge was added to the vocals and the mid-range, giving my ears the impression that there was another dimension to the sound. Also, having Supreme on widens the spectrum of sound (is it what you might call sound stage? or head stage? I don't know) much more successfully than other 3-D effects, because it's very subtle and sensitive - almost none of the mid-range is sacrificed to widen the sound stage. I think Supreme is ideal for 128kpbs-and-below files that suffer from narrow sound spectrum. But the problem with it is that because of the aforementioned 'electronic' tinge the vocals sound a bit tampered with: the Supreme effect slightly frays the vocals, and a very soft tinge that reminds me of television static is run through the song. I guess this is the price you pay for wider sound stage. Definitely not for purists, but it's nice to have the option if you have some 128kpbs files that are rare or hard-won.
Next, the KLS. Disappointingly, it cannot be directly extracted from CDs (the software, KMA, being the cursed little thing that it is, cannot manage any CD ripping). You must first rip your CDs into WAV files, then run through KMA which will convert them into KLS as you put files into HD30GA9. The silver lining, however, is that, well, KMA converts all your files (be them MP3, WMA or WAV) anyway, so it doesn't take much extra time or effort to turn the WAV files into KLS. A poor excuse, I know, but here's more. KLS is approximately 60% size of WAV files. For example:
Radiohead's 'Airbag' - MP3 320kpbs: 11,125kb
- WAV: 48,995kb
- KLS: 35,478kb
'Paranoid Android' - MP3 320kpbs: 14,995kb
- WAV: 66,065kb
- KLS: 46,524kb
KLS could qualify for the smallest lossless file existing, but I'm not sure so someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, KLS might be useful for the space-conscious users out there. Also, as far as I can tell KLS supports gapless playback. For example, I'm sure people know that On 'OK Computer' 'Airbag' segues seamlessly into 'Paranoid Android' and 'Karma Police' into 'Fitter, Happier'. On HD30GA9 both WAV and KLS files achieve this gaplessly. Funnily enough I can't really notice any gaps with Mp3 files either, but if you put it in 'random' mode there are noticeable gaps in MP3 playback as the player jumps from one file to another. I haven't noticed gaps in 'random' mode with WAV or KLS files, but they need more testing. One more thing, although Kenwood said they improved on the white noise problem, it's still there. Slightly less than HD20GA7, but still very noticeable. When the music is playing it's no problem, and I'm not a white noise nazi so I don't mind it, but I was rather hoping that Kenwood fixed it definitively.
I've always felt ever since I got HD20GA7 that on the Kenwood players the user EQ actually helped the sound. I know most people here in head-fi are advocates of normal SQ, and my experience with iPod mini and X5 allows me to understand that sentiment. But with the HD-GA series, I really feel that having the EQ on is not a bad thing. Unlike other players, they don't really boost the sound. On the older iPods the SQ distorted the sound; on the X5 the SQ/user EQ crudely amplified the sound so that the result was coercive, very unnatural, alienating and unbalanced. But the user EQ on HD-GA series is a very subtle thing. To use a clumsy analogy, the SQ on other players is like steep stairs, on the Kenwood it's more like a gentle slope. Putting on the EQ doesn't make the sound go up pronounced levels, but rather subtly altering the layers of sound. Ok, I'm not describing it very well, but the purpose is to prevent people from dismissing Kenwood's EQ before they've tried it, simply because on most other players the SQs are crap.
I can safely say that I'm addicted to the sound of Kenwood's HD-GA series. It's by far my favourite sound of all the players I've hitherto used. But I'm sure that the ones I have not yet owned, like iriver H100 series and the Sony players, sound very good. I would like to try them out one day
p.s. I'll get some pics up before too long. Just can't be arsed at the mo.
