[Zerovalk]

Out of stocks currently hope to get mine soon!

 

[waynes world]

 
I gota say this Kogan is better than my iPod 5th Generation Touch with EarPods in playing IDM. The Kogan has this airy and open sound signature with great detail. The farther out effects have their own head-stage place that is world class for an MP3 player. Count the retail price and it's just over the top. The effects soundstage with this 2 hour long dance MP3 I'm playing is so musical and easy to listen to at loud volume levels. Just simply amazing?????
 
The Apple EarPod thread suggested these foams and now I know why. Kogan not only supplied a great player but also great foam tips!
 

 
Thanks! It's reviews like this that makes me hope that @EmpJ and CTCaudio can get it in sooner than later!

 

[lin0003]

Better UI and this will be the perfect budget player. 

 

[Redcarmoose]

 
Quote:

Thanks! It's reviews like this that makes me hope that @EmpJ
and CTCaudio can get it in sooner than later!

 
 

Well, new stuff can get hyped directly into the stratosphere and even the Kogan could be a hype train. Still finding synergy helps get to a sound. The Kogan is far from perfect but has a pleasant listenable trait to it. It reminded me that soundstage comes from the source and amp as well as headphones.

 

[waynes world]

Well, new stuff can get hyped directly into the stratosphere and even the Kogan could be a hype train. Still finding synergy helps get to a sound. The Kogan is far from perfect but has a pleasant listenable trait to it. It reminded me that soundstage comes from the source and amp as well as headphones.

 
No, you're wrong. That never happens here at head-fi....
 

 
Seriously though, for the price it sounds like quite the winner.

 

[Saoshyant]

All I can say is this, the Kogan is making me debate selling an IEM I had pretty much written off due to how Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto sounds.

 

[gyx11]

Courtesy of the really nice @Knave000 who agreed to ship to Singapore, I managed to get my hands on a Kogan!



I'll post my impressions of them soon.

I've only managed to turn it on and play around with the interface here and there.

This player is freaking light, looks neat, and has a decently large screen. Buttons are slightly iffy to press for someone with pretty large fingers like me, but that's what you get for a petite sized player.

 

[gyx11]

I'm having some problems with certain music albums/files where the Kogan just hangs and needs to be rebooted. Anyone else has encountered the same problem?

Other than that, it's really quite intuitive to operate the player.
 
The initial SQ doesn't exactly wow me, and I certainly wasn't going to expect that, given that I'm moving from the DX100/DX90 to a $30 player. I think it can be considered a testament to the Kogan SQ that I don't feel I'm losing too much, or that anything is lacking at all, despite being acclimatized to the Ibasso TOTL players for weeks and months now.
 
The SQ is more geared to the bright side, and it's not too far off from the overall tonality of the DX90. Note presentation is definitely on the dry and thin side of things, which IMO is what allows the clarity and details to appear more accentuated, though it still falls short of the DX90 and DX100, as well as the Fiio X5. In terms of spatial qualities, it is certainly more closed in than the DX90, and more reminiscent of the more intimate X3 and X5. Soundstage and imaging are very good, but there's still a noticeable disparity when pitted against the DX90 and DX100, the difference isn't large enough to make me want to switch back immediately. One area where the Kogan is lacking sufficiently enough to make turn back to my DX90 is in its refinement. The Kogan sound comes across as being slightly rough and relatively unpolished in terms of how it renders details. Instrument timbre also seems slightly off as a consequence.
 
If I'd have to give the Kogan a SQ ranking, I'd probably slot it right after the DX50 and X3, and above my IP5. I have tested the Fiio X1 as well, and feel that it performs on roughly the same level as the Kogan, though I'll have the do a proper A/B when I do receive my pre-order to have a definitive opinion (Treoo's pre-order is rather farcical...)

On the whole, to start with, I doubt it's actually possible for any $30 player to be considered a disappointment. Still, I don't really know how on earth the $30 Kogan can support FLAC, come with a good screen, churn out really nice SQ, take photos, play videos, record sound, function as a stopwatch, and be used as a calculator.
 
I have found my work-out/exercise DAP.

 

[gyx11]

I've isolated the issue:

My Kogan player seems only able to handle up to 16 bit music. Anything 24 bit and beyond, and the player simply freezes right at the point of song selection. The only way to unfreeze it is to power if off and then switch it back on using the side selector.

Can anyone confirm this to be true for their unit?

 

[yalper]

  I've isolated the issue:

My Kogan player seems only able to handle up to 16 bit music. Anything 24 bit and beyond, and the player simply freezes right at the point of song selection. The only way to unfreeze it is to power if off and then switch it back on using the side selector.

Can anyone confirm this to be true for their unit?

So technically it means, Kogan is not a 24 bit and beyond dap huh

 

[Saoshyant]

Yep, I keep finding albums that I copied over to the SD that turn out to be 24bit, just found one

 

[Redcarmoose]

So technically it means, Kogan is not a 24 bit and beyond dap huh

That is fascinating, as an IPod Touch running iOS 7 and above, is able to play 24 bit 96 kHz files encoded to FLAC and played using the aftermarket VLC file player. The HD tracks have the noticeable tell tale headroom that higher bit rates produce but knowingly only out put at the iPods limit of 24 bit 48kHz.


My final thoughts on the Kogan sound is the player needs to be matched with the correct heaphones, or a downstream amp which will overcome some of the flaws in the sound signature. As with most audio products the grouping can equalize the flaws or accentuate them.

I like even using the Kogan as a source going into an Asgard then to the AKG 701s. Commen sense would tell you that this combo would be way too treble and thin, but is is not just detailed and tight. Maybe a little thin but nothing that can't be overcome by mental burn in. The combo gets rid of the Kogan sound of thin and clear ( as translucent ) mids.



The worst part of the Kogan sound is a place in the audio spectrum where the notes have no body to them, the sound is like somthing that is not real. The ghost of what is really suppose to be there, and there with many DAPs.



Amps can add warmth and body to a sound that is needed of harmonics.

 

[Saoshyant]

Well, can't say I like the Kogan paired with the Shure SRH145.  It just didn't sound good at all...  The headphone sounded a bit better off the X5 to me.

 

[Redcarmoose]

All I can say is this, the Kogan is making me debate selling an IEM I had pretty much written off due to how Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto sounds.

That is because even though the Kogan sound signature is wierd, it has a quality that is there. The other DAPs have either knowingly been given a balanced sound or the Kogan sound comes from lack of bass. Still the bass that is there has it's own special tone and place in the soundstage.


You have an IEM which complements the Kogan sound. The Kogan sound showed you a quality to the IEM that you did not know was there. The Kogan is a wildcard as a source device.

 

[Redcarmoose]

From maybe the second day of listening to the Kogan it reminded me of an audio product I had in the past. I could not put my finger on it then I realized it was is old half broken Pioneer amp I had from the 1970s. Listening to it in 2009, it was in need of service and maybe had old bad caps in need of replacement. Still in all it's messed up glory it had a thin slow bass sound that was endearing and warm in a way. Far from being perfect it was musical and different but most of all it was not harsh sounding lending itself to hours of listening.