[chinesekiwi]

Hello guys @ head-fi, long time reader, first time poster.

Anyway, I'm thinking of 'upgrading' my digital audio player.
My Creative MicroPhoto has be good to me, works fine (even after dropping it on concrete a few clumsy times) but the sound quality and features isn't quite up with the latest ones so it has to go.

As stated in the title, I'm thinking about these three players.

In New Zealand, the difference in price between the M3 and M6SL is minimal (see here) but the Cowon's slightly cheaper than the M3 (see here)

I'm going for the 8 GB models (I don't need my entire collection on the go) but can't decide what to go for.

My priorities are firstly sound quality, followed with audio tweaking features and of course the usual liek menu navigation etc...

I've read the review on here about the M6 but still can't decide.

Help me out here head-fi'ers!

 

[chesterqw]

get the iaudio7

 

[meusickfrek]

I had the Meizu mini for about 6 months before someone walked off with it and I've had the iAudio7 for about 5hrs. Obviously I can't do a A/B comparison and I don't know if daps benefit from burn in but here are some initial thoughts. First off, both players sound great, the mini seemed to have more bass slam and a lower bass representation. I have atrios so this doesn't matter to much, you can change the effects on the iA7 but more bass doesn't mean better quality. The EQ settings (yes I use eq) on the iA7 take a little getting use to (5 bands), the meizu has 10 with treble and bass boost, it is just more simple to tweek. The mini also had this terrible skipping between tracks, not all, maybe one out of 15 with varying lengths. On pink floyds "wish you were here" that I DL from amazon, it was terrible. The IA7 seems to have more sound stage with a more to the middle of the head presentation. The mini was more forward and centered. The effects on the iA7 are cleaner while the mini's seem less clean. Both the interfaces are pretty bad but the iA7 has user defined "hot keys" to go to specific applications. The iA7 hisses more, but only at levels higher then avg listening level. They both have plenty of power, I actually expected more from the iA7, you can really pump both players. I used to love the mini, the sound was excellent, but the Iaudio7 doesn't skip, has three times the battery life, the "hot key", and is cheaper by $5. Up to you what to buy, hope that helps. Oh ya, sorry about your wallet

six months ago I came on here looking for some $40 iems, I'm now $775 in the hole

 

[chinesekiwi]

Ok thanks for that. I'd get some V-Sonic R02-pro's to go with them and I'm set

It's a shame that the deal on the site's only for US customers

).
Oh well, headphones.com.au are good too.

 

[uglijimus]

i have the m3 and absolutely love it! can't speak for the others though

 

[faichiu]

The M6 you have is SL?? M6SP and M6SL seems to have different DAC.


Quote:

Originally Posted by meusickfrek /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had the Meizu mini for about 6 months before someone walked off with it and I've had the iAudio7 for about 5hrs. Obviously I can't do a A/B comparison and I don't know if daps benefit from burn in but here are some initial thoughts. First off, both players sound great, the mini seemed to have more bass slam and a lower bass representation. I have atrios so this doesn't matter to much, you can change the effects on the iA7 but more bass doesn't mean better quality. The EQ settings (yes I use eq) on the iA7 take a little getting use to (5 bands), the meizu has 10 with treble and bass boost, it is just more simple to tweek. The mini also had this terrible skipping between tracks, not all, maybe one out of 15 with varying lengths. On pink floyds "wish you were here" that I DL from amazon, it was terrible. The IA7 seems to have more sound stage with a more to the middle of the head presentation. The mini was more forward and centered. The effects on the iA7 are cleaner while the mini's seem less clean. Both the interfaces are pretty bad but the iA7 has user defined "hot keys" to go to specific applications. The iA7 hisses more, but only at levels higher then avg listening level. They both have plenty of power, I actually expected more from the iA7, you can really pump both players. I used to love the mini, the sound was excellent, but the Iaudio7 doesn't skip, has three times the battery life, the "hot key", and is cheaper by $5. Up to you what to buy, hope that helps. Oh ya, sorry about your wallet six months ago I came on here looking for some $40 iems, I'm now $775 in the hole

 

[Almoxil]

Go for the iAudio7. I have both Meizu M6 (SP) and M3. They're excellent pieces of hardware, but they're not without their faults:

1. Crappy firmware: menu navigation isn't the easiest, and after several firmware upgrades the UI still have inconsistencies, like in the video player interface;
2. "End of song bug": I did extensive testing, posting the results at ABi's Meizu sub-forum. MP3 tracks with no silence in between may "skip", making for annoying noises in live recordings of DJ mixes. The problem affects files of different bitrates. It doesn't affect WAV, APE or FLAC, though. Actually, this single problem destroys the listening experience for such albums, so I avoid having them in my Meizus.

I have a Cowon D2 too, and sound-quality wise it's better than my Meizus. Sound enhancements work better, and the hiss with low impedance phones doesn't happen at reasonable listening levels.

Although Cowon isn't among the best when it comes to firmware updates (they usually prefer adding "bells and whistles" which aren't important for a media player, instead of fixing bugs), they're not as bad as Meizu, IMO. Also, since the iAudio7 is based on the older HDD-based iAudio6, much of the work removing bugs may have been done before the iAudio7 was released. You see, the Cowon D2 (which is a completely new model) has a rather long list of firmware updates, whereas the iAudio7 has only a couple of new firmware releases.

 

[shigzeo]

i would doubt the d2 is better sq than the meizu m6. it has serious bass roll off and a slant towards treble with low imp headphones. it also does not have that good of imd performance.

it sounds fine, very good infact if you use more than 80ohm phones or best yet, 600ohm phones, it is amazing from the phones out. ia7 has similar performance but more distortion which makes it sound better to everyone.

the meizu probably (have not tested it yet) tests better as they have much fewer effects applied at all stages to the music. they hiss more and have some problems with firmware, but... overall they present a much more natural sense of music.

i love my meizu m6 more than many other portables other than the hiss.

 

[Jon L]

I would get the UE SuperFi 5Pro with Meizu M6SL and be *completely* done with your portable music, period.

I used to have M6SP and now M6SL, and they are different animals with latter having just enough improvements in treble extension and detail, therefore also clearer mids. Punch, richness, bass impact and quality with the combo can't be faulted really.

 

[chinesekiwi]

So the SL is much better than the SP and doesn't have the problems of the SP or does it?

 

[meusickfrek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by faichiu /img/forum/go_quote.gif The M6 you have is SL?? M6SP and M6SL seems to have different DAC.

I had the SP version. OK a couple days later and I can say that the effects on the iA7 are cleaner. You can pump the bass boost and it doesn't distort like the meizu, problem is you have to use bass boost. And ya I do detect week mids, seems like the voices are pushed back while everything else is up front, though spread out (does this make sense?). Don't know if things are more musical or just more effects on the iA7. Like it has been stated, it feels like the MEIZU has less effects in the stock presentation. If you can use the files that don't skip the mini is a great player, I could not and the skipping was enough to not buy another. Also, there were many complaints on the Meizu forum and when the new firmware came out, they fixed the clock (that did not keep correct time

), and changed the font size when scrolling???????

 

[Almoxil]

The bass booster on Meizu M6 (SP) distorts the sound if you apply too much of it (more than 6) -- otherwise it works just fine. And, to be honest, those "Spatializer" effects are utterly crappy. They make the music sound artificial. The EQ is very good, though. After months waiting for the "end of song" bug fix and getting nothing, I don't expect buying another Meizu player anytime soon.

All in all, after getting the D2, my M6 and M3 are collecting dust on my desk.

 

[shigzeo]

i think one of the points that bass booster or eq distorting is that those are probably quite evenly applied eq and boosters. normal hifi will distort too if you apply eq unless you give it overhead or lower the gain. for these portables that don't distort, there is so much processing going on. most cowon show interesting things when driving headphones at least under tests and i think it is one of the reasons that eq 'works so well'.