most analogue/valve/tube sounding digital media player (dap)

[magicalmouse]

HI, i find my fiio x5 sometimes sounds brittle and unpleasant on some music e.g. little jimmy scott sounds rather shrieky but fine on most if not especially involving
 
Is there a dap which sounds more analogue - smooth but detailed, valve like etc. and musically involving
 
Most of my files are redbook so a high-end player that handles high resolution is not necessary - it is the sound that is important
 
i use the following headphones - se535
 
thanks
 
david

 

[ER4S]

You can look into Shozy Alien.

 

[musicday]

If money are no problem then get the Tera Player and look no further.

 

[magicalmouse]

Thank you, unfortunately money or specifically value for is a consideration, also i must have a screen identifying album/track so i can choose the album which i then play in its entirety.
 
d

 

[hqssui]

Soundaware Esther Analog.

 

[magicalmouse]

i wonder if the ibasso dx80 might suit?
 
d

 

[Danneq]

Kenwood HD30GB9 or HD60GD9(EC).

Oldies that have a very analoge sound signature.

Two things go against them: 1. they are discontinued and can almost only be found in Japan and 2. they can hiss very much with high sensitivity IEMs.

1 can be solved if you buy a second hand one through buyee.jp or some other similar site that lets people not living in Japan bid on Yahoo auction and buy from other sites that only sell to residents of Japan. In exchange of a small fee, of course.
2 can probably not be solved. Most people complaining on hiss from old Kenwood HDD DAPs have been using IEMs.

Still, despite this and that you are confined to MP3, WAV or Kenwoods own and now discontinued lossless format, I would say that the high end Kenwood HDD DAPs are still some of the most analogue sounding ones.

EDIT: I forgot another drawback: you need the proprietary software Kenwood Media Application for the database to update properly. You can drag and drop music, but then you will not be able to use stuff that is based on ID3 tags such as "artist" or "album". But you can still use folder view.
KMA works best on Windows XP and have been reported working on 32 bit Windows 7. However 64 bit is a no go. I haven't heard anything about later Window versions...

 

[magicalmouse]

bump!

 

[magicalmouse]

anyone?

 

[Raketen]

I have seen descriptions of Cowon Plenue 1 and Plenue S ( maybe M2 as well?) as analogue sounding, but wouldn't know myself (my last experiences of analogue sound being FM radio and/or my cassette player as it sputtered and wheezed out it's last gasp 20 or so years ago). Plenue S certainly 'smooth but detailed' imo.

 

[slumberman]

Cayin N8: built in tube amp, runs full size cans no problem as well.
sounds delicious.

 

[gazzington]

I have seen descriptions of Cowon Plenue 1 and Plenue S ( maybe M2 as well?) as analogue sounding, but wouldn't know myself. Plenue S certainly 'smooth but detailed' imo.

Plenue m2 definitely sounds quite anologue

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Sony NW-ZX507. To me it sounds analog and reminds me of vinyl. I actually sold my Astell and Kern SP1000M and switched to the NW-ZX507 because the Sony had such brilliant analog tone and timbre.

 

[artpiggo]

DX200 + Amp9

 

[gregorio]

anyone?

You're not going to find a satisfactory answer. The whole point of digital audio was to avoid the problems/distortions inherent with analogue audio; Tape distortions (hiss, saturation, HF loss, etc.), surface noise, wow/flutter and various other issues. The same is largely true of solid state, it was invented to avoid the issues of valve tubes. What you're asking is in effect similar to asking if anyone knows of a modern internal combustion engine that performs like a steam engine!

There is a difference with audio though, *some* of the distortions introduced by analogue processes could, under certain conditions, result in a "euphonic" (subjectively pleasing) effect. For this reason, studios will still occasionally use valve microphones and electric guitarists still use valve guitar amps. However, for many years digital processors (plug-ins, hardware units) have been available which model or emulate these analogue distortions and today there are many of them covering the various types of analogue distortion, even decent free ones. If intended/desired by the engineers/artists, these distortions will already be in the recording itself. If you want to add (or add more) analogue distortion, a tape, vinyl or tube distortion plugin would probably give you what you're after but the problem is that AFAIK, no portable DAPs provide the option of installing/employing VST (for example) plugins, hence why I don't think you're going to find a satisfactory answer.

G