[Sonic Atrocity]

Hey! Thanks for opening my thread. Recently my Clip+ (Rockboxed) went on the fritz (long story) and I have come into a fair bit of unexpected money (budget is about 300 bucks). I am looking to grab a new DAP to pair with my PA2V2 and Pro 900 (someday I plan on getting a better portable amp). I don't want another Clip+.
 
 
I want a DAP that has:
 
- a parametric equalizer with all the capabilities (or more) that the Clip+ (Rockboxed) has  
- lossless support
- gapless playback
- no playback glitches
- a natural sound (perhaps even a flat frequency response for the sake of having a simple reference point) 
- If I have to Rockbox whatever device I get in order to achieve what I want then I will definitely consider doing so.
 
 
Please help me pick out a DAP! I am currently looking at Cowon, Sony and Hifi Man. I will consider getting an ipod (and Rockboxing it) but I think I am just sick of Ipods (in the past I have had three).
 
Any helpful posts are appreciated! Thanks!

 

[redsosis]

flat??

cowon rockbox'ed ??

 

[Sonic Atrocity]

Which Cowon?

 

[tds101]

ALL COWON DAP'S!!!

 

[svyr]

D2 will sort of work, but rockbox support is pretty flakey. (and by the looks of it the project is dead for the device since shodofads isn't interested anymore). It's not quite flat though...

 

[Sonic Atrocity]

Hmm, know where I can find FR graphs for DAPs?

 

[DaBomb77766]

You could wait a bit to see how the Fiio X3 turns out.  It looks like it should hopefully have all of the features you're asking for here.  Not too sure about the EQ though, James asked if people wanted BBE support but nobody seemed particularly enthusiastic about it.

 

[svyr]

Hmm, know where I can find FR graphs for DAPs?

google for the DAP name and RMAA results or maybe Frequency response (technically that's incorrect lol, since that'd be if they had HP connected and measured the HP) chart of graph. E.g. http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Comparisons/Cowon%202.57%20vs.%20Rockbox%20r17781%20-%20Full%20Volume%20-%2016%20Ohm.htm and http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Comparisons/Cowon%202.57%20vs.%20Rockbox%20r17781%20-%20Half%20Volume%20-%2016%20Ohm.htm for D2. You get them in two flavors - no load and with a load connected (e.g. 16 ohm, 32 ohm, etc). The latter lets you assess whether your HP will have issues like bass roll-off when connected. http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showpost.php?p=248467&postcount=2

 

[Sonic Atrocity]

Ahhhh I see. That's really intriguing. My (future) DAP will be connected to my portable amp which then will be connected to my headphones. Will that make a difference with the FR being that there is an amp (PA2V2) between my source and HP? 
 
I am thinking that if there are issues with bass rolloff I can raise my rolloff point in the lower register of my equalizer... or am I not quite understanding? 
 
I am also wondering if I should even look at FR graphs and just let my ears figure it out. Probably the best device to measure with. Or not? I dunno. 
 
 
I love this site.

 

[svyr]

Ahhhh I see. That's really intriguing. My (future) DAP will be connected to my portable amp which then will be connected to my headphones. Will that make a difference with the FR being that there is an amp (PA2V2) between my source and HP? 
 
I am thinking that if there are issues with bass rolloff I can raise my rolloff point in the lower register of my equalizer... or am I not quite understanding? 
 
I am also wondering if I should even look at FR graphs and just let my ears figure it out. Probably the best device to measure with. Or not? I dunno. 
 
 
I love this site.

sometimes the roll off is to 0 and sometimes it's about 15-20dB, usually portable devices can't compensate for that much.
As for the ext amp, it depends, if you plug it via a line out port, it should be fine, if via HP port, you'd probably get an overlap of the two.

 

[Sonic Atrocity]

I plug it in from the sources headphone jack to the headphone jack of the amp to a headphone jack out to my headphones. Not very complicated or modern.

 

[JamesMcProgger]

I'm waiting for the FiiO X3
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/528916/the-fiio-x3-thread-upcoming-fiio-dap

 

[estreeter]

Its weird - I completely ignored most of the buzz around the HiFiMan and Colorfly players, right up until yesterday when I read a sales pitch for the Colorfly. I dont know how many of your boxes it ticks - perhaps none (!) - but thats the direction I'd like to go if I'm going to throw serious money at portable player.

 

[svyr]

Its weird - I completely ignored most of the buzz around the HiFiMan and Colorfly players, right up until yesterday when I read a sales pitch for the Colorfly. I dont know how many of your boxes it ticks - perhaps none (!) - but thats the direction I'd like to go if I'm going to throw serious money at portable player.

lol, I read the sales pitch for colorfly, but then i read the thread for it and quickly realized it's a poo-bar.