New to hi-fi gear -- are there ways to modify the soundstage of a DAP?

[jorbborbis]

Hello! I'm new to the hobby, but have been trained as a critical listener for many years now (recording engineer / producer for 15 years now). I recently picked up two budget DAPs – a HiBy R3 II and a Japanese import Walkman NW-A306.

Honestly, I've noticed a massive difference in the sound of the two devices running the same cheap IEMs. The R3 II is boomier and muddier, but it also has a wider and more immersive soundstage. It's really fun to listen to music on this device because of how huge and lively it makes everything sound – you can really get lost in the sound.

The NW-A306 to me is much clearer and sharper – individual sounds really separate out – but it also feels more distant and less wide. Basically I wish I could combine the two sound signatures and get the best of both worlds – the clarity of the A306 with the width and spaciousness of the R3 II.

As I stand right now, how any of this digital audio technology works is pretty much a complete mystery to me lol, more or less a black box. You don't really need to learn any of this stuff to be a sound engineer these days. I'm looking forward to learning more about what physical or digital qualities makes things sound the way they do as I get deeper into the hobby, but right now I'm just wondering if there are ways to make the A306 sound wider and more immersive. Or is the soundstage of a device completely baked into the hardware side of things?

Thanks in advance!

 

[dunring]

If you have filter setting, those can increase the pre and post ringing to a limited amount to create the effects. Music players can have options to create it, usually by introducing distortion in the 2nd and 3rd harmonic like the color settings in SMSL DACs.
If your DAP has options like being able to install 3rd party players like Android ones, then lots of options there. If using IEMs, the quick way is Dunu S&S tips which will help with their design.

 

[jorbborbis]

Thanks for these tips! I was playing around with the Stereo Expand setting in the Poweramp trial version, but unfortunately it was introducing some pretty undesirable phase artifacts. I'll try out these options you've suggested.

 

[earmonger]

If you can install outboard apps, find a free (or paid) equalizer (EQ) app. Or look into advanced menus on the DAPS for equalizers or more fine-tuned bass/treble controls.

 

[lairpost]

Try Wavelet. You can try some of the features for no cost but I think it's $5 to unlock the 'virtualizer'. I find this can very effectively render a wider and taller, sometime deeper, stage. It's quite subtle despite having a variable 'strength' setting of 1%-100%. It's one of those changes that takes time to fully realize. Flipping it on and off doesn't reveal much and not every track will benefit but I find no downsides...playing tracks on random or Radio Paradise not once have I thought to myself I need to turn it off.

Scratch the above, Wavelet only runs on Android. I think you're limited to whatever Hiby or Sony have included in the player OS or included software.

The 'stage' of the device is what it is but don't discount you don't listen to the device in isolation. The IEM or headphone is part of the system. The tuning of an IEM can have a huge impact on the sound and stage but a lot of this can be replicated with parametric EQ or convolution.

The synergy of the DAP, IEMs, tips! plus PEQ or other digital tweaks and your personal HRTF all play a role in what you hear or perceive.

Wide bore tips can help broaden the stage. I like Penon ePro EP01. I've not been able to get a good seal with Divinus Velvet wide bore but they feel very nice. I think tip rolling is underrated and a great way to sculpt and alter the sound physically and obtain a better seal/fit/comfort along the way. I keep a small arsenal of tips and change them up from time to time with my various IEMs all using the same DAP. Relatively cheap and cheerful way to keep it new and fresh.

 

[jorbborbis]

The synergy of the DAP, IEMs, tips! plus PEQ or other digital tweaks and your personal HRTF all play a role in what you hear or perceive.

Yes I've been quickly realizing this haha! Getting me really excited about the hobby... so many possible combinations... so many interesting sound signatures ... so much money

Scratch the above, Wavelet only runs on Android

The NW-A306 is an Android model!

Thanks for all the detailed responses, made me really happy to come back to. In the past couple days playing around on my own, I've found that I actually really quite like Sony's built-in ClearSound+. It achieved the widening effect I was looking for (I believe with VPT) and I also quite liked the EQ it added, although there was a bit too much sub. I was really happy to discover that Wavelet followed ClearSound+ in the processing chain, because when ClearSound+ is enabled Sony's built-in EQ is disabled. So I used Wavelet to scoop out a little bit of 62.5 hz and it's great now. Maybe not my hypothetical Goldilocks signature but it's real nice, and I think I squarely prefer it to the HiBy now, although there's still something really intoxicating and alive about the HiBy signature.

In the past I was quite averse to the notion of using digital post-processing when listening to music, probably because of some misguided conviction that post-processing was somehow impure or unnatural and would therefore make the sound illegitimate, and also maybe because stuff similar to ClearSound was often pretty gimmicky and introduced artifacts I perceived to be negative. I'm learning that a huge motivating drive behind this hobby is simply getting to experience different sound signatures and inhabit different sound worlds, so who cares how you get there, as long as it sounds cool to you.

I do have a question for those who are more informed – do DAP manufacturers ever apply any sort of software effects chain / tuning under the hood? Like before the optional EQ / convolution / whatever, is the "stock sound" ever processed in any sort of way. Or are the differences in stock sound signatures between two devices purely a matter of hardware design? Thanks again for the tips! Really excited to continue learning!

 

[lairpost]

Welcome to Head-fi!

Glad you've found Wavelet useful and apologize for not finding the Sony was Android. I very much enjoy the IEM hobby as one can try so many different combos for so little comparative money vs 2 channel speaker system. I'm an old audiophile going on 50 years of focused, dedicated listening with speakers and headphones. Only recently did I decided to try some modern IEMs and boy am I glad I did. They are vastly more capable than just 10 years ago. I've demo'd nearly 40 different sets and have only kept 2. Some I liked the sound very much but struggled with fit, often the nozzle was simply too large for my ears. Other times the fit was great but I just didn't get on with the sound profile. I like to listen with no EQ for a good while as I want the transducers to be as close as possible to what my ear/brain likes then I'll use EQ to spice/tune but not to 'fix'. If I have to fix it I send it back as it's not a good match for me. More so than speakers, we all hear differently as the vast majority of the space/air/environment is negated with it stuck right in your ear. Everyone's ears and hearing damage and HRTF is different and just to make it more fun each of your ears can be different! Usually just a different sized tip will resolve thankfully.

I've always welcomed EQ in every form along the decades as I realized early on that every other step in the chain from the mics, the mix, to the mastering, monitoring speakers, etc. is all 'EQ'd' in some way. Why not take advantage of the one step we can control, playback, and use it to our respective benefit or preference. How many albums from the late '70s or '80s were clearly mixed by someone with massive hearing damage or on drugs or both! Investigate squid.link for another fantastic rabbit hole. It allows very quick and easy EQ profile mapping to another target curve or to another measured IEM response curve and quick import into Wavelet. I keep 3-4 tweaked favorites for each of my IEMs. It's akin to be able to switch to a completely different listening environment or headphone/IEM with a click. Fantastic!

To answer your question, yes they 'apply' their 'house sound' whether it's intentional or not. Since none of this hardware works without both firmware and software it's a combo of all of it. The dac and as or more importantly the supporting circuit that feeds and then amplifies the signal all have an impact on the sonic signature. They can vary the impedance, resistance and manipulate the noise by their component choice and arraignment. It's arguably the art of design. Then there's the software, and radios, both bluetooth and wifi. How well are the other sensitive components shielded from the radio radiation. How much 'tuning' of the OS has been done. How many non-audio services are left installed and running or not...on and on.

In my limited DAP experience, I've found both Hiby's R4 and R6 III 2025 to both be on the 'warmer' or 'darker' side of the sound rendition. A more gentle on the ears listen vs. a bright or treble enhanced rendering. After listening with the iBasso DX180 I found I prefer it over the two Hiby devices both in sound signature, DX180 leans much more natural or neutral with just a touch of warmth, but also in ergonomics and the replaceable battery is the cherry on top. That said, I find the sonic render of individual IEMs to have a bit more influence of the final sound vs. what's driving it. Both matter.