Obscure Chinese DAPs

[audionewbi]

  Yeah gold... It sounds simply amazing with all kind of headphones, even it drives pretty well my Sennheiser HD800 

 

Love to know more about what you think of PAW Gold.

 

[H20Fidelity]

I see Penon Audio is now stocking the Shozy Alien for $169 USD.

http://penonaudio.com/music-mp3-players/Portable/Shozy-Alien

I think I might do this next week.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

What would be a good bang-for-the-buck DAP capable of line-out, hp out (preferably one that can power full-sized headphones and maybe even the HE560), maybe coax out, has android system, and of course excellent SQ. Under $400. 

I currently have a DX100 which it'll have to compete with well. I'm mainly interested in a capable DAP with a new Android platform (DX100 is stuck on 2.x version).

 

[audionewbi]

I dont know any andriod DAP which has all those feature at any price range (beside the DX100).

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

The coax out and ability to drive full-sized headphones I'd be willing to overlook. The android base, line-out, capability to drive iems to portables/efficient full size and as a dap is more of what I'm after.

What would be a good bang-for-the-buck DAP capable of line-out, hp out (preferably one that can power full-sized headphones and maybe even the HE560), maybe coax out, has android system, and of course excellent SQ. Under $400. 


I currently have a DX100 which it'll have to compete with well. I'm mainly interested in a capable DAP with a new Android platform (DX100 is stuck on 2.x version).

 

[xiaoqi]

  Yeah gold... It sounds simply amazing with all kind of headphones, even it drives pretty well my Sennheiser HD800 

 

Amazing picture. May you talk more about PAW Gold? 

 

[yugas]

Hello, thanks it was just a quick photo with my Xperia Z2 

 
My first impressions after 2 weeks are fantastic.
I've tried many of the top sounding DAP on the market, (Colorfly C4, AK120, DX90, DX50, FiiO X5, Xuelin IHIFI 770...) and the PAW GOLD performance is just above of them by a lot.
Soundstage and imaging capabilities are just amazing, and even better than some desktop amplifiers.
 
It is all about power, micro-details, control and neutrality. It is the first DAP that I can listen with my Sennheiser HD800 without harsh treble and with good power to drive them, I mean it has not my Violectric V100 performance with them but man, impressive for a portable source.
If you are more on the warm side just select the "Sweet" preset EQ and you got it, smooth sound and great musicality.
 
Software is quite simple but very very stable and effective, I've never had a bug with this DAP.
 
Plus totally black background (even with CIEM) , USB 3.0, and about 12 hours of battery life, I can't ask more 

 
Another photo:

 
Cheers

 

[AmberOzL]

The coax out and ability to drive full-sized headphones I'd be willing to overlook. The android base, line-out, capability to drive iems to portables/efficient full size and as a dap is more of what I'm after.

Sony might have some cool daps for you but I am not sure about their firmware. They might not be Android but they are in your price range, they can drive portable/iems fine, as far as I know they have a line out too. I know DX100 firmware is laggy as hell Sony might be good for you if you are okay to give up a few things.
 
As you can see, there is no perfect dap. There might be but then the price goes up to 2500 euros or something and it is highly questionable whether it is worth it or not.
 
So many things to consider like; driving capability, UI, battery life, shape and size, inputs and outputs, screen or screenless, supporting formats etc etc. At the end, you have to choose what is important for you and focus on those things and the daps that they have them. For example, I still haven't settled on a dap, cuz I couldn't find the optimum one in the middle. Another reason is bdget problems of course but that ain't dap makers fault

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

AmberOzL I was looking at their Android models as well, it seems Sony favors other parts of the world on the market of their totl daps.

If a Chinese maker can make that happen that'd be top notch. My main draw for android is Spotify premium which I use to browse and try albums before purchasing. The DX100 is doing it all for me with lossless and Spotify offlin now but man that ui is a relic.

 

[AmberOzL]

@AmberOzL I was looking at their Android models as well, it seems Sony favors other parts of the world on the market of their totl daps.

If a Chinese maker can make that happen that'd be top notch. My main draw for android is Spotify premium which I use to browse and try albums before purchasing. The DX100 is doing it all for me with lossless and Spotify offlin now but man that ui is a relic.

An android phone with digital out and micro sd card entrance (up to 128 gb hopefully)? Might do the trick but we are talking about a stack here, which is not very portable. Though I would argue that how portable DX100 is. It is quite a brick.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I did that with my galaxy and an e18 stack but when needing to use my phone for calls and such it's quite a hassle. The DX100 is a brick indeed but still fits in the pocket and doesn't snag like FiiO's bands. The DX100 with its behemoth size makes up for it in SQ and power though. Everything but the HE4 drove beautifully with it, the he560 is borderlining on the amp section and can be sibilant at times in high volume.

I'll probably keep it a bit longer. More and more DAPs are seemingly being made available by many companies. I'll wait patiently with fingers crossed.

 

[audionewbi]

After nearly chasing a month after PAW Gold I finally managed to negotiate a price and purchase it. I am counting a lot on this DAP, it is suppose to be very analytical, accurate and rewarding with the right recording. This is okay as that is what I want. *edited as requested by lotoo*

I did provide link to the Lotoo rep about this thread and asked them to be more active in this forum, they are ware that head-fi is a big site but their focus is currently in the Asian market hence why it took me this long to get in contact with them.

If I remember correctly only recently they just offered the english menu in their site. This will conclude the last product of the year for me, no more purchasing till next year. 

 

[Retrias]

Good luck to you with the purchase, thanks for taking one for the team

 

[audionewbi]

Good luck to you with the purchase, thanks for taking one for the team

I've never chased an item this much. I hope it pays off.
Sadly once again only way I could know if it's right for me is to purchase it and test it for myself.

 

[yugas]

  After nearly chasing a month after PAW Gold I finally managed to negotiate a price and purchase it. I am counting a lot on this DAP, it is suppose to be very analytical, accurate and rewarding with the right recording. This is okay as that is what I want. Only time will tell if it was $950 USD well spent or not.
 
I did provide link to the Lotoo rep about this thread and asked them to be more active in this forum, they are ware that head-fi is a big site but their focus is currently in the Asian market hence why it took me this long to get in contact with them.
 
If I remember correctly only recently they just offered the english menu in their site. This will conclude the last product of the year for me, no more purchasing till next year. 

Good price, congratulations. Waiting for your impressions too.
What headphones will you use with the PAW Gold?
 
Cheers