[tmauceri]

Hey.

I'm thinking of ordering the Pioneer XDP 30r.

I'd be getting it to replace a Pioneer XDP 300r that I've had for just over a month.

That player has been far too glitchy for my liking and I couldn't put up with the intermittent stuttering of tracks via Tidal offline play, which seems to be a known issue.

Anyone who has the 30r experienced anything similar or has this been resolved on the 30r? Does the 30r even do Tidal offline playback?

Is the Tidal MQA update working so you can stream Tidal MQA tracks? Does the Tidal app on this show that it's an MQA encoded album... I think it's an 'M' to indicate it as per the desktop app?

Is there an equalizer on this player and does that equalizer work with Tidal?

Thanks in advance for your help...

On the DP-S1 the EQ works with Tidal on 41/16 files but not with MQA files.

 

[Technocrafts]

Try rebooting your router.

Thanks, it worked this time, but the experience was frustrating enough to hunt down a DP-X1A. What a beast! That monster is an Abrams A1M1 compared to the Rubato, but the later still remains my portable solution, while the DP-X1A produces the best sound I ever heard!

 

[MrSlim]

Thanks, it worked this time, but the experience was frustrating enough to hunt down a DP-X1A. What a beast! That monster is an Abrams A1M1 compared to the Rubato, but the later still remains my portable solution, while the DP-X1A produces the best sound I ever heard!

Just curious, how would you compare the sound of the DP-X1A to the Rubato/30r?

 

[MrSlim]

The Tidal issue is a drm/licensing issue. The owners of the content which Tidal licenses to offer want assurances that the music files are just on a device that has a trackable unique serial number mapped to an individual who's info they have. Which is why you're forced to use the Mac or PC desktop app to get downloaded MQA content. That's not to say that Android / Linux systems can't generate a hardware locked serial number too. More likely just that they're known open systems with relatively easier ways to get around that than the Mac or PC ecosystem.

I though someone on this thread had said that the X1A/300r were Android based and could do offline Tidal..

 

[Technocrafts]

Just curious, how would you compare the sound of the DP-X1A to the Rubato/30r?

I would say the Rubato's sound is very close, but I'm noticing somewhat more details, higher resolution and wider soundstage off the bet. One of the bigger advantage of the android based player is, that you can use several apps for music playback. My favorite is Poweramp, it offers incredible audio performance with the right hardware. I've been using that app with my Galaxy S7, but the X1A from where it truly shines. The impact on the lower end, the treble extension and the breath taking resolution made me feel I'm listening my music through a pair of MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL. Unbelievable!

 

[bsoplinger]

I though someone on this thread had said that the X1A/300r were Android based and could do offline Tidal..

By running the Tidal Android app you can get offline storage of the regular Tidal music files, AAC encoded I believe if you have the 'cheap' service and flac? for the expensive one. But no MQA which the quote was really responding to, not the more general one of offline storage. But what I'd said did not make that apparent.

 

[colonelkernel8]

I would say the Rubato's sound is very close, but I'm noticing somewhat more details, higher resolution and wider soundstage off the bet. One of the bigger advantage of the android based player is, that you can use several apps for music playback. My favorite is Poweramp, it offers incredible audio performance with the right hardware. I've been using that app with my Galaxy S7, but the X1A from where it truly shines. The impact on the lower end, the treble extension and the breath taking resolution made me feel I'm listening my music through a pair of MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL. Unbelievable!

They both use the exact same DAC (Sabre 9018) and amplifier circuit (Sabre 9601K) with the same rated power output. How is what you’re describing possible?

In my opinion, the Sabre 9601K is absolutely terrible for low impedance headphones and IEMs at least in the implementation we see in these Onkyo and Pioneer DAPs. It sounded absolutely anemic (high gain mode and volume at near 40) with my B&O H6 and my AKG N40, especially awful on the latter, but fine on the 70 ohm Sennheiser HD 25-1-IIs. I like streaming Tidal in MQA so I’m keeping my XDP-30R, but I wish there was something, anything different in the analog headphone output stage in any of these Onkyo or Pioneer DAPs (they are *all* identical) so I didn’t need to run it to an external amp.

 

[Technocrafts]

They both use the exact same DAC (Sabre 9018) and amplifier circuit (Sabre 9601K) with the same rated power output. How is what you’re describing possible?

In my opinion, the Sabre 9601K is absolutely terrible for low impedance headphones and IEMs at least in the implementation we see in these Onkyo and Pioneer DAPs. It sounded absolutely anemic (high gain mode and volume at near 40) with my B&O H6 and my AKG N40, especially awful on the latter, but fine on the 70 ohm Sennheiser HD 25-1-IIs. I like streaming Tidal in MQA so I’m keeping my XDP-30R, but I wish there was something, anything different in the analog headphone output stage in any of these Onkyo or Pioneer DAPs (they are *all* identical) so I didn’t need to run it to an external amp.

Frankly, I don't know, I'm lost. I'm not noticing substantial gain over the DP-S1, if I rely on the standard player of the X1A. Poweramp makes the difference, it turbocharges the payer by an extreme! In fact, I was not sold at all on the X1A, until I installed Poweramp and fired it up. This thing is huge, bulky and I just didn't want to deal with another "smartphone" for music. The move to inquire the X1A was the lousy wireless performance of the DP-S1. The X1A of course offers seamless streaming experience, but definitely not a player I want to log around. I used the same gear to test the player, a pair of IE80 with this cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0745YCPJX/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I got instantly addicted to the X1A's Poweramp output form the moment I heard it for the first time, that experience sealed the deal for me. I'm certain the DP-S1 could be tweaked and fine tuned a great deal more, if the guys from Rockbox would get on it. Never the last, it still remains my portable gear, its in my pocket wherever I go. The more narrow soundstage that strikes me immediately when I revert back, and does not have the same dynamic range and impact, but the sound color and details are the same, not warmer, not leaner.

 

[colonelkernel8]

Frankly, I don't know, I'm lost. I'm not noticing substantial gain over the DP-S1, if I rely on the standard player of the X1A. Poweramp makes the difference, it turbocharges the payer by an extreme! In fact, I was not sold at all on the X1A, until I installed Poweramp and fired it up. This thing is huge, bulky and I just didn't want to deal with another "smartphone" for music. The move to inquire the X1A was the lousy wireless performance of the DP-S1. The X1A of course offers seamless streaming experience, but definitely not a player I want to log around. I used the same gear to test the player, a pair of IE80 with this cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0745YCPJX/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I got instantly addicted to the X1A's Poweramp output form the moment I heard it for the first time, that experience sealed the deal for me. I'm certain the DP-S1 could be tweaked and fine tuned a great deal more, if the guys from Rockbox would get on it. Never the last, it still remains my portable gear, its in my pocket wherever I go. The more narrow soundstage that strikes me immediately when I revert back, and does not have the same dynamic range and impact, but the sound color and details are the same, not warmer, not leaner.

I have IE80s. I’ll give them a try with my XDP-30R. Maybe they’ll fair better than the N40’s being a single driver IEM.

 

[downhillryder]

They both use the exact same DAC (Sabre 9018) and amplifier circuit (Sabre 9601K) with the same rated power output. How is what you’re describing possible?

In my opinion, the Sabre 9601K is absolutely terrible for low impedance headphones and IEMs at least in the implementation we see in these Onkyo and Pioneer DAPs. It sounded absolutely anemic (high gain mode and volume at near 40) with my B&O H6 and my AKG N40, especially awful on the latter, but fine on the 70 ohm Sennheiser HD 25-1-IIs. I like streaming Tidal in MQA so I’m keeping my XDP-30R, but I wish there was something, anything different in the analog headphone output stage in any of these Onkyo or Pioneer DAPs (they are *all* identical) so I didn’t need to run it to an external amp.

When my 30R volume control went awol I was using the "line out" with an inline attenuator and my 1More triple driver earphones. Now I've got the volume control fixed I could use the phones normally but I found I prefer the sound of the "line out". With the gain set to 'high' or 'normal' and the line out set to 'variable' the resulting sound (to my ears) has better attack, the bass is more defined as is the sound stage. The whole feeling is of more presence to the presentation. Maybe it's a better impedance match, I don't know. Only problem is resetting to line out each time it powers up.

 

[colonelkernel8]

When my 30R volume control went awol I was using the "line out" with an inline attenuator and my 1More triple driver earphones. Now I've got the volume control fixed I could use the phones normally but I found I prefer the sound of the "line out". With the gain set to 'high' or 'normal' and the line out set to 'variable' the resulting sound (to my ears) has better attack, the bass is more defined as is the sound stage. The whole feeling is of more presence to the presentation. Maybe it's a better impedance match, I don't know. Only problem is resetting to line out each time it powers up.

I hate to bear bad news, but all line out mode does is turn the volume up to max to produce the full 2 Vrms output signal.

 

[downhillryder]

I hate to bear bad news, but all line out mode does is turn the volume up to max to produce the full 2 Vrms output signal.

I don't mind that I'm hearing differences that can't be there, it's keeping me happy at the moment.!

 

[rapoon]

The XDP-30R is back in stock at B&H for $200. Receiving mine early next week; eager to replace my aging Xuelin 770c.

 

[jmwreck]

Only problem is resetting to line out each time it powers up.

add the line out to the home screen

 

[tmauceri]

I just ordered a second DP-S1 for my car and want to copy from my old one to the new. I use the drag and drop method to move music from my server to the DP-S1. My thought is to plug the old DP-S1 in via USB and copy to each new SD card one card at a time while they are plugged into the SD card slot on my Mac. Then copy the internal drive on the old DP-S1 to a folder on the Mac and transfer the contents of the folder to the new DP-S1 via USB. My first question is do the new SD cards need to be formatted by inserting them into the new DP-S1 and copying a music folder in to each so they will be recognized by DP-S1? Second question can I just plug both units in via USB and copy one to they other?