Alright, so after half a day of using it here are some thoughts on the player:
-As mentioned by others, this thing is built superbly. Not as heavy as my ZX2 but feels exceptionally well built; the metal body has no play anywhere and the volume wheel has a nicely damped resistance.
-It is surprisingly ergonomic; yes, it's large, but it's also rather thin and fits into slim jeans pockets easily. If you can operate an iPhone 6 with one hand the DP-X1 can be operated in a similar fashion.
-Sonically, this player is on the warm neutral side, following Onkyo's hifi signature. Exceptionally black background and good resolution (which I feel will improve even further with more run time), and a massive soundstage paired with punchy but extremely tight bass which straddles the line between fun and reference brilliantly from the balanced output. Single ended ACG mode sacrifices a noticeable amount of soundstage size plus airiness and bloats the bass slightly, in addition to a haze shrouding some micro details especially in the mids. This player needs to be used out of the balanced jack for it to truly shine. Don't get me wrong though, out of single ended this thing already sounds great and slightly edges out my ZX2 (which I still love despite all the mud slinging it has been getting in this thread recently). Also, the sound settings in the stock app really do make a difference; adjusting the Lock Range Adjustment (jitter rejection in plain English) to the tightest setting noticeably improved clarity. The EQ also looks extensive, although I never EQ my players so I've nothing to say in that regard.
-UI wise, the dreaded volume adjust lag is present, however I feel that previous reports may have exaggerated it slightly. It's there, but not that bad IMO. What is, though, is the half to 0.7 second delay in skipping tracks and the seeming inability to do gapless playback; the player adds a small but noticeable gap between tracks, making live recordings and other gapless pieces sound disjointed. Very annoying. And yes, no folder mode yada yada. Have never used folder mode on any DAP I've had so I couldn't care less.
To answer some questions asked, the DP-X1 uses one DAC in standard SE mode (if I am not mistaken) and both DACs in both ACG and Balanced mode. This is worth letting go of the ZX2 for, however it is less warm/lush sounding so you'll have to bear that in mind if you're switching. And yes, I'll do a side by side comparo with some other DAPs once I find the time to head to e-earphone again.
PS. The pre-installed screen protector has the stupid "Protection Sheet" marking on it which is an absolute eyesore...
Just sold my zx2 today and quite happy with your impression. So Does Onkyo have noticeably better sound than ZX2? like micro detail and soundstage?
