[ReizeiMako]

From Pricejapan website:
 
"We shipped it recently for the customers who ordered it before Oct 23
Other pre-orders received before Nov 10, we may be able to ship it around Dec 15.
Other orders received after Nov 10 will be shipped in 5-6 weeks after its payment is received."
 
If DP-X1 is out of stock everywhere in Japan, this statement is nearly impossible to be true.

 

[mtthefirst]

I was a the bic camera in in Nagatacho and they tell me it is totally out of stock.

Plugged my own sd card into the device but it did not seem to like each other as it would start syncing and the catastrophically fail and the sd card would like unmount itself after a few minutes. As a result I could only hear a minute or so of a couple of songs from my own collection. During that time in SE mode I couldn't find a lot wrong with.

Compare to the dx50 I am using it had totally pitch black background and sounds very good.

I would have bought it if there was available stock. Unfortunately the sales people tell me there is no hope of availability at the shops until 31 Jan by which time I will be gone from Tokyo.

The only songs I could listen to after a couple of frustrated aborted attempts was what was On the players SD card and bizarrely the only music on there was Disney's greatest hits the Japanese version so they had AKB48, AAA, and May J singing those Disney hit songs. Not my cup of tea and no way to comment on the sound quality since there was no way for me to compare the sound quality as I had no frame of reference.

I also listened to the zx100 and to my ears it sounds very good too. Very musical DAP with a warmer presentation. Bizarrely they also had Disney greatest hits on the zx100 but the English singer version! What is this with Disney?!!! But at least there were a couple of other tracks I recognised.

In the end I would go for the DPX1 (assuming if I use a freshly formatted card the sync works and doesn't dismount the card all the time) because it is a cleaner sound to my ears and my earphones and headphones all tend towards the warm side. Plus future proofing with dsd and the ability to download any android app and use and the ability to go balanced drive. If you like a warmer sound though I did find the zx100 to be immediately engaging.

Only very subjective impressions as the listening environment was noisy and the equipment was unfamiliar. Auditioned wit a pair of Sony mdr1 and my own Adele U6 universal 6 driver iem bought during kickstart.

If they fix the UI issues I think this is a very good jack of all trades DAP.

Yodobashi camera had a sign say that it should be available on Jan 1. You should check with them.

 

[WCDchee]

Can you also please shortly compare SQ with Chord Mojo? Thanks.

I can't quite compare them to each other because of a number of factors. My own IEMs are only SE terminated. I compared the balanced to SE of the Onkyo on a set of 1964 A8s which I do not own. That gave me a rough idea of how good the balanced output is, but I'm still not too familiar with it. i also don't have a side by side comparison of those.

With regards to the mojo, despite what people say I have found it to be very sensitive to transport pairing, as well as the type of digital input. While I have been very impressed with the mojo as of now, what I will say is that, I believe that I have not heard it at its full potential.

The mojo bests the Onkyo in a few ways, it is way, way more powerful and drives even the he1000 with authority. That I am doubtful the Onkyo can do. The mojo is probably a step up in resolution too compared to the Onkyo, and more musical, I like the tuning better.

Having said that, what I love about the balanced out from the Onkyo is the lovely, open and airy soundstage, as well as the high level of resolution, even if not yet on the mojo's level. Do note though that I value a coherent, open and airy soundstage a lot, and the Onkyo does that in heaps.

Pure technical ability, I believe a properly fed mojo lies ahead of the Onkyo in most areas, perhaps except the staging qualities. How much difference I cannot say until I've got a chance to compare them optimally.

 

[ezekiel77]

The mojo bests the Onkyo in a few ways, it is way, way more powerful and drives even the he1000 with authority. That I am doubtful the Onkyo can do. The mojo is probably a step up in resolution too compared to the Onkyo, and more musical, I like the tuning better.
 

 
The Mojo is a beast of raw power. No DAP today can drive headphones as effortlessly as them.

 

[violencer]

I can't quite compare them to each other because of a number of factors. My own IEMs are only SE terminated. I compared the balanced to SE of the Onkyo on a set of 1964 A8s which I do not own. That gave me a rough idea of how good the balanced output is, but I'm still not too familiar with it. i also don't have a side by side comparison of those.

With regards to the mojo, despite what people say I have found it to be very sensitive to transport pairing, as well as the type of digital input. While I have been very impressed with the mojo as of now, what I will say is that, I believe that I have not heard it at its full potential.

The mojo bests the Onkyo in a few ways, it is way, way more powerful and drives even the he1000 with authority. That I am doubtful the Onkyo can do. The mojo is probably a step up in resolution too compared to the Onkyo, and more musical, I like the tuning better.

Having said that, what I love about the balanced out from the Onkyo is the lovely, open and airy soundstage, as well as the high level of resolution, even if not yet on the mojo's level. Do note though that I value a coherent, open and airy soundstage a lot, and the Onkyo does that in heaps.

Pure technical ability, I believe a properly fed mojo lies ahead of the Onkyo in most areas, perhaps except the staging qualities. How much difference I cannot say until I've got a chance to compare them optimally.

 
Thank you, I think now I made my final decision to Onkyo over Mojo. Since I’m not planning to use any Cans with portable DAC/DAP. In your point of view, which DAP is the most musical or more musical then DP-X1?

 

[audiocraze]

  Exact. Not possible.
What he shows us is

1. 3.5 balanced to 2.5 balanced
2. 3.5 balanced to 3.5 SE

 
Personaly, I own 

1. 2.5 balanced to 3.5 SE

Hi Philk34, question about your adapters / cables please: Since the DP-X1 has a much better output using the 2.5 mm balanced out, when it is using actually both DACs and AMPs: Is it a good idea to try an adapter that has male 2.5mm to female 3.5mm unbalanced, so that unbalanced headphones can use the balanced output? Naturally this would not be the same as driving a headphone in balanced mode, but would it be an "SE conversion" of a balanced output, and potentially still better than the SE output? Hope the question is described clearly.. Cheers.

 

[gr8soundz]

 
Hi Philk34, question about your adapters / cables please: Since the DP-X1 has a much better output using the 2.5 mm balanced out, when it is using actually both DACs and AMPs: Is it a good idea to try an adapter that has male 2.5mm to female 3.5mm unbalanced, so that unbalanced headphones can use the balanced output? Naturally this would not be the same as driving a headphone in balanced mode, but would it be an "SE conversion" of a balanced output, and potentially still better than the SE output? Hope the question is described clearly.. Cheers.

 
The Onkyo already has a feature that does this called AGC (active ground control). It uses both amps with the 3.5mm SE jack and the extra grounding is supposed to improve separation and soundstage.
 
You risk damaging the player (or your headphones) by trying to adapt SE to balanced.
 

 

[audiocraze]

   
The Onkyo already has a feature that does this called AGC (active ground control). It uses both amps with the 3.5mm SE jack and the extra grounding is supposed to improve separation and soundstage.
 
You risk damaging the player (or your headphones) by trying to adapt SE to balanced.
 

Yes AGC is a good point actually. What is still not clear is if both DACs are used in SE mode or not. I called Onkyo customer service today and they raised a ticket with the technical team in Hong Kong. I find it a little frustrating that the SQ of the DP-X1 is so different in balanced mode compared to SE mode, as I don't have a clear picture on which headphones actually have 2.5mm balanced cables...
 
If any one reading this know how I can find out please let me know. I've already seen moon audio's offering but frankly paying £200 for a cable to improve the SQ of a £500 player seems somewhat "unbalanced" financially.. Where can I get balanced cables for Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic or Oppo headphones that cost no more than standard cables (around £50)??? I'm based in UK..

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

^ There are also better value cable options, at headphonelounge it costs ~$100 for a balanced 2.5mm OCC Silver plated Copper Litz cable.

 

[PoRidge]

can anyone compare the dpx1 balanced out with the l5 pro in terms of soundstage, imaging and layering. thanks in advance.

i don't want to buy a balance cable before i am definitely getting one dap that has balanced out, which in turns limits my ability to test out the balanced out of many daps. i think only reviews can solve this paradox. or maybe i can demo a cable from the shop.

 

[philk34]

i don't want to buy a balance cable before i am definitely getting one dap that has balanced out, which in turns limits my ability to test out the balanced out of many daps. i think only reviews can solve this paradox. or maybe i can demo a cable from the shop.

It is the very reason I bought a balanced cable with a SE adapter. 
 
I don't own a DAP with balanced output but I want to be able to test out my next DAP in balanced mode.

 

[PoRidge]

It is the very reason I bought a balanced cable with a SE adapter. 

I don't own a DAP with balanced output but I want to be able to test out my next DAP in balanced mode.

nice option, but won't the adapter be troublesome? or possibly affect the performance of the cable.

 

[Sound Eq]

nice option, but won't the adapter be troublesome? or possibly affect the performance of the cable.

so guys i have a balanced cable and got a SE adapter, is it wrong to use a SE adapter with a balanced cable to listen SE sometimes 

 

[PoRidge]

so guys i have a balanced cable and got a SE adapter, is it wrong to use a SE adapter with a balanced cable to listen SE sometimes 

i see no wrong in that. all cables are "balanced" from the splitter and up.

 

[philk34]

i see no wrong in that. all cables are "balanced" from the splitter and up.

Exactly what I answered myself to that same question before ordering the adaptor.