[Aevum]

OK. heres the thing, Rockbox is a software/firmware replacement, it can improve on the sound quality of a device but it can not do magic.
if a device has a bad opamp and dsp. rockbox cant do magic.
 
Rockbox on a clip+ or a Cowon D2 might sound extreamly well. but installed on a packard bell V500 or some other el cheapo player the sound quality will vary.
especialy if people try it on cellphones which are known
 
i cant comment on the hifiman, never heard it. but i have heard very negative comments from people whos ears i trust.
but i can comment on the kenwood HD series. it hisses. it sounds bloated and vailed. the interface is horrible and slow. nothing in the world justifies the price they charged for a new one (paid 200 euros for a 2nd hand 20GB one)
i was tricked by the fi-tards to believe it was pure magic when really its a recycled toshiba player which excells at nothing at all.
 
all i can say is stop parroting the sponsors trying to get you to buy 800 piece of junk just becuase it uses opamps which were used in high end equipment 10 years ago.
like new age medicine becuase its an ancient and from the east DOSNT MEAN ITS GOOD.
 
 
 
 

 

[Typhoon859]

Quote:

OK. heres the thing, Rockbox is a software/firmware replacement, it can improve on the sound quality of a device but it can not do magic.
if a device has a bad opamp and dsp. rockbox cant do magic.
 
Rockbox on a clip+ or a Cowon D2 might sound extreamly well. but installed on a packard bell V500 or some other el cheapo player the sound quality will vary.
especialy if people try it on cellphones which are known
 
i cant comment on the hifiman, never heard it. but i have heard very negative comments from people whos ears i trust.
but i can comment on the kenwood HD series. it hisses. it sounds bloated and vailed. the interface is horrible and slow. nothing in the world justifies the price they charged for a new one (paid 200 euros for a 2nd hand 20GB one)
i was tricked by the fi-tards to believe it was pure magic when really its a recycled toshiba player which excells at nothing at all.
 
all i can say is stop parroting the sponsors trying to get you to buy 800 piece of junk just becuase it uses opamps which were used in high end equipment 10 years ago.
like new age medicine becuase its an ancient and from the east DOSNT MEAN ITS GOOD.
 
 
 
 

So a Clip+ is what I will get just to try it out.  And thank you  I was a bit mislead by the Cowon J3 to be honest; I sort of has the same experience and I can only imagine what it's like with other players.  I really wasn't expecting such hiss (which is ok) and especially the unavoidable cold sound.  I mean, it wouldn't even be such a problem if it didn't make my head hurt.  Without the right pair of headphones, two Metallica songs and you're basically done...

 

[estreeter]

As gifted as the QLS QA-350 may be, it hardly qualifies as a 'portable' source !

 

[FlatNine]

I have the iPod Touch 3rg Gen, and can tell you that it holds its own. I got caught up in the posts here (which is part of the fun) and bought a Cowon D2+. I was expecting some kind of audio nirvana. It didn't happen! Everyone talks about the D2+'s BBE effects. They are cool, but when played flat, I thought the iPod was better. I loaded the same music on both, FLAC on the D2+, ALAC on the iPod, and would compare the two using the following phones: Bose On Ear, Ety ER-4P's, and Yuin PK1's. I thought the Apple's sound was clearer and more detailed. The Cowon's battery life was/is excellent, but the iPod Touch interface is king of them all. Plus, I added the EQu equalizer to my Touch and this thing is great. I sent back the D2+. (which had a miserable interface in my opinion)
 
You'll probably have to go through many DAPs, as well as many headphones, amps, etc. until your ear and your confidence in your ear develop to the point where you know exactly what you like and want and what you don't. If one guy is extremely happy with a HiFi Man 802, and another is equally as happy with something that would be considered junk here on head-fi, who is right? They both are. Beauty is in the ear of the beholder. Discerning differences between gear takes time and money but in the end, it's all about what YOU like. But it's fun, and the "hunt" (research and comparison) is a big part of that fun.
 
Enjoy!

 

[faichiu]

Wooo...........You should go get your doctor degree by proving someone has a hearing problem.
 
Quote:

 

 

 
 
Sorry, Rockbox can't sound as horrid or as cutoff as the hifyman - being louder than other DAP's doesn't mean better, but your biased & would never admit the truth ,... If Rockbox sounded so much worse than ALL the other DAP's you've mentioned then why do people who've used them LOVE ROCKBOX?!?!?! 
 
And the Rockbox EQ doesn't distort,...so now I also know your lying,... Sad, so very sad,...
 
And really, Rockbox sounds ARTIFICIAL??? You must have a hearing problem - and this statement PROVES IT. 

 
You've shown bias and have now opened the proverbial "can of worms"!!!

 

 

[estreeter]

I still think you can achieve a degree of happiness with any capable DAP and the right phones. Read joker's epic IEM thread and he gives very specific recommendations re which IEMs respond well to *moderate* software or hardware EQ (e.g. bass boost on an amp). The thing I like about the 6G Nano is that I havent had to tinker with it at all - I even like the sound that comes out of the headphone out. It only takes 30 seconds with my old Touch to highlight just how much better this model is.

 

[tds101]

 
Quote:

Wooo...........You should go get your doctor degree by proving someone has a hearing problem.
 


 

 
And maybe, just maybe, it would be helpful if you provided a real and UNBIASED knowledgeable post,...instead of that totally baseless & false BS you posted in regards to Rockbox and it's EQ. I'm no Rockbox fanboi, but it's an excellent sounding alternative OS. I'm actually not a huge fan of it - the whole look and feel of it reeks of windows 98 - but it works excellently, and the EQ is fantastic.
 
BTW: I own the iPod classic 7G, and the EQ presets don't distort, and the iPhone w/iOS 4 has no distortion w/it's EQ presets nowadays as well. Check a few of the threads based on them, then get back to us.