Luge
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2016
- Posts
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- 34
Hi
As I was not able to choose which balanced "mid-budget" (around €500) DAP should I buy instead of my Pioneer XDP-100R I have decided to exercise my consumer rights and got Fiio X5 3rd and Astell & Kern AK70 to test them in my 14 days cool-off period.
What tests I plan to do:
Conditions:
And now why I am writing this in advance: If you have any questions or suggestions regarding testing/comparison of the abovementioned DAPs please feel free to post it here. I am sure I will neither answer all the questions nor perform all the suggested test but I will do my best.
As I was not able to choose which balanced "mid-budget" (around €500) DAP should I buy instead of my Pioneer XDP-100R I have decided to exercise my consumer rights and got Fiio X5 3rd and Astell & Kern AK70 to test them in my 14 days cool-off period.
What tests I plan to do:
- Battery life test - how long the player is able to play hi-res FLAC files on somewhat medium volume with my IEMs (Trintity Phantom Master 4) - my Pioneer reached 17hrs result in this test.
- General DAP (HW/SW) impressions - i.e. formfactor, build, ease of use, convenience.
- General listening test - subjective impressions about the players while playing similar playlists and the overall "feel" of the players.
- AB listening tests - detailed subjective comparison of playback of selected tracks/parts of tracks.
Conditions:
- The only suitable IEMs I posses right now are Trinity Phantom Master 4. They are decent but no TOTL performers. There is a chance that I will receive Trinity's TOTL IEM - the Hunter - in the meantime but I doubt that as it is seriously delayed.
- I will not compare the obvious differences in features - only when something surprises me.
- Please keep in mind that I am neither audio professional nor trained audiophile - just an average Joe who likes music.
- I have no gadgets to objectively measure the audio performance of the players.
And now why I am writing this in advance: If you have any questions or suggestions regarding testing/comparison of the abovementioned DAPs please feel free to post it here. I am sure I will neither answer all the questions nor perform all the suggested test but I will do my best.