[kevindiu]

So it appears my XDP -300R has suffered the port movement issue. I noticed very slight play on the 3.5mm port about a month ago and emailed Pioneer who said a small amount was acceptable. However I've just fitted a balanced jack and when I've put it in the 2.5mm port the degree of movement is more than I'm comfortable with. I've also noticed the ports don't sit centred to the casing:


I've emailed Pioneer to see what they suggest. Having purchased this on Amazon.JP and living in the UK do you think this will cause issues? I f'ing hope not!

 
I and my friends just place UV glue around the headphone port to fix the position of the headphone port. Hope it helps.

 

[Razornova]

   
I and my friends just place UV glue around the headphone port to fix the position of the headphone port. Hope it helps.

Good idea. Probably blocks dust out as well.

 

[JohnRS]

I and my friends just place UV glue around the headphone port to fix the position of the headphone port. Hope it helps.

Good idea. I'll see what Pioneer come back with. I'd rather they fixed or replaced this one incase the pcb is damaged and then I'll probably glue them for a long term permanent preventive measure.

 

[Miguel Ruiz]

So, I was pretty set on getting the XDP 300 R for my first DAP, but after reading all this thread you have all been slightly peeling me off, what completely did it for me was  comment by @SteveOliver, does the XDP 300R rally sound similar to the HTC 10? Because I was plannning on getting the LG v20 soon, which is supposed to be even better than the HTC for audio wit hits  "ES9218 Quad DAC" so whats the point of getting a whole other thing to carry if I can get the same sound with a smartphone? 

Ill be using/want to use it with the Audeze iSine 20.
 
Has anyone tried this IEMs with their 300R? 
Other than the dual SIM, what advantages would the 300R provide? 
 
Does the balanced output only provides more power or do they sound better too? Could this be solved just by adding an external amp to the v20?

 

[435279]

  So, I was pretty set on getting the XDP 300 R for my first DAP, but after reading all this thread you have all been slightly peeling me off, what completely did it for me was  comment by @SteveOliver, does the XDP 300R rally sound similar to the HTC 10? Because I was plannning on getting the LG v20 soon, which is supposed to be even better than the HTC for audio wit hits  "ES9218 Quad DAC" so whats the point of getting a whole other thing to carry if I can get the same sound with a smartphone? 

Ill be using/want to use it with the Audeze iSine 20.
 
Has anyone tried this IEMs with their 300R? 
Other than the dual SIM, what advantages would the 300R provide? 
 
Does the balanced output only provides more power or do they sound better too? Could this be solved just by adding an external amp to the v20?

 
Perhaps my earlier comments came across as bing a bit negative, the 300R does improve on the sound over the HTC10. I don't have the iSine 20 but listening with my Westone W80, I do prefer the sound of the 300R, its slightly more detailed, the mid range sounds less congested with a better more expansive sound stage . The HTC 10 is 80-90 percent of the 300R, I could pick them apart in a blind listening test I think.

This could be because the 300R is better at driving the lower (5 ohm) impedance of the W80.

Is it worth carrying an extra device over your smartphone? Only you can answer that. I leave my HTC10 behind when I take the 300R. I like to get away from the real world when I listen to music.
 
Do you have a place locally where you can listen to the 300R? That's what I did and I took my headphones and HT10 to compare, in the end listening to the 300R convinced me just enough to purchase.

 

[JohnRS]

So it appears my XDP -300R has suffered the port movement issue. I noticed very slight play on the 3.5mm port about a month ago and emailed Pioneer who said a small amount was acceptable. However I've just fitted a balanced jack and when I've put it in the 2.5mm port the degree of movement is more than I'm comfortable with. I've also noticed the ports don't sit centred to the casing:


I've emailed Pioneer to see what they suggest. Having purchased this on Amazon.JP and living in the UK do you think this will cause issues? I f'ing hope not!

So Pioneer replied with the following :

"We can confirm there is a slight degree of movement as the sockets are not
mounter directly onto the casing.

This is again due to the construction of the product and is deemed to be
within specification provided that you do have audio out of the sockets
themselves with headphones connected."

Sounds like a cop out to me! Looks like I'm glueing them in after all.

Edit.

I've just put some Sugru in there I had. I'll leave it 24 hours and see what it's like.
It gives a better finish than I expected so if it performs I'll be happy.

Apologies for the image quality, it was taken with my phone.

 

[435279]

Thanks JohnRS, I was thinking to use Sugru if my sockets ever worked loose it looks OK to me.
 
Keep us updated on the results.

 

[JohnRS]

Thanks JohnRS, I was thinking to use Sugru if my sockets ever worked loose it looks OK to me.

Keep us updated on the results.

Thanks Steve. I'll post an update tomorrow. What I will say though is I'd recommend doing it now. I wish I had of done it straight away, as a preventative measure and I probably would be in this position.

 

[Miguel Ruiz]

@SteveOliver More than carrying another device is also the price. I really thought that a specialized DAP was going to be night and day compared to a smartphone, with the lgv30 on its way, it might just as well sound as or better than the 300r, and with for $100 more you get so much more out it, camera, updated android, and all the commodities that come with smartphones. 

 

[qsk78]

Lucky people who do not hear any difference between the smartphone and the dedicated DAP. They can save a lot of money!

 

[JohnRS]

Although it hasn't been 24 hours I had to check it. I know from experience Sugru hardens considerably after a few hours so I gave it a wiggle with my finger nail, first thoughts are very promising, it didn't move at all. Tomorrow will be the make or break as I'm putting the jack in and wiggling it!

Just picking up on comments regarding smartphones. I can hear a slight difference, I wouldn't say night and day but the 300 is definitely a "better" sound. I've just got a Xiaomi Mi mix which has a 24 bit/192 kHz DAC and the 300 still has the edge. For me I want a standalone portable audio player. I suppose if I was happy having one device then the expense and extra device would be a big turn off.

 

[tonywalk]

I know there's at least two of us here who ordered the XDP-300R at the Bristol Sound and Vision show a few weeks ago.
 
I contacted Audio-T a couple of days ago and they didn't have an update on when the players were going to arrive.
 
I extensively tested the player at the show with my Grado SR325e headphones and some favourite albums on microSD card, and found the player had a lovely fluid forward sound with a ton of detail. I thought it was a good step above the AK70 and Pioneer's own XDP-100R - I'd considered this 12 months ago at the 2016 show but the SQ wasn't quite there.
 
As a slight aside, does anyone know where I can buy the MQA version of Metallica's self-titled album that they were using as a demo on the show players.
 
Cheers,
Tony.

 

[JohnRS]

So Pioneer replied with the following :

"We can confirm there is a slight degree of movement as the sockets are not
mounter directly onto the casing.

This is again due to the construction of the product and is deemed to be
within specification provided that you do have audio out of the sockets
themselves with headphones connected."

Sounds like a cop out to me! Looks like I'm glueing them in after all.

Edit.

I've just put some Sugru in there I had. I'll leave it 24 hours and see what it's like.
It gives a better finish than I expected so if it performs I'll be happy.

Apologies for the image quality, it was taken with my phone.

So I've tested it with both a 3.5mm and 2.5mm jack. There is very slight play, but since Sugru is basically rubber I expected this. So I'm calling it a success, it looks good and seems to work. I'll be using it on the go tomorrow so that'll be the real test, that said I'm confident.

 

[JohnRS]

So Pioneer replied with the following :

"We can confirm there is a slight degree of movement as the sockets are not
mounter directly onto the casing.

This is again due to the construction of the product and is deemed to be
within specification provided that you do have audio out of the sockets
themselves with headphones connected."

Sounds like a cop out to me! Looks like I'm glueing them in after all.

Edit.

I've just put some Sugru in there I had. I'll leave it 24 hours and see what it's like.
It gives a better finish than I expected so if it performs I'll be happy.

Apologies for the image quality, it was taken with my phone.

So I've tested it with both a 3.5mm and 2.5mm jack. There is very slight play, but since Sugru is basically rubber I expected this. So I'm calling it a success, it looks good and seems to work. I'll be using it on the go tomorrow so that'll be the real test, that said I'm confident.

 

[maniac2003]

So I've tested it with both a 3.5mm and 2.5mm jack. There is very slight play, but since Sugru is basically rubber I expected this. So I'm calling it a success, it looks good and seems to work. I'll be using it on the go tomorrow so that'll be the real test, that said I'm confident.

How much Sugru did you use? about a pea or so?