[435279]

That depends on what headphone you are driving and also to a smaller extent the cable you are using too.

There is a small change in sound signature when driving my se846 and T5p gen 2 over the balanced connection. Is it a better sound though, overall I would slightly better, yes.

 

[starfly]

What kind of battery life are all of you getting, on average, when using the regular 3.5mm jack?

 

[435279]

What kind of battery life are all of you getting, on average, when using the regular 3.5mm jack?

I can't provide you with an exact number, It's charged every evening. Sometimes I listen for five to seven hours in a day and its never less than 20% charged. Wifi is off, all unnecessary Apps are disabled its playing FLAC from 400gb + 256gb uSD cards using the provided "Music" App.

For me the battery life is OK, streaming over WiFi noticeably reduces the battery life though.

 

[swesko]

I can comment on the battery, if you are planing to stream via wifi, ud be better off with a smartphone and a usb dac. The battery doesnt last long. To get a good battery life, disable all google apps and syncing, lowest brightness and dont even use the screen, listening from sd card or tidal wifi would get uou a very good battery life

 

[Existence_Inc]

What kind of battery life are all of you getting, on average, when using the regular 3.5mm jack?

I regularly get 16-18h of listening time in a week between charges with my 300R. When I picked up the device, I did playback tests and managed ~18h of continual playback after disabling most of the background services on the device. Much less if the screen is on a lot. I don't stream, and I only connect to WiFi in order to check for updates (once a week or so). None of my headphones or IEM are high resistance, which helps matters. I don't listen over BT so that also contributes to my long-ish battery life. The format of music also makes a lot of difference in terms of battery usage. Usually, the higher bit-rate files (FLAC, DSD) require more processing to decode, and that also has an impact on battery life.

A true case of YMMV if there ever was one.

~Ex

 

[starfly]

Thanks for the replies. My use case would mainly be MP3 320 kbps / FLAC (I honestly don't hear the difference, but I already have mild tinnitus from partying too much when I was younger, so maybe that's why), as well as downloaded songs from Spotify. So if I can at least get through a day of listening at work, which seems like it would be possible, I'll be a happy camper.

 

[tonywalk]

I wonder how it compares to ak70 MK2. Similar pricing... I wonder how the sound differs. I wish someone would drop in

i auditioned the original AK70 at the Bristol hi-if show earlier this year, the same show that I also auditioned, and bought, my XDP-300R at.

I note the new mk2 uses the same DACs as the original. This leads me to believe that the sound will be the same or similar. They could possibly have changed other components that may have altered the sound.

If you can't audition the players in person with your favourite headphones and music that you know well, buy from somewhere with a good return policy.

I love my XDP-300R. Average quality recordings sound great, and great recordings really fly - you need quality headphones to appreciate this of course. I have Grado SR325e 'phones and they and the player suit each other perfectly.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[NaiveSound]

Does this player have decent EQ?

 

[435279]

Does this player have decent EQ?

Yes the EQ options are very good.

 

[NaiveSound]

What other player can do this all of this that this 300 can do?
I'm afraid the sound quality won't be good.

It seems like not many around here have this player or talk about it...

 

[doctorjazz]

I don't know why it isn't more discussed or owned, I like it...

 

[theUKMrT]

What other player can do this all of this that this 300 can do?
I'm afraid the sound quality won't be good.

It seems like not many around here have this player or talk about it...

It's a very flexible device - & imo, something of a bargain now the price appears to've dropped by £100 here in the UK. I've not used Android devices before & I'll admit I wasn't impressed initially - the native player is a bit sterile sounding to my ears & emphasises extracting every last detail at the expense of musicality. However, some of the multitude of 3rd party apps seem to have they're own core signature & are better (imo). I've tried Onkyo HF, Poweramp, Hiby, Neutron, JetAudio and (my preferences) Foobar2000 and UAPP. These last 2 have a real full-bodied sound & a touch of warmth - perfect for my ears.

The downside is - to my understanding - the players' dual dacs only come in to play using the native player with balanced output - which is a shame. Not sure how much difference the dual dacs make, but balanced output is well worthwhile (depending on your ear/headphones). It really improves spatial cues & layering with my Noble Encore and Rhapsodio Galaxy 2, but not so much with less resolving models I have.

If it has an achilles heel, it's battery life. I've tried everything (disabling all non-music related stuff, wi-fi off, aircraft mode & standalone mode on) & can only ever get 5-6 hours tops of balanced listening.

 

[SubSTI]

I am still very happy with this player as well but would like to give the balanced output a run for the money once.
My current headphones are Philips Fidelio M1, Fidelio X1, Sony MDR-1A and IEM Trinity Master. Who can recommend me an affordable (~ € 300) full size over ear headphone supporting 2.5mm trrs balanced?
Oppo PM3, Meze 99 Classic/Neo with an additional balanced cable, or a cable upgrade for my MDR-1A came to my mind, but there might me better alternatives to consider.
Music taste is EDM, Trance, (Hard) Rock and preferring a neutral, slight warm sound.

 

[doctorjazz]

I haven't heard it, but the Hifiman HE-400i (actually quickly in a shop) sounds like it might fit the bill (I have the HE-560 and HE-1000 v2; the 560 has dropped in price recently, but I wouldn't describe it as "warm", more neutral with some emphasis in the highs, which some don't like).

 

[SubSTI]

Thanks for the tip doctorjazz, the HE-400i is a bit out of my price range, around € 500 here in the Netherlands but might give it a try, or look for a bargain abroad.