Quote:
there is no reason why in 2010, a player has to be less useful than a CD/MD player from 10 years ago just to play music.
This boggles my mind and irritates me to a level I never imaged would be reached before purchasing the SFlo2. I read all the posts discussing how this player is for users who don't care too much about the usability of the unit, that the UI is actually pretty decent, and that you should just be grateful that such a great sounding portable player even exists at the price point. I am definitely grateful for the sound quality it outputs, but that's where it ends.
I'm actually dumbfounded at the complacent attitude we have here. It lets companies like Teclast know that they can get away with crap. The UI is absolutely dumb functionality wise. Retrieving a song takes forever. After SQ, that's all I really care about -- it's pretty simple really -- and Teclast couldn't even do that right. I'm shocked that there
still isn't a firmware upgrade that addresses this issue and allows us to not have to browse by directory. Most of you are okay with this?
Here at Head-Fi especially is what I don't get because I'd expect more of the community to be obsessive about things like the UI of a player since we are all obsessive by nature to even be here in the first place, worrying about how properly are headphones and sources render our beloved music. Not to sound negative, but I wouldn't be surprised at the least if a decent chunk of our community suffers from a slight variation of OCD. Playing around with my old iPod Touch, which the SFlo2 is obviously based on physically and operationally, actually makes me sigh at how easy it is to use. I've never been a fan of DAP's with a bare minimum of tactile buttons (my Touch doesn't even have dedicated volume buttons), but it's such a pleasure for retrieving songs. Even the horizontal album view navigation is seamlessly implemented.
On the positive side, as I mentioned above, the SQ is indeed far better than most DAP's on the market. The argument people are making on Head-Fi that the Clip+ is actually a better performer than the SFlo2 doesn't make sense to me and my ears. I have a Clip+, which I adore for it's total package as an ultra-portable DAP that sounds indeed high-end compared to most other DAP's, but it's definitely not on the same level as the SFlo2. With my JH16's directly plugged into the HO of each player -- A/B testing and volume matching as best as I could -- I hear a blatant degradation in imaging, soundstage, bass tonality and impact, and the most obvious difference, at least for me, is that the vocals are not nearly as properly rendered, sounding more recessed and veiled. I am so impressed with the SFlo2's refined sound quality that I hardly ever use my portable amp (Go Vibe Petite) anymore, which only gives a very slight improvement throughout the frequency response spectrum.
Hope you enjoyed my rant and praise. I had to get it off my chest. I now know what I'm looking for in a future DAP replacement.
