Sebasistan
100+ Head-Fier
I have been using an Astell & Kern A&norma SR 15 for the past year or so. It's my first "serious" DAP that goes beyond entry level CoWon's.
Now I'm wondering, if I want to get another one, where to go from here? I don't really want to go for a $1000+ device. But looking around it seems every alternative in the category of the SR15 has quite significant tradeoffs. I do like the sound of the SR15, it's fairly well usable and the UI is fast enough. I had issues with the first micro SD card, but that wasn't the player's fault, it hums along nicely with the 512GB one I'm using now. I do wish the sorting by tags could be customized better, and that now-playing playlists could had other sorting options than manual. I don't like the somewhat measly battery life and its a tad small for comfortable usability. Also that it's notoriously bad / incapable of importing playlists is a bit of a bummer.
The HiBy R6 is reportedly quite hissy and IDK how it compares in overall sound quality. As I said, on the basis of SQ alone, I'd stick with the SR15. I like what I'm hearing.
The Fiio M11 Pro is... Yeah I'm not sure if that's really an improvement over the SR15 other than in screen size. Too bad they axed the second SD card slot. Having an easier and cheaper memory expansion than 'lol 1TB micro SD card' would have been nice.
The Shanling M6 is generally touted as a "flagship sound player" but I can't quite tell what exactly that means. Again, would be an improvement in screen size and battery life, but no I have a hard time telling how the SQ would differ.
There's other player in that $500-$800 category, but I'm just really not sure if any of them would be a significant enough improvement - or difference - to make such an investment worth it at this point. Two micro SD slots would be nice, but it seems those were a fad that's now dying.
I use Meze 99 Neo with a balanced cable, unbalanced V-Moda Crossfade M100's and KZ-AS16 IEMs and a Peachtree Deepblue3 BT speaker with the SR15. I listen to a lot of different styles of music, and I have a pretty large library, so lots of memory is a must. I don't use streaming services at all.
Currently I'll most likely just keep my money and wait for a more concrete reason to buy a new player other than pandemic induced retail therapy. Maybe someone can give me a hint on some cool new stuff on the horizon? Or let me in on some player I might have missed? Or clear up misconceptions I admit I may have?
Now I'm wondering, if I want to get another one, where to go from here? I don't really want to go for a $1000+ device. But looking around it seems every alternative in the category of the SR15 has quite significant tradeoffs. I do like the sound of the SR15, it's fairly well usable and the UI is fast enough. I had issues with the first micro SD card, but that wasn't the player's fault, it hums along nicely with the 512GB one I'm using now. I do wish the sorting by tags could be customized better, and that now-playing playlists could had other sorting options than manual. I don't like the somewhat measly battery life and its a tad small for comfortable usability. Also that it's notoriously bad / incapable of importing playlists is a bit of a bummer.
The HiBy R6 is reportedly quite hissy and IDK how it compares in overall sound quality. As I said, on the basis of SQ alone, I'd stick with the SR15. I like what I'm hearing.
The Fiio M11 Pro is... Yeah I'm not sure if that's really an improvement over the SR15 other than in screen size. Too bad they axed the second SD card slot. Having an easier and cheaper memory expansion than 'lol 1TB micro SD card' would have been nice.
The Shanling M6 is generally touted as a "flagship sound player" but I can't quite tell what exactly that means. Again, would be an improvement in screen size and battery life, but no I have a hard time telling how the SQ would differ.
There's other player in that $500-$800 category, but I'm just really not sure if any of them would be a significant enough improvement - or difference - to make such an investment worth it at this point. Two micro SD slots would be nice, but it seems those were a fad that's now dying.
I use Meze 99 Neo with a balanced cable, unbalanced V-Moda Crossfade M100's and KZ-AS16 IEMs and a Peachtree Deepblue3 BT speaker with the SR15. I listen to a lot of different styles of music, and I have a pretty large library, so lots of memory is a must. I don't use streaming services at all.
Currently I'll most likely just keep my money and wait for a more concrete reason to buy a new player other than pandemic induced retail therapy. Maybe someone can give me a hint on some cool new stuff on the horizon? Or let me in on some player I might have missed? Or clear up misconceptions I admit I may have?
