[Jackpot77]

Anyone heard the Cowon Plenue D vs the Shanling M5? Guessing the driving power of the Cowon won't be on par due to the battery life estimates (not read through tbe spec sheets in detail yet), but if anyone had heard them both, is there a massive difference in SQ?

nmatheis - you are a man of a thousand DAPs - any opinion on this head to head?

 

[nmatheis]

Jackpot77: Plenue D is one DAP I haven't heard yet. Same with Opus. I do know shotgunshane likes Plenue D I recently learned him the M5. Maybe he will join us and provide some thoughts on the matter...

 

[Jackpot77]

Jackpot77: Plenue D is one DAP I haven't heard yet. Same with Opus. I do know shotgunshane likes Plenue D I recently learned him the M5. Maybe he will join us and provide some thoughts on the matter...

Cheers man - got my eye on one at the moment as my next "placeholder" DAP while I wait for the Seiun and Echobox crowdfunding DAPs to finally land now I have moved on my M5. Just trying to find out if the Plenue D is on a par or a notch down in terms of quality, as the M5 was a very enjoyable sound for me.

 

[mmanolio]

  Thanks! I think I'll try that next time I bust out the PM-3s. I'm assuming the Oppos take to EQing well... Normally, I stay away from EQs, but the M5's software equalizer seems like it a bit more listenable than the DX90's so it does seem worth a shot.

You're welcome PopZeus.
 
Yes, the PM-3 takes EQ extremely well. The M5's EQ is very transparent sounding to my ear.
 
It would be nice though to be able to delete the factory EQ presets and be able to save more than one custom preset.

 

[nmatheis]

You're welcome PopZeus.

Yes, the PM-3 takes EQ extremely well. The M5's EQ is very transparent sounding to my ear.

It would be nice though to be able to delete the factory EQ presets and be able to save more than one custom preset.

IIRC, you can customize each of the presets. You *should* also be able to edit the preset names using the same fw editing tool that you'd use with FiiO DAPs. I used to do this with my FiiO X5, changing the preset names to shortened names for my most commonly used headphones and IEM. Give it a try.

 

[sledgeharvy]

Anyone heard the Cowon Plenue D vs the Shanling M5? Guessing the driving power of the Cowon won't be on par due to the battery life estimates (not read through tbe spec sheets in detail yet), but if anyone had heard them both, is there a massive difference in SQ?

nmatheis - you are a man of a thousand DAPs - any opinion on this head to head?

The Cowon Plenue D (PD) is definitely not as good as the M5, in reference to details, sound stage, imaging, and analog sound. The PD sounds more digital, (too many digital artifacts), however, one thing the PD does that the M5 can't is mind blowing amounts of Bass. If you're a bass head you need to look no further. It's nice to just thump the bass to extreme levels and still have enough clarity to claim it sounds better than smartphones. Of course you'll miss out on the details, but if you're listening purely for the bass, who cares about the details at that point.. Lol.. The bass on the M5 is accurate and can not do the extreme bass levels the PD can do, but of course it's not trying to be a bass head Dap, it's meant for accuracy, and that is what it offers in spades over the PD.
So in the end, it is up to you whether you want a lively sound or accurate sound. Don't get me wrong, the M5 has plenty of bass, it just won't give you that deep sub-bass pound like you can get from the PD. But I haven't found another player that can compete with the PD in that aspect.

 

[audio123]

im curious on I5 vs M5

 

[mmanolio]

IIRC, you can customize each of the presets. You *should* also be able to edit the preset names using the same fw editing tool that you'd use with FiiO DAPs. I used to do this with my FiiO X5, changing the preset names to shortened names for my most commonly used headphones and IEM. Give it a try.

Thank you nmatheis! I have confirmed that I can indeed customize the presets.
 
But it would be nice to be able to change the names. I never had a FiiO DAP so am not familiar with that tool.
 
Also, I just found a bug. The EQ does not work on hi-res files! I have some 96/24 Flac files and the EQ has no effect on any preset. Same with DSF files.
 
It does work on 44.1/24-Bit files (Joan Osborne's Relish 20th Anniversary Edition from ProStudioMasters.com) so it seems to be the sample rate not the bit depth that's the issue.
 
I wonder if its any sample rate higher than 44.1? I'll try converting a 96/24 to 48/24 and see if that works.

 

[Jackpot77]

The Cowon Plenue D (PD) is definitely not as good as the M5, in reference to details, sound stage, imaging, and analog sound. The PD sounds more digital, (too many digital artifacts), however, one thing the PD does that the M5 can't is mind blowing amounts of Bass. If you're a bass head you need to look no further. It's nice to just thump the bass to extreme levels and still have enough clarity to claim it sounds better than smartphones. Of course you'll miss out on the details, but if you're listening purely for the bass, who cares about the details at that point.. Lol.. The bass on the M5 is accurate and can not do the extreme bass levels the PD can do, but of course it's not trying to be a bass head Dap, it's meant for accuracy, and that is what it offers in spades over the PD.
So in the end, it is up to you whether you want a lively sound or accurate sound. Don't get me wrong, the M5 has plenty of bass, it just won't give you that deep sub-bass pound like you can get from the PD. But I haven't found another player that can compete with the PD in that aspect.

Cheers for the feedback, that's really helpful. I'm hoping that the long awaited Echobox DAP will be my "at home/reference" DAP when it finally ships, so am looking at the PD as my "on the go" source, with hopefully a little bit more quality than my phone but Nothing too outrageous. Also trialling the HiFi Plus DAC module with my G5 as that does sound very good, but not that umpressed with the thought of burning more phone battery than necessary given its only average to OK in that area anyway.

Cracked and picked up the PD, so will see if it fits the bill when it arrives next week. The M5 set a pretty high benchmark in my head for what a proper "audiphile grade" DAP needs to deliver tho, so hoping the Echobox can live up to it!

 

[mmanolio]

Originally Posted by mmanolio /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Also, I just found a bug. The EQ does not work on hi-res files! I have some 96/24 Flac files and the EQ has no effect on any preset. Same with DSF files.
 
It does work on 44.1/24-Bit files (Joan Osborne's Relish 20th Anniversary Edition from ProStudioMasters.com) so it seems to be the sample rate not the bit depth that's the issue.
 
I wonder if its any sample rate higher than 44.1? I'll try converting a 96/24 to 48/24 and see if that works.

OK, I just converted a 96/24 Flac file to 48/24 Flac and the EQ works fine. (using the very handy and fast Total Audio MP3 Converter)
 
So it seems the EQ does not support sample rates over 48kHz.
 
For now I will go ahead and convert all my 96/24 files to 48/24 for the M5. I'm not a big proponent of high sample rates anyway.
 
IMHO 24-Bit vs. 16-Bit is much more important. Modern low-pass filters are so good now that to my ear, higher sample rates than 48kHz are just a waste of space.

 

[shotgunshane]

I returned the Plenue D. I had bought it for a travel dap but the SQ ended up being unsatisfactory for me. Unless you like using all the bass and sound enhancements (I don't, they sound artificial), the stock sound is lean and bright IMO. On the plus side, the UI is excellent and in this regard much better than the Shanling but when it comes to SQ, the M5 walks away with much better sound.

 

[nmatheis]

Thank you nmatheis! I have confirmed that I can indeed customize the presets.

But it would be nice to be able to change the names. I never had a FiiO DAP so am not familiar with that tool.

Also, I just found a bug. The EQ does not work on hi-res files! I have some 96/24 Flac files and the EQ has no effect on any preset. Same with DSF files.

It does work on 44.1/24-Bit files (Joan Osborne's Relish 20th Anniversary Edition from ProStudioMasters.com) so it seems to be the sample rate not the bit depth that's the issue.

I wonder if its any sample rate higher than 44.1? I'll try converting a 96/24 to 48/24 and see if that works.

So I think you're finding out, it's not a bug that limits EQ for hi-res files. Beyond a certain point, EQ on these (Shanling and others) DAPs doesn't work anymore. It's an intentional limitation.

I totally forget if Shanling has released a fw editing tool yet. If they have, then we should be able to get your presets renamed pretty easily. Shanling?

 

[nmatheis]

I returned the Plenue D. I had bought it for a travel dap but the SQ ended up being unsatisfactory for me. Unless you like using all the bass and sound enhancements (I don't, they sound artificial), the stock sound is lean and bright IMO. On the plus side, the UI is excellent and in this regard much better than the Shanling but when it comes to SQ, the M5 walks away with much better sound.

Thanks for chiming in. I know you're interested in Super and MegaMini. Have you seen the Shanling M1?

 

[mmanolio]

So I think you're finding out, it's not a bug that limits EQ for hi-res files. Beyond a certain point, EQ on these (Shanling and others) DAPs doesn't work anymore. It's an intentional limitation.

I totally forget if Shanling has released a fw editing tool yet. If they have, then we should be able to get your presets renamed pretty easily. @Shanling?

OK thanks. Understood.
 
I'm fine with converting the 96kHz files down to 48kHz.

 

[Devils Trill]

Recently got the M5 in bronze. Love it! Does anyone know if there are cases in any color besides tan? I'd love to see one in black like the M2 has.