[Jeremy1234]

Hey, I am currently using H340, SuperMacro Amp & H280 Pro Senn. Thinking of upgrading to a better DAP. Just wanted to know more about the above player.

How it compared to Iriver H340 audio quality ?
Does it come with true audio line out ?
Does it support WAV files ? If no, is the format supported more superior than the WAV ( as what I know WAV is uncompressed ) ?

Thanks.

 

[Spaceage]

You're going to have a hard time finding HD5 owners, let alone people who have ever compared those models.

I use the HD5 because the sound quality was far superior to my iPod, and the battery life is outstanding. The lineout is selectable in the software, and is not just a setting that maxes the volume. I get about 25% more volume with the lineout than with maxed volume. Also, using headphones direct out of the unit while using the lineout setting gives you garbled audio, if that means anything to you (in terms of a true lineout).

The device supports WAV, MP3, WMA, ATRAC, and ATRAC3Plus. I prefer to use the ATRAC formats because of gapless playback, and because I have always perceived better quality from ATRAC (I'm an old skool MD user.)

 

[Assorted]

I believe it supports Atrac Advanced Lossless? In any case, HD5 SQ is legendary, and Atrac is an awesome codec, if you're planning to use lossy formats.

 

[Spaceage]

No Lossless support on this device

But ATRAC3Plus is a great lossy format.

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spaceage /img/forum/go_quote.gif No Lossless support on this device But ATRAC3Plus is a great lossy format.

Hey, I'm another HD5 fan and concur with those above.

OP may have not questioned, but I'll add a comment on quality. The player is well built (barring the cracking buttons on the first gen model). It has outlasted two iPods, one nano, and a Rio Karma in my DAP inventory.

Quality wise, I cannot recommend a player more.

And it bears repeating, it has fantastic sounding clean punchy presentation. Sounds great with Senn's imo.

 

[Spaceage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by virometal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey, I'm another HD5 fan and concur with those above. OP may have not questioned, but I'll add a comment on quality. The player is well built (barring the cracking buttons on the first gen model). It has outlasted two iPods, one nano, and a Rio Karma in my DAP inventory. Quality wise, I cannot recommend a player more. And it bears repeating, it has fantastic sounding clean punchy presentation. Sounds great with Senn's imo.

I loved my HD5 so much that I went out of my way to get my hands on a used HD5H 30 gig model (and sold my 20). It's going to be a sad, sad day when this thing finally expires.

 

[evilking]

Can only repeat the praise already bestowed on the HD5. Limited only by hard drive capacity and reliance on software for music transfer, I really regret selling mine.

 

[antonyfirst]

It woudl be fine if someone wrote a simple software to use instead of the official Sony's. Like they did with Itunes

 

[Jeremy1234]

So its not advisable to use a portable amp to this player ? I am using headphone.

WAV format is not supported as what I read on other. But how does this compared to the ATRAC format as what I think WAV ( uncompressed ) should be the best ?

I will check out here to see is there anymore. I know it's quite a old player but the look is really very nice as compared to some other DAPs. And Sony never really disappoint in their quality as so far I see. Hope can get a good price.

But just don't know how this compared to my H340. I like my H340 very much but the audio line out is using the volume & not software. Thinking that it's better the latter way.

What I am looking for is a much much better audio quality player ( not really into video ) to be use with a portable amp & headphone. Battery life should be good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spaceage /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, using headphones direct out of the unit while using the lineout setting gives you garbled audio, if that means anything to you (in terms of a true lineout). The device supports WAV, MP3, WMA, ATRAC, and ATRAC3Plus. I prefer to use the ATRAC formats because of gapless playback, and because I have always perceived better quality from ATRAC (I'm an old skool MD user.)

 

[Spaceage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy1234 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So its not advisable to use a portable amp to this player ? I am using headphone.

I use the lineout to an amp and also straight to headphones. It's great both ways.

 

[samk64]

i own an hd5. the battery life is very good on this player. I might listen to it once in a while (like every 3 weeks or so) and when i turn it on, the battery is still there. that's something i like which bothered me about other players (the way they drain die if they're off and not plugged in)

what i don't like is the sonicstage software. i can't use korean characters and had to retype several tracks to english. and another thing i didn't like: i think one type of mp3 is not supported (mp3 layer one? im not sure on this one, it's very specific. for example i couldn't upload a podcast because its mp3 format was unsupported. you could convert it to atrac before uploading it but it is a hassle for me)

ok that's all i can think of right now.

 

[Jeremy1234]

It's still available in some stores here but funny the price is S$399 ?
I thought it should drop. My friend 18 months ago told me the price was S$348.

The only setback for me is it's not able to support WAV format.

 

[Zuerst]

The buttons cracks too. The only thing that kept me away from getting one couple years ago.

 

[evilking]

Those cracking buttons were very rare, at least in the EU. Weren't that big of a deal anyway, if they were going to crack, they'd crack within a month or two so you just took it back and got it replaced. If buying used make sure they're not cracked before you buy them! Simple really... I'm sure it was just an early batch.

 

[Zuerst]

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilking /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those cracking buttons were very rare, at least in the EU. Weren't that big of a deal anyway, if they were going to crack, they'd crack within a month or two so you just took it back and got it replaced. If buying used make sure they're not cracked before you buy them! Simple really... I'm sure it was just an early batch.

If there are a large number of reports of certain defects (and by all means there were a huge number of defect reports), I don't want to touch that product. Simple really.