Ok then.You are the one who had it and know best.I read how capable it is in balanced mode and has a slightly bigger soundstage and is a bit more clear than ZX2,not counting fun factor here.Hopefuly the production units work as intended and fix the ui issues that seem to plague it at the moment
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No, in balanced mode ? DP-X1 is obviously better than Zx2 in both soundstage and clarity, so you can also count in better layering and separations. What it really lacked was "micro-dynamic details of tonal body (too short)" the tonal balances were not as satisfying as ZX2 especially toward lower and mid spectrum. I put it fairly simple so people can see what I meant.
Zx2 = more musical expressions and emotions, where as DP-X1 is all about details and separation. Ofcourse, it would pair well with warmer headphones and gears, but the missing "micro-dynamic energies within the tonal body" will forever be lost regardless of gears.
Now to put it more indepth: the micro-dynamic details is the transient details, the bridges from the beginning of the chord or the end of it, then it kept on resonating (the engineer and artist will filters these out) and compose, mixed them onto the soundstrack the way the music, lyrics, singer, vocal, instruments, echo, reverb, effects, all of those can best describe and express the emotions of the composed song....in some tracks the bass even let distorted a bit as well...mostly to express the grimmy and sad feeling.
That was why I said Zx2 breathes the emotions into my ears, while DP-X1...things gets picked a part. I know some people wouldn't take this the way that I do, but it is most easy to reproduce music in details, and layering....it is mostly impossible to blend those 2 with transient and micro-dynamic details of a tonal body. It is not only a thick tonal body, but the variations of transient energies....
You know ? Take violin for example, real life violin gives you the feeling of the meaning behind it tonal and plays....but when edited and composed, most of it got filtered out....still left enough to express itself, but that is the part. The best way to observe this ? Get a high-res record of violin, pure violin, and degrade it to MP3 128kbps....you will mostly feel no emotion at all, where as in high-resolutions and (quality) Zx2 for example, you feel every strings and plays
Enough rant....but hey, it is all about preferences. I prefer emotions, expressions, and soul in my music...some people love layering, tightening, controls, and picking things a part like day and night or so. Both are good, but it rely heavily on preferences. I picked Zx2 because I main classical, pops, ballads, EDM..
Final conclusion ? Clarity, control, and layering beast = Onkyo ....emotions, expressions, beautiful micro-dynamic of tonal body and energies = Zx2 .....and there are compromises as said above...pick your poison . The best about Onkyo DP-X1 is the eargasm and splashy trebles and it organic details of brass and metal housing instruments, very sparkling, detailed, but not harsh or piercing
*also* the main different between live performance and recorded tracks = studio editing ....what is the point of listening to a record just to simply picking things a part and not enjoying it
....mwah want to attend live-performance for the raw energies and excitements of it
