sardar17 first you say "All the walkmans sound more or less the same excluding zx1" then say "Sony is going down the drain,,,,,that stupid s master amp is ******** of galactic proportions
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you're aware the zx1 uses the s master amp right? also if you've heard the F,Z and X series I'm sure you would agree they sound much different from the E and S and earlier A series players and this isn't necessarily saying any one is out and out better than the other,just that they each have their own characteristics which depending on what someone wants in a DAP could be seen as either strengths or weaknesses.
I personally will reserve any and all judgements until I have my own A17.at this point i honestly don't expect it to sound like my F807 or my E345 but somewhere in between,which is fine by me as I love both players for different reasons (though if i could only keep one it would be goodbye E345),the S Master amp may not be for everyone but it is anything but a POS ,I'm pretty confident if you heard the F800 or F880 series you would agree,i know we disagreed earlier on which is better between the Sony E series and a Sansa Clip+ and that's fine,I think we each have our own preferences there and yes the clip+ is a great player for the price, - though all that aside,before you make a wide sweeping statement like "the S Master amp is a POS of galactic proportions" first off own a player which has one (i,e, ZX1,F800,F880 or A10) and take into account that a just because two players share a similar chip (whether for an amp or a dac or what have you) does not mean they will sound the same or even similar, (there is a lot to be said for implementation) ,for example how many different players use the Wolfson WM8740 dac and sound nothing alike? at the end of the day I think the best thing is to order an a15/a17 and if you are dissatisfied send it back and order an X3 or maybe a DX50 ,you'll have to make some concessions somewhere though,be it a lack of bass boost or accepting some level of hiss (in which case,use a less sensitive iem or on or over ear headphone).the ideal DAP is something we all dream of but in the real world you would be hard pressed to find all the best features Sony has to offer (sleek design,superb ui,clearbass,custom eq,fantastic battery life etc ) and also expect the resolution of the FiiO X3/X5 or DX90 etc. as far as whether or not it sounds better than the X1,is up to whether you use sensitive iems or not,beyond the lack of hiss does the X1 sound better than the A10 series? i won't speculate as I have heard neither so far and don't trust anyone elses opinion other than my ears, but again,the X1 may sell for $99 but until you spend at least another $40 for a 64gb microSD card its of no use,so actually its a (at best) $140 unit (closer to a $200 unit if you want a 128gb card),and one which lacks the battery life,clearbass,incredible UI and ability to store as much as 192gb.fact is neither player is that expensive and before the end of 2015 I will own both (actually I'll most likely forgo the X1 and just purchase a used X3 off the forums here),my point is this,instead of bemoaning everything the a10 series supposedly lacks (a player you have yet to hear with your own ears and have formed judgements on based on the experiences of others) why not see the positive in the fact that we live in an era where you can for less than a few hundred dollars own a portable player that can hold over a thousand albums in your shirt pocket and sounds better than any portable cassette or cd player the best money could buy less than ten years ago? I was listening to my Aiwa XP-SP921 portable cd player last night (made in 2001) and its a great sounding unit,so long as you don't mind the bulk,the fact it can only store a single 80 minute disc and has no eq (though does have a bass boost) and as fantastic as it sounds it can't match my Sony F807,and so to me,todays technology is nothing shy of miraculous.okay rant over.time for some Aphex Twin via F807/D2+Boa/Grado PS500e. life is good!
