[castleofargh]

when I tested it seriously recording the loop into audacity etc some months back, it showed a lot more than what the advertising suggested. in fact what I noticed the most tended to be the loud bass changing, which makes no sens from a mp3 encoding viewpoint.
so no it doesn't reconstruct lost data, because nothing can do that. but it does add something that can feel like it does. the key point here is audiblility and the serious purpose of DSEE IMO is for really low bitrate mp3 to sound better than just bad. for max VBR and CBR, IMO it's a huge waste of battery life for a change that I fail to hear as improvement.
 
people using 128k and below could on the other hand spend a more pleasing time with DSEE ON if they so find it to be an improvement to their ears.
 
in the end, people looking for fidelity improvement are usually not using mp3, so it can only be seen as another sound effect that you like or dislike. nobody should tell you what to listen to.

 

[Mickice]

Just bought a Bordeaux Pink A25 to match my MDR-100AAP's in the same colour.

Right now counting my A15, I have a charcoal black and Bordeaux Pink headphones + Walkman combo.

Will likely sell the black A15 Walkman tho.

 

[doniethegreat]

Just bought a Bordeaux Pink A25 to match my MDR-100AAP's in the same colour.

Right now counting my A15, I have a charcoal black and Bordeaux Pink headphones + Walkman combo.

Will likely sell the black A15 Walkman tho.

 
Do you hear any difference in sound between the two walkmans? If I understand it, you bought the A25 just for the color?

 

[Mickice]

Do you hear any difference in sound between the two walkmans? If I understand it, you bought the A25 just for the color?

Correct, as some would say, the girls colour. I don't believe in gender specific colours, people can wear whatever. I'll charge them both up and have a listen later. With the 100AAP's and line out to my PHA-1 amp with MDR-Z7's

I wouldn't expect a marked increase in audio, but there could be some additional settings.

Cut a screen protector to size, charging and waiting.
The A25 is $279 in Australia, how much should I price the A15 for for sale in really good condition?

 

[gerelmx1986]

 

Just bought a Bordeaux Pink A25 to match my MDR-100AAP's in the same colour.

Right now counting my A15, I have a charcoal black and Bordeaux Pink headphones + Walkman combo.

Will likely sell the black A15 Walkman tho.

 
Do you hear any difference in sound between the two walkmans? If I understand it, you bought the A25 just for the color?

Yes the pink one sounds more girlie than the  other, thepink one is perfect for justin Bieber and Britnet spears

 hahaha

 

[dsouza]

The pink model has tighter bass and clearer mids and trebles. (obviously I'm just kidding.... 

)

 

[doniethegreat]

The A25 is $279 in Australia, how much should I price the A15 for for sale in really good condition?

 
Depends on how long it has been used.  Depreciation on gadgets is very rapid.

 

[Mickice]

I was going to try $215 ono and them try and hold my guns without getting beat down to $200. lol.

 

[doniethegreat]

Anybody here tried using the Cayin C5 with A10 or A20? Any impressions? Thanks. How does it compare with Fiio's E12A?

 

[fish1050]

  Nope, I don't think there is something gained back from something that has been already lost ( during compression process). Maybe Sony just made some DSP effects for this feature. I don't know. But I can certainly hear difference in sound when playing poor quality mp3 files.

Just a guess but perhaps Sony is using some form of interpolation.  Analyzes whats present and interpolates whats missing, or taking what is there and multiplying it to create fuller sound

 

[fish1050]

  Anybody here tried using the Cayin C5 with A10 or A20? Any impressions? Thanks. How does it compare with Fiio's E12A?

I had a chance to audition a Cayin C5 vs a Fiio E12 and it definitely sounded much better than the E12.  Even though the E12 was rated as having more power than the Cayin the C5 seem to play louder and the C5 has a much better sound stage.  Going from memory with my E12A the gap is much smaller but I would give the nod to the C5, it does sound very good.  With the E12A you are trading power (about half) for battery life ( >20 vs 11-14)  compared with the C5.  The C5 does have a fair amount of background hiss so you would not want to pair it with iem's.  With my B&W P5 S2's hiss was slightly audible without music playing.  From what I understand they are using fairly old opamps to provide the extra power which probably causes most of the hiss.
 
I do have non-sound quality issues with the C5.  The C5 is decently built but not nearly as rugged as the E12A and the C5 surface could be scratch prone.  The plastic cap and plastic volume wheel look like they came off a cheap children's toy and the numbers on the volume wheel are very hard to read.  The switches on the side of the amp are not recessed so if you stack the C5 with elastic bands you risk tripping the switches if the bands move.  The choice of going with a champagne color baffles me, I am guessing the guy who chose the plastic cap and volume wheel also chose the color

.   Another strange choice is the C5 comes with very wide light blue elastic bands for stacking.  The blue color would clash horribly with the C5 and pretty much every DAP you stacked with it.  Not to mention they are so wide you could not use them  with A10/A20 series and probably most other DAPs as they would block the screen and access to the controls.  On the plus side it does come with some nice translucent stick on rubber feet.
 
The kicker for me is the only included USB cable is super short and it has a mini usb connector on each end so you can't plug it into a USB port or USB wall charger directly, you need an adapter which is not included.  I am guessing the choice of USB cable is to allow the C5 to potentially charge another device. But it makes no sense they would not also include a proper USB charging cable for the amp itself. 
 
The E12A is a large amp and the C5 is even larger so it really limits its appeal for portable use.  Personally I would find carrying around a stack with the A10/A20 and C5 ungainly and it would be awkward looking as the C5 dwarfs the A10/A20 series. 
 
It really is to bad that Cayin chose to build such a good sounding amp and then put it into such a poorly designed chassis with basically useless accessories.  If they would rethink the design and reduce the size and the background hiss I would definitely consider buying one of these.

 

[Mmet]

 
 
It really is to bad that Cayin chose to build such a good sounding amp and then put it into such a poorly designed chassis with basically useless accessories.  If they would rethink the design and reduce the size and the background hiss I would definitely consider buying one of these.

if such a well designed amp was put in an awesome casing and finish ... that would cost the double or triple the price !!

 

[fish1050]

  if such a well designed amp was put in an awesome casing and finish ... that would cost the double or triple the price !!

 
Casing and finish don't have to be awesome just make sense (and be a practical size).  If Fiio can build the E12A out of solid aluminum with a Muse 02 opamp inside for around the same price.  Then I think Cayin could have come up with a case design that doesn't look like it was built in 1975 (yes I am that old),

 

 

[Shane D]

Impression on DSEE HX:  When playing 128 kbps mp3  songs,  sound is clearer when turned on ( when turned off, sound will look like faded picture when you try to draw it. When turned on, you  can hear background instruments volume increase slightly, as in very slightly, however, you can hardly hear them when DSEE HX is turned off).  I don't know if this is placebo or not, but I have been listening to it 10 times already sweitching the feature on and off. Any one here experienced the same?

I find it actually changes the sound of some songs. With Florence and the Machine's new album it makes some of the songs VERY different.
I am now using Clear Audio on everything and I find it makes some of the music "fuller".

I love the variety of options available.

Putting in my new 128GB card tomorrow. All excited!!

Shane D

 

[cfc7]

I doubt that power is the problem with SE535 as they're like a reference of overly efficient IEMs. without knowing much about the predator's specs(it's always been like that for RSA amps), it's hard to make claims about the interaction between it and the shure. but we can imagine a few points. if I had to bet I would go for:

-  CCID IMD (16/24 bits max) 0.19%@16ohm    /////// /// 0.126%@32ohm  (from headphoniaks measurement of the sony) that's respectively -54.5db @16ohm and -58db @32ohm. not a big deal, but IMD isn't known to be pleasant and stuff above the -60db below music have the potential to be heard(modulo masking from the original song). hard to know how it goes when playing into the 10ohm@6khz on the 535. probably a little worse and potentially a little more audible? maybe the predator is cool with that? 

- the 535 is definitely sensitive enough to pick up some hiss out of the sony alone. IDK how it goes for the predator but I suspect there could be improvement too.

- impedance! again IDK for the predator but it's supposed to be fine with IEMs if I remember people's feedback at the time. so I wouldn't be surprised if it had lower impedance than the sony. at least at low gain setting. and that has the potential for a difference signature and personal preference.

- or maybe the predator has a pleasant "color" (my old protector sure had its own sound)?


all in all, extremes are a bother.  if I have learned one thing, this is it ^_^. super hard to drive headphones require a particular source, super low with wide impedance and high sensitivity IEMs require a particular source to guaranty the desired sound(unless the manufacturer created the IEM with an ipod in mind^_^).
then most stuff in the 32 to 150ohm without an extremely low sensitivity, will tend to work pretty well with almost everything. in fact even a bad smartphone can perform pretty well as a source into a given impedance(usually pretty high), as long as power doesn't become the limiting factor.


so for the 535, I suspect a cool amp can feel like an improvement. my JH13 are in the same kind of situation, they also reach as low as about 10ohm and are also pretty sensitive. and I never use them alone with the sony(mostly for the hiss as the slight low end attenuation I get from the crossover with the sony isn't bad to my taste). so I'm inclined to trust Mmet on that one. 
I wrote almost the opposite about the IE80 last week in the dedicated topic ^_^. saying that I usually didn't find it worth it to carry an amp. but the IE80 while low impedance, doesn't go as low as the 535, and is a dynamic monodriver with an almost dead flat impedance response. changing the source doesn't affect the IEM at all. the only question to ask is "how does my source behave with a 16ohm load?" and that's it. thus limiting the chances of getting a messy sound.
but yeah extreme specs can be a bother .

So...for a Sony A15 with Senn. IE-80, would you think Fiio E12A will be useless?