[mochill]

I will probably buy both sooner than later , the head-FI disease never stop

 

[Tobias89]

  If have a chance, you could try both of them, then choose your favorite one.

I'll certainly give the soundaware players a chance if I can get to demo them or have them on a tour in singapore. If not I wouldn't be here 

 

[mochill]

Same here as I'm leaning towards the x5ii bandwagon because of price as $100 is how much I get paid per week . Would definitely be more enticing if it was $350

 

[xuan87]

  I'll certainly give the soundaware players a chance if I can get to demo them or have them on a tour in singapore. If not I wouldn't be here 

 
I won't be surprised if one of the bigger audiophile stores in Singapore brings it in after it has been released.

 

[soundaware]

I will probably buy both sooner than later , the head-FI disease never stop

 never stop

 

[SiFou]

  Pre-orders should be live until June 20th and it's only $450 / 2,798 RMB as linked below
 
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=45330321415
 

---

 
And then it's only $500 / 2,998 RMB afterwards, kudos to your generous pricing and it's such a nice surprise when compared to what's happening to this market these days IMHO.

What's happening to the market these days? With the exception of A&K and the Sony flagship, how many daps are listed at 500$ or above?
I don't understand how you judged that 500$ is a competitive/good price.

 

[Mython]

  What's happening to the market these days? With the exception of A&K and the Sony flagship, how many daps are listed at 500$ or above?

 
 
Different companies have different pricing strategies.
 
A&K seem to treat their customers as cash-cows.
 
The Sony NW-ZX2 is evidently a 2nd attempt to take their product line in a similar direction to A&K (i.e. it's overpriced, IMO).
 
 
But in answer to your question, there are many DAPs listed at above $500:
 
Calyx-M
Lotoo PAW Gold
Fiio X7
Questyle QP1/QP1R
HM-801
HM-802
HM-901
HM-901S
DX100 (recently discontinued)
 
plenty of others...
 
 
One needs to bear in mind that some of these are relatively small companies who take quite big risks to R&D a new DAP, and who do not have huge economies of scale, like the big boys (Sony, Apple, etc.). Fiio have become larger, in the past couple of years, through diligent efforts to improve their DAP offerings, and at keen pricing, and I would consider them medium size in this market. They need to recoup some of that cost, added to which, these companies are facing an increasingly competitive audiophile DAP marketplace, and, in order to legitimately differentiate their products, they are having to become increasingly innovative in how they design the topology of their DAPs - i.e. not just buying a bunch of off-the-shelf chips and daisy-chaining them all together (the Esther and the QP1 are 2 obvious examples of topology innovation in the DAP arena).
 
I dislike increasing prices, but I don't completely object if they are legitimately justified. I personally don't consider A&K or Sony's ZX pricing to be legitimately justified, but for small companies to bravely put their capital on the line to produce innovative and high-performance niche products into an uncertain and highly competitive marketplace, there is a middle-ground which I am content to support (and I am not currently a wealthy person, so please don't think I view $500 or more as a casual sum).
 

 

 

[SiFou]

So there are a few products above 500 and then a few hundred products below. That's my point. (plus, one of those isn't out yet, another discontinued and a couple are very difficult to be found in european market).
 
Your argument about capabilities and financial risks isn't correct. Do you have an actual experience with things like that?
Please don't take this the wrong way, I am not trying to offend. In the past I would think so too. But after gaining some experience I see that it's not exactly like that because it simply depends on how and where one is doing business. We have in these forums a major example of this argument: Schiit.
Now imagine a company being ran like that, but in China. With workers salaries, manufacturing costs and material costs being what they are.
 
However it is the company's right to ask whatever price they want and I am totally fine with that! I am not fine though with appraisal about it!
Because at the end of the day it's going to hurt my pocket. Because the next product that will come out from the same or a another company will offer the same or less for an even higher price.

 

[Mython]

Fair enough; we're all entitled to our opinions.
 
No offence taken.
 
I'm not keen on DAPs becoming more expensive, either, but, at the same time, I do also see that the DAP marketplace, 2-3 years ago was relatively barren for serious audiophiles.
 
As I told you, I am not wealthy. I cannot currently afford to buy a new DAP, and, since I sold my DX100, I have been using my old Cowon J3.
 
So, truly, it is not in my best interests to see DAPs getting more and more expensive.
 
But, it is clear to anyone who has followed the DAP marketplace during the past 2-3 yrs, that is has improved dramatically
 
So, should better-performing DAPs (I'm speaking primarily in terms of sound quality), geared towards audiophiles, have to be sold for the same budget prices as DAPs offering average generic sound quality?
 
That hardly seems fair to companies that make an effort to produce higher sound quality devices.
 
 
Although I dislike the deliberate greedy price-hiking clearly evident by some DAP makers, there are others (Fiio's X5 and iBasso's DX90 are 2 good examples) who try to produce very decent-sounding DAPs at fair profit margins.
 
There is a middle-ground, even if that middle ground still requires people like me to save the money in order to be able to eventually obtain them. I would rather that situation than rewind to the situation we had approximately 3 years ago, when it was cheap non-audiophile DAPs or the HM-801, and almost nothing in between.
 
So, I'm not completely disagreeing with you, but I'm saying you can't have your cake and eat it.
 
We will undoubtedly see prices fall for audiophile devices, in some segments of this niche market - the X1 and X3 are evidence of this beginning to happen, even though they are not of the same SQ as more expensive DAPs, yet.
 
And if you still feel you don't/can't spend more than around $200 on a DAP, then, as you said:
 

  .... there are a few products above 500 and then a few hundred products below.

 
 
Take a look at the topology of the Esther, on page 1 of this thread. I challenge you (in a friendly way) to find a DAP that offers as much audiophile geekery for less money, at the time of this writing

 
Of course, it remains to be seen how successfully this geekery translates into actual real-world sound quality... but I am optimistic that Soundaware will achieve a decent result.
 
In particular, it is nice to see that they have given due care & attention to the power supply sections of the DAP circuitry; an area that some other DAPs might have benefited from (DX90, for example).
 
Overall, although I have yet to hear the DAP, in either of its incarnations, I anticipate that it will have a delicate, detailed & unfatiguing sound, and I look forward to hearing it before too long.
 
 
.

 

[SiFou]

I agree with what you are saying. I believe that us, the buyers are also at fault at a small margin. Because we are getting "obsessed" with what we can't have and we think (subconsciously?) that because something is priced high then it is better than the rest. I include myself to this. then the manufacturers take this into account. A highly respected designer on another forum admitted this when asked why he charges so much for a product by saying: there are people willing to pay that much.
 
I just would love to see a 2015 version of sansa clip. That would be something.
 

 

[kiertijai]

 c.  was there any information about different hardware and/or processing in these 2?
      The capacity and operational amplifier are different in 2 models.
     
       Which version have more power to drive headphone?  or do they have the same power
but different sound characteristics due to different amplifier.
 
       Can she drive PK1 or VE Zen?  or does she need another amplifier?
 
       How's about other full sized headphone?

 

[soundaware]

   c.  was there any information about different hardware and/or processing in these 2?
      The capacity and operational amplifier are different in 2 models.
     
       Which version have more power to drive headphone?  or do they have the same power
but different sound characteristics due to different amplifier.
 
       Can she drive PK1 or VE Zen?  or does she need another amplifier?
 
       How's about other full sized headphone?

 
The two edition has the same power to drive headphone. The headphone amplifier is the same.
The output sounds is mainly because the capacitor, internal algorithm etc are different.
For full sized headphone, she can drive HD600, K701 and so forth. PK1 and VE Zen are also okay.

 

[Vartan]

 

[jk47]

 

now i'd love to have you compare how they sound.  please.

 

[mochill]

Yes plz, that will be highly desired