Sounds like you might just be succumbing to the usual Head-Fi peer pressure of 'there must be greener grass on the other side somewhere'.
I should know because I'm just as much a victim of it as anyone else
I had the LPGT and traded it (for better or worse) for a Sony WM1Z with a plan to have the WM1Z hardware modded (which I've still yet to have done).
I can't actually remember the UI of the LPGT, at least in terms of what functionality it offers for searching and so forth.
What I *do* remember is that it was blazingly fast. Perhaps not hugely faster than the Sony DAPs once they're up and running, because of course Sony have been designing UI's for a little while now
But in terms of the time taken from powering on the device to being ready to play the first song, my Sony's (possibly dependent on memory card size) take a minute or two.
The LPGT takes from 5-10 seconds.
Also, both DAPs have pretty unique hardware architectures that give them advantages.
Sony's ones result in comparatively huge battery life, as you'll know.
Again, I can't remember how long the LPGT lasted per charge; somebody else might be able to comment on that and the search functions etc?
The LPGT has a separate section (a Blackfin processor or something) which apparently makes its parametric EQ function one of the very best (if not THE best) out there on a DAP. Now, I personally never used the EQ when I owned it, since I never felt right about doing so.
But perhaps a year later, I now find I wish I had the LPGT again. I have tried quite a lot of different IEMs in the last 12 months, and found several where I felt like "argh, this would be perfect if only I could tame the treble/upper mids slightly, or increase the sub-bass a bit more, or reduce the mid-bass a bit" (I mean different things for different IEMs, not ALL of those things for any one IEM lol).
And now my feelings about EQ have changed. Well, I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say for sure how I'd feel, but at least I'm now willing to try, which is surely a step forward, right?
But now, I wish I had the LPGT again, and could try these IEMs again with it, and use it's fantastic EQ function to the best of its abilities.
In any case, I highly recommend searching out the LPGT info page and taking a look at how they've implemented its hardware architecture.
What I do remember of the LPGT is that it had this effect of making most IEMs I plugged into it sound like they were one 'price category' more expensive.
It just brought out so much detail and clarity and refinement in the IEMs I paired with it. It was a constant source of astonishment and happiness.
I have to be honest and say that I have had this effect only now and then with the WM1Z.
I can't remember ever having it with the WM1A, although that's not to say that I didn't.
Also, I could be wrong, but I felt the sound signature of the WM1A (especially after I had it hardware modded, but even before that too) to be more similar to that of the LPGT than the WM1Z was. The WM1Z seems to me to be warmer and more organic, although of course I'm using the Midnight Plus FW, so that's perhaps unsurprising!
Finally, I don't recall the LPGT ever sounding too bright, despite it being very detailed.
I don't really use headphones, so I can't comment on the 'driving power' aspect of these DAPs, but again, someone else surely can, or you could also look at the LPGT's technical info for details on power output and so forth.
This is about everything I can remember right now. Happy to try to answer any other questions though!
Hope this helps a bit
