[tfenton02]

Yes, of course I agree with you! I just couldn't wait, I was impatient, and I had to write these thoughts also to understand where I stand. But of course I will wait even longer. By the way, my N30 has about 25-30 hours. Can you tell me how it should change even more?

I have about 200 burn in hours with the 320 Max TI and just can’t connect with it. I always find myself reaching for the SP3k, or N30 (which I’d find magical) for any IEM listening session. I suspect I will be parting ways with the 320 Max soon. Just waiting for a ZMF closed back to arrive to see how it pairs.

 

[mgsu]

Yes, of course I agree with you! I just couldn't wait, I was impatient, and I had to write these thoughts also to understand where I stand. But of course I will wait even longer. By the way, my N30 has about 25-30 hours. Can you tell me how it should change even more?

I am listening 4-6h a day to the N30 for the last six months. I explicitly wrote "settle" because the experience is not explicitly related to burnin.
Burnin is a thing, but tbh i cant remember how it changed over time.
I had great days with N30 and also bad days. My issue lies more in the time domain. I took the N30 a substantial time to settle and give me consistent SQ on a daily basis. I am quite sensible when the music sound great but it sounds off in the time domain. Now every day is a highlight. N30 just clicks and i am connected to the music.

I have also tried all firmware available and can tell that 1.2 is substantially better than 1.3
I think also Andy mentioned that they lowered the voltage in the amp section for the 1.3 FW.
When i switched back to 1.2 it was immediately noticeable what i was missing from 1.3 FW

With 1.3 all Amp Modes seemed veiled, except Hyper Mode.
1.2 lifts up the veil and P Mode becomes more exciting, vibrant and engaging. Now i dont feel the need to engage Hyper Mode. I find P or P+ has better response trough the FR. Hyper has to much emphasis on the mids for my taste.

Also after 200-300h you can experiment with gain modes which changes slightly the presentation.

To get the most out of the DAP dont use Tidal or Qobuz app, use instead UAPP or Neutron Player.

 

[phiemon]

I have about 200 burn in hours with the 320 Max TI and just can’t connect with it. I always find myself reaching for the SP3k, or N30 (which I’d find magical) for any IEM listening session. I suspect I will be parting ways with the 320 Max soon. Just waiting for a ZMF closed back to arrive to see how it pairs.

You confirm what I secretly think too.

I find the brief comparisons I've made so far absolutely fascinating. It has helped me tremendously to understand what I am actually into. I only knew that subconsciously and now I've obviously become aware of it. I had to experience it for myself first. I will continue to test the DX320Max because I can keep it for a few days and return it if necessary. But it became clear to me earlier that very little will change in my opinion. It's a fact that the DX320Max is on the analytical, clinical side and the N30 is on the musical, emotional side. No burn-in will change that. Both devices are absolutely complementary and, in what they do, absolutely the best that the market currently has to offer. (And allow me to say that both are a leap forward from the SP3000 I had until now.)

 

[theintention]

Are you looking for a Silver cable, copper cable or silver plated copper cable? And are you okay with a slightly higher energy across the frequency range?

most cables i have owned have been copper, and thats really the only type i notice changes the sound for me, but i am not picky on type of cable. I am okay with that higher energy for sure, its my one complaint with the sound on the Neo 5 is its a tad "slow" on the bass, so anything that would potentially tighten that up is A-OK by me.

 

[maegnificant]

Tidal, so no Mango OS.

Try local files without Tidal. You might be surprised.

 

[phiemon]

I am listening 4-6h a day to the N30 for the last six months. I explicitly wrote "settle" because the experience is not explicitly related to burnin.
Burnin is a thing, but tbh i cant remember how it changed over time.
I had great days with N30 and also bad days. My issue lies more in the time domain. I took the N30 a substantial time to settle and give me consistent SQ on a daily basis. I am quite sensible when the music sound great but it sounds off in the time domain. Now every day is a highlight. N30 just clicks and i am connected to the music.

I have also tried all firmware available and can tell that 1.2 is substantially better than 1.3
I think also Andy mentioned that they lowered the voltage in the amp section for the 1.3 FW.
When i switched back to 1.2 it was immediately noticeable what i was missing from 1.3 FW

With 1.3 all Amp Modes seemed veiled, except Hyper Mode.
1.2 lifts up the veil and P Mode becomes more exciting, vibrant and engaging. Now i dont feel the need to engage Hyper Mode. I find P or P+ has better response trough the FR. Hyper has to much emphasis on the mids for my taste.

Also after 200-300h you can experiment with gain modes which changes slightly the presentation.

To get the most out of the DAP dont use Tidal or Qobuz app, use instead UAPP or Neutron Player.

Very interesting to read. I've already read your posts in the forum. I thought you had changed your mind and stayed with the 1.3FW after all. Is that not the case? Do you still think 1.2FW is better?

Absolutely agree with Hyper Mode (see above).

I only use Tidal or Apple Music. I deleted my entire collection of about 1.5TB when I discovered it. I have never regretted it. What an act of liberation!

 

[phiemon]

Try local files without Tidal. You might be surprised.

I'm not quite ready to listen to music locally again. I like to browse and discover. At some point, I will listen to music locally again.

 

[slumberman]

You confirm what I secretly think too.

I find the brief comparisons I've made so far absolutely fascinating. It has helped me tremendously to understand what I am actually into. I only knew that subconsciously and now I've obviously become aware of it. I had to experience it for myself first. I will continue to test the DX320Max because I can keep it for a few days and return it if necessary. But it became clear to me earlier that very little will change in my opinion. It's a fact that the DX320Max is on the analytical, clinical side and the N30 is on the musical, emotional side. No burn-in will change that. Both devices are absolutely complementary and, in what they do, absolutely the best that the market currently has to offer. (And allow me to say that both are a leap forward from the SP3000 I had until now.)

your taste is your taste, but I think it's wrong to put analytical/clinical on the opposite side of what you call musical/emotional: All can be in the same device and All are subjective . I for one can't gel with the N30 low mid bump for the most part, so I largely stopped using tube modes.

 

[phiemon]

your taste is your taste, but I think it's wrong to put analytical/clinical on the opposite side of what you call musical/emotional: All can be in the same device and All are subjective . I for one can't gel with the N30 low mid bump for the most part, so I largely stopped using tube modes.

Well, of course this is my personal opinion. I have described both as I personally experienced them. The Rn6 doesn't even sound colored, but somehow dry. But it's still too early for such opinions, I'll wait and see.

 

[drftr]

You confirm what I secretly think too.

I find the brief comparisons I've made so far absolutely fascinating. It has helped me tremendously to understand what I am actually into. I only knew that subconsciously and now I've obviously become aware of it. I had to experience it for myself first. I will continue to test the DX320Max because I can keep it for a few days and return it if necessary. But it became clear to me earlier that very little will change in my opinion. It's a fact that the DX320Max is on the analytical, clinical side and the N30 is on the musical, emotional side. No burn-in will change that. Both devices are absolutely complementary and, in what they do, absolutely the best that the market currently has to offer. (And allow me to say that both are a leap forward from the SP3000 I had until now.)

DX320Max may clean up IEMs that suffer from a bit on congestion and reveal their true musicality. It's always the pairing that makes or breaks what we consider musicality.

drftr

 

[linux4ever]

That sounds really great, I very much hope that this will happen!

I set both DAPs so that they sound as close as possible. Here are the comparison conditions.
N30: High Gain, P-Mode, SS-Mode, filter: standard, Super Slow I also find very good. I would like to make a critical comment in advance. I'm simply not a fan of P+ and Hyper mode when it comes to analytical listening because the sound is not correct for me: P+ brings the mids too far forward and Hyper enlarges the sound. You can imagine what happens in this case: less microdynamics and less resolution, the sound is too forward and too energetic, volume levels between the frequencies are not balanced. Both options are unusable for me for this comparison.
DX320Max: DF 1 (Sharp Roll-Off), Ultimate-Mode, DAC volume level (for attenuator): 83

I use only the P mode currently. Either Tube or solid-state. hyper-mode is too much for the iems that I've. May be in future, there might be an iem or headphone that will find it useful. But for now, it's not used

 

[KrólArtur]

Very interesting to read. I've already read your posts in the forum. I thought you had changed your mind and stayed with the 1.3FW after all. Is that not the case? Do you still think 1.2FW is better?

Absolutely agree with Hyper Mode (see above).

I only use Tidal or Apple Music. I deleted my entire collection of about 1.5TB when I discovered it. I have never regretted it. What an act of liberation!

If you want to use Tidal, install USB Audio Player Pro.

 

[phiemon]

DX320Max may clean up IEMs that suffer from a bit on congestion and reveal their true musicality. It's always the pairing that makes or breaks what we consider musicality.

drftr

Uhm, then I have a different idea of musicality. After the first impression, I actually found Anni better on the DX320Max than on the N30. The reason: the bass is less dominant and yes, everything is indeed "cleaner" and more harmonious.

If you want to use Tidal, install USB Audio Player Pro.

Can you explain this in more detail? How does it work?

 

[linux4ever]

I had great days with N30 and also bad days. My issue lies more in the time domain. I took the N30 a substantial time to settle and give me consistent SQ on a daily basis. I am quite sensible when the music sound great but it sounds off in the time domain. Now every day is a highlight. N30 just clicks and i am connected to the music.

Are you referring to the song playback to be slightly off compared to its normal speed that you've listened to multiple other times on other systems/daps? If so, I've experienced that with the N30LE on certain songs. And I immediately wonder "that's not the way this song normally sounds, especially the tempo/pace".

 

[phiemon]

Are you referring to the song playback to be slightly off compared to its normal speed that you've listened to multiple other times on other systems/daps? If so, I've experienced that with the N30LE on certain songs. And I immediately wonder "that's not the way this song normally sounds, especially the tempo/pace".

I have never had anything like this. Did you clear the cache + factory reset from boot menu after the last update? I would do it...