[McClintock]

Afternoon folks,

Recently had my Cowon J3 stolen - along with 64gb of music! - luckily it was all backed up so no huge loss.
Now in the market for a new player that is;
Under £600 inc VAT
Plays WAV, FLAC and MP3's
Decent battery life
easy to use UI - the Cowon J£ was a blast but still felt a little sluggish compared to technology now.
Excellent sound quality even when played through speakers.
Expandable memory - ideally able to fit a 128gb sd card.

From my searches so far, the decision comes down to either Fiio X7 MK2, Fiio X5 GEN 3, Astell & Kern ak70 MKII, Cowon Plenue 2.

Any recommendations on which would be the best in terms of sound quality that fit the overall list from above or ones that i have missed out and should take a look at? There's a few Sony ones that I haven't looked at properly but I don't know much on them.

Thanks

 

[McClintock]

If anyone can offer feedback that would be appreciated.

 

[CobraMan]

Well - there are many options that meet your criteria - like those you mention. I too was using my J3 on a daily basis to play music via BT in my car but have now decided to switch to a low profile USB memory stick and glad I did that.

My current favorite portable device is my dated DX90 - just returned from a trip to the UK and listened extensively to music flying over and back and man this thing still sounds great! I also have the Plenue P1 but prefer the DX90 from a sonic perspective but the UI for the P1 is really quite good for sure.

I have been following all the latest and greatest releases from iBasso, Fiio, Cowon, Shanling, Hiby, Sony, Pioneer, etc, etc - and I am eagerly awaiting the Hiby R6 Pro. The styling checks all the boxes for me and the specs look very promising.

Hope this is of some value to you...

Cheers,
Tim

 

[McClintock]

Thanks, haven't heard of the Hiby R6 Pro so I'll give it a look.
From the research I've done I'm being drawn to the AK70 at the moment, it seems to hit all the boxes.

 

[CobraMan]

Check out the Hiby R6 thread where there is some information scattered in the last 10 - 20 pages about the Pro model. You could also do an internet search for the specific phrase "hiby r6 pro" and find some good info. Hoping for availability later this month or in December - from what I have read it has been seen at recent events in the far east.

Some folks love the AK products - they do tend to be pricy though - maybe for good reason...

Cheers,
Tim

 

[McClintock]

Thanks Tim, the Hiby r6 pro wasn't on my radar until now and from reviews of the standard R6 it looks pretty damn impressive. The online features don't have much interst to me - though out of curiousity, are there any high res audio players that have digital radio on there too?
My first guess tells me that the R^ will be expensive and in a higher price bracket compared to the AK70 mk2 so i'll likely pick that up, especially since black friday soon awaits.

 

[CobraMan]

I am with you regarding online music, streaming, BT, etc, etc - I prefer to put my music on the device/memory card and enjoy the sounds. With respect to radio receivers - only a few devices have that these days and I don't recall seeing the higher end DAP's with it - at least not the one's in my price range and interest. If you are asking about digital audio broadcast reception/decoding in a high res player - goes along with my prior comment - haven't seen it in the DAP's I have been following.

On the pricing of the R6 Pro - from what I have read it should be just about in your price range mentioned above but will need to see once they announce the availability.

Cheers,
Tim