Cowon X7 vs AK120

[SGirl]

I bought a Cowon X7 a couple of years ago and I love it, the sound quality is great. The only trouble is, every time I switch it on I expect it to be problematic. So far it's only had two oh-hell-it's-bricked-I'll-have-to-get-a-new-one moments, and both times I've managed to get it back with a little TLC and a lot of threats. I have all the files on it backed up to two or three other devices anyway so it's not a major problem if it does die, but it would be a pain to have no portable player apart from my old iPod Classics.

So I was thinking of making the switch to an AK120. Any opinions, views, thoughts? What's it like to live with? Presumably it doesn't have the same problems with bricking as the X7. If you've tried both, how does the sound quality compare?

Thanks in advance for any info.

[SGirl]

Damn, I knew this would happen once I stepped outside the world of the iPod Classic! So much choice.

My main requirements are superb sound (I can't stand muddy sound, sibilance, over-bassy reproduction or a multitude of other sins...), lots of storage space - and that's about it, really. The battery life of the X7 is brilliant, can't fault it - though I could compromise with a shorter battery life if I had to. The Calyx M looks interesting, plenty of storage. But I haven't found much info on its sound quality as yet - I'll have another look when I have more time. When you say not without annoyances, what kind of annoyances are we talking about?

Tricky one. Which would you choose? I know you're not me and probably won't have the same tastes as me, but you know your stuff so I'd be very interested to know your opinion.

[SGirl]

Well, that's all put the cat among the pigeons. Thanks lads.

I have no idea what to buy now. Although I've just taken Stax SR-207s on trial, so I might forget about buying a portable music player and just get these instead! They're great.

Although a new player would be nice... I'll have to do some more research. The Hifiman sounds interesting as an alternative to the AK120. I'll read up on both and go from there.

Thanks for all your input!

Edited by SGirl on Friday 13th March 14:05

[SGirl]

You know, that's actually not a bad idea. My X7 is fine, I just fancied a change to something that's less likely to brick itself.

I'll read up on the Hifiman over the weekend. I had a quick look at some reviews today and it looks good from what I've seen so far. Although I need to make absolutely sure I wouldn't prefer the AK120 instead before I buy anything, otherwise I'll end up buying both and regretting it!

Just a mo - the HM901 only uses SD cards for storage? It has no onboard storage at all?

Edited by SGirl on Friday 13th March 22:10

[SGirl]

[quote=C&C]Yep - a lot of people commented that the previous Hifiman 801 only had 8Gb of on-board storage and an SD card slot, but in years of using it, I've never put anything on the on-board storage - it's much more convenient using a 32Gb SD card, then pop it into the PC/Mac to upload the music (in my case FLAC files).
[/quote]

Good point. My PC has a perfectly good SD card slot. My X7 is a pain because its USB cable doesn't seem to fit anything else, so whenever I want to put new stuff on it I have to rummage through a dozen cables to find the right one - always assuming I haven't lost it! Although I'm not keen on the idea of keeping all my music on SD cards, I can see the logic in not having to have a separate cable.

I'm not really looking for "the iPod experience". I love my iPod because it's so convenient, but iTunes is just one more piece of marketing software to clutter up my PC and the whole sound experience is just okay. Sound quality is my main concern too, it would be nice to have a player with decent sound quality and build quality and an excellent UI, but I think I've arrived at the conclusion that no one device can meet all these criteria. I'd be staying with the X7 if it weren't for the constant worry of "will today be the day it'll turn into an expensive paperweight?". It has bricked on me a couple of times, but I've always managed to get it going again. One day I won't be lucky.

I wonder why high-end players are so hard to demo? Presumably because there's such a small market for them. I can demo all kinds of weird and wonderful hifi equipment at all price levels, but not music players. I suppose it's because people who buy high-end hifi equipment don't buy music players. Surely they don't all use iPods?!

Thanks for all your input, everyone. I've nearly made a choice now.

ETA: I wonder why my quote tags aren't working??

[SGirl]

Interesting - do you find the X9 a big improvement over the X7? I still haven't bought anything - I haven't had time to do all the research I want to do before I buy anything. Have they sorted out the bricking problem by the time of the X9? My X7 has bricked twice but I've managed to revive it both times, after much faffing. That's the main reason why I'm looking to replace it. It's not dead yet, but I expect it to die every time I use it so it kind of takes the shine off it for me, even though the sound quality is fabulous.

I agree with you as regards the big capacity though. I like having everything in a single location, it's handy when you're out and about and you're trying to tell someone about a song you know - and voilà, there it is on a device in your pocket. This is why I'm resisting the thought of something offering great sound quality but only an SD card slot and no onboard storage...

[SGirl]

Finlandia said:

How about the Cowon Plenue 1, just to confuse you even more

OMG, another one. Cheers me dear! I'll have a read round, capacity doesn't seem too bad and the couple of reviews I've just found seem pretty positive. I was just trying this afternoon to find a supplier for the Hifiman, but I can't find one in the UK as yet. I don't really want to import from the US because of the import duty it'll attract. I'm still trying to get my head around the swappable bits, too - curious idea, but interesting. Gadgety! Which is a definite plus, I like gadgets.

Flip Martian said:

The X9 is a nicer design, and lighter (obviously - no hdd). Sound is as good. The screen responsiveness is better but still not perfect. It doesn't brick though - at least I've seen nothing on the user forums about it bricking. I too revived my X7 more than once. But the last time really was the last time - nothing would do it, even leaving it on charge for 4 days. Very annoyed at Cowon - such a flawed design for an almost perfect player for the price (at least once another UI was installed). The X9 has 32gb on board - and with a 64gb card that takes you to 96, which isn't bad. I stick to 320 mp3s on the portable now - my ears aren't perfect and FLACs for me were a waste. I keep lossless for CD archiving. So 96gbs is room for a lot. I might end up with 1 card for a complete back catalogue or 3, but otherwise its ok.

In short, its a better player in every way - except capacity. And battery life isn't quite as good - but still better than an ipod etc. And the X7s battery life was mentally long.

Thanks Flip! Hmm... I could live with shorter battery life, the X7's battery life is vast! Screen responsiveness is one of the things I don't mind trading for sound quality (just as well...), although I do get fed up with the X7 at times because I can never remember how to get away from an album that's playing and return to the home screen. (I use a different UI as well, the factory one was near enough unusable.) I wonder why Cowon never bothered to improve the thing, making it less susceptible to bricking, and just charged a bit more for it? I'd happily have paid more for a device that doesn't occasionally - and sometimes permanently - die to a point where it can't be revived.

Is the X9 smaller in size, or about the same as the X7? One of my bugbears with the X7 is that it only just fits in my back pocket with its case on, so it's a pain to have to keep removing it when I want to switch to something else in the collection.

So many choices! I wish the hifi supplier we go to would start keeping samples of these things, but you can't swing a cat in his shop as it is. Can't complain though, he's just got me some gorgeous STAX SR-Lambda SR-507s after lending me a set to try a few weeks ago. Must get round to going and picking them up one of these days!

[SGirl]

Thanks C&C - I'll check them out. Might be a good place to buy from even if I don't go for the Hifiman.

As for the rest - well. I'm now thoroughly confused. I know what I want:

1) Excellent sound quality
2) Lots of storage
3) A decent UI that doesn't require me to have fingers the size of matchsticks or a degree in Finding The Non-obvious
4) Something which isn't going to die forever if I forget to charge it
5) Ideally a decent battery life into double figures
6) I'm not bothered about cover display, I have cover art for most of my albums but I don't really look at the player while I'm listening to it. A UI with decent text size is always helpful, though, on account of me being somewhat myopic!

I didn't think that was too much to ask, but reading through this lot it looks like I'm not going to get it in a single player. I think the solution will be to keep the X7 for times I need lots of battery life, and get something that suits my other requirements more for times when an hour or two will do. If the X7 hadn't got this bricking problem and a UI that is at least marginally improved with third-party input, it would be ideal. But it's not.

I must look into Rockbox, thanks for the info. I was thinking about it when I bought the X7, but I was too idle to follow it up back then!

I wonder if this means I've ruled out the AK120 now??

[SGirl]

StuH said:

Are you guys using the Onkyo HF app?

I think my solution of iPhone6+ with HF Player into Chord Hugo is finally the solution I've been looking for! A UI that no DAP can match with best of breed dac/amp

The Chord Hugo - how much??!! Nice bit of kit though. I was using a Fiio with my iPod, that was how I got into all this high-end stuff in the first place. Always room for improvement!

Hmm, I wonder... X7 with Chord Hugo. Nope! Still doesn't work for me, the X7 and its dodgy service life is the sticking point.

But a Chord Hugo with something else - that might be interesting. iPod Classic even? Or is that chucking good money after - less good?

Flip, I'd be interested to know what you come up with re. the iBasso. Specifically as regards UI and reliability!

This is why I like PH - so many people on here are very knowledgeable about the most obscure of topics, and you can find out all sorts of stuff on here that you didn't know you needed to know. Without you guys, I'd have stumped up £700 for a device a couple of weeks ago and been regretting it by now. So thank you all!

Hey, how about Chord Hugo + AK120?

Edited by SGirl on Tuesday 14th April 14:12

[SGirl]

Finlandia said:

Don't be silly, we will have you spend £2700, at least

Yes, but at least I'll like what I get for my £2700, whereas if I'd bought the AK120 I'd be cheesed off with it by now.

Finlandia said:

Can't remember now, but does the X7 or AK120 have digital out in any shape or form? You need something that can give out a digital signal to get the Chord to convert it, that's when you get the sublime sound.

I don't know, I'll have to check. I don't think the X7 has it - but I might be wrong on that.

[SGirl]

Flip Martian said:

Still researching - just found what looked like a player with a lovely looking UI. And then I found it was the A & K AK240. And then I looked up the price.

Oh well. Research continues

Ah. Now we come to it. I had exactly this experience when I arrived at the notion of buying the AK120 initially. I'd all but forgotten the AK240, but now you've reminded me and my credit card fingers are itching...! It certainly seems to do everything, and with 256GB internal storage + 128GB card slot and a decent UI but "only" 14 hours of battery life. But what is it they say, now - buy cheap, buy twice?

One of the review sites listed the downsides as no online browsing option (don't need that), can't yet upload songs directly from browser (don't need that either), mediocre battery life (14 hours isn't that bad, is it?) and expensive (can't dispute that one...). It does everything I want it to do, just the price is a little - enthusiastic. Is it really that much better than the AK120? I haven't decided.

Well. I was considering the Hugo at £1400 yesterday, which would be an add-on to something else (definitely not the X7!), so all in all Finlandia's £2700 estimate doesn't seem to be all that far off the mark.

Flip Martian said:

iBasso DX90 is looking a steal at around £260 via some websites. Battery life is less than the DX50 but with replaceable batteries that's less of an issue. General feedback seems to be that the build quality is better than the 50, UI is more responsive too - not to mention the more developed sound.

Thanks Flip, I'll check it out. Just as soon as I've got the notion of the AK240 out of my head.

[SGirl]

Brilliant, thanks Stu - that's exactly what I need. I must admit, I'm leaning away from the Hugo a bit now because I did the whole two-device thing ages ago with the Fiio and the iPod, and while the Fiio made a huge difference to the sound I found myself being lazy about it and not bothering to plug it in half the time. So I suspect the Hugo might end up going the same way.

I'm currently sitting on my hands to prevent myself buying the AK240 on impulse. Very, very tempted though!

[SGirl]

Flip Martian said:

Buy it! Buuuuuy ittttt!

I did actually, not long after my last post in this thread. Well, I had to really - I was wasting my entire day reading reviews, and I knew I'd just not be able to resist the temptation to carry on doing that until I made a decision and got a device ordered. I've got stacks of work on my desk, so I thought "loads of work = money in bank and not much time to go out and spend it = may as well buy the device I want". You only live once, and all that. Much like the Cowon X7!

It'll be here tomorrow, I'll report back when I've had a play. It might be rubbish, you never know.

Flip Martian said:

Seriously, I could never ever justify spending 4 figures on something which will sit in my pocket while I walk to work/wander round tesco/sit out in the park at lunchtime. My ears would never ever know the difference. But the 240 looks like a great design - the body and the UI, decent size screen, loads of storage. How reliable they are, not a clue - didn't delve enough into it. If it had been in 3 figures I would be more torn, I suspect. Even very high 3 figures.

I suspect the DX90, Rockbox, a couple of spare batteries and a few memory cards will ultimately do me - but I shall be waiting a month or so before taking the plunge. In the meantime, the X9 is doing fine.

I spend a lot of time listening to music in some form or another, so that was why I wanted a decent device to play it on. I do love the sound quality of the X7, but it drives me mad at times. I can never work out how to leave an album and go back to the main display, and whenever I switch it on I always think "what if it's dead, what if it's dead...". So I'm expecting better from the AK240! I was a bit worried about wandering round with something that expensive in my pocket, but then I realised I don't really do that - and if I do decide to, I can take the X7 or even my iPod with me. I like being able to carry my music all round the house, though - and so the AK240 will suit me down to the ground. Apparently it can withstand being dropped, too - which is handy.

I did a fair bit of reading up before going for it, though, and most of the reviews are very positive (except for the claimed battery life, which seems to be nearer 6 hours than 14...). But since it'll rarely leave the house, that's not going to be a major problem. I've already been rummaging through my collection of headphones to try to work out which ones will be best. Fun fun fun!

Suppose I won't get any work done once it arrives tomorrow, either. Oh well.

Let us know how you get on with Rockbox when you get that far, I'm interested to know more!

[SGirl]

Finlandia said:

So, headphones then, the JH Layla is a very good custom IEM, and the Abyss AB-1266 is a very good headphone

Shh!!! My Stax SR-207s haven't arrived yet, I'd better try those out for a while before I buy any more. I already have plans to upgrade the energiser... My Audio-Technics and Grados will just have to do for now.

Flip Martian said:

Nope - 'cos the X7 will have been left a while, drained and bricked

Seriously, enjoy it! Do let us know how good it is when you've had a play - it does look very very nice. I'll come back once I've done the deed on my slightly less flash alternative

No it won't - I've set it to power off when I switch it off, not to just sit in standby. I've mostly been pleasantly surprised by the fact it's not dead whenever I go to use it! Although it has been dead twice, but revived. Hallelujah!

So have you definitely made your decision on what to buy then, Flip? The DX-90?

[SGirl]

StuH said:

Congrats on the purchase SGirl

My current fave cans are my IE800 IEM's - spine tinglingly good! And the amazingly priced for what they are new Oppo PM-3

Thanks Stu! I do like decent headphones - I've got a few sets now, my current favourites are my ATH-A900Xs. But that will no doubt change next week, it usually does. I like my Grado SR375s as well, but they're not very comfortable to wear. No doubt my next thread in here will be "I'm thinking of buying some new headphones, what do you reckon...?".

Flip Martian said:

SGirl is currently sat by the front door, waiting for the post to arrive...

Nope. SGirl is currently sat in front of her PC, loading the thing with music.

Or trying to, anyway. It's been a bugger so far, my fault though. I connected it to a USB2 port at the front of my PC (hard to get to the back ports), but after about 10 minutes it'd think it'd disconnected. So I went and installed the USB hub I've been planning to put back on my PC after the old one failed (luckily all the cabling was still in place and the manufacturer sent me out an identical new unit!), connected the AK240 to a USB3 port on that - and touch wood, all seems to be going according to plan at the moment.

The firmware update was ridiculously straightforward - and wonder of wonders, when you touch a button on the device it actually responds first time, with exactly the button press you were wanting! Quite the novelty after the X7. I don't really know what to do with the X7 now, despite what I said about taking it out the other day I very much doubt I'll want to go back to it. Hm.

So mostly good so far. Haven't actually listened to it yet, though. It might be rubbish.

[SGirl]

Flip Martian said:

• not jealous* (much)

Well, there might be an X7 going soon, if you're interested...

Flip Martian said:

Well. That was an anti-climax! My breath has been baited all afternoon. Well, not really. I'm sure it will sound superb. Sounds a bit weird about the USB connection though.

The USB connection is no surprise, really - I should've seen it coming. USB2 round the front of the PC - asking for trouble. Oddly enough though, it did the same thing when connected to the USB3 port as well, but much later on in the process. I've just got round it by copying stuff 40GB at a time, rather than all at once. No biggie - it's not like I'm going to reload stuff every five minutes. Once this big copy is done, I won't change it much. Until I get round to ripping more of my CDs.

All will be revealed shortly! Got about 20 minutes left on the copy, then I'll be able to give the playback a go. I'm trying not to get excited, but it's not working. At least I got some work done today after the postie arrived - before he turned up it was impossible to concentrate. I'll report back!

[SGirl]

Flip Martian said:

I'll pass on the X7. Very generous offer, though it is.

Ah, you don't know what you're missing. Oh. Actually you do. Which is why you want to miss it.

Right, first impressions of the AK240. Well, what can I say? It's superb.

The UI is great. Clear, concise, accurate. When you use the knob on the side to adjust the volume, a display appears across the entire screen which you can also click - this removes the volume display so that you can continue fiddling with the device. At one point I accidentally clicked in the wrong place on the volume display and nearly took my own head off - it's that loud.

Firmware updates are nice and easy, just hook up to a wireless network and it does it all for you.

Storage space is excellent. I've got all my FLACs on there and some MP3s of things I don't have CDs for (and a few duplicates because I'm not very organised), and there's still room for more even before I've put an SD card in.

And, saving the best for last - the sound quality. Stunning. Incredibly clear and detailed. Although this is a bit of a downside as well. At one point I noticed I had 2 copies of one album on there, so I clicked on the first one, let it play and was very disappointed by the woolly reproduction and muddy sound. And then I looked - it was a 320kb MP3 file. So I went to the other copy and found a 16-bit FLAC file there, and the difference was unbelievable. Which is good in a way, but not so good in that some of the stuff I like isn't available in a 16-bit format. And also because I now have to go back through my entire CD collection and see if I've just been lazy and not bothered to rip some of them to FLAC.

I also tried the device with some B&W earbuds, just out of curiosity. It was horrible - very tinny. I gave up after about 10 seconds. The Audio-technica headphones are good, but no doubt there's room for improvement. I haven't tried the thing with my Grados or Parrots or any of the others yet, but that's mostly because I'm up to my eyeballs in work and haven't got time until the weekend. The Audio-technicas and Grados are probably the best that I have at the moment, but if anyone has any recommendations on headphones that will suit the AK240 better, then I'm all ears. But not literally, a standard two-ear configuration will do for me.

[SGirl]

Finlandia said:

Glad you like

As for headphones, what are you looking for sound wise, bright, natural or dark, and how much are you willing to cough up? I already mentioned the custom IEM JHA Layla, a bargain at $2500

Thanks Finlandia! I tend to prefer a slightly brighter sound, not too bassy. I also prefer over-ear headphones, which sadly rules out the IEM kit. I have a preference for closed-back because I don't like inconveniencing other people when I'm listening to music, but I appreciate that open-back is probably better sonically. Swings and roundabouts.

How much to spend? Dunno. As little as possible while getting optimum performance, I suppose. So how long is a piece of string?

Seriously - I don't know. If you come up with a couple of names, I can see whether any of our local hifi shops have got anything in stock and I can trundle down and do some demoing.

[SGirl]

StuH said:

Arrange a day to try a few pairs out here - http://www.highendheadphones.co.uk - just make sure you have a fully loaded credit card

Aaaaagh!! I foresee a trip happening one of these days. Thanks, that looks like my kind of shop! <rummages down back of sofa for pennies>

StuH said:

The phones that work best with my AK are my Senn HD-800 and Audeze LCD-X.

If you want to spend less and given you want bright side of neutral you might like the B&O H6 - I always assumed B&O was style over substance but I came away very impressed when I demo'd - I just prefer a slightly richer sound signature. Oppo PM-3 are amazing value for money and can be had in open and closed back form - http://www.headfonia.com/oppo-pm-3-opus/

Great, thanks for the info - just the kind of thing I need to know. I'm going to go into town on Saturday and see what the two (well, three if you count Richer Sounds) shops have to offer. I'll bear these ones in mind and try them first. If they have them! I know one of them has the Sennheisers and one has the B&Os - not sure about the Audeze though.

Flip Martian said:

Glad you like it that much. Isn't it a pity you have to spend so much to get a device that manages all bases admirably...!

How does it compare against the X7? Does the X7 sound better on high bit rate MP3s than the 240 (re your comment about poor mp3 reproduction)? I couldn't honestly tell the difference on my old X7 between 320 mp3a and FLACs (this may well partly be down to my age-damaged hearing) - both sounded excellent to me and far better than anything else I'd used as a portable before.

It's a bit annoying, but it does reinforce my view that if you buy cheap, you buy twice! Although to be fair, the AK240 wasn't available when I bought my X7, and if I'd bought an AK120 I'd have only wanted to switch by now.

The UI is incredible on this thing. You can view tracks by artist, album, folder or playlist. You can create playlists on the fly. You can shuffle tracks, repeat tracks - the usual stuff. You can use a factory-defined equaliser or define your own. And you can even add lyrics if you're that way inclined. (For a singalong while you're on the bus, maybe??)

By way of comparison, I booted up my X7 the other day while the AK240 was charging. I remembered that it wasn't as good a UI or touchscreen, but I hadn't remembered it was quite as bad as it is. And that's with the 3rd-party UI updates applied.

Sound-wise, the AK240 is definitely more detailed. I was listening to a track I've heard a thousand times before, and right at the end I could hear - something. I wound it back (it has FF and REW functions too!) and listened again, and again. There was something on the recording which I've never heard before, extremely faint, like the sound of another track. It might well have been tape print-through because it was an old analogue recording. It's not important - but the point is, after all these years I finally found out it was there.

I couldn't tell much difference between high-bitrate MP3s and FLACs on the X7 either, although I haven't tried the same files that stopped me in my tracks (pun intended ) the other day. I played some VBR MP3s yesterday and there really wasn't difference. But there was a definite difference between the 320s I played by accident and the same thing I then tried in FLAC - it was very noticeable. I'll investigate further!

Oh, but one downside. Battery life compared to the X7 is pants. Still okay though - I managed almost 2 full working days before I was down to 4%. And that was with me messing with the device instead of letting it just play. When the battery is conditioned and I'm past the "must fiddle with everything" stage, it'll probably be better.

Finlandia said:

I'm not an expert on full size cans, but Hifiman have excellent sounding headphones and Sennheiser HD600 and HD650, not to mention the HD800 are universally praised, Shure SRH1540 has good press too, and as a left field choice, the Soundmagic HP100 is very good.

Most of the full sized are open back design though, but there are quite a few closed back ones too.

Oh, and don't forget to check this out: http://www.hdtracks.co.uk/

Another vote for Sennheisers! Thanks Finlandia, I'll check them out. I don't know if the local shops stock Hifiman, I'll ask them. I gather you have to go open-back for the best sound reproduction, but that always seems to me like missing the point of headphones. When I listen to music through headphones, it's because I don't want to disturb everyone else with my noise. But when I use open-backed ones, they get to share it anyway.

Thanks for the link, too - definitely worth a look! That's my afternoon sorted.

[SGirl]

telecat said:

My Main System Headphones are a little "vintage". Stax Gamma Pro's with SRD-X energiser. Although I recently got fed up with "buds" for the PC and Iphone so splashed out on some B&W P7's. Trouble is using a Valve amp and Impulse Lali's spoils you a bit!

My Stax headphones still haven't arrived yet! Still, no rush I suppose. I know what you mean about being spoilt - I bought some music on iTunes a couple of years ago, played it back, thought it was okay but was looking forward to hearing it on CD and vinyl when it turned up in the post. But when it arrived, it sounded - fuzzy and certainly not much better than the MP3s I bought on iTunes. I was really disappointed.

Flip Martian said:

Thanks for the update! Glad you're enjoying it. Does look like at that price point they were able to concentrate on total user experience and not just 1 or 2 areas of design. I guess Cowon are generally known for sound quality and battery life - however, that's at their price point (which I guess was ipod price range). For that they're fine (despite the godawful UI). I think the iBasso and rockbox combo will be mine in time for my summer hols anyway.

Yes, I agree. They've done a proper job on this one, it's great. Finally found a small flaw, though - if you're copying multiple folders from PC to device and you find a folder that already exists, you have the usual "overwrite yes/no" option. If you select "no, just ignore it and carry on", it doesn't seem to copy the rest of the folders either. So saying you don't want to overwrite what's there stops the copy completely. But if that's the worst it can do, I can live with that!

I was thinking about the X7 last night while I was listening to the AK240. It's a completely different experience. The poor UI really does render it fairly unusable. The sound quality is excellent, but it's not much use unless it makes your music accessible as well. I can't even remember the last time I put the X7 on while I read a book, but the AK240 makes all the difference because if you fancy listening to something else, swapping to a different album or folder doesn't require a massive effort. The only problem is that the AK240 is so detailed that you can't help but stop and listen to things properly, I discovered a very quiet count-in for a piano track on a song yesterday!

Let us know how you get on with the iBasso/Rockbox. And just out of curiosity, what headphones are you using?

Flip Martian said:

Are you listening to 24 bit FLACs or 16 bit on the new player? I just spent what seemed like months ripping CDs to 16 bit FLACs. There is 1 school of thought that says you only need 24 bit recording when in a recording studio as it gives you more headroom to play with - and for playback its a bit "Emperor's New Clothes". But I'm not an expert by any stretch...

16-bit mostly. I have some 24-bit ones, but they were ripped from vinyl and I think if I'm going to put up with turntable rumble and the occasional pop, I may as well just go and listen to vinyl and be done with it. I don't think I have any 24-bit rips from CD. I'm going to have a play over the weekend with the HDStore link that Finlandia posted the other day, I'll report back if I can think of anything interesting to say about it.