Sound quality of HiSound Studio1 or HiFiMan?

[SDDL-UP]

I've heard some pretty good things about the HiSound Audio AMP3 player, but what about the Studio 1? Can anyone compare these to the HiFiMan?

I have a Cowon D2 and Sansa Clip. They both sound really good, but the Clip has a larger soundstage, whereas the D2 seems to sound a little compressed. I'm looking to upgrade to something that will play FLAC and has clearly better sound quality than my current two players.

Thanks!

[CrowdAds]

[a_tumiwa]

Hifiman 801 can only play 5 hours and the size is big and the price is $700 and you need to pre-order it, do you care about it?

[SDDL-UP]

Ideally I would like a DAP that I can just plug into a home system and have it sound like a good CD player would sound. The Sansa Clip doesn't have enough power to really do this, the Cowon D2 I think has the power, and sounds good, but maybe not quite good enough.

The technology is here it's just finding the company that wants to package a true audiophile solution.

[no9]

Why not just buy an amp? Then use the players you already own.

[a_tumiwa]

agree with our moderator, why dont just buy an amp and maybe use a player with Line-out compability

[SDDL-UP]

I could buy an amp for the Sansa Clip, and the Cowon functions fine in this capacity.

My question is "What's next?"

I'm looking for my next player that meets my standards for very high sound quality and has enough power to plug into a home system.

[no9]

The next big thing is what everybody strives to get but usually it ends up just draining their wallets. For the $800 that a HiFiMan will cost, you could get everything you need to use your computer to listen to music via your stereo. If you buy a high priced player with so much focus on trying to call itself the "Best" audio player out there, most likely you'll end up with a bad GUI and a horrible implimentation of lackluster features. A player that you already own and like the features of, beefed up with a quality amp, will most likely be your cheapest and best way to get the most bang for your buck.

[dfkt]

The Sansa Clip+ or the Sony B143 sound pretty much the same as the headphone output from my AudioFire, or my Woo 6 amp (minus the tube distortions), given an average-to-drive pair of phones. I don't think a lot of improvement is possible in portable audio, a lot of players are pretty good already (Cowon unfortunately isn't, at least technically, among other brands). Stuff like HiSound, Hifiman, S-Flo, seems to play with the gullible 'audiophiles' that think they might hear a difference, but in reality there isn't any. That's just companies in for a quick buck.

With those questionable esoteric players one obviously doesn't gain better sound quality, but rather loses solid firmware functions/updates and build quality compared to reputable companies. Not to mention, none of those 'audiophile' players is even gapless, so that alone leads the whole claim ad absurdum.

As for a line-out, the Sansa Clip matches impedances on the headphone-output, so if it gets a near-infinite impedance as found on a hifi-amp input, it might get confused. You won't get a really good line-level signal out of a pre-amped headphone-out in any way, on any player. Get a Sansa Fuze, same sound quality as the Clip, and it's possible to make a line-out dock for it. Other than that, iPods have line-out possibilities as well, the Zune too, but it's an overpriced rip-off solution. Not sure if the fancier Sony players with proprietary cable have line-out. It's sad that not many other manufacturers think of that basic feature anymore... back in the days lots of players had a dedicated line-out next to the preamped phones-out, like the Cowon X5 or iRiver H100/300.

Anyways, if you're really serious about digital audio in a home setup, anything portable is sub-par anyways. Something like a Slim Devices Transporter/Squeezebox, RipNAS, Olive Opus, etc. would be a better solution - if you don't simply get a decent sound card for your computer.

[a_tumiwa]

or maybe external dac

my solution for you
Computer > external dac > external amp > speaker/headphone

[SDDL-UP]

dfkt,

I value your opinion - but what do you suggest that will play FLAC, has great SQ, and has powerful output? Would you say the Sansa Clip or Clip+ are about as good as it gets for sound quality? I can't seem to make the Clip+ recognize FLAC - it just says it's an unrecognized file type and won't let me copy it to the player.

So the Cowon D2 is, technically at least, not a good sounding player. What others might be besides the Clip and Clip+? Have you run an AMP3 through any testing? Many experienced people sure seem impressed with the SQ of the AMP3.

Thanks dfkt for all your help!

[Marvin the Martian]

My Clip+ plays FLACs just fine.

[The DarkSide]

So does my RockBoxed DAP's,.....................

[dfkt]

If you're in for linearity and don't care for sound enhancements, the Clip, Clip+, or Fuze are faithful-to-the-source sounding players. Some of those can be Rockboxed, while for others a Rockbox port is in the works as we speak - making them in my (an many others) opinion even better players, if you like configurability of pretty much every aspect of your player.

They play FLAC just fine, no matter if stock firmware or Rockbox. Some people seem to have good gapless results with the stock firmware and FLAC as well. The stock firmware might drain more battery than Rockbox for FLAC playback. Rockbox is perfectly gapless anyways, with pretty much any format.

Unfortunately Sony don't support any decent formats, they're a bit dumbed down, firmware-wise. I wish there was a Rockbox port for some Sony player, that would be extremely awesome.

The rest of the players I know, Cowon, Samsung, Creative, Trekstor, iPod, Meizu, etc, aren't as faithful as the two above mentioned brands at audio reproduction. They all have more or less flawed DACs, or botched analog output stages. Some of them can be made to sound decent with the help of a dedicated headphone amp, like most Cowon players, for example.

[SDDL-UP]

dfkt,

Thanks for putting the AMP3 through it's paces in a test against the Clip / Clip+. I really appreciate your time in doing so. I'm still looking forward to the Studio from HiSound Audio. Who knows, maybe it will be a better player. It's costly enough that it should be!

The Clip and Clip+ are great values, no doubt about that! My Clip+ still won't recognize FLAC files with a browser, it will sync up correctly with Media Monkey and plays them fine, but I'm missing the "drag & drop" ease.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by SDDL-UP

dfkt,

Thanks for putting the AMP3 through it's paces in a test against the Clip / Clip+. I really appreciate your time in doing so. I'm still looking forward to the Studio from HiSound Audio. Who knows, maybe it will be a better player. It's costly enough that it should be!

The Clip and Clip+ are great values, no doubt about that! My Clip+ still won't recognize FLAC files with a browser, it will sync up correctly with Media Monkey and plays them fine, but I'm missing the "drag & drop" ease.

It's a POS, same as the Amp3. Check out head-fi's forums, I believe it's been discussed.

[SDDL-UP]

The DarkSide,

I don't believe the Studio has actually been released yet. There is just some preliminary review of a beta version to try and work out some bugs AFAIK. I'll check HeadFi again though. I'd still like to see some RMMA results when it's released.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by SDDL-UP

My Clip+ still won't recognize FLAC files with a browser, it will sync up correctly with Media Monkey and plays them fine, but I'm missing the "drag & drop" ease.

I don't find adding files to my Clip+ to be any more difficult with Mediamonkey than dragging and dropping them. So I'm not sure what you mean about "drag and drop ease". And given the battery suckage that FLAC causes with the Sansa players(assuming the use of the stock Sansa firmware), it's not worth using it on them, IMO.

[JK98]

One can't properly use an amp without a line out. Which players have a real line out?

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by JK98

One can't properly use an amp without a line out. Which players have a real line out?

As far as mainstream players......iPods.....and people are making them for the Fuze and Sony players, although the price on the cable for the Sony players can be ridiculous.http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=53334

That said, there's no reason you can't use an amp without a true line-out. I have, in fact I did last night for several hours, with both a Clip+ and my Sony players.

[ting.mike]

Originally Posted by SDDL-UP

I could buy an amp for the Sansa Clip, and the Cowon functions fine in this capacity.

My question is "What's next?"

I'm looking for my next player that meets my standards for very high sound quality and has enough power to plug into a home system.

Aside from the fact that all the suggestions given earlier are excellent, but if you really want a player with "very high sound quality" and enough power to plug into a home system, then there is nothing but the HM-801. As a_tumiwa said, battery life is pretty sad, perhaps 8 hours max brand new. But when you're using it with a home system, you can always plug it in to the charger.

Originally Posted by SDDL-UP

The DarkSide,

I don't believe the Studio has actually been released yet. There is just some preliminary review of a beta version to try and work out some bugs AFAIK. I'll check HeadFi again though. I'd still like to see some RMMA results when it's released.

What's weird is that you can already buy the Hisound Studio here in Asia. I had a chance to review it, but I couldn't write anything as I could not find a 3.5mm cable that will fit the Studio's deeply recessed 3.5mm connector. Was that a beta version? I don't know, but I don't think Hisound should be selling a beta product to consumers.

The Teclast T51/Nationite S:Flo2 is the next best player after the HM-801, aside from the low bass roll-off issue (i.e if you don't care about bass in your music, then it's the 2nd best player after the HM-801).

Cheers.