Best Portable Player

[andywylde]

So the wife bought me a set of campfire Atlas IEMs for my birthday. A very nice gift, but it was partially because she didn't like the open sound of my Sennheiser 800s that escaped since we are often in the same room doing different things. I am driving them with a Topping D70 and THX AA 789 amp and they sound fantastic. But of course like any other audio purchase it makes you aware of what else you need to really enjoy it

So I have 3 things on my list I would love to hear other comments about:

1) Balanced Cables ..... pretty sure I need these as the difference in the Sennheisers with balanced and single ended was fantastic. The campfire balanced pure silver cable is $350 which seems a bit ridiculous (but someone will probalby pip in with one that cost 10x as much and swear it is the best ever) but I have heard good things about this one one Amazon for $99. The same company has mixed reviews on their other cables but this one seems to be a winner.:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RZRMRG1/ref=twister_B07L616TL4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Their lower end cables have mixed reviews, but this particular one seems to be a very good value and people seem to like it. If anyone has purchased it or something comparable I would love to hear about it.

2) Custom molded ear cups. When these are in the perfect position (seemingly shoved in so far they inject the music right into my brain and at the right angle they sound amazing so I am thinking this might be a worthwhile investment. I see several companies offering this but mixed reviews for all so I would love to hear other's experiences.

3) Portable players. Since they are so nice and small, traveling with them in an obvious bonus. I bought a inexpensive (AR) player off Massdrop to have something but I am eyeing the Fiio M9 or AK 240 as budget permits. A&K has dropped the AK4990EN in favor of the Cirrus Logic CS4398. Obviously they now say the CL chips is the best thing ever, but they of course said the AK was the best ever before. I have to admit the A&K website description of the design philosophy is pretty convincing, but the huge price difference is making me lean toward the Fiio. That plus the support for storage cards of to 2TB. It just seems like if you are going to kill it with the audio section you would also support the huge storage cards available as well as the inevitable much larger ones to come.

Anyway, sorry this is so long but I would love to hear others inputs on these items. These aren't things that I can go listen to, so I need to In the abscence of the killer reviews and measurements we have all come to expect from amirm (which has allowed me to make some fantastic purchases of equipment I have never heard) I would like to hear some of your opinions or recommendations. I am assuming people here are smarter than on many sites so don't let me down

 

[Nemo]

I will let others to comment on the first question, but share my experience with custom tips, as I have two sets made from different manufacturers and for different in-ears: be aware that isolation will improve markedly, shifting the perceived frequency balance. In my case, it worked wonders for a set, but unbalanced the other requiring EQ, which admittedly is not a problem today.

Regarding portable players, I think it is better to use a smartphone. If you are not convinced on the audio quality or volume, you can always add a dongle. ASR has shown the $9 Apple version to be quite capable but not very loud.

Cheers

 

[raif71]

What type of balanced jack your Senn 800s is using (xlr, 4.4mm, 2.5mm ... )?

 

[Wombat]

From forum search:

Balanced Headphone Cables

 

[Frank Dernie]

2) Custom molded ear cups. When these are in the perfect position (seemingly shoved in so far they inject the music right into my brain and at the right angle they sound amazing so I am thinking this might be a worthwhile investment. I see several companies offering this but mixed reviews for all so I would love to hear other's experiences.

I used these on my Etymotic ER4S and for me a lot more comfortable than generic plastic tips and with better isolation.
They went very deep into my ear canal though and I got sufficient wax build up to completely block my ears requiring regular medical attention. I didn't realise this was linked to using them until I retired and stopped using IEMs much and the problem went away.

 

[Erik]

A&K's philosophy is to dump all their resources into marketing instead of hiring competent designers. It works, though.

 

[Vincent Kars]

What about this versatile portable player?
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...o-measurement-of-lg-g7-thinq-smartphone.4468/

 

[Berwhale]

For the portable player...

I'm very happy with my setup: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 8GB/512GB + 512GB microSD (1TB in a phone!) + USB Audio Player Pro + Radsone EarStudio ES100 bluetooth DAC/Amp (has balanced output).

My IEMs are MEEAudio Pinnacle P1 with Comply foam tips and a Fiio 2.5mm balanced cable. The Note 9 actually has a pretty decent DAC and amp on board (UAPP can bypass Android and use it directly), but I love the extra power I get from the ES100's balanced output and the ability to set and store EQ directly on the DAC.

Note: I have the FiiO LC-2.5B cable, not the more expensive C or D versions (which I highly doubt would sound any different).

 

[snowsurfer]

The campfire balanced pure silver cable is $350 which seems a bit ridiculous (but someone will probalby pip in with one that cost 10x as much and swear it is the best ever) but I have heard good things about this one one Amazon for $99.

I think you'll find this is one of the few audio centered forums around where most people would never do that, since they know scientifically that it's a load of bullshit.

3) Portable players. Since they are so nice and small, traveling with them in an obvious bonus. I bought a inexpensive (AR) player off Massdrop to have something but I am eyeing the Fiio M9 or AK 240 as budget permits.

As an M9 user I can confirm that it has excellent quality for the price, but you need to be prepared for a slow touchsreen and some UI crap. I personally don't care about AK since they seem to be more centered on marketing and overpricing everything, but to each his own.

 

[Aaron Garrett]

I have a A & K Kann and a LG V35. The Kann sounds quite a bit better to me, although the LG V35 sounds pretty good with my IEMs. One advantage of the KANN for you, though, is that it has a balanced output that powers my pair of Sennheiser HD 800s (with an XLR to 2.5 balanced adapter) headphones extremely well.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I have a A&K 240 but I rarely use it.
It is more something I liked the look of than a real gain and I actually find I don't like touch screen control at all!
Touch screen, jack of all trades, but only master of the unintended selection...

 

[g29]

This one looks interesting with dual AKM 4497EQ DACs and 8-core CPU. Price, not so appealing.

Astell & Kern Ultima SP1000

 

[tential]

This one looks interesting with dual AKM 4497EQ DACs and 8-core CPU. Price, not so appealing.

Astell & Kern Ultima SP1000

Err 8 core cpu means nothing. Actually, I'd say that if you say 8 core cpu, and don't say what cpu, then it's worse than nothing. 99% of the time the device has a rockchip soc (super old, terrible, slow) and they just don't want to say it. Like Ibasso.

Fiio m11 is the current best bet, due to it being the only dap that uses a serious soc (Exynos 7872). The next round below that are the snapdragon 425 daps (hiby r5, r6, r6 pro) and the snapdragon 430(not much better than a 425 in practice) by Shanling m6.

Also the upcoming m11 pro has those dual dacs if you really care, but then all of the other better specs like soc, display, etc. Like the other poster said, AK is just marketing. Not much more.

 

[STUDIO51]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/measurements-of-cowon-plenue-l-dap.8078/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-and-measurements-of-cowon-plenue-2-dap.8714/

Check out Cowon's PLENUE L. PLENUE is cheaper than A & K, and much better.

The PLENUE L has a 4.4 mm balanced terminal, and the PLENUE 2 has a 2.5 mm balanced terminal.

 

[Aaron Garrett]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/measurements-of-cowon-plenue-l-dap.8078/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-and-measurements-of-cowon-plenue-2-dap.8714/

Check out Cowon's PLENUE L. PLENUE is cheaper than A & K, and much better.

The PLENUE L has a 4.4 mm balanced terminal, and the PLENUE 2 has a 2.5 mm balanced terminal.

It seems to be more expensive than the KANN. That is currently $799 US from A & K.

 

[raif71]

doc mccoy : Is this a new tricorder?
spock and capt kirk : KANN

 

[jacobacci]

For me adding a Chord Mojo to my smartphone has solved the question of portable sound quality on the box side. The Mojo is small enough to carry everywhere and costs much less than a high end AK player
If your smartphone is android, you need UAPP
If you have an iPhone, it will drive a USB DAC natively

 

[JJB70]

I have a Shanling M3s which is excellent, it cost me £170 (new, clearance) and I can't see any reason to spend more. It is very nicely made, has a transparent DAC and the headphone amplifier drives my various headphones loudly enough. I actually think my Sony Xperia smartphone is good enough with very efficient IEMs, the only criticism I have of it is that hearing protection regulations mean that the headphone output is a bit anaemic.

 

[tential]

For me adding a Chord Mojo to my smartphone has solved the question of portable sound quality on the box side. The Mojo is small enough to carry everywhere and costs much less than a high end AK player
If your smartphone is android, you need UAPP
If you have an iPhone, it will drive a USB DAC natively

Then you're better off using the nx4 dsd than the chord MOJO if you're going a stack route.
No reason to pay chord MOJO premium for the same performance as the nx4dsd.

Otherwise, I'd wait for amir to test a fiio m11, hiby r5, or Shanling m6.

 

[andywylde]

Thank all of your for your thoughtful replies, some of these I have considered, some were not even on my radar. I appreciate the scientific as opposed to the marketing BS. Thanks to a gracious friend I did some A/B testing tonight, using my iPad Pro as the baseline and using my campfire Atlas and friends campfire Andromeda as test IEMs. I know a lot of people like the Higby M6, but to me it sounded enough like the iPad i wouldn't buy one. My friend said the Higby was better, but to me they sounded pretty close. I actually liked the sound of my $100 (massdrop) AR M200 better although the interface on that makes it a non-starter. I'll probably give that one away soon. He was also nice enough to lend the AK KANN Cube as well. I have to admit that the A&K was the overall blind favorite, rivaling my Topping/THX combo, but I am just not likely to spend that much on a portable DAP. the Plenue does indeed seem better but the price is will up there as I would only use it mostly for traveling. I've been looking pretty hard at the Fiio M11 and the pro version as well. I am a little sad to hear that the interface is still klunky, but compared to the AR it will seem like magic anyway. I was thinking that would be enough processing power to overcome the android overhead. The features on it are everything I would do for it or more. So I was al ready to pic up a M11 until I saw the Pro version. It seems the only real difference is the DAC, am I missing something? The chips are $10 each more from the manufacturer but the player is $250 more. Are the AKM AK4997 that much better than the AK4493? Definitely a db more S/N which never hurts, but only if you don't lose it in the analog section. Is there something else in the PRO version that is worth that money?

I would definitely love to wait for amir to test the M11 or the Shanling but I probably won't be that patient. I don't know anywhere to listen to the M11 or M11 pro, so i will probably end up buying one or the other on specs unless I find something that is definitely better.