Archsam
Senior Member
I do question the reason for a A105 level DAP to exist today. It is the audio equivalent of a point and shoot pocket camera. Once upon a time there was a reason to have them, namely an affordable way to take decent pictures without spending big bucks on proper SLR gears. But with the emergence of smart phones and the phone camera, the affordable point and shoot camera is obsolete. Ditto affordable audio players.
I read that this kind of device is still somewhat popular in Asia though. Things are different there - for example SACDs are still a thing over there and far from gone. I know this, because over the last year or so I have been amassing a sizeable collection of c-pop DSF files made available by local fans and available for download. A lot of popular artists / albums from the past 20 - 30 years are being reissued in limited edition SACDs today, and they get snapped up immediately upon release - you can't even buy them if you have the money, and they are very expensive.
But the recent development of high end DAP are really awesome. My WM-1A has 128gb of internal memory. I put in a 400gb microsd card and I can carry nearly my entire collection of DSF and high rez PCM music with me whenever I travel. If I go visit my folks in Canada for a few weeks I will even take my Focal Clear + 4.4mm balanced cable with me, and I can enjoy my music in quality close to my home system.
I read that this kind of device is still somewhat popular in Asia though. Things are different there - for example SACDs are still a thing over there and far from gone. I know this, because over the last year or so I have been amassing a sizeable collection of c-pop DSF files made available by local fans and available for download. A lot of popular artists / albums from the past 20 - 30 years are being reissued in limited edition SACDs today, and they get snapped up immediately upon release - you can't even buy them if you have the money, and they are very expensive.
But the recent development of high end DAP are really awesome. My WM-1A has 128gb of internal memory. I put in a 400gb microsd card and I can carry nearly my entire collection of DSF and high rez PCM music with me whenever I travel. If I go visit my folks in Canada for a few weeks I will even take my Focal Clear + 4.4mm balanced cable with me, and I can enjoy my music in quality close to my home system.
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