Sony announces hi-res audio player at CES (only $1200)

[jbell]

For portable bang for the buck....my vote goes to fiio x3.. it's a buck fifty and plays everything. Including dsd. It can operate as a usb dac, dsd dac and has spdif outs. It is nicely built and has fantastic tech support. 128 gig cards are coming down and can be had for less than 50 bucks, too. Oh, and it has been available for 3 years.

[George]

For portable bang for the buck....my vote goes to fiio x3.. it's a buck fifty and plays everything. Including dsd. It can operate as a usb dac, dsd dac and has spdif outs. It is nicely built and has fantastic tech support. 128 gig cards are coming down and can be had for less than 50 bucks, too. Oh, and it has been available for 3 years.

The only problem is...that as a portable player it just doesn't sound that good. The headphone output, imho, errs on the side of cold and well, just plain boring.  Ever listen to a Rio Karma?  Now THAT is an music player.  The headphone output on that sucker is godly.   The iPod classic?  I purchased the last generation one before Apple phased them out.  It's headphone output is...okay.  I find it a little too forward which makes it fatiguing.

The Sony mentioned in the OP...yeah, $1200 is insane, but I bet it sounds gorgeous.  Sony's DAP's are known for their sound quality. 

[scb]

Pono review (and comparison to X5)
http://www.cnet.com/news/the-ponoplayer-whats-up-with-that/

[kubacheck]

considering I do pretty much all my listening on players while working, I just can't imagine carrying around a $1200 player daily and not being nervous as shit about something happening to it.... meanwhile, I've got my iPhone (that I use as an iPod) for a lot of my listening plus recently picked up a Fiio X1 for $99 for more versatility..... if that ever breaks, it's only another $99 and since all the music is actually on a microSD card, no music lost.....

[raymonda]

For portable bang for the buck....my vote goes to fiio x3.. it's a buck fifty and plays everything. Including dsd. It can operate as a usb dac, dsd dac and has spdif outs. It is nicely built and has fantastic tech support. 128 gig cards are coming down and can be had for less than 50 bucks, too. Oh, and it has been available for 3 years.

The only problem is...that as a portable player it just doesn't sound that good. The headphone output, imho, errs on the side of cold and well, just plain boring.  Ever listen to a Rio Karma?  Now THAT is an music player.  The headphone output on that sucker is godly.   The iPod classic?  I purchased the last generation one before Apple phased them out.  It's headphone output is...okay.  I find it a little too forward which makes it fatiguing.

The Sony mentioned in the OP...yeah, $1200 is insane, but I bet it sounds gorgeous.  Sony's DAP's are known for their sound quality.

Really? That has not been my experience. I find that the headphone amp with low impedance phones sound fine. Sure, it doesn't sound as good as my Melos, nor does it have the punch as my modded matrix m stage. Even my op amp upgraded fanmusic is a bit better but come on.....it sounds fine on its own merit. A bit dry but boring and bad? Even when using my highly modded golden tube audio se 40 to drive cans....it is not embarrassed.  Maybe my frame of reference is different, having been in this game for 40 years or so and having heard really bad sound. With my hi rez masters or cd releases it sounds honest and pleasing.

I've compared the line out to my playback system.....as well as my mastering system......and it comes up a bit short. But it demonstrates how far things have evolved over the past 15 years. Using the digital  out narrows the gap even closer.

it is only a buck fifty.....and made for portable use.....e.g.  laying on the beach.....going for walks....staring at the stars......and for that it is head and shoulders above what use to be. Now for home listening I'm not going to pretend that it is a reference killer......for that there are better options. However, one kick ars budget or dorm system can be made around it and it beats stand alone systems for home use that cost much more that were made it the 90's through 2000's.

All of this for the cost of a pair of shoes.

I haven't heard either the pono or the Sony but for what they offer and are made for I'm happy with the fiio and stand by it being an excellent value in portable playback.

[George]

It didn't necessarily sound bad...just not up to par compared to an old, legacy dap (the rio karma).  It's all about synergy too, so for all I know the iem's I'm using just didn't mate that well.  However, I also tried my old stalwarts, the 7506's and Grado SR60's, and they too sounded quite sterile...which is the furthest from their sound signatures.  I'm still sitting on the bench waiting for a rio karma killer.  The sansa clip is pretty close, it's a lively little dap with a healthy headphone out that mates well with iem's. 

[raymonda]

It didn't necessarily sound bad...just not up to par compared to an old, legacy dap (the rio karma).  It's all about synergy too, so for all I know the iem's I'm using just didn't mate that well.  However, I also tried my old stalwarts, the 7506's and Grado SR60's, and they too sounded quite sterile...which is the furthest from their sound signatures.  I'm still sitting on the bench waiting for a rio karma killer.  The sansa clip is pretty close, it's a lively little dap with a healthy headphone out that mates well with iem's.

I have clip and agree it sounds fine but to my ears the fiio sounds better. I've been through the grado and fell they are meh. Just goes to show.....different strokes.