Portable music players

Bert Schurink posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Thanks for the in-ear suggestions. I'll take a look at the Focal and 1More suggestions. I've been trying my Sennheiser Momentum headphones and they are pretty underwhelming - the sound from my £30 in ears is better. I've been thinking about getting some phones to use with the Naim and want something better than the Momentums, so I've ordered some BeyerDynamic AKT5p, which are closed so will be good when out and about, and have a balanced option for the AK70. They are well reviewed and well built, so should be OK. 

I need to sort out the right sequence for mounting the SD card, rather than just taking it out, and I'm hoping I'm ok charging it from the USB socket in our MK wall socket, but other than these logistics I think it's great. I'm sure I'll hear what it's really capable of once the new headphones arrive. 

I've discovered that it has a DLNA streaming renderer built in that can stream for the Qnap, which is a nice surprise and means I can listen to all my music in the garden, though the wifi doesn't seem quite string enough to avoid dropouts. It's something to think about anyway. 

The DNLA thing on mobile players is indeed a nice feature, however it very often doesn't work so well due to the fact that one tends to be further away from the wifi signal...

I find the Sony DLNA feature quite reliable, certainly using it over WiFi gives much better range than any Bluetooth device I've used. For extending the signal into the garden, a strategically placed Airport Express might be the answer, and an old style used one for £20 would work fine - I think HH has an Airport Extreme already, so the two should work nicely together. 

That reminds me; I really must get another Express to go upstairs. 

ChrisSU posted:

I find the Sony DLNA feature quite reliable, certainly using it over WiFi gives much better range than any Bluetooth device I've used. For extending the signal into the garden, a strategically placed Airport Express might be the answer, and an old style used one for £20 would work fine - I think HH has an Airport Extreme already, so the two should work nicely together. 

Ah ok - yes that's what we have too. The Express sits in the loft. One day i'll get around to running a Ethernet cable up to the loft as the wireless method does reduce throughput but for now it does the job nicely. 

I used to have 2 Express runnung off a central Extreme to extend my WiFi through the house, which has very thick internal walls. I've now managed to reduce that down to one: I imagine throughput is reduced if you run too many of these devices at the same time. 

I spent some time listening to Michelle Makarski and Keith Jarrett playing Bach Sonatas in the garden earlier, and it was just lovely, and that's just with the Momentum headphones. I can only imagine how much better it will be with the Beyers when they arrive next week. The AK70 really is jolly good.

Note for Adam - I was in the garden listening to the album - Michelle and Keith weren't playing in the garden. 

You can use them in balanced mode as well

Just purchased an AK70 with a 200g card. Newbie questions : how do i copy my music from the Naim Core to the card and how do I stream to the AK in the garden? Many thanks

I stick the card in the front of the laptop (unmount in the A&K first) and copy using Windows explorer. You can leave the card in the A&K as well, though it seems a little slower. To stream you need to enable AK connect. The manual is your friend. 

HH : Many thanks for the info.  All working fine now. Connected to my Bose headphones and listening to my favorites in the garden all yesterday evening. Will be interested in how you get on with your new Beyers.

The Beyers arrived earlier today and I spent an hour in the garden listening to the A&K through them while sitting in the garden in a deck chair under the cherry tree. They are amazingly good, and I've never heard such a good sound through headphones. There is none of that overblown bass; everything is delightfully natural. How a pair of closed phones manage to sound so open I have no idea. I imagine that headphones take awhile to run in, just like speakers, so will become even better as they are used more. They will certainly get a good airing when to go to Aix on the train next month. It's a bit of a shame that they don't come with a carrying case for taking them out and about. I've asked the Beyer agents how much one would cost, but I expect it will be too much, which might mean resorting to eBay. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

The Beyers arrived earlier today and I spent an hour in the garden listening to the A&K through them while sitting in the garden in a deck chair under the cherry tree. They are amazingly good, and I've never heard such a good sound through headphones. There is none of that overblown bass; everything is delightfully natural. How a pair of closed phones manage to sound so open I have no idea. I imagine that headphones take awhile to run in, just like speakers, so will become even better as they are used more. They will certainly get a good airing when to go to Aix on the train next month. It's a bit of a shame that they don't come with a carrying case for taking them out and about. I've asked the Beyer agents how much one would cost, but I expect it will be too much, which might mean resorting to eBay. 

I have senns hd800 in my music room and momentums in my bedroom and for travelling. Not very happy with the latter. Very interested in your experience with the beyers. I understand they are in the Hd800s price range.

I'm unsure whether the AKT5p has been discontinued. The full price is £1,200 and there are places sellling them for this. I got mine for £499 from a tax avoiding on line store. A well known auction site has them for the same price too - I think from the same seller. They are sealed in the proper packing with full warranty, so it's all above board. The phones are numbered limited editions - though how limited I have no idea. They really are extraordinarily good. I'll wire them up to the 272 and see how that sounds compared to the AK70 at some point. 

The instructions say not to expose them to direct sunlight - perhaps I'll need to get a special extra large hat, or carry a parasol. 

I wonder how much that caution applies to other headphones, even if they don't carry such a notice. These days it is getting increasingly common to see people to use full headphones outdoors, as opposed earbuds, and most plastics can be susceptible to deterioration - typically discolouration and, more significantly, brittleness, while the effect of heat -as in direct sun on dark colours - could cause deformation.  Quite significant if for expensive headphones, and worth everyone being aware - yet something so easily not considered.

You can buy UV protection treatments for plastic, either in aerosol form or wipe-on, which can be reapplied regularly if often used outside. Readily available in car accessory shops, bike shops and online (one product is called ArmorAll) - I use it on plastic tubing that I discovered deteriorates outdoors. I hadn't thought about it myself until now, but clearly worth considering using on headphones if they are used frequently or for long periods outdoors, subject to checking compatability. It won't protect agaist heat from direct sunlight, for which a hat may well be an answer, but UV damage can occur outdoors even not in direct sunlight, whether reflected on a sunny day, or through cloud penetration, so is still a risk even when heat damage isn't.

I'm not rubbing potions on my new Beyers; I'll stick with the large hat.