Pilot's first preview

[Juny]

Thanks to ssjmichael from dapreview!

http://dapreview.net/news.php?extend.4104

I'm getting me one

[CrowdAds]

[greggish]

I was a little discouraged to read this though...

I've only listened to the Pilot for about an hour, with a limited selection of tracks, but so far I haven't been "wowed" by the sound quality. Vocals and instruments come in clear, but the sound isn't as warm as I'd like. Bass was sharp on my ears, but was improved after messing with EQ settings.

[Almoxil]

After going over the preview, I wasn't able to find out what headphones / earphones ssjmichael used when he wrote it. If they were lean on bass, that might have influenced his first take. Notice that he didn't "dislike" the sound, actually, and stated clearly that the sound for video playback improved.

I recommend waiting for a full review.

[Trunk666]

I was a little surprised by how little bass came through. At first I thought it was a lack of power to the headphones due to the small size of the unit. But I messed with my EQs though, and if you bump the lowest setting up to +2 (and tweak the others), it makes a nice difference. It sounds similar to my iPod or laptop now.

I was using my Dell earbuds that came with my XPS laptop. I use them for everything and much prefer them over the standard iPod earbuds (even with the Griffin snap on things).

[greggish]

Originally Posted by Trunk666

It sounds similar to my iPod or laptop now.

Well, that's certainly not exactly a ringing endorsement for it's sound quality.

[Trunk666]

I was trying to say that in my opinion it's not a step down from either of those popular reference points. I paid $140 for an MP3 player and the songs sound like MP3s to me. I'm satisfied.

[Riolist]

My opinion on the sound quality: http://www.dapreview.net/p/forum/forum_viewforum.php?83

[Trunk666]

Yeah, I agree. It did sound different at first. I was actually pretty disappointed. But I tweaked the EQ and I'm fine with it now. It's definitely something to do with the bass. I wouldn't be surprised if the power output for the headphones is lower than some other players.

Juny, that review pretty much shows anything I would have. I'll continue posting about my findings, though.

[Juny]

Is the sound an improvement over the DV?

[Riolist]

Originally Posted by Juny

Is the sound an improvement over the DV?

I think I would have to say no. In some ways it is, or seems to be, but there's just something about the sound on the Pilot, sort of like you're listening to it from behind a wall, not a brick wall, but it's like you always feel there's something between you and the music, you never feel that the music is really 'present'; it seems to always have a 'recorded' quality that the same track on other players, including the DV, doesn't seem to have.