Preface
Who didn’t want Song Hye Kyo’s phone back then?
Do you still remember the BBK music mobile ad starring Song Hye Kyo?
"HiFi Stepping-Big" (Pictures are from the Internet)
It can be said that BBK stands out among a number of feature phones with its name as a "music mobile phone" and becomes a star product for music lovers and even students. Compared with MP3, MP4 and other products, the emergence of music mobile phones has made the concept of "HiFi" well-known to more music lovers, thus embarking on the road of "fire and ruining a lifetime".
cancel the headphone interface, is it necessary or is there another plan?
, but in today's smart phone era, major mobile phone manufacturers have cancelled the "extremely advanced" 3.5mm headphone interface. Although it has directly spawned a "100 billion-level" true wireless Bluetooth headphone market, due to the limitations of existing technology and physical conditions, the sound quality of Bluetooth headphones has never been able to meet the needs of music enthusiasts.
Data source: "2022 Qualcomm Audio Product Usage Status Survey Report"
According to the "2022 Qualcomm Audio Product Usage Status Survey Report", more than 70% of consumers regard sound quality as an important reference indicator when purchasing Bluetooth headsets.
Under the current situation where Bluetooth headphones have poor sound quality and traditional wired headphone support surfaces have become narrower, audio enthusiasts have begun to turn to the embrace of "'little tail' + wired headphones" or "player + wired headphones"
The sharing of "little tail" on a certain red book is overwhelming
Introduction and purchasing guide for "little tail" (portable decoded headphones) are available:
Top domestic player - Lepi LP6
Compared with "little tail" such as HiFi "accessories" that rely on mobile phones and other front-end, enthusiasts with higher requirements will tend to purchase independent "HiFi music players". Because this kind of equipment is generally large in size and has a high weight, it is nicknamed "brick", foreign-made bricks, and domestic-made bricks are called "national bricks".
Baidu "National Brick Bar" - a gathering place for domestic player enthusiasts
In today's pursuit of lightweight and portability, the existence of "National Brick" seems to be out of place, but in the eyes of professional audio enthusiasts, the importance of players can be side by side with smartphones.
still has a large number of "MP3" fans. What is the use of the
player?
Oriolus DPS-L2 Copper Oriolus
Having said so much, what kind of charm does HiFi player have that makes many enthusiasts "not happy without 'bricks'"? Compared with the more convenient "little tail", where is the real product power of the player? Don't be impatient, listen to the editor one by one.
①Power supply Turbo On↑
High thrust "foreign bricks" represent - KANN MAX
HiFi circle famous quote: "Electricity is the mother of sound", this remark does not refer to "hot electricity, water and electricity are cold, nuclear power", "Real enthusiasts only use the water and electricity of the Yarlung Zangbo River" This kind of ridiculous metaphysics:
instead says that electricity is the carrier of audio signal transmission (it can even be regarded as the audio signal itself), and the power supply capacity of the front-end equipment determines the fundamentals of the final sound.
inappropriate analogy (modified from Internet resources)
makes an inappropriate analogy: assuming the entire listening system is a car, the audio files are oil products, and the DAC (digital-to-analog conversion chip) is the spark plug of the engine, then the power supply is the rest of the engine, the transmission, the transmission shaft and even the differential - the car runs fast, stable, and whether it can be pulled depends largely on the advantages and disadvantages of the "power transmission".
pictures are from the network
Output power is a major parameter used to measure the player's power supply capacity: the larger the output power, the easier the driver's back-end load will be. When replaying the sound, there will be no "powerless" sound problem and "plateau hypoxia" clipping distortion problem.
output power is insufficient → sound is incomplete
Because it comes with a large-capacity lithium battery, the output power of the player is generally much higher than that of the "little tail".
flagship small tail VS entry player
Here we take two new products, Yueerfa Go Bar and Rhythm Tank V6 as examples, both of which are priced at over 2K, but the player has about 30% higher output power than small tail.
Under the large reserve power, the symphony is more imposing. The higher output power of
makes it easier for the player to drive high-impedance headphones. When facing large-scale dynamic music such as large-scale symphony, it will be more calm and the sound will be closer to the actual listening experience on the spot. In addition to output power, the stability of the current and anti-interference are also factors that affect sound. Due to space limitations, we will not report it here for now. We will give you a long article in the future.
②Distortion Cut Down↓
Ailihe new flagship SP3000
Question: How can simply and roughly measure the quality of a car?
Answer: Count the cylinders!
Just like the difference between an 8/12/16-cylinder luxury car supercar and a household 3-cylinder 4-cylinder grocery car, the number advantage of DAC chips is also one of the important factors in maintaining the long-lasting player market. Since the space is not as tight as the "little tail", the circuit design level and sound training skills cannot be practiced overnight. Manufacturers are naturally more willing to make efforts on "open parameters" such as chip specifications and quantity.
dual DAC has become a "common" of the Chinese bricks
Currently, the players on the market have dual DAC chips, and there are many flagship players equipped with 4 DAC chips. What's more, some people play with the "2+4" architecture:
SP3000 architecture diagram
multiple DAC advantages are obvious:
- doubles the data processing performance, easy decoding of high-spec audio ——The car accelerates faster, the speed is higher, and the crosstalk of channel/unipolar signals is reduced. —Three-cylinder and four-cylinder, six-cylinder and eight-cylinder,
- Lower distortion and smoother analog signal curve ——Acceleration is more linear, step more and more, don't miss the head
③ Circuit design Level UP↑
"Industry Light" Teacher Luo once complained: "It's all about the integration of the plan and the commercial installs X", which means that mobile phone manufacturers do not develop their own products and only purchase ready-made solutions assembled, without R&D and technology. Is it the same when it comes to the field of player: if you buy ready-made components, you can sell them? If you really think so, you're a big mistake...
Compared with the components that are changed on the surface, the upgrade in circuit design is the "top priority" that determines the final performance of the entire system, and it is also a "fighting arena" that demonstrates the skills of each company. If mobile phone manufacturers compete in system optimization and performance scheduling; then player manufacturers compete in circuit optimization and listening experience.
Lepi LP6 player circuit architecture diagram
manufacturer published the architecture diagram. The real specific structure and design belong to the patent secret that is "not rumored" and is also the core competitiveness. Even the editor cannot obtain more in-depth information.
Aili and SP3000 circuit architecture diagram
Different manufacturers will design "completely different" circuits based on their understanding of sound, and the tone bonuses brought to the back-end headphones are also different, and there are even additional bonuses for specific models of headphones...
So when purchasing a player, you must listen to them according to your actual needs and then consider them!
Recently we learned that [Double-Step Audio] is holding a blind listening flagship player event, bringing together a variety of emerging/classic flagship players such as Aili and SP3000, Sony BRICS II, Lepi LP6G, P6Pro, Letu Titanium Ink Ju, Haibei RS8, etc., free trial listening. It is an excellent opportunity to listen to all the flagships. Interested friends must not miss it.
Conclusion
A market research agency once believed that digital devices with "single functions" will be wiped out by smartphones.
single function digital product
can today, whether it is audio players, SLR cameras, or even electronic paper books market is in full swing. Major manufacturers are still constantly innovating and consumer incentives. Behind this is not only the geek spirit that pursues the ultimate, but also the pursuit and love of life.
Just imagine, if there was only one digital device in the future, the colorful digital world would become so lonely and boring...
