<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: surprisingly good
Review: The DSP360 decoder/virtualizer, while small and lacking the 'high quality' finish of equivalent products from other makers, is surprisingly good. Several headphone enthusiast websites actually rate the DSP360 very highly, and consider it a great bargain.my only complaint is that the unit (DSP360) defaults to 'speaker' mode when first powered up. of course, you buy this item expecting to use it with headphones, so why default to speaker mode? (And as the editorial review hints, the speaker mode is not worth the trouble.) Am I nitpicking? No, I'm trying to conserve my hearing. When in speaker mode, the volume control is basically disabled, so if the material you're listening to is very loud, you get first a shock, then painful ears. And worse, you frantically try to lower the volume, to no avail. To switch to 'headphone' mode, you have to press a button and HOLD it. It's in the manual, of course, but a lot of trouble could have been avoided if the DSP started with 'headphone' mode in the first place. Audio is quite good, especially for the money. Using 'bypass' or disabling the 3D gives you stereo, useful when listening to CD's and other material not coded in Dolby Surround/Digital. In this mode, music really acquires 'space' and sounds more natural. I know it's not really a headphone amplifier to rival the best in the business, but the best in the business will set you back hundreds, even thousands of dollars more. The headphones themselves are OK. You get what you pay for, as they say, and if you want still better headphones than the 535, then get the 580's. I'm saving up for those.
Rating:
Summary: surprisingly good
Review: The DSP360 decoder/virtualizer, while small and lacking the 'high quality' finish of equivalent products from other makers, is surprisingly good. Several headphone enthusiast websites actually rate the DSP360 very highly, and consider it a great bargain. my only complaint is that the unit (DSP360) defaults to 'speaker' mode when first powered up. of course, you buy this item expecting to use it with headphones, so why default to speaker mode? (And as the editorial review hints, the speaker mode is not worth the trouble.) Am I nitpicking? No, I'm trying to conserve my hearing. When in speaker mode, the volume control is basically disabled, so if the material you're listening to is very loud, you get first a shock, then painful ears. And worse, you frantically try to lower the volume, to no avail. To switch to 'headphone' mode, you have to press a button and HOLD it. It's in the manual, of course, but a lot of trouble could have been avoided if the DSP started with 'headphone' mode in the first place. Audio is quite good, especially for the money. Using 'bypass' or disabling the 3D gives you stereo, useful when listening to CD's and other material not coded in Dolby Surround/Digital. In this mode, music really acquires 'space' and sounds more natural. I know it's not really a headphone amplifier to rival the best in the business, but the best in the business will set you back hundreds, even thousands of dollars more. The headphones themselves are OK. You get what you pay for, as they say, and if you want still better headphones than the 535, then get the 580's. I'm saving up for those.
<< 1 >>
| 
