Shozy has long proven that they know how to not just make different gadgets for fans of portable audio, but also to apply their own, absolutely unique approach in this matter. I have recently talked about their headphones Shozy Zero, and now it's time to tell about the portable player Alien +.
In general, I'm very impressed with the methods that Shozy uses. They are ready to take any unpopular from the point of view of marketing solutions to ensure that the sound they want to receive. What just cost the frequency response in their Zero? Well, nothing, very good headphones turned out, not universal, but in our world, perhaps, there is no model that would please everyone at the same time.
With the player, they went even further and decided to develop it entirely on their own, minimizing the processes outsourced. Even the firmware is developed by their regular programmer, throwing out of it everything that, in their opinion, affects the sound in a negative direction. In return, they offer an uncompromising amplifier powered by a ± 12V source, capable of swinging even very tight models and the most recent DAC from AK. Price list while it remains relatively humane, pre-order .
Specifications
- DAC: AK4495
- Signal to noise ratio: -121 dB
- Maximum resolution: 192 kHz / 24 bit (WAV format)
- Supported formats: FLAC, WAV, APE, MP3
- Memory Cards: MicroSD
- Outputs: 3.5mm earphone, optical S / PDIF
- Battery: 1850 mAh
- Operating time from one charge: up to 6 hours.
Packing and delivery kit
Perhaps for the first time in my memory I have nothing to write in this section. Since the player I have a pre-sale version, he came in an ordinary cardboard box, wrapped in bubbly cellophane. The package consists of the player and everything. In the future, Shozy promised some retail packaging, but what will be there - I do not know.
Design and management
The first impression of the device - almost non-stop rapture. It really is made at the level of the best samples of the genre: a reserved, but unusual in form body made of black metal diluted with silver inserts. Against the background of licked forms, popular recently, A + with its sharp edges looks fresh. Those buttons that do not have to act are perfectly "flush" with the body, the others - act literally by a millimeter and have a nice click. Anything anywhere does not play, does not creak, in general - "appearance" at height. The previous generation Alien, by the way, looked even more extravagant, but the player completely without a screen is a strong hardcore for our time.
Controls are distributed over different surfaces of the player. On top is the power button, it also extinguishes the screen and blocks the control. In the locked state, only the track switching buttons work. There is also a microSD card slot and two outputs: headphone and optical S / PDIF. The latter will please the owner of the permanently on backlight, however, according to the developers, at the time of work, it affects a little (not surprising, because the entire battery charge is consumed by the amplifier). If you this LED will be very annoying - on AliExpress are full of convenient plugs for the 3.5 mm connector that save the situation. A separate "surprise" is that the player without a memory card simply does not turn on. This, of course, is logical, because he has no memory of his own, but at first it put me into a light stupor, all the other players even showed the inscription "no card", while Alien + just does not react to the power button. I suspect that some kind of hardware solution is used, such as an additional switch in the player's casing, pressed by the inserted card.
On the right side there is an analog volume control, here we use a high-quality potentiometer, so the noise is completely absent when rotating, and the unbalance of the channels disappears already at the first millimeters of rotation. Since the player is very powerful, with a majority of headphones, the stock of the controller's comfortable stroke is very small. Fortunately, Shozy programmers have released firmware with the possibility of 5-level gain control, and with it you can already find a comfortable level even for very sensitive IEM.
On the bottom panel housed a microUSB-socket, which serves mainly for charging. In the future, Shozy promises to add the function of USB-DAC (they say this is one of the main priorities). Charges the player somewhere just under 4 hours, it works up to 6 hours. The results, of course, are not very high, but it's a payoff for power and sound, nobody can bypass physics. Judging by the reviews, the player can install a battery with a capacity of 40 percent more than the standard one, but the developers themselves are just studying this option (the current battery was chosen by them as the most secure and tested in their previous designs).
Three buttons were placed on the left panel, but their functions were not without surprises. Upper - emergency reset button, it just turns off the player immediately. What's funny, I never had to use it. Below is the "Page Down" button, in large lists it allows you to swipe the entire screen at once. The lowest is the return button.
The front panel houses a screen and three navigation and playback control keys. Thin buttons allow you to scroll through the menu items and tracks, the central round button selects the current item, it also serves to pause and resume playback. The player can only switch tracks, there is no rewinding within one track. In general, a list of what is not in the firmware of this player, you can continue for a long time. No memorization of the current track, every time you turn it on you have to select it again. There is no sleep timer, so forgetful users run the risk of remaining with a discharged device. There is no playback function without a pause, although I personally do not mind the short delay between the tracks, and I do not understand why for many it is a tragedy comparable to the death of Pompeii (but this is purely for me). I am very spoiled by modern firmware full of different usefulness, but I can see that A + feels severe austerity: it loads in a second (the inclusion is accompanied by a loud enough click), then it remains to select the desired folder and enjoy the music.
The screen of the player does not shine with super resolution and color depth, and besides it completely disappears in the sun. However, in comparison with the first versions of Shozy players - the very presence of the screen itself should be perceived as a step forward.
The menu is the simplest and simplest, however, the fonts are chosen well. The functions of the player is the minimum - playback from the selected folder, select the repeat and random playback. There are also settings, which, however, also do not have much: brightness, backlight time, the gain adjustment described above and digital filters (4 out of 5 present in the DAC). Interestingly, Alien + is the first player to have the effect of the filters very noticeable, so I'm still wondering: does this A + do something else with the sound or do the rest of the players somehow switch filters wrong? In any case, additional options for customizing the sound will not be superfluous.
The player is not very friendly with all encodings that go beyond the standard Latin alphabet (although Cyrillic fonts sometimes digest) - any diacritics causes it to stupor and crop the name of the file. According to the developers - in the firmware there is not enough space for placing fonts, hence the limitations. Another limit A + - the path length of the file should be smaller, the files placed along the long paths, it does not see. So I had to rename some folders in the direction of shortening their names.
Best of all, "Alien" copes with WAV-files, they support them in resolutions up to 192 kHz and 24 bits, other formats are limited to a simple 44.1 / 16. The developers promise to do as much as possible support FLAC of high resolution and maybe even DSD, but they do not give guarantees that this will be done without fail. So at the moment, the potential owner has two options - either to convert everything into WAV (the choice of an audiophile), or not to suffer from excesses and confine oneself to a simple RedBook (the choice of a healthy person).
Sound
To listen to the device used the following headphones: iBasso IT03, Meze 99 Classics, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser Encore, Campfire Audio Andromeda, 64 Audio U12, HUM Pristine and others.
Of course, a player with such software limitations simply would not have a chance in the market if it did not have a really high-quality sound, and this is not taken away from the "alien" one. The secret of Alien's success is reminiscent of the classic anecdote about "do not feel sorry for brewing" - a good DAC plus a powerful amp with normal power.
The bass of A + is powerful, it is fed massively, with a light fraction of the additional energy. The accent is shifted from slashing to weight, but the resolution and working out of textures are very good. The player very normally controls the LF and has a power reserve, which, if necessary, does not leave the control and trace, giving out really shock power. However, the player plays only what is in the record, do not count on a tangible "add-on" of the bass from it, but what is included in the track will be issued in full. Thanks to such a pitch, "Alien" is good with synthesized low frequencies and with real acoustic instruments playing in lower registers.
Middle frequencies are given in the manner that is often liked to award epithets such as "analog sound" and "musical pitch". The player is very detailed, but without undue emphasis on microdetachment, it sounds emotionally and at times even slightly adds these very emotions to the music. This small additive is in favor of most tracks, in effect resembling the erasure of dust from an old painting. Alien + is well able to build an imaginary scene: the width is close to the reference one, the depth is slightly larger than the average, but the development of plans at a decent level. The player does not attempt to artificially bring the vocal forward or somehow modify the positioning of the sound sources, but at the same time, on very poorly reduced records, he masks the flaws a little. A + is clearly not created for fans to listen to micronuans and try to catch the slightest flaws, its submission differs in fusion and integrity.
With HF, it's still more interesting, because the feed of this part of the range is highly dependent on the filter settings you have selected. If desired, you can get either a smoothed and slightly overshooted RF that will fit the RF crossover, or detailed, but not sharp HF with good attacking (and slightly worse attenuation). Of course, I chose the second option as more natural and appealing to me. HF is good in transmitting the overtone of the timbre-rich instruments, but if you really carp and compare A + with the players of the initial-top segment, you can note that it does not always succeed in completely damping it. However, without comparison with the tops, you are unlikely to hear it.
Comparisons this time I, perhaps, I will not paint. The sound of Alien + easily bypasses read everything in the price category of dollars to 700, and approximately to 1000 - differs only in character, not in "level" (I do not like this word, but I can not think of anything else). So for those to whom the sound is important - A + will be the best, and those who want comfort and excess, it is worth looking at other models.
Compatibility
Despite the power, the player is pleased with the almost complete absence of background noise, and multi-stage gain control allows using it even with very sensitive IEM models. At the opposite end of the scale are tight, full-sized models, with which the player is also good at coping (of course, I'm not talking about clinically taut isodinamas).
The genre player is very versatile, the main criterion for choosing here are the taste preferences of the owners (I will repeat once more about the whole and combined feed). Critical to the quality of the record is moderate, somewhere 7 points on a 10-point scale.
Traditionally, several tracks
Rage - Living My Dream . Despite the sufficient simplicity of the material, not all sources cope with the music of the patriarchs of the genre. To pass simultaneously their pressure and melodism - under the force not all. Alien +, of course, solves this problem without even straining.
King Crimson - Matte Kudasai . Some tracks of King Crimson remind "Gengu" after 20 minutes of intense play. You look from the outside, and you do not understand how it keeps balance. A complex, multidimensional melody requires a suitable source, and Alien + does it well.
Jamey Haddad / Mark Sherman / Lenny White - Groove . A classically recorded binaural track full of percussion is exactly what allows an "alien" to show itself from the best side, passing the entire volume and depth with stunning detail and drive.
conclusions
A unique player in many respects, full of various flaws, but more than compensating for their excellent performance and sound. If you are ready to accept the austerity of the interface and a small set of functions, Shozy Alien + is the best way to get the maximum sound for a minimum of money.
The article is based on materials .
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