Oxymoron (other Greek, οξύμωρον, lit. - witty-stupid) - stylistic figure or stylistic error - a combination of words with the opposite meaning (that is, a combination of the incongruous). That's it is the word that comes to the player, who became the hero of today's review, Flang V5 this is the very combination of incongruous and cramming the unintended.
This player, baptized in the people "hose", surprises almost everyone, from the appearance and ending with the sound. It was developed by some gloomy Chinese geniuses who set out to create something like the HiFiMan 901, but to save and meet the price, which is almost an order of magnitude lower.
To begin with, the player was equipped with the famous 9018 Saber chip in the role of DAC (the younger version, K2M version), gave it a design that was laconic as the Felix arithmometer and a sound harsh and pushy like all the characters of Jack London combined. Strange as it may seem, the result was not horrible, but in some cases even interesting.
Fortunately, V5 is quite humane, , for an additional 3,500 rubles to him , equipped with not only RCA connectors, but even balanced XLR, in addition, a remote control is attached to the dock (the prices are valid at the time of writing the article).
A separate, by the way, story deserves the way he went to me. The post of Russia accepted the parcel on August 20, and I received the coveted box only on October 16. At the same time, judging by tracking, the player left the territory of Russia 4 times from different airports and even once from the station, but each time returned back, and only the last attempt at delivery through Chisinau was crowned with success. Imagination assistingly drew pictures of the postman-partisan, making his way through the Moldovan steppes and the Balkan mountains, proudly carrying the Flang V5 in a shoulder bag.
Specifications
- Processor: 600 MHz, dual-core MIPS
- DAC: ESS Saber 9018K2M
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Signal to noise ratio: ≥95 dB
- Dynamic range: 127 dB
- Output Power: 2 × 125 mW @ 32Ω
- Distortion: 0.0035% @ 1 kHz
- Channel separation: 79 dB @ 1 kHz
- Supported resolution: up to 24 bit / 192 kHz, DSD64
- Supported formats: DSD, APE, FLAC, ALAC, WMA, WAV, MP3
- Display: OLED
- Built-in Memory: 30 GB
- Memory Cards: MicroSD
- Battery: 2000 mAh
- Operating time on one charge: from 12 hours
- Dimensions: 120 mm × 72 mm × 25 mm
- Weight: 249 g
Packing and delivery kit
The box of the player looks very solid for its price category - stylish box of black cardboard with high-quality printing. Inside is the player itself, guarantee instructions, a charger with a Chinese plug, a cloth for care, a protective film on the screen and two USB wires. One is a regular MicroUSB, allows you to charge the player and access its memory, the second - with an HDMI connector (at least to it very similar), suitable for the lower V5 connector, serves exclusively for charging. The decision is somewhat strange, but in principle it has the right to life. Who am I to prevent Chinese developers from equipping the player with two interfaces at once?
The delivery set, as you can see, is not bad, but some sort of bag case or bag in the box could still be put.
Design and management
If there was a competition in the world "the most brutal gadget of the year", Flang could well compete in it for prizes. V5, firstly, is quite large, and secondly, thanks to the metal panels - very weighty. One can only thank the developers that they did not make its case whole-aluminum, however much it weighed in this case, I'm afraid even to assume. It feels like the sides of this beast are made of plastic, and the front and back panels are made of aluminum (although on the Internet I saw feedback that the back panel is plastic). In the textures of the player is also unreliable, the front panel is made with a longitudinal texture, and the rear "with sparks", however, against a background of general severity, this is not striking.
In order not to bother with interfaces and different menus, the player was equipped with a whole array of buttons and toggle switches, which can not but please hardcore fans of the ergonomics of audio devices of the 90's.
On the top panel are located immediately two outputs to the headphones, 3.5 mm and 6.3 mm (well, why trifle something), and you can if you want to use both at once, sharing music with someone else. Immediately placed power switch, yeah, it's a switch with a clear fixation in two positions. On the right side there are switches of the gain and amplification of the bass, next to them the usual Micro-USB-connector. The bottom panel housed coaxial input and output, as well as a connector to connect to the docking station. On the left side there is a slot for MicroSD cards and ventilation holes (or something that reminds them).
The front panel is simply strewn with buttons and twirls, and also, it is expected, contains a screen. The latter surprises both the resolution and the depth of color, though "surprises" in the opposite direction - this is a single-color LED-screen, the pixels of which are visible to the unaided eye. In principle, this screen fits perfectly into the player's design. If you look for positive sides, then on this display the information is clearly visible from afar, when you use the player with the docking station and remote control. In the sun, however, it fades to almost complete unreadability.
The developers of Flang also managed to manage the control wheel perfectly, it rotates with a cool click and works out every move. Ironically, this is one of the best wheels in mobile players. I do not know how long the encoder is in it, but it does not cause any complaints for the first three weeks of operation. In the center of the wheel is traditionally inscribed button for selection in the menu, it also serves to start playback and pause.
Also positive emotions are caused by the volume control, it is analog and made in the form of a horizontal wheel, like in the HiFiMan 901, although here, of course, a multi-position switch with resistors is not used, but a simple potentiometer, the volume can be adjusted comfortably and without noise.
Now let's look at the left column of buttons from top to bottom. The largest, the upper, returns you to the menu. Below it is the play mode selection button, then the lock. Button with a house on it against any expectation adds tracks to favorites (itself in shock), and the bottom one - turns on / off the coaxial output. To the right of the control wheel there are two navigation buttons on the tracks and a return button.
After power-up, the player is loaded very quickly, and, in fact, there is nothing special and there is nothing to load for long, the menu consists of four items: favorites, folders, settings and information. Their role is quite obvious, and they do not surprise the variety of choice, in the settings, for example, only 3 items: the time to turn off the screen, the choice of language (you understand which of the two) and the firmware update. Viewing files is just as minimal, although CUE files and Russian characters are understood, but the font is terrible.
Despite the fact that the battery is declared only 2000 mAh, the player has been operating for a long time, in my standard test (FLAC 44.1 / 16 at volume 3 with MeeAudio P1 headphones), it worked for 10 hours and 20 minutes. Charging took about 2 hours.
In general, despite the size and brutality, Flang V5 on management I like, it breathes a nostalgic atmosphere of the 90's, plus almost any function has separate buttons, so its ergonomics is quite good.
Sound
To listen to the device used the following headphones: Meze 99 Classics, Lear LHF-AE1d, Ambient Acoustics AM10, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser K10AU, Campfire Audio Jupiter, Dita Audio Brass and others.
Of course, such an unreasonably harsh player could not do without an unusual sound, it did not work out. I do not know whether this was done intentionally or accidentally happened, I suspect that the last one, but the player came out, perhaps, unique in sound. His serve combines fatty LF, slightly relaxed MF and evil HF. It could be called dark, if not for HF. It could be called bright, if not for the bass. It could be called balanced, if not for the whole of its frequency range at once. This player is so unlike anything else that is on the market, that it can not be called similar to anything, although it can not be called universal.
In addition, the player did not pass the trouble with the master generator, spoiled the raspberries developers xDuoo X3. He also plays tracks at 44.1 kHz slower than necessary. By ear, this is not always noticeable, but often it brings its own unique flavor in the overall picture of the sound of this device.
The bass on the player is fast enough, but it's rather rude, so in order not to get blurred, the headphones should be very fast and with excellent bass control. Splitting plans and working out textures would be good (speed-that is), but a rough pitch hides these advantages of the player. In general, the bass is quite pushy and the player slightly accentuates it, although without hammering in midrange. If you turn on the bass enhancement, Flang turns into a miniature version of the Jericho pipe, declaring the fall ... of what they announced there.
Average frequencies also do not shine with megadetality, although in general they are worked out normally. Slowing tracks, like xDuoo, makes itself felt in the distortion of the sound of instruments falling into the HF range, but this is not particularly critical. The midrange player serves in a peculiar, slightly relaxed manner, providing a fusion and integrity. The imaginary scene is not great, but it is expected in the case of such a presentation.
HF - sharp, they have excellent attacks, but the damping is not enough, which gives the collected and dry sound. HF-fobs such a feed will not work, but in a strange way these HF compensate for the drive on the bass, and the player sounds very snobbish, and sometimes even powerful. The feeling is that it was tuned exclusively for a variety of music, which should simply shoot in the face of the listener.
Again, there will not be any comparisons, the player plays so differently in its own way that it makes no sense to draw parallels.
Compatibility
The player copes quite well with IEM and full-size with normal sensitivity, but it needs headphones with good control, especially on bass. The slightest blemish of headphones is superimposed on the feed of the device itself, and it turns out "bust". If you own a collection of headphones, Flang is very interesting to listen to with different models. For example, Dunu DN-2002 and Trinity Phantom Saber are very good with it (two speakers on LF are what the doctor prescribed). The most interesting combination comes with Noble Kaiser K10AU, I understand that this is a very funny combination, but it really came out interesting. Of the full size, the Audio Zenith PMx2 went very well with the player, although they did not have enough amplification, the result was still very funny.
The genre player will be great with different kinds of aggressive metal, funny jazz bands (fast compositions), some country types sound funny. Sensitivity to the quality of records is not great, scores of 5 on a 10-point scale, the main thing - that there was no excess of HF.
Multiple sample tracks
VURRO Boogie. I do not know who is hiding behind this cow's skull, but he definitely knows how to punch fucking downhill music, doing it all alone, which strongly relates him to the hero of today's review. Needless to say, they are incredibly suited to each other? I really hope that this unknown person will sooner or later please us with a full-fledged album.
Disturbed - Asylum. Until now, I do not know how the owner of an excellent classic heavy metal vocals entered the typical nu-band gang mid-zero. But what happened, it happened, since in every Disturbed album there are a couple of good songs, and a bunch of monotonous dull "mazafaki", and it's frustrating that the last one gets bigger with the years. Asylum - one of the most driving songs of the band, and with Flang V5 you, perhaps, can hear it in all brutal beauty, up to the vocalist's saliva flying on the microphone.
Nina Simone - I Put Spell On You. At first I wanted to include Sinnerman in this collection, well, you know, a well-known of the movies melody, drive arrangement, low female vocals, suitable for filing Flang, what you need. But then I decided that it was too banal and I pressed the button of the next track ... and stuck for half an hour. Most of Nina Simon's songs on Flang sound simply excellent, something in his pitch makes him an ideal choice for jazz singers of both sexes, he seems to even add more sensuality to this hymn, although it would seem that it is no longer possible ...
conclusions
In general, the player turned out to be ambiguous. Brutal appearance, but still quite comfortable and reliable. Primitive menu, but good ergonomics thanks to the buttons. A very dyed sound, but perfectly suited to some styles. In general, without preliminary listening to take it, I definitely do not recommend it, but if you listen to different brutalschina - be sure to listen to it, it's a tasty feed. In addition, it is inexpensive, and inside there is a lot of free space, which inspires faith in the possibility of its modification. And still you can tie a string to it, and spinning the beat on the head of all who will ask "why do you need a separate player, you can listen to music from the phone."
The article is based on materials .
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