I decided to play on the contrast, and after reviewing the budget and affordable Fiio X1-II release the story about its maximum antipode - the player is extremely top-end for both price and sound, which won its place at the top of the audio. Meet Lotoo Paw Gold!
"Behind" the Lotoo brand is the company Infomedia, widely known in narrow circles as a manufacturer of equipment for broadcasting and other related things like audio recorders. For example, they are OEM manufacturers of the famous brand Nagra. Thinking that the nascent market segment of top-end players will not do without them, the company created Paw Gold.
Lotoo decided to approach the development of the model with all the care and picked up quite unusual components. In the role of the processor is ADI Blackfin, DAC - PCM1792 from BurrBrown, amplifier LME49600 allowed to achieve wild power of 500 mW per channel at 32Ω load. There are cunning proprietary algorithms for digit processing, and ultra-low jitter, and serious power from a 6000 mAh battery. We also worked on the design (however, it is not always appropriate). In general, the decision was issued "to the fullest".
Of course, the price could not be humane, she did not. The price tag on the player cools as a blow below the belt on a hot summer day. can be for an amount roughly the same as 2000 dollars. For many people, this is the price of a normal used car or a half-year budget. But the player is still in demand, and I'll tell you why now.
Specifications
- Processor: ADI Blackfin 514 DSP
- DAC: BurrBrown PCM1792
- Amplifier: Ti LME49600
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz (± 0.06 dB), 5 Hz - 50 kHz (± 1 dB)
- Output power: 2 × 500 mW @ 32Ω
- Total harmonic distortion + noise: 0.00058% @ 1 kHz
- Dynamic range: 121dB @ 1kHz
- Signal to noise ratio: 120 dB (20 Hz - 20 kHz)
- Channel separation: 119 dB
- Linear output: 2 Vrms
- Jitter: 2 ps
- Supported formats: FLAC, WAV, AAC, ALAC, MP3, WMA, M4A, APE, WavPack, CUE
- DSD support: up to DSD128; DFF, DSF, ISO
- Screen: 1.8 ", color OLED, 160 × 128
- Input: USB 3.0 Micro-B
- Outputs: 3.5 mm TRS Earphone, 3.5 mm TRS Line
- Memory cards : SDXC up to 2 TB
- Battery: 6000 mAh, 3.7 V Li-Plo
- Operating time per charge: up to 12 h
- Charge voltage: 12 V
- Dimensions: 60 mm × 104 mm × 25.4 mm
- Weight: 280g
Packing and delivery kit
Needless to say, what kind of money did the player properly pack? The outer "dust jacket" is made in silvery-steel color, it opens in different directions, giving access to the contents. Inside is another, very large box, consisting of several tiers, on which various accessories are laid out. Unpacking this casket of Lemarshan is very interesting, and it immediately adjusts to the right way.
The set of accessories is quite restrained, but everything necessary is put in it. In addition to the player itself you will receive: a bag for puffs for storage, a charger with 4 variants of interchangeable plugs and USB 3.0 cable. In new deliveries, the kit includes a leather pocket-pocket, which looks much better. Also pay attention to the fact that the charger here is 12-volt, from the USB player is not charging. Naturally, the kit includes and various guarantee papers, but they are unlikely to interest anyone.
Design and management
Lotoo Paw Gold - this is the case when the live player looks completely different than in the photos. In the photo, it seems, first, very large, and secondly - kitschy-catchy. For the latter it is worth to thank the developers who could not resist and gilded the central control dial, the power button and the volume knob. Real acquaintance showed that on both counts everything is not so bad. In terms of size - the player is actually not very large, its front panel is comparable to medium-sized players, although the thickness, of course, is more than average. In combination with a solid weight, this makes it not a pocket device (except to consider the pocket of the jacket). To manage the size is quite acceptable, the player is conveniently placed in the hand and comfortably controlled. The gilding was also quite normal, but for those who, like fire, are afraid of deviation from gray despondency, there is a version of Titan in which these elements are made in silvery color.
In detail to describe the appearance of the player, I think, there is no sense. The shape, color and other characteristics are clear from the photo. Gold is made of thick, durable metal, so dropping it, you run the risk of losing what it hits. The build quality is just perfect, everything is perfect.
On the top panel are located two jacks - a line output and a headphone, as well as two switches, one is responsible for choosing the gain factor, the second one blocks the control. There is also a twist of the volume control, closed with a protective clip above. The direction of rotation of the regulator is directly opposite to the expected, although this can be changed in the settings menu, but then the pictogram on top will indicate the wrong direction.
At the bottom there is a slot for the memory card, the player uses full-size SD. On the left side there is a USB connector and a charging slot.
The main controls are located, naturally, on the front panel. Also expected in the upper part of it is a screen, in this player it is covered with a sapphire crystal to protect it from scratches. The screen here is unexpectedly low resolution and not very colorful, because the OLED matrix is used. As a plus, this gives a good readability in the sun. In addition, the company's programmers worked well on the interface, maximizing the display area. The GUI of the player is simple, but functional, thanks to this, he falls in love with himself, there was a place even for the level indicator.
One of the advantages of such a minimalistic firmware is fast loading (up to 5 seconds) and shutdown (almost instantaneous), it's that "bun", getting used to which you do not want to give up.
As for the UI, in Lotoo they decided not to bother with this and selected a bunch of separate buttons on the main screen leading to different submenus.
The main place on the front panel, of course, is a gilded circle with a pattern. From the photo you might think that it rotates like steering wheels in other players, but in fact it's just a five-way switch whose functions are signed on the sides of it. The center button can either duplicate the play and pause function, or switch the screen display mode. The desired option is selected in the system settings menu.
Now let's look at the function of the other buttons, although they are quite obvious. File - opens a list of your files on the memory card to choose what you want to listen to. There are no media libraries here, so all the work on organizing music on folders falls on the shoulders of the user.
List - play lists and a list of all the files on the card in a row for those who like to listen to everything at once.
Setup - the settings are divided into three sub-items. Play settings - various playback options: repeat mode, track time display, DSD compensation, channel balance and whether the volume is adjusted on the line output. System settings , as expected, contains system settings: sleep and sleep timers, language (two Chinese and English), different display settings and much more, up to a memory card test for speed. And, finally, Custom settings allows you to choose different control options, assign functions to custom buttons and so on.
The next button on the front panel, called mysteriously ATE / PMEQ, hides behind it the sound enhancement settings. Since Gold has a very good DSP, it would be unreasonable not to use it. The first possibility to "twist" the sound is a parametric equalizer. Unlike the usual, graphic, where you just move the bars of the right frequencies, then tuning is more subtle: you choose the frequency you want to change, choose how much to amplify or weaken it, thus conducting a thin tuning of the sound. The player has ready-made presets, but you can make custom settings, while they can be exported and imported. The second sound setting option - ATE ("automatic tone enhancer"), is a set of algorithms created by the developers of Lotoo and applying more complex algorithms. The most interesting are the first two points of Brighter and Sweet. As expected, they correspond to their names, the first makes the sound lighter, accenting the microcontrast in the VCh and HF, and the second, on the contrary, darkens the feed, smoothing it. Both the equalizer and ATE work very well, practically not spoiling the "level" of the player's sound, it's a very rare case when the sound can really be adjusted to your own tastes.
The last button is custom, you can choose what it does with the menu. The choice here is great enough, beginning with muting the sound by 20 dB and ending with the selection of the playback mode.
In the lower right corner there is a power button, which is traditionally responsible for turning off the screen. It is inscribed in the pulsating LED indicator, which, fortunately, can be disabled via the menu.
The firmware of the player is very stable, it reads various formats, without problems, "turns" heavy files, understands the Cyrillic alphabet (although traditionally in Chinese it separates letters with spaces). Management "in general" is also very pleasing, it is simple and logical, and a lot of buttons allow you to quickly navigate in everything. The screen, despite its modest quality, is very informative and pleasant in work.
A huge battery in the player compensates for at least a huge power amplifier, providing Paw Gold quite a decent time. In my standard test (volume 40, low gain, FLAC 44.1 kHz / 16 bit, Meeaudio P1 as a load), he worked for 11 hours and 20 minutes. The player can show the remaining time of operation, the indication is fairly accurate.
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.
I'll warn you right away if you have only one kidney left or not a rich, loving uncle at death - do not listen to this player. If you do not have an ancient mammoth on both ears, you will almost certainly fall in love with its sound, and then there are two possible outcomes. Either you will punch a huge hole in the family budget and the wife, taking the children, will leave for her mother, or all other players in the more affordable price segment will stop you from enjoying the unattainable golden dream. Paw Gold is distinguished by an excellent emotional feed, without any distortions in any direction. The sound is weighty, natural and powerful.
In general, now I will greatly praise this player. Maybe you think that there is too much praise, but this brick really can play.
The bass is tight, powerful, but fast and very bodily. If this is a bass drum recording, you will clearly hear the volume of the drum and its location. If they are strings of a double bass - you will feel their thickness and the air they dissect. Attacks are worked perfectly, as well as damping. The study of textures and the separation of LFs into plans worthy of the title of the standard. Separately, I want to note that this player is able to give decent attacks, even at low volumes, with him there is no desire to "pile in louder."
Medium frequencies scrupulously balance between emotionality and technicality, giving out really everything that is in the record. To this line, perhaps, there is nothing to add. This is one of those few players that does nothing with vocals when building an imaginary scene - does not take it back, push it forward, everything is where it should be. The imaginary scene is wide, the sound sources on it are positioned very accurately, the nature of the instruments and their size are conveyed accurately. The depth is very good, although not a record.
HF is also at the level with the rest of the feed, finally I can safely write that this source is working out the damping of the HF exactly as it should. "The top" in his performance is full of nuances and lightest blows of overtones. But then the only drawback is in the sound of this player. I tried to catch him for a long time to name it, but I could not. In the supply of high-frequency Paw Gold there is some slight unnaturalness in a narrow frequency range around (very roughly) 12 kHz. This range is very narrow, and many melodies simply do not contain anything important in this area, so they do not even hear it, but sometimes, on rare tracks something in this range sounds a bit "wrong", there is some trace of dirt . Maybe, of course, I missed the localization of the problem area, as I did everything by ear. However, this problem is rare, and I can not call it critical in its size. I would like, of course, the ideal player on all sides, but if such a player were created, all audiophiles would go with it (and without one kidney). I think, it is not necessary to say that the HF is perfectly balanced, quantitatively there are only as many as there are in the record. The player carefully transmits all the flaws in the recording, though not trying to emphasize them intentionally.
Comparisons with other players this time will not, because Paw Gold is best of what I heard before it.
Compatibility
The player is very versatile in terms of headphones, the only thing with which it does not work optimally is some sensitive dynamic low-noise, it's better to listen to the player beforehand, having made sure of compatibility. I Gold especially "went" with hybrids Dunu (DN-2002 with it just a miracle) and headphones VA-1 from the Kiev craftsman (I hope to talk about them soon). But, of course, they do not limit their business. Playing Paw Gold copes with a single-armature armature (hello, "mochiki"), and with taut full-sized isodines, except very extreme models. By the way, Kennerton Odin sounds even good with it, although they, of course, recommend a full-size DAC with an amplifier.
The genre player is totally universal, there's no need to make discounts for personal taste preferences. To the quality of records, it is sensitive, but not prohibitively, on a 10-point scale, I would rate it at 8.
As usual, several tracks in the role of example
Dire Straits - Private Investigations. That's what good (apart from music itself) Dire Straits, so this is the quality of the recording, sometimes their tracks sound so voluminous that they begin to suspect the use of binaural technology. It is very interesting that you can listen to their work on the mediocre setup with pleasure and get pleasure at the same time, but for a full disclosure you need an uncommon level of the path. This track is a vivid example, sometimes it seems that it is written specifically for testing the technique, exactly from the middle here begins a parade of complicated moves: a deep powerful bass, sudden guitar screams, percussion, three-dimensional effects. I've heard this track hundreds of times, but with Lotoo Paw Gold it opened even more fully (sorry for this banal stamp, but you can not find other words here).
Eric Clapton - Layla (Unplugged). And one more performer, whose contribution to modern music is difficult to underestimate. Not for nothing headphones from JH Audio bear the names of women from his songs ... Of all the innumerable variations of this track, I most like the "anplaggd" that came to the collection "Clapton Chronicles". In many ways, of course, this is due to the sound engineers who recorded the concert. The size of the room, the location of musicians and spectators - all this is present on the record. For the complete transfer of such tracks, it is necessary to work out excellent attenuation for HF and HF, which can only be given by top players, and the "Golden Paw" here reveals itself from the best side.
The Beatles - I am the Walrus. This track for tests I took from the collection Love, containing tracks, re-translated for the performances of Cirque du Soleil. The composition is very multidimensional, and the remaster added three-dimensional effects to it, more dividing the track into "front" and "back" plans. It is this "back" plan, which contains sometimes completely amazing sounds, is often lost in the performance of players easier, so that Paw Gold and then shows itself from the best side. With him you can listen to the song, by effort of will, turning it inside out like the Cube of Necker, what was the background - comes to the fore, and vice versa. This effect is difficult to describe, but once you hear it, you immediately understand what it's about.
conclusions
In general, this is the device from Lotoo. Huge price, considerable weight, convenient control, sound close to ideal. Is it worth it to give such money for the player? Here everyone decides for himself. In my opinion, there are practically no competitors for this player, and those that are - are comparable in price or even exceed it, so the price tag is fully justified. By the way, realizing that one-top selling is not done, Lotoo released a very good budget model Paw 5000, which is now sold for very affordable money, although the sound is still much simpler.
The article is based on materials .
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