Once upon a time there was a Korean company theBit, and she decided to make the player, but not simple, but the most that is not audiophile. They assembled well-known designers in their country, electronic engineers and sound engineers. The electronics engineers made a clever, multi-layered board, the designers were unusual and stylish, and the sound engineers listened and advised how to change the sound. And it turned out a pocket player, for high-end created, and .
If you throw aside jokes, it is always interesting to look at products developed outside the "mainstream", in the role of which, of course, the last few years, China has been speaking. Therefore, Opus Number One and attracted my attention. In fact, theBit is already developing a sequel to this model, which will differ greatly by the pumped parameters (and, I think, by the price), but when it is released, it's still unclear, so for now we'll figure out what can actually be bought.
The player is built on the basis of Android OS, but, as with the latest iBasso products, it will be very difficult to find traces of it - the custom shell plus the active ejection of "extra" gives a convenient and simple interface, though they make it impossible to install third-party software. Also in the player did not begin to make wireless interfaces (from Wi-Fi one noise, and Bluetooth - not for serious audiophiles). But equipped with a 4-core processor, gigabytes of RAM and 32 gigabytes of internal memory. It complements this screen with a resolution of 800 by 480. Two Cirrus Logic CS4398 and a fully balanced amplifier answer for the sound.
Appreciated it all is quite solid, the price of the device is about 550 dollars, but what is this Korean brick capable of?
Specifications
- Processor: 4-core ARM Cortex-A9 1.4 GHz
- RAM: 1 GB
- DAC: 2 × Cirrus Logic CS4398
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz (± 0.02 dB), 10 Hz - 70 kHz (± 0.3 dB)
- Signal to noise ratio (@ 1 kHz): 114 dB not balanced output, 115 dB balanced
- Channel separation (@ 1 kHz): 130 dB non balanced output, 135 dB balanced
- Total harmonic distortion + noise: 0.0007% @ 1 kHz
- Output level: 2.1Vrms not balanced output, 2.3Vrms balanced
- Supported formats: WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, WMA, DSD, MP3, OGG, APE
- Maximum resolution: up to 192 kHz / 24 bit
- Screen: 4 "TFT, 800 × 480
- Outputs: 3.5 mm TRS headphone / optical, 2.5 mm TRRS balanced
- Inputs: MicroUSB
- Built-in Memory: 32 GB
- Memory Cards: 2 × MicroSD up to 200 GB
- Battery: lithium polymer, 4000 mAh, 3.7V
- Operating time per charge: ~ 10 h
- Charging time from 2A charger: ~ 4 hours
- Dimensions: 72 mm × 112 mm × 18 mm
- Weight: 185 g
Packing and delivery kit
The box is completely in the spirit of the traditions of the last time: black cardboard, outer surface "under the fabric", a jacket of black cardboard, silver embossing, everything is simple and functional. Inside, surrounded by pseudobarhat lies the player, under it - the delivery kit. With OPUS # 1 you will get a protector on the screen, a lanyard for MicroUSB and several different pieces of paper.
The cover is not included in the kit and is sold separately, this time it is very pathetic, it was made by Dignis itself, and this can be seen in everything from very high-quality leather to an unusual design.
Design and management
In appearance, theBit decided to also go non-standard way and instead of the usual aluminum use ABS plastic. In this regard, I saw complaints on the Internet, but I do not quite understand what quality plastic is so bad. The case of OPUS # 1 is qualitatively assembled, there are no cracks, backlashes, creaks and other shortcomings. And the appearance, in my opinion, is quite good: an unusual asymmetrical shape, glass inserts on the front and back panels give an unusual and memorable appearance. In OPUS # 1, the screen is wider than in other players, due to this it is closer to the square form, again, subjectively, I like how the player is located in the hand.
The controls are distributed on different sides of the device. On top is the power and lock button, as well as two outputs - headphone and balanced. On the left side there are two volume buttons and a cover closed for two memory cards. On the right side are three playback control buttons, on the bottom - MicroUSB-connector. By the way, the buttons would have won in ergonomics, be they a little more in size. The main part of the front panel is reserved for the screen, it is quite good, although it still does not hold up to modern smartphones. The viewing angles are normal, the sun is poorly readable, the touch is worked out quite clearly.
The interface is created almost from scratch and pleases with simplicity and austerity. In addition to the playback screen, the player has a section with a media library (standard browsing through folders, artists, genres, albums, favorites and all songs in a row). Also there is a screen with settings, short and full. Brief allows you to enable the equalizer, switch the mode of the balanced output and activate the sleep mode, it also adjusts the brightness of the screen. In full, there is still a choice of language (Russian in the kit), balance adjustment, tuning of the equalizer and other similar sections. The only, perhaps, censure to the firmware is a long enough time for scanning large memory cards, but at least it is smaller than that of the HiFiMan 901.
By the way, I would like to note that the developers update the firmware very often, the new version came out just the day the writing of this review began. The functions of the new ones are not particularly added, but over stability and error correction work is carried out constantly.
In general, on the one hand, the interface is simple and ascetic, on the other hand - there is almost everything you need, controlling the player is simple and you do not have to spend time searching for some functions.
The Opus uses a very large battery, which allowed it to last 9 hours and 40 minutes while playing FLAC with a resolution of 44.1 kHz / 16 bit at a volume of 100 with MeeAudio P1 headphones. Depending on the file format, the time may differ in different directions. Charging the battery with 2A power adapter iPad took 4 hours 5 minutes. In general, good performance for a modern player.
Sound
To listen to the device used the following headphones: ZMF Omni, Meze 99 Classics, Lear LHF-AE1d, Ambient Acoustics AM10, HiFiMan HE-400S, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser K10AU, Campfire Audio Jupiter, Dita Audio Brass.
Submission of the player is somewhat unusual tuning, the developers as if trying to make it sound as "comfortable" as possible, removing from it everything that can cut a hearing or prevent listening. On the one hand, this leads to a feeling of unnaturalness on some familiar recordings, on the other hand it makes the sound of the player comfortable, comfortable and tolerant to the headphones and the quality of the material. In general, the sound was not universal, but connoisseurs of such a presentation are clearly available.
The bass is deep enough, but the infrared is not enough. The resolution is also not bad, the texture and separation of the instruments of the LF register are at a good level, but the massiveness and bass intensity is intentionally restrained so that the LF does not pull the blanket over. Simply put, the bass is good, but not for those genres where you need a "wall of sound" and other brain-knocking-dense low frequencies.
Medium frequencies are slightly smoothed, the player removes the smallest nuances, though mostly in this category falls into the flaws of recording, so on the vast majority of tracks it justifies itself, especially if you like music that is difficult to get in perfect mastering. On the other hand, the tracks retain emotions and small details that are intentionally embedded in them. Also, the player increases the imaginary scene in width, for the classics this, for example, is good, but some heavy metal bands start to sound unusually. The depth of the virtual scene is also very good, but here without surprises, that is in the record, it will be played. The tools convey their character well, although their size and positioning change slightly due to the "scene-enhancing" effect.
The upper frequencies were carefully put aside by the developers, I think again to achieve a comfortable sound. Fortunately, this is done moderately and without an attempt at smoothing out, HF is simply reduced quantitatively, but it is well-designed and pleases with detail and nuances.
Traditionally, several comparisons with players of a similar price category.
Cayin N6. The older model Cayin offers a slightly warmer pitch with an emphasis on musicality and a seamless presentation. The imaginary scene N6 builds a smaller one in both directions.
QLS 360. The brick from QLS is closer to what is considered to be "monitored", it transmits more microdetails and does not try to change anything in the pitch, but at times it sounds rude, although it depends more on records and personal preferences.
Fiio X7 + AM2. The player from Fiio with the second amplification module delivers sound more evenly, while keeping a small amount of heat. In general, it sounds more emotionally, but without busting, as, for example, in QLS.
Compatibility
One of the distinguishing features of the player is a fairly stable operation on any load, from sensitive IEM to sufficiently tight full-size. Of course, top-end isodynamics or 300-ohm models to listen on it is not particularly logical, but most of the "big" headphones it shakes as it should. There is a small noise, but you can hear it only in the most sensitive models with low impedance.
Genre I would recommend the player more for quiet and complex styles such as classics, vocals and instrumental music, but I quite listened to him and rock / metal. To the quality of records OPUS is tolerant, on a 10-point scale, I would rate his score by 5.
And by tradition a few tracks for example
DeadLock - Darkness Divine. A cheerful and energetic metal is always a good test for the player. Do not turn it into a dull lullaby, smoothing all the emotions, but it does not burn out the listener's audacity and bright sound may not all devices. And although OPUS # 1 is closer to the first alternative, it keeps enough drive to please lovers of "meat" and aggressive riffs.
Camel - Dunkirk. In my humble opinion, "The Snow Goose" is one of the greatest albums in the history of art / prog rock. Of course, there were a lot of outstanding works of the genre pillars from Genesis to Yes, but few people could tell the whole story like this just and without words. The wide scene, which builds the hero of today's review, can not be by the way approached this multifaceted polyphonic canvas.
Exxasens - Polaris. And some of the best musicians of modern instrumentalists, traditionally related to the genre of post-rock, despite the fact that in this framework they are tight. Complex sound canvases of this team are similar to the ocean wave - they knock down and carry away with them. OPUS # 1 very interestingly puts this track in depth, allowing for a common sound wall to hear individual parts and enjoy their complexity.
conclusions
Quite unusual in many ways, the player, offering a unique presentation for connoisseurs of comfortable sound. It is supplemented with a simple but effective interface. Of course, I would like a slightly lower price, but here, as they say, "we have what we have." In theBit at the same time, do not sit idle and prepare a model follower who will support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, have 128 GB of internal memory and use a DAC from ESS.
The article is based on materials .
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