Portable Media Players: Audio Quality Comparison – Follow the video below to see how to install our website as a web app on your home screen.
I’ve had the chance to review quite a few cheap MP3 players recently and have generally been quite impressed with many of them because they seem to put sound quality first and foremost – and keep their costs down. While there is nothing wrong with the build quality of these units, they certainly don’t have the same build quality and attention to detail that you find in Apple and perhaps Sony music players. In all fairness though these players cost many times – many times more and basically offer pretty much the same basic functionality.
Portable Media Players: Audio Quality Comparison
One player that really impressed me was the small Benjie S5. The sound quality produced by this little player is truly remarkable and I am very interested to see if their K9 model can match – or even beat it.
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Externally, the K9 is larger than the S5 but not much heavier. One of the differences you’ll notice right away is the use of a color LCD screen on the K9. With a claimed battery life of up to 80 hours, this is quite an achievement. At first glance you might mistake the player for one of the old Apple Ipod Nano players but instead of a thumbwheel, the K9 uses a more traditional diamond configuration for the buttons – just like those found on some Sony MP3 players. The back of the unit is steel and the front feels like plastic. The color screen is bright and has a reasonable resolution. There is a Micro SDCard slot on one side while the other side and the top of the unit does not have any buttons. The bottom of the unit has a headphone jack, a Micro USB port and a power switch. Another thing that makes this player different from others is the inclusion of speakers that can be surprisingly loud.
The controls are a little strange. This is because the K9 tries to put its functions into five basic controls – up / down / left / right / OK. The only other control is the power switch. Therefore, the control has many functions depending on how long you hold the button down. I personally don’t like this approach, but one advantage the K9 offers is the ability to play in the dark. The touch interface of the S5 is quite difficult to navigate in the pitch black because the controls are not backlit,
I do find that the buttons tend to vibrate a bit which is a bit of a shame but it doesn’t affect basic functionality at all. While the screen is bright and clear – although it offers a reasonable resolution, the text size is too large and therefore, the screen can only display a limited amount of information. This is a shame because the screen is quite clear and bright and almost certainly could be exploited more than it is here.
Speakers are activated by removing the headphones. While its sound quality is quite poor, it is surprisingly loud and, given the limitations and price of the unit, can be forgiven. In all fairness, I strongly doubt if Sony or Apple produced an MP3 player this size with loud speakers, it wouldn’t be much better.
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The K9 has a fairly powerful headphone amplifier and is certainly loud enough for most portable headphones. I was able to detect a constant low background volume when using sensitive IEMs – although it wasn’t as obvious when using large headphones.
Navigating through the interface took some getting used to but it didn’t take too long for me to adjust. I found the sound quality to be fairly neutral but still a little lacking. compared to the S5. A basic play mode is offered and the unit supports creating playlists – although in all fairness I haven’t played with this feature at all.
EQ is available and this includes user-definable settings which is a welcome feature. Enabling EQ results in reduced volume and I often leave settings. However, it is always good to have options.
All in all these are reasonable players but not as good as their cheaper counterparts when it comes to sound quality. However, the built-in speaker makes it stand out from other Mp3 players out there and this allows me to offer a protected recommendation.
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The headphones are very difficult to drive, even for the K9 itself it is necessary to reach about half of the full volume (~15/31) steps.
The build quality is quite good for the low price, and more solid than More expensive budget options like Sandisk Clip and iPod. The player is very compact, made of strong metal alloy for the back and sides, and transparent plastic front panel and plastic buttons. While compact and very pocket-friendly, it still has some weight due to its metal material. The 1.8 inch OLED screen is quite nice and the quality is very decent.
All control/navigation buttons are placed on the front panel. On the bottom is the on/off button and 3.5mm jack, and on the back, there’s a built-in speaker.
I will not cover all the features and functions of the K9 player, just to mention the Some features. After all, it is possible enough to give it a try and rather intuitive to figure out after using something anyway. There is always a manual included for more details.
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The firmware seems solid and stable enough, and I didn’t find any bugs or crashes. Unfortunately, the UI and navigation are the worst part of this little device. It is very illogical and illogical. Just to mention a few things:
The only good thing I found in K9 is that it can delete all folder contents, but even that is only half good, as the folder is still displayed despite being empty.
K9 also works as an image viewer and its quality is actually not bad. Pictures can be displayed without stopping the music. The same goes for text readers (.txt format). The manual also mentions video playback, but only in ‘.amv’ format which I can’t test yet. K9 also has some special features such as FM radio and voice recording.
When connecting the K9 to a Windows computer, the device will turn on regardless of the switch position. It is possible to choose between ‘Charge & Transfer’ or ‘Charge & Play’. With the first option, the device is automatically recognized by the system and listed as “M27”, while the second option is simply charging and continuing to use the player as usual.
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Not sure about the battery specs rating, the manual states ~12hrs, and the official site ~20 . From personal use, 20 hours seems very accurate and the behavior of the battery is solid enough and does not drain suddenly.
K9 can get loud and powerful for small design and small budget price. It can drive more solid sets such as Yuin PK1 headphones, VE Asura (1 and 2) with their 150ohm impedance without problems, and does not show any distortion, and even Zen 2.0 can be driven at a decent level and still. Do not pass half a 30 volume package.
The volume control is just awful and not suitable for sensitive sets. The volume jump from stage to stage is very strong; The sound is too low or too loud. Personally, I see this as a dealer breaker despite the very low price. Using an extender solves this problem but makes it less active.
The K9’s audio presentation is on the warm and rich side without rolling strongly on either end. It also adds a certain color to the sound, trading some transparency and detail for more fun, deep music and sound and rich textures, but maintaining a good overall balance from low to high.
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With a fairly strong low response, the bass is more impactful and has better body, but can be a little loud with warm sets, although not more aggressive than it should be. On the other hand, lighter, brighter, or analytical headphones/earphones can find the right sound for the K9, reaching a significant lower end without losing strong details. Additional warmth also contributes to natural structure and destruction, although only at a slower speed.
While the bass isn’t really dominant, the mids aren’t as forward as the lows. It’s also full, not too sweet but not too dry, which works well with any type of headphone. But, with more v-shaped dresses, the middle seems a little more distant than what they already are, although it can be quickly corrected with a simple equalization of the device. Vocals could sound drier and less engaging, but the instrument maintains separation quite well.
Treble is offered in a similar way to the midrange, balanced and fair
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