Iron-Buddha
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2008
- Posts
- 392
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- 219
A lot of options but a lot of trade-offs, many of which don't address your concerns re. software updates either. Actually, if any manufacturer provides upgrades in Android versions, please let me know.As I said above, if you can afford it, I recommend the Japanese WM1AM2. Obviously there are plenty of options on the market but, with Sony, I think you get more reliable hardware, better battery life and the flexibility of vanilla Android over most Chinese / Korean alternatives.
I passed on a discounted AM2 for the Japanese NZ-707. I would prefer to buy the next updated AM2 when it comes out simply because it will have Android 13, 14 or whatever. These are all consumable electronics with a useful life of about 3-5 years. Honestly, the high-end luxury players would be more appealing to me if they at least attempted to provide software updates for 2-3 years post-launch. I still can't believe the SP2000 shipped in 2021 with Android 8. AK is just smarter than Sony and know not to send their units for review by mainstream Youtubers. hahahaha!
On the flip side, I can spend $2-3K on a headphone and it will still be a great headphone 10+ years from now. All my headphones and IEMs I ever bought are still being used (often by my kids and other family members). I got a drawer full of old DAPs, fortunately none are gold plated.
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