Lotoo PAW 6000 Reference Grade Portable Audio Player (English Version)

I'm going to speak rather plainly for those folks who don't understand all the 'lingo' which usually accompanies these types of reviews for such products :

I took a chance on buying the PAW 6000 from Lotoo as I have never purchased a high-res player that was Not made by Astell & Kern. ..I am glad I did. The PAW 6000 of course 'sounds' exceedingly good, very very neutral sound with not much in way of coloration of the music. However, what makes this unit shine high and above ALL OTHERS OUT THERE are threefold : 1. The batter life is phenomonal. I'm getting 12 to 15 hours of continuous playback even whilst using 24 / 190 resolution tracks. 2. The approach to Equalizer is excellent, with excellent features, excellent presets, and in the settings you are even given the control to increase/descrease roll off for various frequencies...and much much more. 3. The unit is FAST, as in SUPER FAST START UP along the lines of a 2 second start up!!! No more waiting for 5 minutes. No more needing to wait for your 500 gig sd card to load, as it is nearly instantaneous!!! The unit is also SMALL, at least compared to my Astell & Kerns. My most favorite player thus far has been...and Continues--to--be the Kann Cube, which is super powerful, and the sound stage is quite large, deep, and rich. Howerver, the PAW 6000 is not too far behind it in these respects. As for the 'sound' of the PAW 6000, it is every--bit--as--good, if not better with certain tracks, than ANY of my Astell & Kerns. It also comes with a very nice and very well made leather case. Something which Astell & Kerns DO NOT come with, as they seem to think it is good customer relations to charge us very high prices for their units THEN bend us over for an additional 200 for a case which SHOULD COME WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE of their rather high-priced units. I like this unit SO much, that I may in fact end up getting rid of my Astell & Kerns and switching, fully, to products made by THIS company 'Lotoo'. Every--single--one of my Astell & Kerns has failed at the jack. EVERY--F-ING--ONE--OF--THEM. Even my apple i-pod's jack is still fine after using it for 9 years now.

As for quality, the PAW 600 seems to be exceedingly high quality, feels good in your hand, and looks very nice in all respects. The UI / software is EXCELLENT, and, like I said, it is FAST...as in, VERY FAST. When I'm at home, I continue to use my Kann Cube which is a beast and has a very rich soundstage and plenty of power for my power hungry headphones. Howewever, I am now finding myself grabbing the PAW 6000 for 90% of my listening...be it out on my mountain bike with my Campfire Audio Atlas IEM's, or at work, in the car, out and about. I like it so much, like I said, I may just jump ship and get their top of the line unit which I think is called the 'Lotoo Gold Touch'...??? ..I VERY MUCH like the fact that, for $1,200., it came with a very nice protective case. I makes me feel much better as a purchase than I feel when buying from Astell & Kern...which makes me feel like I am doing business with a company that seems to like to stick it to us instead of thinking LONG TERM.

I would not hesitate to buy this unit if you're looking for something that has a sound equal to most other units that cost maybe 500 more than this one. It is on par with units that cost over $2,0000, and mind you, I'm a very picky dude with a LOT of listening miles. One thing to note is the fact that the unit did seem to sweeten up nicely AFTER about the 100 hour mark of usage. Lotoo says it needs 200 hour burn in, but I found it to be nocibably smoother after about 60 hours of usage.

To emphasize : Battery life is a game changer. Sound signature is super-high end, with no coloration, BUT, with the ability to add some color if need be via the stupendous approach to Equalizing, something which the Astell & Kerns do poorly at. And last but not least : the UI is FAST FAST FAST!!!

I didn't give it 5 stars due to some quirks I'm having. The unit has locked up a few times, I reboot it and it's fine. I also Bluetooth it to my Polaris RZR PRO XP Ultimate (Rockford Fosgate system), I lose my ability to adjust my volume on the Polaris after about 20 minutes, I then have to reboot the Polaris to get it working again. Then the cycle starts over, lose my volume controls.

i posted review about lpgt and i also bought lp6k. here's a shorter version of what i posted on forum about my experience with both.

recognizing that a few people have sought a comparison of lp6k vs lpgt, i offer one perspective comparing lp6k vs lpgt.

after letting lp6k burn-in for over 200 hours, i allocated an entire day to compare the two daps.

methodology: i listened to hi-res (24-96) file of led zeppelin's "quarter" over and over. that song has broad range of sounds, details, excellent drums, piano and vocal, upbeat and mellow. later, i also listened to counting crows' "anna begins" (24/192) hi-res file.

first i listened with the monoprice m1060c planars, then the oppo pm-3 and audio technica ath-m50xbl. short answer, if you gonna use big planar cans, you want the lpgt. period. with the at m50, the differences were closer. the lp6k sounded really good with the at. with the lpgt, it the opening bass chords have more weight and body and seem to reverb longer. in general, instruments seem to have longer decay with lpgt. there's some background detail around the 5:30 mark that i always seem to notice on the lpgt, without trying, and on the lp6k, it feels like i must pay attention to hear it. the lpgt has an ease to the sound that the lp6k lacks. one cannot make the lp6k sound like the lpgt. the lpgt's easy, musical, effortless, liquid flow is something one cannot create with the lp6k -no matter how much one eq's the sound. also, if you listen to a lot of classical music and you have high performing listening devices, you want the lpgt.

the higher performing the media, head/earphones and cables, the greater the difference between lp6k and lpgt. if one intends to use either lp6k or lpgt for listening to mp3 files, one's probably better off saving money and purchase less expensive or just use the phone.

given decent media and equipment, music is just more enjoyable on the lpgt. period. i can and do continuously listen to the lpgt for hours and hours without tiring of it. this is how i ultimately evaluate audio. does it make listening to music more enjoyable? lp6k and lpgt are both enjoyable. lpgt is more enjoyable. the higher resolving the source media and output devices, the more the lpgt matters. if even considering, big planar cans or power hungry cans, no question, i recommend the lpgt.

for my purpose, having both is perfect. i use lpgt for sedentary, active listening -like sitting on planes, and i use lp6k for active pursuits -like exercising and riding motorcycles. if i already owned the lp6k, i don't know that i would be motivated to buy the lpgt, especially, for listening to iems. lp6k is an excellent dap and when using iems, the differences become subtle or negligible for some.

after sleeping overnight, i decided to conduct one more test with fresh rested ears. i listened to the counting crows "anna begins" (24/192) hi-res file with ue live. since the ue live offers the highest performance of the ciems that i have, i chose it for this once more test.
impressions:
lpgt ( vol at 68) :
- evokes emotion -love, joy. it's an emotional experience
- musical, ease, liquid
- it just sings
- nothing harsh
- beautiful liquid detailed backgrounds
lp6k (vol at 70)
- less detail
- more effort to hear details. e.g., the guitar chord in the background
- more smearing of details
- less separation of instruments

the little nuanced details make the music experience more enjoyable and, for some, this is worth loads of extra cash. again, one will likely only maximize the benefits of the lpgt with high quality listening components. again, had i initially bought the lp6k, i don't know that i would have felt motivated to buy the lpgt. that said, i feel glad that i have the lpgt and, with my passion for music, it's well worth the price.

background:
i received the lpgt in aug, 2019 and received the lp6k about two weeks ago in early jan, 2020 -purchased both from musicteck. before, the lpgt, i owned a fiio x7 with high output amp module. it was fine. i liked and i didn't love it. after the x7 died, for the next dap, i did not want an android based device. i wanted something built from the ground up for maximum audio experience. i don't care for streaming music on a dap, though i have used the bluetooth dac on the lpgt and lp6k to stream qobuz from the mobile phone. when, lotoo supports ldac, i'll probably use bt dac more. before the fiio x7, i used toshiba gigabeats running rockbox for many years. i like to find something that i like and keep it for a while. i expect that i'll be using lotoos and ue for a while. i have two fiio x1s, which the lp6k now replaces, for exercise, riding motorcycles and other active pursuits. several times, i've listened to the lpgt with ue live ciem for more than 10 hours non-stop while traveling, and i even listened for 16 hours continuously on a flight to china. i always enjoy the lpgt. it's just music.

One of the best players under 2k , AKM chip implementation is fantastic , sound awesome . Battery life is impressive 14h + normal use . Works really fast .
👍🎩🌾

I love this player. This is a dream come true.