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!!!
