This South Korean company burst onto the scene recently with their beast of a DAP, puffing their chests and boasting impressive DSD capabilities and high driving output power in a portable music player for us audiophile nerds. I have to admit, this DAP is one of my favorite music players that I’ve ever reviewed, but it isn’t faultless and I’ve quite a few gripes that I hope get addressed in future firmware updates. Can Calyx stand up to the competition and go toe to toe with the likes of Astell and Kern
This South Korean company burst onto the scene recently with their beast of a DAP, puffing their chests and boasting impressive DSD capabilities and high driving output power in a portable music player for us audiophile nerds. I have to admit, this DAP is one of my favorite music players that I’ve ever reviewed, but it isn’t faultless and I’ve quite a few gripes that I hope get addressed in future firmware updates. Can Calyx stand up to the competition and go toe to toe with the likes of Astell and Kern?
The Calyx M
The M comes with a nice box with the Calyx logo etched into the cardboard, as well as a standard mini USB charging cable. Nothing fancy, but anymore is really needless and I prefer to cut costs this way than include an array of cables or accessories I’ll never use. I don’t need a bag, cleaning supplies, a new kitten, new socks or whatever else generally comes with the higher end DAPs in recent times. Keep it simple, I already have all the needed components to get this product started and running so I am very happy to see there is nothing needless is included that clearly was added to the bag to jack up the cost of the package. A screen protector would have been awesome though; I wanted to insure my Calyx M never takes a single scuff over the duration of its life time, so I’ve opted to purchase a leather case from some obscure website in Korea, as well as a standard glass iPhone 5s screen protector. It doesn’t quite fit, but its fine…those things cost like $30 so I am not willing to shell out more cash to find one that fits properly. 90% screen coverage from this protector is just fine by me for now. I’m double protected and couldn’t be happier, as the Calyx M comes with a gorilla glass OLED screen to begin with.
This DAP is easily boasts the best looking screen I’ve ever seen on a portable music player. The 4.65 inch OLED screen is stunning, vibrant and just a joy to look at. I’ve found myself just staring off into its depths now and then when I am sitting around listening to audiobooks or something, which is a thing I’ve not really ever done with any other DAP I’ve reviewed in the past. Sure, the AK120 was decent, as is the AK240 from Astell and Kern, but there is clearly a superior quality screen in this Calyx M than the Astell and Kern first gen DAPs. Touch screens are nice to have, but in this case the lack of on screen objects to actually touch in the now playing window is a bit of a saddening factoid that looms in the back of my mind, but more on the UI in a bit. Colors pop so well on this device when indoors or during overcast outdoor conditions, which is something that I wish all future DAPs start using. Let the common panels die already, OLED is the future…and it is a beautiful future indeed. The only gripe I have is that sunshine is the mortal enemy of this type of a panel, even cupping my hands around it to block the sun light doesn’t help in making things easier to view.
Buttons and Storage
The side of the unit is adorned with a play/pause, track forward and track backward button panel and I find them to be overly tiny. I would have preferred something more easily accessed that wasn’t set in the worst position imaginable for trying to hold the player, as well as toggle one of those buttons. Too often have I tried to pick the player up with one hand and accidentally hit one of them, this entire section of buttons should have been designed into the upper area of the side of the product, not more centered as is. It is a bad position, I hope Calyx fixes this in future DAPs…I mean…this is a touch screen player and I feel we just don’t need hard buttons like that in today’s tech world. When the unit’s screen is disabled via one click of the power button, I find those three buttons to be too small to toggle accurately very often. Let’s just skip them entirely next time, shall we? iBasso got it right with their DX50 and 90 DAP via giant buttons right on the front of the player, but also missed the point of what using a touch screen player should entail. I’d much rather have a full face touch screen like the Calyx than the half screen size, half giant buttons of the iBasso’s though.
Calyx also did something extremely unique and something I am extremely thankful for: full size SD AND microSD support. Wow…someone finally did it. Great job, Calyx! Thank you for listening and actually taking the time to listen to the gripe most of us have with the other high end DAPs. The top of the player has one large SD card slot, as well as a microSD card slot right next to it. Great for us who want our entire collection inside our portable experience, combined that with onboard 64 GB of space and you can achieve just over 500 GB of storage space at the moment with a full size 256 GB card, a 200 GB microSD card and the internal 64 GB available. Nice. Load times are not a problem either, although my 256gb full size SD takes about 2 minutes to load and scan each time I turn the unit on, but Calyx included a cool feature in that your playlist track that had been active prior to shut down will be able to play while the scan of the library takes place. Shame though, that there is no memory recall for where that last track left off. Instead, it just cycles the track back to 0:00 and will be ready for you to press play upon boot up.
The biggest gripe I have about this player, bar none, is the horrid battery life. The website says 5 hours, yet I’ve never once gotten anywhere 5 hours of continued usage even on low gain mode. High Gain is just a cosmic void, energy sucking black hole for the battery and I’ve had to purchase an external battery just to add a few hours of usage. My 10,000maH battery pack grants me double the battery life to about 6 hours on high gain mode. This is in fact the worst battery in a DAP I’ve ever seen, but I am not sure it’s the fault of the battery at all. Actually, it’s the insane output power this DAP has to offer combined with the energy draining DAC chip. I can power 250ohm headphones without a problem, but of course that drains the battery faster than I can blink. It is awesome to have such a great and powerful driving force here, but I am not sure it is worth the cost of totally sacrificing battery life. Yikes. Expect just a few hours of usage with the Calyx M even on low gain. More often than not, I recharge mine twice a day and I grow so tired of seeing that damn 19% warning flash on the screen twice in one day.
The UI
**Ok, Houston…we have some problems. Before I list these issues, know that the Calyx is still one of the most functional and slick UI’s I’ve played with in a hifi DAP that I’ve experienced.**
Why on Earth is there no ability to shuffle all tracks on this DAP? I’ve never been so angry at an audio product before for not including such a basic thing. This is 2015 for crying out loud and the Calyx M runs on an Android platform. Gen 1 Droid phones have shuffle all track functionality, so how can this $999 hifi DAP not have it!? I’ve asked them for a firmware update but was told it isn’t likely to ever be fixed. It seems like a simple fix, doesn’t it? I can shuffle Playlists though, no problem there when trying to randomize anything added to Playlists…but why can’t I shuffle everything in the Track selection tab? Album, Artists and Track tabs work fantastic and even have an A-Z side bar for quick skipping around the playing field based on the first letter of the Artist, Album or Song. There is even an awesome search function that works flawlessly.
Tapping and holding the screen on top of a track title will open a small bar that lets you delete the track or add it to a Playlist. Thank the audio gods Playlists are not broken (Hifiman, I am looking at you right now) and that work perfectly without a hitch. I can generate a lot of different Playlists, not sure what the limit is but I am so happy it is very easy to create and manage them. Once a track is added to your selected Playlist, you can rotate or drag songs around in the window listing to any sequence you want. If you have 100 songs in there and add one more, that last song will appear all the way at the bottom of the list that you have to scroll down to, but you are able to drag and drop it anywhere. The problem here is that the scroll and drag speed is beyond snail pace slow and you can easily sit there for 5 minutes trying to take the 101st song and drag it back up to the first spot. Ugh.
**Outside of very minor and FIXABLE WITH FIRMWARE UPDATES issues that revolve around the UI, it is very smooth and fairly basic. I don’t want more complexity, everything here is easily navigated and I don’t have a single gripe with the actual physical setup of the units UI. Most obscure brands like this generally have horrid UI setups, but thankfully Calyx gets it and made sure to keep things elegant and simplistic. I don’t think it is any better or worse than the Astell and Kern AK gen 1 UI, so that’s a good thing I suppose. For the love of God, Calyx! Please! PLEASE UPDATE THIS PLAYER TO SUPPORT SHUFFLE ALL TRACKS!!!**
The Calyx M is friendly with a host of track types that include all of the following:
• File Format: AIFF, AIF, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, DFF/DSF(64DSD, 128DSD-DoP), DXD, AAC, MP3, MP4, M4A, OGG.
• Sampling Frequency (kHz): 44.1, 88.2, 176.4, 352.8, 48, 96, 192 & 384
• Bit Depth: 16, 24 & 32
Sound Impressions
There is no need to beat around the bush, the Calyx M isn’t quite on par with the AK240…but it really isn’t that far off in my opinion. Two different beasts in my opinion, no doubt: the AK240 sounds more pure and refined, but also more boring and clinical. The Calyx M is more natural in tone and far less bright with the treble response to my ears, however this evolves into a huge problem for me as time goes on due to the lack of an EQ system inside the player. You are just stuck with the tuning of the player as set by the designers; sadly, there isn’t anything you can do to alter it. I find it extremely annoying and psychologically painful to know that this player can sound that good in clarity overall, but I’ll never get that extra boost in bass, or tone back the treble if need be via even a basic EQ filter. What a shame. In my opinion and at this price point, an EQ system should be a basic right.
Tone and Clarity
As mentioned, this is quite a natural sounding player with no real bloom anywhere that I can spot. I do find things lacking on the low end in terms of quantity on a subjective level though, again due to that lack of an EQ, but the Calyx M also offers a bit of an interesting texture to the bass as well. Through my JH16 pro there is plenty of kick and slam, as well as depth in terms of how far low end extension actually goes: thick and broad without much of an interesting texture. However, through my Noble K10 I can spot noticeably different texture to the entire low end via the same song. Amplifiers don’t alter this, hell, this Calyx M is the first DAP that I’ve personally owned (thanks to Sunil) that exceeded the potential of my RSA SR71B portable amp. There is an audible downgrade everywhere when I pair the two together, opposed to just using the Calyx M by itself.
To date, I’ve had to strap my SR71B to every DAP I’ve owned to achieve the level of the Calyx M all by its lonesome; a good example being my AK120 gen 1, which was modified by Red Wine into the RWAK120B: a DAP that I adored. Even then, the SR71B was needed for driving power as well as the clarity it offered over just using the AK120 by itself. Such is not the case here with the Calyx M: the SR71B downgrades sound qualities, when paired with this DAP, to a noticeably grainier and congested experience. In terms of pure clarity, I put it about 2 steps behind the AK240 and noticeably beyond the first generation of AK players. For $999, this is a hell of a steal, since the first gen AK players are still well over the thousand dollar price mark.
Bass and Mids
Ok, so I am not fond of how the bass is portrayed here on a subjective level, but the Calyx M definitely offers excellent bass quality. I simply prefer a more weighted, solid type of a texture akin to Planar bass, but this DAP is more of a middle ground: a little loose, lacking density and clearly something intended to be used with linear sounding headphones without emphasis on bass quantity. Bass heads won’t like this, as you’ll need a heavy bass set of headphones to really enjoy it, but due note that the Calyx M offers sufficient bass quantity for most of us and won’t sound lacking at all. Via my Noble K10, which has monster bass quality and quantity, I am just not at all impressed with the combination and have gripes all day long with it.
However, with my JH16 I absolutely prefer the combination over the AK120+SR71B. I think the higher end headphones and customs just don’t mesh with this Calyx M and I’ve found that I just don’t enjoy the K10 at all on the Calyx M: lacking stage depth of field, solid and concise formation to everything and overall clarity that isn’t as good as plugging my K10 directly into my Pathos Aurium home desktop amp with regard to substance factor. This is a problem for ultra, high end users, but not for entry level Summit users. JH16 owners and similar will be more than happy, in my opinion. In turn, this causes problems with those who enjoy lush and vibrant midrange ala Audeze or even JH16 fanciers. I happen to be one of those people who prefer the AK240 over the Calyx M for all things midrange: there is just something magical about the 240’s solidity factor that trumps this Calyx M significantly in my opinion. However, it is noticeably sweeter sounding, whereas Calyx’s M here feels drier and less interesting.
Bass heads need not apply; this DAP is not for you. However, those who own liner sounding headphones will love the Calyx and I would recommend you test it out for yourselves if possible at an audio gathering, this isn’t one to skip over. Those with bassy headphones, such as the K10 or JH16, Vmoda M100 or your pick of something regarded as bass head worthy, will absolutely enjoy the clarity and gentle texturing of the Calyx M’s low end. To my ear, it sounds more fluent in musicality than the Astell and Kern players. Weird, because I’d much prefer the AK240’s midrange substance factor over the Calyx M…but we are comparing a $999 Calyx M with the AK240 that costs more than double that. I really wanted this to be a lush sounding midrange experience of a DAP, but I may be asking far too much at this price point. If you have heard the generation 1 AK120, you will know what the Calyx M’s midrange feels like, as they share a similar tonality and setup. True, the Calyx here is noticeably superior in fidelity across the board over the older AK120 from a few years ago.
Treble and Imaging
I’m not fond of the upper end, to say the very least. I am too accustomed to higher end gear I suppose, so this poses a problem for me because I do love my JH16 and my new Noble K10: both of which have a good amount of treble presence that is bottlenecked by the Calyx M. Once again, at this price point I just cannot complain, but it warrants mention at the very least. The Calyx M is a bit reserved and dry on the treble as well, near void of texture and sparkle with most of the headphones I know to house great style up top. Take my AKG K267 for example: a headphone with excellent treble normally, now sounds a bit lack luster and toned down in quantity compared to what I am used to. You are really going to need treble master headphones to appreciate the Calyx M’s top end in terms of quantity, as it seems to tone things down too much for my tastes. Again, this is directly due to the designers tuning preferences…and that damn lack of EQ.
Stereo imaging is excellent and among the best I’ve ever heard in a high end DAP. I think it is noticeably fluffier and aired out than the Astell and Kern players, even the AK240, as well as deeper and more expansive in most ways. Definitely a sound stage lovers DAP, but as mentioned before there is one thing that bugs me: the lack of substance vocals and instruments have. The AK240 simply sounds denser, the Calyx M sounds a bit thinner. This could be a problem for all of the high end headphone users, especially custom monitor users like me. Despite that, I make due when I look at the price tag and realize this DAP is only $999…and the only competing DAPs are all over double that price. I can’t complain, truly I can’t. From left to right, separation of instruments is actually stellar and a bit better than my Oppo HA-1, stunning when you think about it and how a DAP can outperform a full size rig in staging properties.
The DAC
If all that wasn’t enough, the Calyx M functions as a USB DAC that employs the two channel ES-9018-2M Sabre chip for PC needs. It is a solid chip and I prefer it over my Oppo HA-1, however not so much compared to the Burson Conductor SL with the 1793 DAC being used. If you are going the musical route, I say go big or go home. In this case, the Calyx M’s DAC feels a bit different to me than the normal DAP usage for some reason. I am not sure why, but it does. When plugged into my PC and through Foobar2000, I get a more musical and exaggerated tonality that I vastly prefer over using it as a strict portable device not attached to the PC. Nothing really changed in terms of staging or clarity; I simply noticed more oomph on neutral EQ by comparison to using it straight with headphones on the go. When EQ via software came into play, which is where things got really interesting. All of my gripes vanished and I was able to fix the treble and bass, add some crossfeed and get the sound I desire. Once that was achieved, I felt like I didn’t need my Oppo HA-1 anymore.
Final Thoughts
I love the sound of this player, but I really hate the battery life and how large it is. This is too big to be considered a portable player and the battery really makes sure that is a truthful statement. Just a few hours of battery life isn’t going to fly with most audiophiles, so I hope they find a better, less power hungry DAC chip in future models. I hope Calyx continues making DAPs, they did a good job for a first attempt on this level and all the signs of a bright future are there, ready and waiting. The player has the most beautiful screen in a DAP I’ve ever seen and boasts incredible driving power without being loud or hissy with sensitive IEMs, has incredible storage potential and doesn’t cost your soul to afford. In terms of price to performance, it punches above its weight and offers a good sense of entry level Summit fidelity. Great job, Calyx! This one is a keeper, but please try to make sure some basic core functions are available in the next DAP, perhaps also one that isn’t so large and with only a few hours of battery life.
Michael
Review Setup
• Mr.Speakers Ether
• Focal Classic
• Flare Audio R2A/R2Pro
• Noble K10
• Pathos Aurium
• Oppo HA-1
• Astell and Kern AK240
• Fiio X1
• Centrance Mini M8
• Sony A17
This South Korean company burst onto the scene recently with their beast of a DAP, puffing their chests and boasting impressive DSD capabilities and high driving output power in a portable music player for us audiophile nerds. I have to admit, this DAP is one of my favorite music players that I’ve ever reviewed, but it isn’t faultless and I’ve quite a few gripes that I hope get addressed in future firmware updates. Can Calyx stand up to the competition and go toe to toe with the likes of Astell and Kern
This South Korean company burst onto the scene recently with their beast of a DAP, puffing their chests and boasting impressive DSD capabilities and high driving output power in a portable music player for us audiophile nerds. I have to admit, this DAP is one of my favorite music players that I’ve ever reviewed, but it isn’t faultless and I’ve quite a few gripes that I hope get addressed in future firmware updates. Can Calyx stand up to the competition and go toe to toe with the likes of Astell and Kern?
The Calyx M
The M comes with a nice box with the Calyx logo etched into the cardboard, as well as a standard mini USB charging cable. Nothing fancy, but anymore is really needless and I prefer to cut costs this way than include an array of cables or accessories I’ll never use. I don’t need a bag, cleaning supplies, a new kitten, new socks or whatever else generally comes with the higher end DAPs in recent times. Keep it simple, I already have all the needed components to get this product started and running so I am very happy to see there is nothing needless is included that clearly was added to the bag to jack up the cost of the package. A screen protector would have been awesome though; I wanted to insure my Calyx M never takes a single scuff over the duration of its life time, so I’ve opted to purchase a leather case from some obscure website in Korea, as well as a standard glass iPhone 5s screen protector. It doesn’t quite fit, but its fine…those things cost like $30 so I am not willing to shell out more cash to find one that fits properly. 90% screen coverage from this protector is just fine by me for now. I’m double protected and couldn’t be happier, as the Calyx M comes with a gorilla glass OLED screen to begin with.
This DAP is easily boasts the best looking screen I’ve ever seen on a portable music player. The 4.65 inch OLED screen is stunning, vibrant and just a joy to look at. I’ve found myself just staring off into its depths now and then when I am sitting around listening to audiobooks or something, which is a thing I’ve not really ever done with any other DAP I’ve reviewed in the past. Sure, the AK120 was decent, as is the AK240 from Astell and Kern, but there is clearly a superior quality screen in this Calyx M than the Astell and Kern first gen DAPs. Touch screens are nice to have, but in this case the lack of on screen objects to actually touch in the now playing window is a bit of a saddening factoid that looms in the back of my mind, but more on the UI in a bit. Colors pop so well on this device when indoors or during overcast outdoor conditions, which is something that I wish all future DAPs start using. Let the common panels die already, OLED is the future…and it is a beautiful future indeed. The only gripe I have is that sunshine is the mortal enemy of this type of a panel, even cupping my hands around it to block the sun light doesn’t help in making things easier to view.
Buttons and Storage
The side of the unit is adorned with a play/pause, track forward and track backward button panel and I find them to be overly tiny. I would have preferred something more easily accessed that wasn’t set in the worst position imaginable for trying to hold the player, as well as toggle one of those buttons. Too often have I tried to pick the player up with one hand and accidentally hit one of them, this entire section of buttons should have been designed into the upper area of the side of the product, not more centered as is. It is a bad position, I hope Calyx fixes this in future DAPs…I mean…this is a touch screen player and I feel we just don’t need hard buttons like that in today’s tech world. When the unit’s screen is disabled via one click of the power button, I find those three buttons to be too small to toggle accurately very often. Let’s just skip them entirely next time, shall we? iBasso got it right with their DX50 and 90 DAP via giant buttons right on the front of the player, but also missed the point of what using a touch screen player should entail. I’d much rather have a full face touch screen like the Calyx than the half screen size, half giant buttons of the iBasso’s though.
Calyx also did something extremely unique and something I am extremely thankful for: full size SD AND microSD support. Wow…someone finally did it. Great job, Calyx! Thank you for listening and actually taking the time to listen to the gripe most of us have with the other high end DAPs. The top of the player has one large SD card slot, as well as a microSD card slot right next to it. Great for us who want our entire collection inside our portable experience, combined that with onboard 64 GB of space and you can achieve just over 500 GB of storage space at the moment with a full size 256 GB card, a 200 GB microSD card and the internal 64 GB available. Nice. Load times are not a problem either, although my 256gb full size SD takes about 2 minutes to load and scan each time I turn the unit on, but Calyx included a cool feature in that your playlist track that had been active prior to shut down will be able to play while the scan of the library takes place. Shame though, that there is no memory recall for where that last track left off. Instead, it just cycles the track back to 0:00 and will be ready for you to press play upon boot up.
The biggest gripe I have about this player, bar none, is the horrid battery life. The website says 5 hours, yet I’ve never once gotten anywhere 5 hours of continued usage even on low gain mode. High Gain is just a cosmic void, energy sucking black hole for the battery and I’ve had to purchase an external battery just to add a few hours of usage. My 10,000maH battery pack grants me double the battery life to about 6 hours on high gain mode. This is in fact the worst battery in a DAP I’ve ever seen, but I am not sure it’s the fault of the battery at all. Actually, it’s the insane output power this DAP has to offer combined with the energy draining DAC chip. I can power 250ohm headphones without a problem, but of course that drains the battery faster than I can blink. It is awesome to have such a great and powerful driving force here, but I am not sure it is worth the cost of totally sacrificing battery life. Yikes. Expect just a few hours of usage with the Calyx M even on low gain. More often than not, I recharge mine twice a day and I grow so tired of seeing that damn 19% warning flash on the screen twice in one day.
The UI
**Ok, Houston…we have some problems. Before I list these issues, know that the Calyx is still one of the most functional and slick UI’s I’ve played with in a hifi DAP that I’ve experienced.**
Why on Earth is there no ability to shuffle all tracks on this DAP? I’ve never been so angry at an audio product before for not including such a basic thing. This is 2015 for crying out loud and the Calyx M runs on an Android platform. Gen 1 Droid phones have shuffle all track functionality, so how can this $999 hifi DAP not have it!? I’ve asked them for a firmware update but was told it isn’t likely to ever be fixed. It seems like a simple fix, doesn’t it? I can shuffle Playlists though, no problem there when trying to randomize anything added to Playlists…but why can’t I shuffle everything in the Track selection tab? Album, Artists and Track tabs work fantastic and even have an A-Z side bar for quick skipping around the playing field based on the first letter of the Artist, Album or Song. There is even an awesome search function that works flawlessly.
Tapping and holding the screen on top of a track title will open a small bar that lets you delete the track or add it to a Playlist. Thank the audio gods Playlists are not broken (Hifiman, I am looking at you right now) and that work perfectly without a hitch. I can generate a lot of different Playlists, not sure what the limit is but I am so happy it is very easy to create and manage them. Once a track is added to your selected Playlist, you can rotate or drag songs around in the window listing to any sequence you want. If you have 100 songs in there and add one more, that last song will appear all the way at the bottom of the list that you have to scroll down to, but you are able to drag and drop it anywhere. The problem here is that the scroll and drag speed is beyond snail pace slow and you can easily sit there for 5 minutes trying to take the 101st song and drag it back up to the first spot. Ugh.
**Outside of very minor and FIXABLE WITH FIRMWARE UPDATES issues that revolve around the UI, it is very smooth and fairly basic. I don’t want more complexity, everything here is easily navigated and I don’t have a single gripe with the actual physical setup of the units UI. Most obscure brands like this generally have horrid UI setups, but thankfully Calyx gets it and made sure to keep things elegant and simplistic. I don’t think it is any better or worse than the Astell and Kern AK gen 1 UI, so that’s a good thing I suppose. For the love of God, Calyx! Please! PLEASE UPDATE THIS PLAYER TO SUPPORT SHUFFLE ALL TRACKS!!!**
The Calyx M is friendly with a host of track types that include all of the following:
• File Format: AIFF, AIF, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, DFF/DSF(64DSD, 128DSD-DoP), DXD, AAC, MP3, MP4, M4A, OGG.
• Sampling Frequency (kHz): 44.1, 88.2, 176.4, 352.8, 48, 96, 192 & 384
• Bit Depth: 16, 24 & 32
Sound Impressions
There is no need to beat around the bush, the Calyx M isn’t quite on par with the AK240…but it really isn’t that far off in my opinion. Two different beasts in my opinion, no doubt: the AK240 sounds more pure and refined, but also more boring and clinical. The Calyx M is more natural in tone and far less bright with the treble response to my ears, however this evolves into a huge problem for me as time goes on due to the lack of an EQ system inside the player. You are just stuck with the tuning of the player as set by the designers; sadly, there isn’t anything you can do to alter it. I find it extremely annoying and psychologically painful to know that this player can sound that good in clarity overall, but I’ll never get that extra boost in bass, or tone back the treble if need be via even a basic EQ filter. What a shame. In my opinion and at this price point, an EQ system should be a basic right.
Tone and Clarity
As mentioned, this is quite a natural sounding player with no real bloom anywhere that I can spot. I do find things lacking on the low end in terms of quantity on a subjective level though, again due to that lack of an EQ, but the Calyx M also offers a bit of an interesting texture to the bass as well. Through my JH16 pro there is plenty of kick and slam, as well as depth in terms of how far low end extension actually goes: thick and broad without much of an interesting texture. However, through my Noble K10 I can spot noticeably different texture to the entire low end via the same song. Amplifiers don’t alter this, hell, this Calyx M is the first DAP that I’ve personally owned (thanks to Sunil) that exceeded the potential of my RSA SR71B portable amp. There is an audible downgrade everywhere when I pair the two together, opposed to just using the Calyx M by itself.
To date, I’ve had to strap my SR71B to every DAP I’ve owned to achieve the level of the Calyx M all by its lonesome; a good example being my AK120 gen 1, which was modified by Red Wine into the RWAK120B: a DAP that I adored. Even then, the SR71B was needed for driving power as well as the clarity it offered over just using the AK120 by itself. Such is not the case here with the Calyx M: the SR71B downgrades sound qualities, when paired with this DAP, to a noticeably grainier and congested experience. In terms of pure clarity, I put it about 2 steps behind the AK240 and noticeably beyond the first generation of AK players. For $999, this is a hell of a steal, since the first gen AK players are still well over the thousand dollar price mark.
Bass and Mids
Ok, so I am not fond of how the bass is portrayed here on a subjective level, but the Calyx M definitely offers excellent bass quality. I simply prefer a more weighted, solid type of a texture akin to Planar bass, but this DAP is more of a middle ground: a little loose, lacking density and clearly something intended to be used with linear sounding headphones without emphasis on bass quantity. Bass heads won’t like this, as you’ll need a heavy bass set of headphones to really enjoy it, but due note that the Calyx M offers sufficient bass quantity for most of us and won’t sound lacking at all. Via my Noble K10, which has monster bass quality and quantity, I am just not at all impressed with the combination and have gripes all day long with it.
However, with my JH16 I absolutely prefer the combination over the AK120+SR71B. I think the higher end headphones and customs just don’t mesh with this Calyx M and I’ve found that I just don’t enjoy the K10 at all on the Calyx M: lacking stage depth of field, solid and concise formation to everything and overall clarity that isn’t as good as plugging my K10 directly into my Pathos Aurium home desktop amp with regard to substance factor. This is a problem for ultra, high end users, but not for entry level Summit users. JH16 owners and similar will be more than happy, in my opinion. In turn, this causes problems with those who enjoy lush and vibrant midrange ala Audeze or even JH16 fanciers. I happen to be one of those people who prefer the AK240 over the Calyx M for all things midrange: there is just something magical about the 240’s solidity factor that trumps this Calyx M significantly in my opinion. However, it is noticeably sweeter sounding, whereas Calyx’s M here feels drier and less interesting.
Bass heads need not apply; this DAP is not for you. However, those who own liner sounding headphones will love the Calyx and I would recommend you test it out for yourselves if possible at an audio gathering, this isn’t one to skip over. Those with bassy headphones, such as the K10 or JH16, Vmoda M100 or your pick of something regarded as bass head worthy, will absolutely enjoy the clarity and gentle texturing of the Calyx M’s low end. To my ear, it sounds more fluent in musicality than the Astell and Kern players. Weird, because I’d much prefer the AK240’s midrange substance factor over the Calyx M…but we are comparing a $999 Calyx M with the AK240 that costs more than double that. I really wanted this to be a lush sounding midrange experience of a DAP, but I may be asking far too much at this price point. If you have heard the generation 1 AK120, you will know what the Calyx M’s midrange feels like, as they share a similar tonality and setup. True, the Calyx here is noticeably superior in fidelity across the board over the older AK120 from a few years ago.
Treble and Imaging
I’m not fond of the upper end, to say the very least. I am too accustomed to higher end gear I suppose, so this poses a problem for me because I do love my JH16 and my new Noble K10: both of which have a good amount of treble presence that is bottlenecked by the Calyx M. Once again, at this price point I just cannot complain, but it warrants mention at the very least. The Calyx M is a bit reserved and dry on the treble as well, near void of texture and sparkle with most of the headphones I know to house great style up top. Take my AKG K267 for example: a headphone with excellent treble normally, now sounds a bit lack luster and toned down in quantity compared to what I am used to. You are really going to need treble master headphones to appreciate the Calyx M’s top end in terms of quantity, as it seems to tone things down too much for my tastes. Again, this is directly due to the designers tuning preferences…and that damn lack of EQ.
Stereo imaging is excellent and among the best I’ve ever heard in a high end DAP. I think it is noticeably fluffier and aired out than the Astell and Kern players, even the AK240, as well as deeper and more expansive in most ways. Definitely a sound stage lovers DAP, but as mentioned before there is one thing that bugs me: the lack of substance vocals and instruments have. The AK240 simply sounds denser, the Calyx M sounds a bit thinner. This could be a problem for all of the high end headphone users, especially custom monitor users like me. Despite that, I make due when I look at the price tag and realize this DAP is only $999…and the only competing DAPs are all over double that price. I can’t complain, truly I can’t. From left to right, separation of instruments is actually stellar and a bit better than my Oppo HA-1, stunning when you think about it and how a DAP can outperform a full size rig in staging properties.
The DAC
If all that wasn’t enough, the Calyx M functions as a USB DAC that employs the two channel ES-9018-2M Sabre chip for PC needs. It is a solid chip and I prefer it over my Oppo HA-1, however not so much compared to the Burson Conductor SL with the 1793 DAC being used. If you are going the musical route, I say go big or go home. In this case, the Calyx M’s DAC feels a bit different to me than the normal DAP usage for some reason. I am not sure why, but it does. When plugged into my PC and through Foobar2000, I get a more musical and exaggerated tonality that I vastly prefer over using it as a strict portable device not attached to the PC. Nothing really changed in terms of staging or clarity; I simply noticed more oomph on neutral EQ by comparison to using it straight with headphones on the go. When EQ via software came into play, which is where things got really interesting. All of my gripes vanished and I was able to fix the treble and bass, add some crossfeed and get the sound I desire. Once that was achieved, I felt like I didn’t need my Oppo HA-1 anymore.
Final Thoughts
I love the sound of this player, but I really hate the battery life and how large it is. This is too big to be considered a portable player and the battery really makes sure that is a truthful statement. Just a few hours of battery life isn’t going to fly with most audiophiles, so I hope they find a better, less power hungry DAC chip in future models. I hope Calyx continues making DAPs, they did a good job for a first attempt on this level and all the signs of a bright future are there, ready and waiting. The player has the most beautiful screen in a DAP I’ve ever seen and boasts incredible driving power without being loud or hissy with sensitive IEMs, has incredible storage potential and doesn’t cost your soul to afford. In terms of price to performance, it punches above its weight and offers a good sense of entry level Summit fidelity. Great job, Calyx! This one is a keeper, but please try to make sure some basic core functions are available in the next DAP, perhaps also one that isn’t so large and with only a few hours of battery life.
Michael
Review Setup
• Mr.Speakers Ether
• Focal Classic
• Flare Audio R2A/R2Pro
• Noble K10
• Pathos Aurium
• Oppo HA-1
• Astell and Kern AK240
• Fiio X1
• Centrance Mini M8
• Sony A17