Hisoundaudio Studio V 3rd Anniversary Edition Quick Review

Hisoundaudio Studio V 3rd Anniversary Edition Quick Review

Thanks to Hisoundaudio for the sample.

Brief:  Hisoundaudio updates the Studio V.

Price:  Circa US$450 or £265 (pre HMRC.)

Specification:  Good Question, I don’t know bar what’s up for the Studio V.

Accessories:  A US plugged USB power charger, a USB cable and a pair of the PAA-1 earphones. 

Build Quality:  Not as perfect as the sharp edged old one but it’s still essentially a block of machined aluminium.  You’re not going to break it short of hitting it with a sledge hammer.

UI:  It is still what I might call eccentric.  The central button is play, pause, menu and power on and off control.  You do get used to it pretty quickly but it’s weird and you will accidently turn it off trying to get to the menu now and then. 

In the Hand:  It’s less severe than its predecessor but it’s still an unyielding block.  No girly curves to fit the contours of your hand or any of that nonsense.  It’s right out of the Brutalism movement.  Still it bothered me not a jot and I really liked the easily felt buttons.  They are nicely pronounced and I had no trouble at all controlling the device while it resided in my pocket.  Never once did I accidently hit a button without meaning to.

Aesthetics:  So it’s in silver, hmm I think I liked black better but who cares.  This product is all about function, the bare metal just lends itself to that concept, pure and unfettered by such trivialities.  Think Corbusier.

Sound:  As good as I have ever encountered.  The amp it contains is horrifyingly good, the power it can unleash is incredible yet it has zero issue with the most sensitive IEM’s out there.  It is a near perfectly neutral sounding DAP with simply tremendous extension at both ends.  Lows on every headphone go on as far as I’ve ever heard them do so and the same for the highs.  Mids are spectacularly open and transparent too.  There may be a slight enhancement of the highs which I found meant it didn’t suit the brightest of IEM’s, but then I’m always treble sensitive.  The sound quality otherwise is pretty much flawless.   As open, transparent and dynamic as I’ve ever heard a DAP be, its gloriously and spectacularly good sounding. Its timing too is utterly impeccable.

Value:  Okay it’s not cheap but you get easily what you pay for.  It sounds tremendously good.

Pro’s:  Sound quality, battery life, sound quality, real buttons.

Con’s:  Erm, not sure there is any really.  The UI isn’t stellar.