buy a "little tail?
at the moment when mobile phones dominate multimedia entertainment, people's music listening habits also revolve around streaming media. In this case, the important task of solving the problem that most mobile phones do not have headphone interfaces and improving the sound quality experience is now more on the "small tail" decoding earphones, which makes the living space of traditional music players squeezed and gradually develop in the direction of higher price and "omnipotence. Under the background that the market below 1,000 yuan, especially within 500 yuan, is almost monopolized by all kinds of small tail decoders, the snowy ECHO MINI appears in this market segment, which is generally considered "unprofitable", at a price of 299 yuan. It makes people wonder how ECHO MINI will define the value of entry-level music players under the attack of the hardware competition of high-end players and the audio ecology of mobile phones? Can it provide consumers with an experience that exceeds expectations?
Snowy ECHO MINI Specifications
color: black, day cyan, pink
weight: about 55g
size: about 80mm x 54.5mm x 14.5mm
Screen: 1.99 "170 × 320 IPS Full View HD Color Screen
decoding chip: CS43131 × 2
Built-in Storage: 8GB
external storage: TF card, support up to 256GB
Bluetooth format: SBC (does not support connecting Apple Bluetooth headset)
playback format: DSD, WAV, FLAC, APE, MP3, M4A, OGG
sample rate support: DSD64/128/256, WAV(24bit/192K), FLAC(24bit/192K), APE(24bit/96K)
output interface: 3.5mm single-ended, 4.4mm balanced
output power 1:L + R≥ 100mW +100mW(32Ω single-ended, THD + N<1%)
output power 2:L + R≥ 250mW +250mW(32Ω balanced, THD + N<1%)
signal-to-noise ratio: ≥ 131dB (32ΩA weight)
THD+N:0.0004%
bottom noise: 0.8μV
reference price: 299 yuan
retro tape drive styling
Palm size easy to carry
snow in the ECHO MINI design on the realization of the classic Walkman homage. Its founder body is in the shape of a tape drive, with a simulated tape bin engraving at the bottom and a battery bin design with a back cover. The latter is quite lifelike. When I first came into contact with it, I really thought I could replace the battery. After a few subconscious pushes, I realized that it was only a decoration and could not be opened. The size of ECHO MINI is much smaller than that of a real tape drive, only 80mm × 54.5mm × 14.5mm, and its weight is controlled at 55g g. Its actual size is about the same as that of a credit card. It can be easily held in the palm of your hand and carried in your pocket and trouser bag. It can be said that it not only retains the visual proportion of the tape drive, but also adapts to the portable needs of today's users for products.
Although the main body of the fuselage is made of PC + ABS engineering plastic material, the surface is sprayed with metallic paint, which makes it visually have a metallic texture. While having retro charm, it also avoids the cheap feeling of plastic shell. Matte processing to avoid fingerprint residue, delicate touch warm. The selection of three body colors-black, sky cyan and pink-makes it easy for consumers with different preferences to find one that suits them. There is a lanyard hole in one corner of the fuselage, which meets the use requirements in mobile scenarios.
ECHO MINI is the finishing touch, because it is the complete form of "tape drive" in working condition. ECHO MINI uses a retro dynamic tape UI. When playing music, the tape animation on the screen will rotate with the music and cooperate with the operation of the entity key on the top of the body to instantly pull people back to the years when they used the tape player to listen to songs. The design of the screen and the surrounding black border strengthens the overall sense in the rest screen state, while the bright screen will make people focus on the dynamic UI.
ECHO MINI are arranged in a row. The power switch of the pink prototype in our hands is designed in the same color as the body. The rest of the keys are silver, and the keys are all marked with functions, which is clear at a glance.
body is a 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced dual interface to meet the matching requirements of different earphones. On the other side is the in-line design of TF card expansion slot and USB-C interface without card holder. As a pure tone player, storage space is very important. ECHO MINI itself comes with 8GB of storage space, while TF card expansion slot can support up to 256GB memory card expansion.
299 yuan with dual DAC
also supports Bluetooth wireless connection headset
ECHO MINI in the audio architecture showed beyond the price of professional configuration. It uses a dual-CS43131 DAC chip to build a fully balanced left and right channel architecture, combined with the design of 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced dual output interfaces, which is rare in players at the same price. This audio system works together through independent crystal oscillator and independent power supply. Even in such a compact body, it can still provide relatively abundant driving capability. Under 32Ω impedance, the output power of 4.4mm balance port can reach 250mW. ECHO MINI performs well in terms of decoding capability, supporting PCM 192kHz@ 24bit and DSD256, the compatibility of audio formats is also very extensive, DSD, WAV, FLAC, APE, MP3, M4A and OGG formats can be supported.
Although the external shape is retro and the positioning is also a pure tone player, ECHO MINI has not given up the wireless function. Its built-in Bluetooth chip is based on Bluetooth 5.3 standard, which can realize Bluetooth transmission function and connect with Bluetooth headset and Bluetooth speaker wirelessly. Although limited by product positioning, only SBC encoding format is supported, the addition of this feature significantly improves the flexibility of the usage scenario, allowing users to enjoy the pure music experience while also obtaining the convenience of wireless connection.
the retro-style battery compartment mentioned earlier is only a decorative design, ECHO MINI actually integrates a 1100mAh lithium battery inside, achieving satisfactory battery life in a compact body. Under standard usage scenarios (normal listening volume, Bluetooth off), it can provide about 15 hours of continuous music playback time, which is really rare for its compact size.
audition experience
, when EQ is not enabled, ECHO MINI is matched with FD15 in-ear headphones and FT1 headphones through a 4.4mm balance port for trial listening. The abundant energy displayed by ECHO MINI is not like a music player with a price of less than 300 yuan-FD15 can be released in low gain mode. After switching to high gain, it can provide sufficient energy support for FT1, build a sound field space with a sense of scale.
sound quality performance, which is particularly good low-frequency processing. The sense of low frequency is abundant but not flooded. The depth of drum dive and rebound speed show precise control, which is really rare in entry-level equipment. The intermediate frequency resolution is satisfactory, the human voice is clear and three-dimensional, the emotional expression is natural and smooth, and the dental processing is also quite restrained. Although the high frequency band is transparent and natural, it is slightly conservative in the very high frequency extension, and the air feeling and detail performance of the string group are reserved. Judging from the sound field effect, the horizontal extension is natural and smooth, and the positioning of the musical instrument is clear and distinguishable. However, the depth performance is not good, and the separation degree of human voice and background music is somewhat insufficient compared with higher-priced products.
In general, ECHO MINI's delicate processing on low and medium frequencies has left a deep impression on people, suitable for listening to pop, rock and folk music.
Summary
in the music player market of less than 300 yuan, the appearance of ECHO MINI has redefined the connotation of "entry level. It not only carries retro feelings in design, but also brings a complete set of audio solutions-dual DAC architecture provides leapfrog sound quality, dual interface design can be matched with more headphones, wireless function and storage expansion meet the current popular needs. When similar products are still compromising on cost, ECHO MINI proves that affordable equipment can also provide a good comprehensive experience through precise hardware selection and software optimization.
Author:Microcomputer Official Microblog04-16 11:31
web site:https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309405156019318685749
