Suggestions for improvement

Support questions for Neutron Player only.
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rbeverjr
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 20, 2015 1:50 pm

Suggestions for improvement

Post by rbeverjr » Sun Dec 20, 2015 2:46 pm

First of all, I must say that I am very happy with the quality of sound playback that the Neutron Music Player allows - great job and thanks for making it available to us!!!

The following is meant to be constructive criticism on some possible ways to improve your product.

The most important recommendation is to make the player easier to use and more obvious in operation to all people: professionals, experienced android users, and beginners too.

This begins with a manual. You should provide a link to a manual on the internet that is kept updated. I would like a generalized product information on the settings that I should try initially for the best sound, compromises I can make if I need to improve battery life, and how to make adjustments to the initial settings to suit my personal tastes. It doesn't have to be an engineering book, but some general guidance is necessary. Examples would be helpful too. Additionally, some form of tool tips (general description of what an icon or setting is) should be provided. Sonicmax Pro is a neat DSP program that gives you these tool tips, a simple control, and allows immediate feedback as you adjust the different settings. That's very cool. I consider this manual to be more important than any additional features.

Speaking of features (and maybe the Neutron has them already; I'm still trying to learn it). I'd like the following:
* 31-band 1/3 octave graphic equalizer instead of one of the parametric equalizer choices. I am more accustomed to using that eq. In fact, rather than offering many different parametric equalizers, I suggest choosing a 7-band parametric, and then offering a 5-, 10-, and 31-band graphic equalizer. Most people are far more familiar with how to use a graphic equalizer than a parametric equalizer, and many people will be satisfied with only a few bands rather than the full professional model. These selections should cover everyone.
* This player should download album art. That's a standard feature of music players, and I should not have to have another program just to do this.
* I want a music player that will play in random order (a new random order for each new listening session) songs on a playlist, songs by an artist, songs in an album, or songs from a genre. This means that the player must take tag information on the genre.
* The player must be able to handle a tiered folder structure such as: genre-artist-album.
* The playlist (or anything that is playing on Neutron) should be uploadable to home and automobile audio systems via Bluetooth (assuming hardware capability, of course).

Happy Holidays!
RJB

rbeverjr
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 20, 2015 1:50 pm

Re: Suggestions for improvement

Post by rbeverjr » Thu Dec 24, 2015 3:55 pm

I've worked more with the Neutron Player now. I see that it has some of the things I most want. For music quality, it has several features, such as dither control and crossfeed. The 10 band parametric eq is powerful too. I really like the UI; it lets me quickly and easily find my music. Neutron still should look up cover art for me (I don't think it does that right now). I also have not tested how Neutron works with blue tooth.

People may be curious why anyone would want a 31-band eq for what will likely be used with headphones. Well, time has a way of taking away our high frequency hearing. Having visited an audiologist, if I had a 31-band for left and right channels, I could precisely restore my hearing for music listening sessions. I am using quality equipment and don't color my sound except for a few activities (a little extra deep bass for my fast march during the commute). The 10-band parametric eq is powerful and really should suffice. However, I would like the entire frequency range to be illustrated as I adjust each of the 10 bands. Because of the Q, there can be additive or subtractive effects on neighboring bands if I understand correctly. I would like to see how they interact. The parametric can be tricky to adjust to perfection. If you make the Q too narrow when using headphones, then you will have peaks/valleys in the frequency range that an audiophile (someone who wants accurate reproduction of the recorded music) would never desire. If the Q is too big, it encroaches on neighboring bands and effects those frequencies. So, a way to visualize these effects would be nice.

I am using the Neutron player on the new Fiio X7 (firmware 1.4). For evaluation purposes I am using analog out to an iFi iCAN to HiFiMAN HE500. The Neutron player is super smooth, like an excellent production from vinyl. However, it always seems to have less power than the Fiio music player (i.e. I have to turn up my amp higher). Also, the music seems a bit too processed and too smooth. An electric guitar should have some distortion and bite to it. All things considered, both the Neutron and Fiio sound good, but I think the Fiio music player in pure music mode (disables most of the android functions) sounds better. Of course, that may be because I haven't figured out the optimal setup for the Neutron. The Fiio music player in pure music mode sounds slightly better than when used from android. I like the UI of the Neutron better than the Fiio music player. Both UIs are nice, but as far as I can tell the Neutron has a shuffle capability that the Fiio doesn't. I like shuffle.

Mobile
Posts: 50
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 8:58 am

Re: Suggestions for improvement

Post by Mobile » Fri Dec 25, 2015 9:50 am

> Having visited an audiologist, if I had a 31-band for left and right channels, I could precisely restore my hearing for music listening sessions.

No, you can't. Hearing loss usually comes in a 'gate threshold' form. Let's say you have a dip at 8 kHz. The test tone is inaudible until a certain volume is reached, BUT then jumps from inaudible to mid volume. This threshold behavior of broken hair cells in your ear will make it impossible to 'precisely' restore your hearing. Raising the lost frequencies in the EQ will make them audible again, but it is a constant on/off effect, level dependent. AND in higher volumes it results in a harsh and annoying listening experience - wich will make you revert those settings again.

A graphics EQ has been requested over and over again - and was denied. Meanwhile I have learned to use the multi-parametric one instead...you get used to everything, it seems...

rbeverjr
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 20, 2015 1:50 pm

Re: Suggestions for improvement

Post by rbeverjr » Sat Dec 26, 2015 4:34 pm

Darn Mobile, that's bum news you give me. It seems time takes away all things.... :(
Still, I would find it helpful in using the parametic eq if I could see how my adjustments affects the entire frequency band. Of course, I can just use my hearing to tweak it, but the visual representation should speed things along. In the end, my adjustments have always been to my ear. I don't listen to "harsh and annoying," because I think it should (theoretically) be right; I would "revert" as Mobile suggests. I have found (experimentally) that attenuating the midrange does add clarity to my hearing - when I was young I never used an eq with headphones.

Mobile
Posts: 50
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 8:58 am

Re: Suggestions for improvement

Post by Mobile » Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:43 am

> Still, I would find it helpful in using the parametic eq if I could see how my adjustments affects the entire frequency band

AFAIK Dmitry is aware of this and wants to add that kind of view. I requested it as well. The current single filter bode plot doesn't make much sense.

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