Sound Performance
This little player has really shocked me with how good it sounds.
At just 157 grams with a pair of ESS DACs my expectations were low, if anything I was mentally prepared for something that might sound terrible – boy was I wrong!
There’s an organic quality to the Clear’s playback I don’t quite get from any of the recent Android DAPs I’ve tried. It could best be described as an extra dose of PRAT (Pace, Rhythm And Timing) with a feeling of directness that leaves Android alternatives sounding slightly more artificial by comparison.
It’s the polar opposite of what I expected. ESS DACs are famous for the dreaded “Sabre glare” which can impart a metallic sheen on the presentation, and I experienced that first hand with the DX240.
I’m not sure how Xuelin managed to overcome it but thankfully Clear is free of such artefacts to my ears, if anything it sounds more natural than my Android players – could Android itself be adding extra jitter which degrades playback? I don’t know enough to answer that, but it would be my guess.
The first thing you notice listening to the Xuelin Clear is the bass. It’s seriously impressive.
You’d think a diminutive player might be wimpy in this area but instead it delivers powerful, elevated levels of bass without sounding bloated. This gives the sound a real sense of gravitas with impressive note weight & drive.
Moving to the midrange Clear boasts a warm tonality with enough lower midrange emphasis to make music sound satisfyingly bodied & full. I wouldn’t say it strays too far from neutral to impede technical performance, though it’s possible a leaner sound would create a slightly higher perception of detail at the cost of the Clear’s superb tonality.
Treble is the one area where Clear sacrifices extra presence to maintain that tonality and lower the potential of fatigue, and most Android DAPs I’ve tried definitely possess more treble sheen. Although even classical string instruments come through cleanly & distinctly on the Clear, that final bit of upper treble tizz is slightly muted. Nor do I think treble is rendered with quite the same delicacy as it is on more expensive Android players, though the difference is minor.
Technical Performance
Clear boasts a respectably wide soundstage for such a tiny player. Stage depth is less impressive, better than most similarly-sized players yet still below that of many larger DAPs and I would nominate stage depth as one of Clear’s sonic shortcomings.
Similarly resolution is acceptable, but doesn’t quite deliver the same effortless rendition of tiny nuances as some of its’ Android rivals, and Clear’s more rolled-off treble may be partly responsible. By stark contrast Clear is hugely dynamic, with dynamic swings that really pop out and contribute massively to the player’s palpable sense of groove.
Imaging & background blackness are similarly okay without being anything spectacular. Listening to the Clear I’m usually too busy getting caught up in the music itself to focus on technical performance, and it’s mostly when critically A/Bing against Android players that I notice those deficiencies.
Page 1 – Introduction, Tech Specs & Battery Life & Ergonomics
Page 2 – Interface & Usability
Page 3 – Sound Performance & Technical Performance
Page 4 – Source Comparisons
Page 5 – Conclusion
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