Today we look at the Luxury & Precision L&P P6 PRO R2R DAP, selling for $3,899 USD.
Disclaimer: The Luxury & Precision P6 Pro was sent to us free of charge in exchange for this review. Headfonia is not related to Luxury & Precision in any other way.
Luxury & Precision
It’s not the first time we feature the Chinese Luxury & Precision on Headfonia.com and we have looked at their L3, L3PRO and L5PRO, L6 and LP6 before
Just last week we reviewed the Luxury & Precision P6, which is the regular version of the P6 Pro we’re having a look at today. I would advise reading up on that review first before continuing to read here. But most of the info is in this article as well. So if it looks familiar, that’s why.
L&P P6 Pro
The L&P P6 Pro this time is featured on Luxury & Precision’s own website, and you can find that one here: http://www.luxuryprecision.net/shangpin/bofangqi/2021-01-13/38.html
It’s all in Chinese though, so you can find our by going to Musicteck’s website here:
If you’ve read any of our L&P DAP reviews before or if you’ve been following Luxury & Precision then you know their audio players have a proprietary operating system. They have developed their own OS in order to get the best possible sound. According to L&P, non-Android operating systems have lower EMI and lower noise than Android operating systems. So that means you with L&P get great sound, but you won’t get that full Android UI you’re used to. This in this P6 Pro version has improved as the P6 Pro now has a touch screen!
There still is no quick browse, but you can slide the list down and the P6 Pro will keep scrolling down automatically. So you can’t go directly to an artist starting with “T”, but it will scroll all the way to “T” for you. On this version of the FW there is a 12K track limit, and the player comes with 64gB of internal memory.
Like the LP6 DAP and the P6, the P6 Pro features an R2R DAC system. It’s an improved version of the P6 and where the P6 equals 8 PCM1704K chips, this P6 Pro equals to 16 PCM1704K chips. The P6 Pro basically equals 2 P6 circuit boards’ performance. The P6 Pro’s R-2R DAC is composed of the best-matching high-grade 1/10,000 resistors selected from the P6 series. So the P6 Pro really is the improved “Pro” version of the original P6.
As we said, R2R devices aren’t best or easiest to measure, but when you listen to them (see the LP6 and P6 review), you will find they are extremely quiet in regards to noise. As we’re used to from L&P, the P6 Pro has very low distortion and an ultra-high dynamic range. The overall signal-to-noise ratio reaches 125 dB, which meets or exceeds most sigma-delta flagship daps.
The P6 Pro also features a refined amplification circuit by delicately selected components, matching the improved dynamic range of the R-2R DAC. All this to achieve the very best possible performance and sound, no compromise.
The Pro also sports a further optimized Lossless Matrix Volume Control System (LLMVS). It according to L&P achieves lossless dynamics even at the lowest volume. There’s also an improved Bluetooth module and the BT audio algorithm is better and has a more accurate FPGA clock.
Please check out the elaborate info on the R2R implementation online if you want to learn more about it.
Price & Accessories
The L&P P6 DAP doesn’t come cheap and you will have to find $3,899 USD under your mattress if you want one. The regular P6’s price is $2,999 USD so it’s quite a mark-up to get the very best R2R implementation and a touch screen. Anyway it’s a very high end price, even topping the Astell&Kern SP2000’s $3,499 USD price tag.
All of the review samples were sent as a unit only, and the P6 Pro came delivered in a green leather case, wrapped in bubble wrap. Nothing else. I suppose you will be getting the same accessories as with the P6, though I can’t confirm this.
The green leather P6 Pro case came has a precise fit, and the choice of leather once again is excellent. The new thing here is that it’s no longer a case where you have to slide in the DAP from the top, but it actually opens up to the side. It’s remarkable, but the fit is perfect.
P6 Pro Design & Lay-out
The lay-out and design of the P6 Pro is the same as that of the regular P6. This is what we had to say about it:
You either love or hate the Luxury & Precision DAP design, and I myself absolutely love it. All L&P DAPs look beautiful with the unique edges and the incorporated volume control (on the side this time). It’s a very sexy and luxurious looking DAP and while it’s a bit different from the previous L&P designs, the L&P house style is still very present.
The eye-catcher here is the right side of the player where you have a vertical split, creating a 2-3mm see-through opening from the volume wheel down. I don’t think I have seen this anywhere before, it’s quite unique.
For this model L&P has gone back to the wooden back, and it to me still is the prettiest. The P6 Pro also came in black, where the regular P6 came in grey. The volume wheel now has a gold color.
Lay-out wise the P6 Pro is simple and the same as the little brother, it’s just with a touch-screen and some more menu items. On top of the player you from right to left have the power button, the 3.5mm output( which also is the SPIDF in/out and the Line Out) and the 4.4mm balanced headphone output (and Line Out). On the left side of the player you find the main buttons for playback: play, pause, forward and rewind. On the bottom of the player you from left to right have the MicroSD slot and the USB-C connector for charging, data exchange and DAC function. On the right side of the player you have the vertically placed volume dial and navigation control as well as the select and back buttons for the menu navigation.
Size and weight wise the L&P P6 Pro is very normal. It’s not as big and heavy as the AK’s SP2000, HiBy R8 or Shanling M8. It’s more the size of the previous L&P DAPs and the Sony WM1Z in example. So very pocketable and easy to work with. The P6 Pro measures 67.7 mm (W) x 124mm (H) x 20mm (D) and weighs 248g. The front glass panel covers the size of the whole player. The screen is a 3.5” IPS display with a 480 x 320 resolution.
P6 Pro Usability
Touch screen. Awesome. Still not perfect, but so much better. You can still work the P6 Pro without the touch screen, but why would you?
As we’ve stated before:
If you don’t want to use the touchscreen (Would someone?) it will take a bit of getting used to working with the P6 Pro. You have to scroll the wheel to whatever you want to select and then click the enter button. You need to use the back button to go back to the previous menu. I really found that difficult to work with in the beginning, but the more you use it, the easier it gets. Now it doesn’t bother me at all anymore. And with the touch screen, I haven’t even done this manually anymore.
Another thing worth mentioning is that the scrolling wheel only functions as navigational tool or volume control. This is quite logic but it does mean you can’t change the volume when you’re in the menu structure. It also means that you have to play a song first before you can change the volume, as the player boots up to the navigation menu. Weird but ok.
The P6 Ro menu and the options are quite elaborate, as you would expect from a high-end portable player. You even get some extra functions compared to the P6. Navigation through the menus is easy, and logic. Everything is where you expect it to be. The P6 Pro boots up and shuts down fast and that’s always a nice thing. Of course L&P are still offering the EQ option, though it’s not something I use myself. You have an 8-band EQ with 6 settings. Unfortunately you can only use the pre-sets, L&P doesn’t let you configure your own “ideal” setting.
So yeah, basically the P6’s User Interface & usability is still pretty much the same as it was before, only the touch screen makes it so much easier and faster to work with.
The Luxury & Precision P6 Pro article continues on the second page. Click here.
InvisibleInk
Nice review!
I’m looking for a DAP that comes with a system-wide parametric EQ built-in. Would you happen to know of any such device? Thanks