Lotoo PAW 6000
High-end portable digital audio player
The PAW 6000 from Lotoo is an incredibly impressive digital audio player, and has received accolades for its user friendliness, build quality and of course, its exquisite audio quality.
Lotoo PAW 6000 highlights
- AKM4493 DAC
- Extensive EQ options and presets
- 4.4 + 3.5mm outputs
- 16 hours battery life
- Lotoo LTOS software and UI
- Can be used as a standalone DAC
INFOMEDIA, the parent company of Lotoo is the largest manufacturer and purveyor of broadcast equipment and professional audio systems in Asia. This makes it obvious why Lotoo has decided to create products that are leaning towards a very neutral sound signature. Other manufacturers make digital audio players with their own signature sound but the goal for Lotoo is to convey a neutral, flat profile. While flat might sound a bit negative, it definitely shouldn’t be perceived that way. It just means that you’re getting the pure unadulterated sound, exactly as it was produced in the studio.
Extensive Parametric EQ adjustment
If you’re a fan colored sound signatures, there’s a lot of options for adapting the sound to your liking, using the Lotoo PAW 6000. It comes with a number of presets for different music genres, but also offers a five-band parametric equalizer, so you can custom design a profile for specific albums or songs. It’s not a hardware-based DSP as the one found in the Lotoo Gold Touch but is instead software based. It’s still an excellent feature though, and one that has its merits. Besides the PEQ and presets, there are a number of filters for PCM as well as DSD.
The PAW 6000 comes with a USB-C port on the bottom end and two headphone outputs on the top. One is a standard 3.5mm and the other, a 4.4mm balanced Pentaconn connector, which is slowly, but steady becoming the norm for balanced connections.
Basic controls like volume adjustment, play/pause and previous/next are accessible using the hardware buttons on the right side of the PAW 6000, and volume can be controlled using the tactile wheel on top of the player.
Custom Made Software and User Interface
Instead of relying on Android as the base operating system like most other manufacturers, Lotoo have created their own software and user interface from scratch. LTOS as it’s called, is blazing fast and the player boots up from cold, in less than four seconds! – It’s incredibly impressive and something that you’ll no doubt appreciate. The LTOS software is user friendly and everything is done using taps or swipes. On the ‘Now Playing’ screen, swipe once for PEQ and digital peak meter, twice for file information, and three times to view lyrics embedded in the file that’s playing.
While it’s not a prime feature of this device, it does come with two-way Bluetooth functionality and can receive and send music wirelessly. In terms of audio quality, a wired connection is of course preferred, but sometimes convenience is king, and if you once in a while want to listen to your music on a compatible audio system, it’s an option.
Lotoo PAW 6000 is an excellent digital audio player and among the best in its price class. The build quality, software and audio performance are top-notch. The only thing one might miss, is availability of online streaming services like TIDAL, Qobuz, etc. While the PAW 6000 does have Wi-Fi built in, it is exclusively used for updating the firmware.
| Measurements | 11,2 × 6,5 × 1,8 cm |
| Weight (net) | 225 gram |
| Output, USB | 1 |
| Output, Headphone | Yes, 3,5 mm TRS, Yes, 4,4 mm Pentaconn |
| Wi-Fi | Yes |
| Network features | Bluetooth, Bluetooth LDAC |
| Audio decoding | AAC, AIFF, APE, Apple Lossless, DSD64 / 2.8 MHz, DSD128 / 5.6 MHz, DSD256 / 11.2 MHz |
| Supported sample rates, kHz | 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352, 384, 768 |
| Supported bit depth | 16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit |
| Audio chipset | AKM4493EQ |
| Power | 300mW/Ch (32 Ohm Load) |
| Battery capacity, mAh | 5200 |
| Estimated battery life time | 16 timer |
| Memory card compatibility | MicroSDXC |
| Number of card slots | 1 |
| Touch control | Yes |
| Other included accessories | USB cable, screen protector, cleaning cloth, leather case |