A comparison of some random daps on my hand (Ibasso dx200, Hiby R4, Fiio JM21)

[Puzzle]

Recently I bought a JM21 for fun (I heard it has a lot functions to play with, and it's relatively cheap) and my friend gave me a Hiby r4, I also had a Ibasso dx200 on hand which was bought years years ago.
I would say the sound differences are still very big, dx200>R4>JM21 for sure, seems the price tier for sound quality has not been break yet?
My only complain for old ibasso dx200 was it's a bit too laggy and its battery cannot hold long, but I do love its sound.
R4 is a bit more clinic and it's not that powerful comparing with other 2 devices, but I think for the price its sound is still very good.
JM21 has a pretty plain and flat sound, nothing special, but it gets the best soc (Snapdragon 680) among all of three, so it's the smoothest when talking about operating system, and it is playful with a long of different modes. R4 has a 665 inside which is still usable, but dx200's RK3368 is almost a piece of E-waste nowadays.

Tested on my daily n5005, truthear zero, and hifiman edition X.

 

[Johnkeizer]

I own 3 DAPs plus a sort of.
The sort of is a A&K Acro1000. Too big and heavy to be carrying around but small enough to easily move from one place to another. Very flexible, plenty of power and sounds great.
Straight DAPs are a Hiby R5, A&K SE100 and A&K SP1000.
The Hiby is the most musical but the android system installed often drives me crazy.
The SE100 is a close second in sound quality, better made and it’s version of android much easier to play with.
The SP1000 has a slightly more analytical quality to its sound, is quite powerful, has the easy to use version of android but is HEAVY. Basically a block of stainless steel hollowed out for the electronics, it will drag down your pants if put in the pocket. Is my most used DAP though, usually using it with Sennheiser HD800s.

 

[Puzzle]

I own 3 DAPs plus a sort of.
The sort of is a A&K Acro1000. Too big and heavy to be carrying around but small enough to easily move from one place to another. Very flexible, plenty of power and sounds great.
Straight DAPs are a Hiby R5, A&K SE100 and A&K SP1000.
The Hiby is the most musical but the android system installed often drives me crazy.
The SE100 is a close second in sound quality, better made and it’s version of android much easier to play with.
The SP1000 has a slightly more analytical quality to its sound, is quite powerful, has the easy to use version of android but is HEAVY. Basically a block of stainless steel hollowed out for the electronics, it will drag down your pants if put in the pocket. Is my most used DAP though, usually using it with Sennheiser HD800s.

I actually kinda like R4's android system, possibly because my dx200 was too laggy and now I have a very low expectation for any other system...

 

[Johnkeizer]

If playing back the music off internal storage or sd card is the number one priority, A&K seem to be the one to go for.
I loathe android and usually get lost in it but on these players, not a problem.

 

[Puzzle]

If playing back the music off internal storage or sd card is the number one priority, A&K seem to be the one to go for.
I loathe android and usually get lost in it but on these players, not a problem.

I am such a lazy guy so I use music streaming app a lot, so I am very stick to Android, sadly