Hidizs AP80 pro.

[cavedriver]

Hi.
Has anyone used this player (or de updated Pro X version) just as a transport of the clean Hi-Res signal to an external DAC vía its USB output? It says in the description the USB input/output can be used as a SPIDF source. Is that right?

The problem I had with my AP80 pro was that one of the 3.5 mm contact blades broke soon after I got it. Since I wasn't doing any travelling I put it in a drawer and forgot about it. Now that I'm travelling again I'm switching to 2.5 mm balanced cables for my headphones. I'm also currently using it as a music player feeding an SMSL M300 DAC via USB. As already mentioned you have to play with the internal volume, although I'll add that the internal volume is incredibly non-linear in this mode. Like "nothing-nothing-nothing-holy crap!" at somewhere between 90 and 100. I don't remember having this problem with headphones connected but will see with the balanced cables. I also have the nitpit issue that whenever you change the volume there's no way to force the volume interface to rapidly close so you can go back to the player controls or menu. That extra 3 seconds of waiting is so annoying...

I'm also using a Hidiz S8 USB DAC to drive my Sennheisers from my laptops and I must say I'm impressed. Much better than the stupid Dragonfly Red, just crushed it on timbre, bass extension, and bass accuracy. The S9 is the current generation of their USB DAC.

 

[Kane1972]

There is the Hidizs AP80 Pro-X out now. Wonder how this measures. Wish it could take larger cards, this could then be the device I've been hoping for.

 

[Brian Meijers]

I don't know about the s/pdif part. That would be handy. Well, maybe. Right now I have one plugged into an smsl m500 via USB feeding it ALAC files at 44.1khz, and it works fine. The only quirk is that I have to turn the volume all the way up on the AP80 (pro-x version) to get a full level signal out. Setting the line out option does not work for the USB output. It may be called something else and I just haven't found it.
The gui on this thing is, um, quirky. I haven't used it enough to understand all of the nuances, and I keep getting stuck in a useless album art screen. I have to swipe around randomly until I magically get back to a screen with a back arrow. It really needs a back button. Other than that it works great. It is a fantastic match for the Ety Evos.

Do you use an USB OTG cable to connect the AP80 pro-X to your DAC ?