I've decided I need a DAP. Are any of them actually worth purchasing on performance and usability?

[deniall83]

Moving into a small apartment and have decided to condense my audio gear and buy a DAP and some headphones as I'm finding myself with less and less time to listen to speakers. I have a good relationship with a dealer who stocks pretty much every DAP on the market. I'll probably get some Focal Clear headphones and some IEM's as well. My requirements are; expandable storage (I have nearly 1TB of music in FLAC), smooth and fast UI, low output impedance and powerful enough to be useful with most headphones (though not the most important thing). I won't be travelling with this so portability isn't too much of an issue but I have no need for one of those stupid copper or stainless steel bricks.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

 

[bobbooo]

Moving into a small apartment and have decided to condense my audio gear and buy a DAP and some headphones as I'm finding myself with less and less time to listen to speakers. I have a good relationship with a dealer who stocks pretty much every DAP on the market. I'll probably get some Focal Clear headphones and some IEM's as well. My requirements are; expandable storage (I have nearly 1TB of music in FLAC), smooth and fast UI, low output impedance and powerful enough to be useful with most headphones (though not the most important thing). I won't be travelling with this so portability isn't too much of an issue but I have no need for one of those stupid copper or stainless steel bricks.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

What smartphone do you have?

 

[Robin L]

I'm thinking if you're not requiring portability you might consider a desktop audio system. I've got a Fiio M3K DAP, it can hold a TB of micro SD. But compared to the sound I'm getting from I Tunes on my laptop, connected to a Topping E30 DAC [$129], a Topping L30 headphone amp [$139] driving Drop 6XX headphones, the M3K sounds vague. The older Fiio X1 sounds better, particularly with the portable Fiio Monte Blanc amp. But if it's not going to be portable, using a computer [like my laptop] to stream to desktop gear might make more sense and sound better.

 

[deniall83]

What smartphone do you have?

iPhone 8.

I'm thinking if you're not requiring portability you might consider a desktop audio system. I've got a Fiio M3K DAP, it can hold a TB of micro SD. But compared to the sound I'm getting from I Tunes on my laptop, connected to a Topping E30 DAC [$129], a Topping L30 headphone amp [$139] driving Drop 6XX headphones, the M3K sounds vague. The older Fiio X1 sounds better, particularly with the portable Fiio Monte Blanc amp. But if it's not going to be portable, using a computer [like my laptop] to stream to desktop gear might make more sense and sound better.

I appreiate the reply. However, I want portability to an extent as I tend to listen in bed quite a bit at the end of the day. Doing that with a desktop system isn't easy.

 

[raif71]

I'm using Hiby R5... good power. Using it with iems and Senn hd600 via pentaconn jack

 

[bobbooo]

iPhone 8.

What you could do is just get the excellent Apple 3.5mm audio dongle for only $9 and stream your music from your computer to your iPhone losslessly over your home WiFi network.

 

[deniall83]

What you could do is just get the excellent Apple 3.5mm audio dongle for just $9 and stream your music from your computer to your iPhone losslessly over your home WiFi network.

What software would one use to accomplish this?

 

[holicst]

I have a Calyx M for sale, let me know if you are interested.

 

[bobbooo]

What software would one use to accomplish this?

I haven't tried it myself, but it looks like you can just do it through iTunes. The feature is called 'Home Sharing': https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202190

EDIT: Just realised you said your music library is in FLAC, which iTunes doesn't support, so you'd have to convert all your music to ALAC first. You should be able to find some free software that will do that though.

 

[Cahudson42]

You can still find on ebay nib for under $200 the LG V20 910H . It has the same Quad ESS DAC that amir reviewed in the G7.
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...o-measurement-of-lg-g7-thinq-smartphone.4468/
While Amir's review mentioned the power output limitations imposed by EU regulation, down in the comments you can see ways around that so you get the full 2V at the 3.5mm audio out.
The device is supposedly capable of taking a 2tb sdcard, as well as more economical 1tb and 512gb.

You don't need to 'activate' as a phone. It works great w/o any sim card installed over 5g or 2.4g wifi.

I use one as my bedside headphone system. While it will directly drive my relatively inefficient Hifiman HE400i, bass is better with my Liquid Spark.. So the LG sits in a stand with a short 3.5mm to dual RCA cable feeding the LS. Download any Android app from Google play.. I subscribe to Amazon Music..works great..

One of the best 'DAPS' you can find for the $$, IMO.

 

[auronthas]

iPhone 8.
.

You may try to read some good review about Lotoo Paw S1 portable DAC/amp with lightning cable connectivity and 3.5mm (single ended) and 4.4 mm (balanced output).

 

[WondrousHippo]

Honestly, I'd just create a home network and stream your music to your phone, though I haven't found a good DLNA music streamer for iPad the way that Android has a few good ones.

 

[Robin L]

iPhone 8.



I appreiate the reply. However, I want portability to an extent as I tend to listen in bed quite a bit at the end of the day. Doing that with a desktop system isn't easy.

It's not hard. The Topping E/L 30 has a small form factor. Most of the time I'm listening bedside.

 

[bobbooo]

Honestly, I'd just create a home network and stream your music to your phone, though I haven't found a good DLNA music streamer for iPad the way that Android has a few good ones.

I linked to Apple's 'Home Sharing' feature for this purpose a couple of posts up. Have you tried this?

 

[WondrousHippo]

I linked to Apple's 'Home Sharing' feature for this purpose a couple of posts up. Have you tried this?

Same issue as above - library is in FLAC. Also I think QNAP doesn't have an officially-supported iTunes server so I can't run it off of my NAS, though there might be ways through manual installation but I'd rather not mess with that since this not an urgent issue for me.

 

[deniall83]

I think I have a good solution for now.

I can run Roon on my laptop, open the app on my iPhone and set the output device as the iPhone so it streams the music from my laptop. This way I can use the iPhone dongle and use my existing music library without having to do any file conversions. It's just a shame Roon is so expensive.

 

[Matias]

JRiver on a computer serving JRemote on the phone, and an TempoTec Sonata HD Pro feeding an Audeze in-ear. This is what I would do.

 

[tential]

I'm using Hiby R5... good power. Using it with iems and Senn hd600 via pentaconn jack

I really think hiby is the best option.

All daps measure pretty meh. So power is the main difference and usability and that's where the hiby products win vs everyone else. More power and good software m

 

[raif71]

I really think hiby is the best option.

All daps measure pretty meh. So power is the main difference and usability and that's where the hiby products win vs everyone else. More power and good software m

I have several other DAPs and all of them are paired with a dac/amp except this one. This is the go to DAP if I really want mobility. Size/weight just right, like you said good software and most important is more than adequate power.

 

[raistlin65]

I have the Shanling M2X. Works well with HD6XX, HD660S, and my Focal Elear. GUI is very user friendly to me.