Looking for a ‘dumb’ DAP

[bargainguy]

I bought a used Astell & Kern AK70 mk. II (2017) DAP last year. Nice sounding unit with Cirrus Logic dual DACs. First thing I did was install a 400GB micro SD to augment 64GB internal storage. Have ~650 CD's stored as FLAC.

This works well for me. I can stream to anything, and use my Topping A30 amp + AKG K702 phones in a wired setup.

The newer A&K models have all kinds of bells and whistles. I'm not tempted. I doubt I could hear a difference between the AK70 II and the newer models, despite what all the online reviewers have to say.

 

[Soria Moria]

I just received the Hidizs! Unfortunately I'm still waiting for my SD card to arrive so I can't use it yet. But I can say that the build quality feels really good.

 

[Crow]

I'm waiting
I'm interested in the Hidizs AP80 PRO-X Bluetooth because sometimes it will be used for streaming music to a speaker (friends, barbecue, gardening, you know) and it uses 4.2, the Shanling M0 Pro has the 5.0 version but it doesn't includes a magnifying glass
Just received the refund for the HiBy R2 II, I think they have poor BT drivers, too bad because is a good DAP

 

[Crow]

AND... the AP80 PRO-X uses the Hiby BT drivers

 

[MTBDoc]

I hope you have better luck with the Hidizs than I did. I was VERY pleased with it for a month or two, then one channel dropped out on the 3.5mm jack. Linsoul told me I had to ship it to China (at my own expense, wait, potential disappearance, etc) and it would be "evaluated." This was AFTER they demanded multiple videos demonstrating the problem, and it is a little tricky trying to shoot video keeping everything in screen & showing headphone earpiece NOT working, etc. I was COMPLETELY done with them.

So I picked up a demo LG G7 phone - $50 or so, no cellular capability. Spent some time clearing out the LG bloatware, but it ended up being a superb musical player. I did manage to drop it from my motorcycle (& it was run over). I thought about it, and decided to pick up a regular G7 from ebay. It is THAT GOOD as a music player, and is very "listenable" using it on its internal speakers. I'm not putting a SIM in it, I like the idea of being able to load software I don't want on my (secure) phone running Graphene. It is bigger than a DAP, but the battery is WAY better - basically it is a small Android tablet to run all sorts of stuff.

As an aside, the Pixel 7 running Graphene is fine, and I have a couple of different dongles (mostly for phone calls) that I use with it. BUT: it takes so little for the dongle to disconnect, the tiniest bit of movement does it. I don't like doing that to the USB-C port, either. The quality of the audio from the LG is astonishing, and it has enough amp to drive ANY headphone. Serious device, no question.