Hello, I'm trying to find what's stated in the title, I need it for playing music while doing exercise.
Since wireless audio is the trend for that already, it's very hard to find small audio players, I suppose because:
-All Android smartphones are huge now, even the cheapest entry level. And I'm saying this as someone who always used the biggest smartphone available because I'm used to desktop monitors. The first smartphone I bought in 2013 was named a "phone tablet" at 5.5". Also, since smartphones batteries degrade into unusable levels after around 5 years and are either very difficult or expensive to replace, I'm not sure buying an old used small Android smartphone is the better option.
-"Audiophile" grade portable players (except one), are heavy, bulky and/or big, I think they are done more for a portable desktop experience (as in, you sit down in a desktop which isn't at home, place the DAP in the table and then take it with you when you are finished) than for actually on the go playing (as in, doing exercise or commuting). And those closer to a smaller smartphone size are still in the range of 4-5" because they are also oriented to video reproduction. The only one I found which is small in this range is the Shanling M0 and M0 Pro, but it's around 110 €/$ and I read the brand reliability is low and its support procedure is basically ignoring you.
-The trend for exercise is a smartwatch and wireless IEMs, connected through BT. People doing that don't need either a separated DAP or a DAC, so wired solutions for on the go are probably being phased out. Of course BT sound sounds closer to 128 kbps MP3 than to lossless, but the masses are happy with the convenience of light weight and no cables.
-There are a few Aliexpress grade small music players, I tried one and the sound from the 3.5 mm jack plug is very serviceable for a device of 16-20 €/$, unimaginable years ago. But this one I tried doesn't pass sound through the USB-C port, which looks like it's only for charging, I doubted if it could and then confirmed it. For people used to dynamic drivers and cheap IEMs is probably good enough with direct 3.5 mm, but I prefer planar drivers which require more juice.
There is one Aliexpress grade small player in the range of 10-12 €/$ which in a picture mentions OTG support, but I'm not sure if USB OTG always include audio reproduction or they are just mentioning you could connect the player to a PC to transfer files:
USB OTG isn't mentioned in the text description, just this:
Other cheap players only mention USB-C as charging, so this one looks like that at least it could be connected to a computer for file transfer.
I read here USB DAC dongles like the Fosi DS2, Fiio KA11 or Jcally JM20/MAX/Pro are the final solution to the very portable budget DAC problem, but from what I'm reading, if you want such a sound quality included in a DAP, the price is closer to 150-250 €/$ than to 25-30 of a USB dongle + 15-20 of a cheap player (if one worked for USB sound reproduction, that is).
Does it look like that USB OTG cheap player I mentioned could pass sound to a USB dongle? Or is this basically limited to Android OS, even though OTG was mentioned?
Is there another solution I'm not aware of?
Thank you
Since wireless audio is the trend for that already, it's very hard to find small audio players, I suppose because:
-All Android smartphones are huge now, even the cheapest entry level. And I'm saying this as someone who always used the biggest smartphone available because I'm used to desktop monitors. The first smartphone I bought in 2013 was named a "phone tablet" at 5.5". Also, since smartphones batteries degrade into unusable levels after around 5 years and are either very difficult or expensive to replace, I'm not sure buying an old used small Android smartphone is the better option.
-"Audiophile" grade portable players (except one), are heavy, bulky and/or big, I think they are done more for a portable desktop experience (as in, you sit down in a desktop which isn't at home, place the DAP in the table and then take it with you when you are finished) than for actually on the go playing (as in, doing exercise or commuting). And those closer to a smaller smartphone size are still in the range of 4-5" because they are also oriented to video reproduction. The only one I found which is small in this range is the Shanling M0 and M0 Pro, but it's around 110 €/$ and I read the brand reliability is low and its support procedure is basically ignoring you.
-The trend for exercise is a smartwatch and wireless IEMs, connected through BT. People doing that don't need either a separated DAP or a DAC, so wired solutions for on the go are probably being phased out. Of course BT sound sounds closer to 128 kbps MP3 than to lossless, but the masses are happy with the convenience of light weight and no cables.
-There are a few Aliexpress grade small music players, I tried one and the sound from the 3.5 mm jack plug is very serviceable for a device of 16-20 €/$, unimaginable years ago. But this one I tried doesn't pass sound through the USB-C port, which looks like it's only for charging, I doubted if it could and then confirmed it. For people used to dynamic drivers and cheap IEMs is probably good enough with direct 3.5 mm, but I prefer planar drivers which require more juice.
There is one Aliexpress grade small player in the range of 10-12 €/$ which in a picture mentions OTG support, but I'm not sure if USB OTG always include audio reproduction or they are just mentioning you could connect the player to a PC to transfer files:
USB OTG isn't mentioned in the text description, just this:
Other cheap players only mention USB-C as charging, so this one looks like that at least it could be connected to a computer for file transfer.
I read here USB DAC dongles like the Fosi DS2, Fiio KA11 or Jcally JM20/MAX/Pro are the final solution to the very portable budget DAC problem, but from what I'm reading, if you want such a sound quality included in a DAP, the price is closer to 150-250 €/$ than to 25-30 of a USB dongle + 15-20 of a cheap player (if one worked for USB sound reproduction, that is).
Does it look like that USB OTG cheap player I mentioned could pass sound to a USB dongle? Or is this basically limited to Android OS, even though OTG was mentioned?
Is there another solution I'm not aware of?
Thank you
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