Headphones

I have a no longer supported LG G7 with a SD car full of my music collection. It has enough Juice for all my headphones except for my Modified Fostex T20. To be honest, I haven't used it much since I got my Qudelix 5k which I use with my functioning smart phone.

Yes, a phone

what DAP do you use? Do you think it’s worth it?

bought a Sony NW-ZX507 when I accidentally fell down the "hI-rEs" rabbithole. I could have/should have just used that money to buy a phone with an SD slot, in the long run I'd have been much happier. The thinking at the time was to have a separate device so I wasn't constantly using my phone, but that rarely happened - it just made my experience more convoluted with 2 devices, the Do Not Disturb function is a much better option for uninterrupted listening.

The only thing that's good about a DAP is a headphone jack and some of them have knob, most of them also have that extremely percise volume control. Other than that, as my experience goes, I had gone through 3 of them and all 3 of them are bad in some way. The one thing that all 3 of them have are extrememly poor performance and bad software support. One of my DAP would completely shutdown if I plug it in as a DAC for my computer.

I would personally just get something like a LG phone and use it as a DAP since it has very good DAC chip inside it.

I have an ancient video iPod. I really only use it when I'm flying.

I use a DAP for all my music needs because storing my entire music library on a separate device from my phone and not having to use my phone’s battery all the time for all of it is worth it for me. Depending on what you want out of it (Bluetooth, balanced audio outs etc.) what you wanna get will depend, but if it’s just for Bluetooth and having somewhere to plug a 3.5mm jack in basically any will do. I personally use a FiiO M11S, but you probably won’t need that.

I use an old iPod I refurbed myself with microSD storage instead of a hard drive, a big battery so it lasts a week between charging and Rockbox so I don't need iTunes.

It's small and the physical controls are easy to operate while its in a pocket.

The audio quality is fine since I mostly use it outside the house when the music is competing with ambient noise like traffic, other people's conversations, the noise of being on a bus or a train, etc... These aren't quality listening environments.

My iPod was a fun pandemic project. If you want something portable, there are plenty of new devices you can get with more features for less money.

If you are thinking about a DAP, but don't know, if it's worth it and aren't sure you need it, then you don't need it. And after that if you still think about a DAP, then don't go for something expensive, because it's not worth it. Buy a phone (older LG with Quad DAC) and a SD card, or a USB dongle for your phone. If this is not enough, buy something like Shanlings M1S or so under 200/300 USD, that's more than enough. I've bought an Hiby R5 Gen II and it's fine, but could spend that money elswhere:)

I used to just use my Galaxy Note 9 as my main media device, had all my music on it - but as new phones ditched the headphone jack I decided it was time - I had an iPod back in 2007 that I dearly loved (still have it, but its still the original, essentially dead, battery) - started looking around and settled on Fiio M11 - had a pro, now am on to the Plus Ltd. and am real happy with it. It is my main music device now. Got mine lightly used from eBay, no regrets.

I bought Shanling M0 Pro cause it’s smol. An alternative form factor than just using my phone.

I have an Fiio M7 and when I got it, it was worth it for me because at the time I had an iPhone 12 64GB, so I used the M7 for portable music player with a 512GB micro-SD. Since the phone space was too small for my music library.

But since I upgraded phones to a galaxy A53, I don't really use my M7 anymore, due to the A53 having a micro-SD slot. It is something different if I switched to a phone without one, as I would still be using the M7.

So, it really depends on you wants and needs really.

I have both Lotoo PAW Gold and Lotoo PAW Gold Touch Ti. I love them. I had a Sony Zx507 but the unit is very slow and the apps started to be slow. Also it did not produce enough power to some IEMs. This decided me to not get an Android based DAP as I would like to use it for longer than 5 years.

For me the only thing that makes the DAP worth it, is not having all of my library stored on my phone. But I travel only a few times a year where if I really wanted more music I’d just would some stuff off my phone first. I’d say it just depends on if you actually think you’d use it over other devices you already own. For me the answer is very seldomnly

I bought an Astell & Kern SR35 recently, so I didn't have to keep messing around with converting my FLACs to ALAC or AAC and using bloody iTunes to get my music on to my phone.

Previously I was able to fit my lossless library onto my 512Gb phone when converted down to AAC, but I now I just have a 1Tb SD in the DAP which is synced with my local digital library (Roon) and the A&K works great.

Battery life is pretty decent, it is very small and pocketable and has plenty of power to drive my IEMS and Open Backed cans. Works with Roon & Tidal too when needed.

I have a "FreeSync" job setup on my media PC and very few weeks I push the latest library to the SD card and off we go.

​

...to add, it was kind of nice to come full circle! I bought my very first "big boy" DAP back In 2003 and it was an iRiver H120. I still have it and it still works, so coming back to Astell & Kern 20 years later (iRiver became A&K) tickled me.

I dont have a use for one. 99% of the time im listening to my headphones at the desk and the rest is IEMs in bed with a dongle.

#Digital Audio Player

Sometimes wires get crossed and I forget what part of the internet I’m on.

I have the original fiio m11 and love it, will use it till it dies

iBasso DX320

For streaming? No thanks.just use your phone. If you've got a very large collection of ripped high quality non compressed music then they're pretty awesome. I love my Sony and wouldn't trade it for the world but without that collection it's pointless. Hell I could argue still that it's pointless but I really love the device regardless. I'd say it's not necessary by any means but if you have the spare cash and want a spare device for high quality locally stored audio then go for it.

I think it can be worth it depending on the use case. DAPs are a no-go if you're only streaming music. Also harder to recommend DAPs these days though vs 5-10 years ago cause mid-range DAPs have gotten more expensive and there's limited options for entry level. The main draws for me are the dedicated buttons and being separated from my phone (no dongle = less USB port wear while in the pocket).

Right now I'm using a Sony A306 as my daily driver with IEMs, has a great battery life so it won't be racking up too many charge cycles like my other DAPs. I still use a Fiio X5iii (dual SD slots) at home for headphones so the low output power of the A306 doesn't bother me.

I have an old Shanling M2S that I used to daily cause it could also act as a bluetooth DAC/amp for my phone but I sidelined it in favour of the A306. Has the average DAP batt life of around 10 hours so it racked up charge cycles really quickly.

I have a Hiby R6 that I use all the time. I also travel constantly for work so I'm on planes or hotel rooms weekly. I love my DAP for that reason alone. It's also a really good DAC that I use for my laptop.

First gen FiiO X3. I'm quite happy with it. The DAC chip made virtually no noise even with my KZ ZSN Pro x, which whined a little when attached to my Behringer UMC202HD interface (though that thing is a letdown anyway). They're not in production any more, but you could probably find one second hand for quite cheap.

No, don't need or want one. I use my phone and an external DAC/Amp.

Yep, I have the ZX500 and I love the thing to bits. Most modern flagship phones don’t have SD card slots so being able to store all my music on my DAP, and not have to carry a dongle that hangs off my phone is great. I keep it in my pocket and forget about it.

I tried using a few FiiO DAPs before (ones with Android and streaming), and they were slow and too much hassle for me. I got some portable DACs if I want to use wired headphones with my phone, but that's it.

Buy a mojo 2 or dongle dac and use it with your smartphone if you want streaming. I used to buy daps as well but they are slow and battery went bad quickly. Bulky too.

If you want a small dap with no streaming then I guess it's fine, but sound quality is not as good as the more modern daps.

I had one for a day.

I returned it because it was just a worse version of my phone and I had instant buyers remorse.

I am one of this rare people, who use a smartphone only very rarely. 99,5% of the time it lies on my desk at home.

I don't need any wireless or apps and a minimum size was very important. A size of a smartphone is too large for me.

So, at the end I bought a Hiby RS2. Great device, but display is a little bit small and there is only a very short manual.

I found a solution for my DAP needs. I bought an LG V30, one 512gb microsd card and the neutron player for the V30. A good sounding device and you can connect usb DACs!

iPod 5th gen with Rockbox

I bought a Fiio M11 when I bought my first phone without a headphone jack. After a few happy months I noticed that not having a cable and ANC is actually quite nice when commuting, so I got a pair of Bose QC45 (no, they don't sound amazing, but they are good enough for on the go). I then loaded the Fiio Music App and a few albums onto my phone and for almost a year I haven't felt the need to carry the M11 around with me anymore. I would take it with me when leaving the house for a few days and I want more music to listen to or when I want to use my headphones away from my desk, but don't want to use my phone because I want to relax.

Fiio m17 and hiby r8. Love em

wm1a, and i like how it sounds

on a budget, you cant go wrong with the cheapest walkman without android you can find. best if mrwalkman has a mod for it

I'm rocking a TC44 Pro that got USB C. Use my Clear MG with 4.4 balanced to my phone. Battery drain doesn't feel like it's happening, but it works. My phone battery lasts forever.

FiiO X3 2nd gen

Have an older Astel &Kern. Don’t use it.

Yup. M11 plus ess, love it.

I have the Sony NW ZX707. Great DAP!

Love my Shanling M0, saves a lot of space and weight. Also drives my Ananda very well, great with DT770, LDAC for the No.5909.

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