Views 89,806 This one is going to be good, a DAP costing about 1500 USD, with replaceable DAC / AMP modules, and with Astell & Kern software, so today’s review will be a full fledged, full-length one, with comparisons between SE180 and iBasso DX 300 (1200 USD), Lotoo Paw 6000 …
DAP is an umbrella term that basically means Digital Audio Player, we also sometimes call them Digital Portable Player. They work with microSD cards, internal memory, or streaming sources, and they are capable of driving headphones, IEMs and sometimes send data to Bluetooth enabled devices.
You can find my reviews on daps below, and also the best daps here: https://amzn.to/3tbHkmf
DAP
Shanling M3X Music Player – Refine The Refined
Views 57,700 Shanling M3X is a high-end DAP priced at 340 USD, with one microSD slot, Balanced output, MQA support, and up to 23 hours of battery life from a single charge. The main competition is going to include iBasso DX160, FiiO M11 PRO, Shanling M2X, and iFi xDSD. M3X …
Hiby R2 DAP Music Player – Uber Portability
Views 26,329 Hiby R2 is a tiny DAP with a really good price point, of about 100 USD. In today’s full-length review, it will be compared to Shanling M2X, FiiO M3 PRO, and ACME MF-01. It is aimed at IEM users and can be considered feature-rich, being able to decode …
Lotoo Paw 6000 DAP Music Player – Excellence In Audio
Views 48,011 Lotoo Paw 6000 is the kind of DAP with a Touchscreen that makes me want to get it and use it every day, thanks to its simplistic yet really effective GUI or Graphical User Interface. It has tons of features, and it is priced at 1200 USD at …
ACME MF-01 – Muse For Music
Views 16,950 How about we return to the good old times of retro DAPs, with no touchscreen, and we delve into a review of Acmee MF-01, something still based on the legendary Muses02 OP-AMPs. It is priced at around 100 USD, and we will compare it to Hiby R2, FiiO …
Tempotec V1A Variations – Full Featured DAPy
Views 27,015 V1A Variations has a complicated name, but a simple function. It is a DAP or Digital Audio Player, and it has a ton of features, comes straight out of China, and it is priced at 110 USD at the moment of writing this full written review. This means …
Hiby R3 PRO – Ergonomics, Sonics & MSEB
Views 52,647 Hiby R3PRO is an ultraportable DAP from the Hiby Company, the ones who make the software for almost all Chinese companies. It is priced at 200 USD, and it will be compared to HIDIZS AP80PRO, Shanling M2X, and iBasso DX120. The pairing list will include Final Audio A8000, …
Refined Masterpiece – iBasso DX300 Music Player
Views 85,736 iBasso DX300 is iBasso’s flagship in 2021, and it is priced at 1200 USD. It comes with 4 DAC chips, Dual Batteries, Snapdragon 660, 6GB of RAM, and 128 GB of ROM, and interchangeable AMP modules. It will get compared to the best of the best, like iBasso’s …
R2R GO! – HIFIMAN R2R2000 Streaming Music Player
Views 42,822 An exquisite idea, HIFIMAN R2R2000 is a DAP that promises to bring R2R to portables. It is a limited run unit, and it has support as a music player, but can also act as a USB DAC/AMP, has a type-c input, and is priced at 2500 USD for …
Love Me Now – HIDIZS AP80 PRO Ultra Portable Music Player
Views 29,582 HIDIZS AP80 PRO is an ultraportable DAP priced at 170 USD, and mainly designed for IEMs, but capable of also driving some easier headphones. It will get compared to Shanling M2s, FiiO M3PRO, and Hiby R3 PRO. It will also get paired with FiiO FA9, iBasso AM05, and …
Spectacular Performer – FiiO M11 PRO Music Player
Views 29,580 FiiO M11 PRO is the borderline between being a flagship and being an uber high-end DAP, and being midrange, thanks to its pretty peppy price of 650 USD. This places it right at the lower bottom of flagships / high-end DAPs and the top of midrange DAPs, so …
Peak of Ambition – iBasso DX220 MAX Music Player
Views 38,164 DX220 MAX is not your average DAP, this is $1888 USD the 700 grams of Music at your fingertips. We’re talking about the most ambitious DAP ever created by the best DAP company out there, so we’ll make it rough and compare it to desktop units, pair it …
Calculators, Music & Feelings – FiiO M3Pro Entry-Level DAP
Views 43,414 M3PRO is not exactly a linear upgrade from the original FiiO M3K, that I reviewed quite a while ago. Given its pocket-friendly price point of 80 USD, it does replace the original M3K, and it will get compared to M3K, FiiO BTR5, and Earmen TR-AMP. The pairings list …
Majestic Express – iBasso DX160 DAP Review
Views 28,165 iBasso DX160 is the latest DAP from iBasso, and it comes to tell us once again that they can outdo their own previous work, which was the DX150. With a price tag of 400 USD, it is 20 USD Cheaper than FiiO’s M11, which will be one of …
The partabile – FiiO M11 DAP Player Review
Views 83,230 Priced at about 420 USD, FiiO M11 is the next DAP from FiiO, made to compete fiercely in the midrange DAP market, having iBasso DX160, Hiby R6 and FiiO’s own X5-3 as direct competitors. This being said, M11 comes with Roon, Tidal and full streaming support, so this …
Sweety IEM-Driver Player – Shanling M2X DAP Review
Views 40,753 Priced at about 220 USD, Shanling M2x is one of the most interesting entry-level DAPs of the moment, having been released a few months ago, but still being relevant to the market, and having a bit of a competition from FiiO M7 (200 USD), FiiO M6 (150 USD), …
iBasso DX220 – Ultimate Versatility – (AMP7, AMP8, AMP9, AMP1 MKII)
Views 95,650 Priced at about 900 USD for the basic configuration, and with a large number of subsequent AMP modules on the market, iBasso DX220 makes one of the most interesting DAPs (Digital Audio Players) to look at right now, and has to fare well against harsh competition that includes …
Tiny Music Machines – FiiO M5 // M6 DAP Review
Views 63,369 FiiO M5 and M6 are novel creations from FiiO, tiny DAPs that have both a very portable form factor, but also a good sonic performance, FiiO trying to defy the concept that a small DAP can’t sound good with both. Priced at a price point of about 150 …
The Gentle Flagship Performer – QLS QA361 Music Player
Views 33,271 The QA361 DAP is the first Player I will be reviewing from QLS, a Chinese company known for delivering some of the best sound quality on the market. They are also known for going for minimalistic features, and for achieving some of the best sound signatures in the …
RED Magic – xDuoo X20 DAP Review
Views 43,494 xDuoo X20 is a Player created by xDuoo and sold by Xtenik, with the software designed by Hiby. It has no touch screen, and instead relies on physical buttons, but this has been something a lot of folks wanted, and it has Hiby Link and other awesome features …
Mini Square One DAP – Hidizs AP80 Review
Views 21,322 HIDIZS AP80 is the latest ultraportable DAP from HIDIZS, a Company with a slightly controversial history about support, but which created a few really solid products, like their HIDIZS Sonata HD DAC Cable. With a fair price point of 115 USD, AP80 sure brings some competition to the …
Back On Top – FiiO M9 Player Review
Views 58,943 FiiO M9 is the current midrange DAP (Digital Audio Player) from FiiO, with more, even better DAPs from the M line announced to be released soon. With a very good price point of just 300 USD, it has good competition with similar abilities, like iBasso DX120, Shanling M2X, …
Sleek Performer – FiiO M3K Ultraportable Player Review
Views 33,744 FiiO M3K is the most affordable entry from their new M series, and it is surely pretty interesting, with a good battery life, full metallic build quality, and a warm price point of just 70 USD. Introduction I think everyone has heard at least once about FiiO, …
Little Joy – iBasso DX120 Review
Views 58,826 iBasso DX120 is a more affordable Player from iBasso, one of the most trusted names in the audio industry, but given the very saturated state of the price range it comes at, DX120 has to be pretty good to hold its ground. It is time to see what …
Ultra-Portable & Good Sound – Shanling M0 Review
Views 71,644 Shanling M0 is one of the few Ultra-Portable Music Players on the market right now, but it has fairly solid specifications, with a good amount of power, a nice overall design, and even a touchscreen and Bluetooth. Introduction Shanling is a large company from China, actually working …