Preamble:
Hidizs Technology (
http://www.hidizs.com/) is a Chinese audio manufacturer (mainly digital audio players) that established in early 2014 and is based in Dongguan, China. In the past year, they have expanded their market to other Asian, European and American countries.
And as the market for digital audio players evolves, Hidizs has just introduced an inexpensive audio player with a touch button control interface that doesn’t only cost just $89.00 (
http://penonaudio.com/Hidizs-AP60), but also promises to be packed full of features such as an AKM DAC chip, DSD playback capability, a really low output impedance, Bluetooth with aptX, two gain modes, a micro SD slot and probably even the ability to connect an external DAC to the USB socket.
Does this sound too good to be true or odes the AP60 indeed offer all of these features? In the course of this review, I hope to find everything out.
Before I continue, I want to take the time to personally and heartily thank Penon Audio for sending me a sample of the Hidizs AP60 free of charge for the purpose of an honest, unbiased review. As always, I am not affiliated with Penon or Hidizs and this review contains nothing but my honest opinion.
Technical Specifications:
Price: $89.00 (
http://penonaudio.com/Hidizs-AP60)
Colours: 5 (black, red, pink, yellow, blue)
(Image source specs: https://www.facebook.com/hidizs/photos/pcb.642292095948977/642290442615809/?type=3&theater)
Delivery Content:
Despite its reasonable price tag, the AP60 arrives in a nicely designed cardboard box that contains the player with already installed screen protector. Also, one will find some paper stuff, a spare screen protector, a charging cable and even some earbuds plus foam covers and a small carrying pouch.
That is pretty nice for a sub $100 audio player.
Looks, Feels, Build Quality:
The player looks quite good and the screen, while not having the best viewing angle, has got a good pixel density.
On the bottom, there are a 3.5 mm headphone output and a micro USB charging and DAC port (the AP60 is supposed to output and receive digital signals through this port).
On the right hand side, there is a micro SD card slot (the AP60 by the way doesn’t have any problems reading 200 GB exFAT-formatted cards and the reading speed is really good, too).
On the left side, there are the volume buttons as well as the power on/off button.
The front also contains 7 illuminated touch-sensor buttons (up/down/left/right/select/quick settings/back).
The build quality appears solid, though the player feels a little plasticky.
Operation, User Interface:
Firmware Version 0.03beta:
The player has got a rather basic but intuitive interface with a file browser, media database (that doesn’t support the “Album Artist” tag, but only very few players do), music settings and general settings. Strangely though, operation is mainly done with the up/down buttons and also fast-forwarding/rewinding only works with them which is a little illogical (resolved with 0.05beta).
In the settings, there are a few nice options not to be expected for a player at this price, such as a pretty nice and adjustable equalizer.
The playing screen displays the album cover art with the track info being shown below, along with a track counter and a progress bar. Unfortunately, the album cover is not fully show but scaled to cover the entire screen.
In the status bar, information about the battery status, the menu one is currently in and the playback information are shown, with the volume info (120 steps in total) being right next to them.
An overlaid quick settings ring can be opened by pressing the “menu” button on the playing screen.
I got used to the navigation quite quickly, however the navigation by using the up/down buttons is not the most logical one (resolved with 0.05beta). However, I really have to say that I am not a fan of the touch-button d-pad of the AP60 as it is not the most precise one and it happens rather often that I tap the wrong button, especially on the go. Also, there is a software bug that all of the buttons freeze when the “volume down” button is held down when the screen is black (only a reboot makes the buttons accessible again – resolved with 0.04beta).
Besides that though, the user interface is responsive and also gapless playback with FLAC files works perfectly.
The UI design and structure is good, the operation however isn’t (you really get used to it over time but the touch button control just isn’t as precise – at least for me).
Firmware Version 0.04beta:
The battery indicator was visually updated. An optional power-saving mode (deep sleep standby) was also introduced, but the DAC feature didn’t work yet. However, the bug that caused the buttons to freeze when the screen is off and the volume buttons are pressed for a longer lime has been fortunately resolved.
Firmware Version 0.05beta:
The D-Pad became fully usable in the main menu (the left and right buttons became functional) and on the playing screen, the left and right buttons finally also became usable as skip buttons. These are logical improvements and I have now nothing to criticise about the firmware and menu navigation anymore.
In addition, the USB DAC input was enabled (along with Windows drivers), so the AP60 could finally be used as USB DAC on Windows computers and Android tablets. However, the USB DAC output still remained deactivated and trying to connect an external DAC such as the Chord Mojo to the AP60 didn’t lead to any success yet.
Another change was that the amount of volume steps was reduced from 120 to 80. While the volume control still remained fine-grained, I however preferred the prior 120 steps and hope that Hidizs goes back to the more fine-grained 120 steps again with the next firmware.
Firmware Version 0.06beta:
I assume that this was a stability update as I couldn’t detect any difference to the previous firmware.
Firmware Version 1.01beta:
Apart from that Hidizs is still calling each firmware release "beta" since the very first day, 1.01 finally gave us what was promised long ago: the USB DAC out feature was finally working! Connecting my Chord Mojo to the AP60 works just fine without any problems now. This makes the AP60 the cheapest USB transport available to my knowledge (not counting some low budget Android smartphones).
DSD128 playback was enabled as well, according to the change log.
Battery Life:
To test the battery life, I connected the inexpensive Superlux HD668B, set the volume to 60 (low gain) and played a 44.1 kHz/16 Bit FLAC file in repeat. From time to time, I unlocked the screen and navigated through the menus.
Under these circumstances, the player was able to reach a battery life of around 11 hours.
Sound:
The in-ears I used were my Shure SE846, Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10, Sennheiser IE 800, Etymotic ER-4S and the Ostry KC06A.
Frequency Response, Output Impedance:
Giving the AP60 an easy load, this is its frequency response output:
As one can see, there is a roll-off in the lower frequencies that can also be heard when listening to low-extending in-ears that one knows well. This is rather sad because this roll-off doesn’t seem to be load-related as it remains identical even with a higher-impedance in-ear or headphone.
The output impedance is stated to be 0.1 Ohms, so let’s see how the AP60 behaves with a very critical multi-driver in-ear like the Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10:
Calculated output impedance seems to be rather at ≤ 1.5 Ohms, which is higher than stated but still good though.
Hiss:
The Hidizs AP60 has got a pretty weak headphone output that is clearly better suited for in-ears and low-level listeners, nonetheless (regardless of gain setting in the menu) if you are sensitive to hiss yourself, it puts out a quite high amount of hiss into super sensitive in-ears like the Shure SE846 or Ostry KC06A and also some into less sensitive in-ears (it is still slightly audible with my Sennheiser IE 800).
I can understand if some really powerful audio players have some (high) amount of hiss, however it is a little surprising for a quite weak audio player.
Transparency, Precision, Soundstage:
Now to the very subjective part of my review. My opinion and experience regarding the sound signature of source devices and amplifiers goes like this: there is an existing audible difference between various devices, but it shouldn’t be overrated – simply because the basic character of a headphone won’t be completely changed (if the circuit follows a clean design philosophy), but sometimes rather “shaped” a little and is extremely subtle in many cases and is (in most cases) just slightly present (if even) and not huge like totally different classes.
So let’s continue with my subjective impressions and observations:
Due to the hiss and its noise floor modulation, the player sounds a little warm.
The soundstage appears normal with normal separation and the bass is fast and not soft. However, the treble appears to lack some definition and just seems to be there, but without the last bit of refinement.
What is quite nice though is that the volume control is quite fine-grained (120 steps, later only 80) and that it is also possible to listen very quietly with the player.
I would say the sound is okay, however the hiss should be lower for the power the player puts out and the treble could also be a bit more differentiated. Also, the roll-off in the lows that can be noticed with low extending music and in-ears if you know the headphones well shouldn’t be there either.
Except for the fine-grained volume control, I don’t really see an advantage over an average, rather low-impedance, inexpensive smartphone on the sound side.
Bluetooth, USB-DAC:
Turning on the Bluetooth, it worked extremely well using the MEE audio Air-Fi Matrix² and Mass Fidelity Relay. As the MEE and Mass Fidelity support aptX streaming, just like the Hidizs, the signal was transparent, clear and clean and noticeably better than from some non-aptX sources (my laptop for example) and a little better than with the AGPTek C05 that does not support aptX but already streams a very clean signal already without the aptX-technology (such as the AP60 and the BlackBerry Q10).
The AP60 is said to be working as digital source to feed an external USB DAC, however even with the “0.05beta” firmware, I couldn’t get it to work with my Chord Mojo or Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII and other DACs (Shozy Lancea, StarTech.com interface).
It finally happened with firmware "1.01beta" - the AP60's long promised USB DAC output feature was enabled. Connecting my Chord Electronics Mojo to the AP60 works flawlessly now, making the AP60 an inexpensive and small USB transport device.
With the “0.03beta” firmware, it wasn’t detected as a DAC either (the AP60 showed “DAC” on its screen but didn’t play any sound) (Windows 7 laptop, Nexus 7 (2nd generation) tablet). I assume that the DAC input and output first need to be activated with a future firmware release, however what was quite nice is that the sampling rate and bit depth are displayed on its screen, along with the set volume.
After the release of the “0.05beta” firmware, the AP60 became usable as a portable USB DAC with many portable Android devices (such as my Asus Google Nexus 7 2
nd generation) and also with Windows computers (after manually installing the drivers that came in the folder with the software update). The connection stability is really good and what I really love is that the AP60’s screen will display information such as bit depth, sampling rate and the volume setting.
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Comparisons:
SanDisk Sansa Clip Plus (RockBox Firmware installed):
With RockBox, the Sansa has got the superior navigation and user interface, however the Hidizs is not too far off. The navigation and operation is quite a bit better with the Sansa’s physical buttons though.
Regarding features, the Hidizs has got the advantage of having a DAC in- and output (that is not activated with the initial 0.03beta firmware though) and Bluetooth with aptX whereas the Sansa has got an FM radio and microphone for voice recordings, along with additional built-in memory.
The Hidizs has got the audibly higher amount of hiss while both players have got a fine-grained volume control (120/80 vs. 87 steps) and it is possible with both players to listen very quietly.
The Sansa has got the even lower output impedance but both are good in this regard. The Clip Plus has got no roll-off in the low bass.
Volume-matched and using highly resolving in-ears like the SE846, the AP60 has got the tighter bass whereas the Sansa’s appears somewhat mushy, soft and unrefined in direct comparison. The Sansa sounds also a little darker in comparison. In the treble though, the Sansa appears to be more refined and better differentiated player although there are also some that are somewhat better.
Regarding soundstage, I wouldn’t be able to tell both apart.
AGPTek C05:
Both have got a somewhat quirky operation and navigation (resolved with 0.05beta), however the C05 is better to navigate due to its hardware buttons. Regarding software/database, the AP60 is superior as it sorts folders in the correct alphabetical order whereas the AGPTek sorts them in the order they were copied onto the device.
The AP60 has got a DAC in- and output (that is not activated yet with the 0.03beta firmware though) whereas the AGPtek has got an FM radio and microphone for voice memos, along with an additional built-in memory. Both have got Bluetooth however the Hidizs supports aptX and outputs the slightly more transparent wireless stream.
The Hidizs has got the audibly higher noise floor but the more fine-grained volume control (120/80 vs. 30 steps) and one can listen very quietly with the AP60.
Both have got a comparable output impedance (the C05’s is minimally lower) but the AGPTek has got no roll-off in the low bass.
Volume-matched and using highly resolving in-ears like the SE846, both show a similarly tight bass whereas the C05 appears overall to be clearer and cleaner sounding, with the higher transparency due to the much quieter noise floor. The C05 also sounds neutral whereas the Hidizs is a little dark sounding because of its noise floor modulation. In the treble, the AGPTek sounds more refined and better differentiated.
Regarding soundstage, I would say that the C05’s is somewhat larger and also a bit better separated.
So the sound goes to the AGPTek whereas the UI/features go to the Hidizs player.
Conclusion:
The Hidizs AP60 has got many features for its price point, such as the (
potential finally working) USB DAC in- and output, great card support and reading speeds, really high Bluetooth quality and perfect gapless playback with FLAC files, a fine-grained volume control with low possible listening levels, a quite low output impedance, an overall quite well-structured and nice user interface, a flawless folder browser support and a nice pack of accessories.
However, there are also some things that are not so good:
the DAC feature is not activated (yet), the player has got a permanent moderate roll-off in the low bass, has got a noise floor that should be definitely lower for the comparatively weak headphone output, lacks some definition in the highs, has got some firmware bugs yet to be resolved (
buttons and d-pad freeze when holding the volume down button while the screen is off, occasional crashing) and doesn’t support the “Album Artist” tag (however only very few players do). Also, its navigation is not very precise due to the d-pad with the touch buttons, especially on the go (you will either love or hate this type of navigation – for me, it is clearly more of the latter).
The negative points are somewhat in the majority for me and at this point, I really cannot give the player more than 2.5 out of 5 possible stars at max. If some of the software-related issues could get sorted out in the future through a firmware update, I could see the player as being in the ~ 3 star (but not more) range and being potentially interesting for people who are looking for a quite inexpensive source for their portable DAC (as soon as it is unlocked via an update), as I really see its strengths in being a pure transport device (both Bluetooth and/or micro USB).
Over (long) time, the promised software features (USB DAC Input and especially the USB DAC Output) were finally added, making the AP60 the transport device that Hidizs promised prior to the release. Now the DAC output is finally working and connecting an external DAC such as the Chord Mojo finally leads to sound output through the digital to analogue converter.
While the AP60 is really well usable as a transport device now and really inexpensive for this purpose, the fiddly navigation with the touch buttons is still annoying and the internal audio path is still not the best (as both are hardware-related, only a big facelift of the player could resolve these issues).
With the finally added USB DAC output, I now can finally give the AP60 the 3 stars that I said would be the maximum amount it could get as an overall package if the promised software features were ever delivered.