AIGO 105
Credit to: @jonjon manlapaz for lending me his unit for the purpose of this review
Pros:
Tank like build
Hefty weight/size
Body structure and design are well made
Good battery performance
Soft buttons
Powerful amp section
Internal memory of 8gig
Aluminum body and buttons
Great for fast phased music
Line out
Good impact / presence
Great dynamics
Cons
Screen size is good enough but albumcovers are all stretched and do not match on screen resolution.
UI needs a little more improvement in implementation, too many settings in the menu.
Confusing menu
Scroll wheel is welcome but badly implemented from poorly provided UI/
Graphically imperfect UI
Synergy depends on your gears signature
The Aigo is a well made dap. Period.
A dap with a tank like build and weight.
Even my old headphiler friends who joined our FAC minimeet last Sunday are all impressed by how well made this dap is. AIGO will put to shame all the daps in our old days, from sansa to creative to sonys.
The buttons are neatly placed for easy access. But i personally prefer the XDUUO X3s button placements. And XDUOO's 2 MMC slot is a winner!
Volumes on the right side, along one mmc slot and usb for charging. No buttons on the left side and also under the dap.
The screen is more elevated than the facia.
The first thing you will notice when you hold it is weight. It's heavier compared to most daps of this size.
Let me remind you that the font is very small and not easy on the eyes when viewing and navigating your library. It CAN BE if fixed by an update from AIGO.
The SQ is leaning on the warm-fuller side. The amp section is powerful enough for any iems.
With my FITEAR TG334, im only using 15/100 and thats the standard volume i can take normally. The other 85 is extra juice for your other hard to drive cans in your collection.
When i use the TY HIZ (no foam), I find the sound to be on the bright side which i didnt like much unlike when i use the VE MONK. The funny thing is, i love my HIZ so much even to the H.O. of my iphone 6. And was amused why its not good with the AIGO.
The BALDOOR proved also to be a good pair on this dap. Using BALDOOR earbud, the AIGO reminds me what i like most on this earbud - good timbre and bass. It revealed the character of this earbud.
Using ZERO AUDIO TENORE, to level the same amount of volume with my TG, i went from 15 to now 25.
The soundstage is 2d-like only in layers if compared to directly with my usb dac amp ADR (audioquest dragonfly). Detail level however is excellent like that from XDUOO, considering it falls only in the budgetfi range.
Treble is more defined and extended than the XDUOO X3. The sound is not as bias as that of the XDUOO, it may not be as clean and blacker background as the XDUOO but you will feel this is more balance sounding from treble to bass. It felt like the thick mids has been taken out. The extension of treble is countered by thumping lows.
Sometimes the treble is almost leaning to the thin side, not by much, only in the extension. But it still compose on being smooth even in female vocals.
Im a little worried on the treble part. There are times when i like its extension because its one thing that helps to elevate the sound, but there are also parts when shouting vocals became a little alarming on certain tracks.
Sound is livelier. More articulate.
Not as soft as the XDUOO. Better attack and push but soundstage is smaller if compared directly to XDUOO. Theres layers of depth than wideness in width. Less spacious in soundstage and separation.
In my INEAR stagediver SD2S, im using 20/100 of volume.
My SD2S is a warm sounding iem, when i pair it with the AIGO, it became a little bright than usual warm sig im used too.
This dap is good with the gears i have. We all know, Synergy plays an important role in enjoyment of your set up.
Here i plugged the FITEAR, even the RED VE MONK PLUS, and when i push play, i just put the dap on the table and let the music do its thing to keep me inlvolved and happy. I love it.
The amp section is powerful and clean. Powerful. You wont be needing an extra amp for most of your gears. Clean. It is free from distortion at. Unlike the HIDIZS AP100 dap, you will hear a little distortion when you went up from neat full volume level.
Bass section is not as fuller as that of the XDUOOs (0db). But the treble on this one is better. On the mids part, i really like the XDUOOs. Background is blacker on the XDUOO too.
I wish the company can still improve the UI, its necessary to make this unbeatable, thats where the XDUOO win. And hope the AIGO, a not popular brand, wont cut its support.
Pair this with a bright and treble sensitive iem or earbud and you have a recipe for disaster. Lol. Kidding aside, warm sounding gears will tame the treble a little and will be have a synergy to this dap.
This dap has its own respective PROS and CONS. So is that of the XDUOOs. You will have to try them both and hear what fits your gears nicely in terms of synergy in what daps.
XDUOO has more blacker background, more smooth and spacious but its soft, attacks is a bit lame. The AIGO is clearer, livelier and has a powerful amp section, but the treble will play a role if it will match well with the gears you have. Its more balanced, yes, deep in depth but narrow. Might be fatiguing if youre not into this or not used to this kind of treble. The AIGO is good for fast phase music, POP, ROCK, METAL etc.
UI is graphically imperfect, it needs more polishing and thought. Its so confusing in so many ways. Sometimes i get lost in navigation.
What confuses me with this dap is, when i use a BA iem, it only needs lesser volume level. When i use DYNAMIC driver in earbud, it demands more volume than that of the BA. I dont know why its like that, or how to call it but i never experience that in the XDUOO.
If youre into balanced sounding dap, good attacks, longer battery life,more powerful amp, with a tank like build, you cant go wrong with the AIGO. It can outlast most daps in its time.
Credit to: @jonjon manlapaz for lending me his unit for the purpose of this review
Pros:
Tank like build
Hefty weight/size
Body structure and design are well made
Good battery performance
Soft buttons
Powerful amp section
Internal memory of 8gig
Aluminum body and buttons
Great for fast phased music
Line out
Good impact / presence
Great dynamics
Cons
Screen size is good enough but albumcovers are all stretched and do not match on screen resolution.
UI needs a little more improvement in implementation, too many settings in the menu.
Confusing menu
Scroll wheel is welcome but badly implemented from poorly provided UI/
Graphically imperfect UI
Synergy depends on your gears signature
The Aigo is a well made dap. Period.
A dap with a tank like build and weight.
Even my old headphiler friends who joined our FAC minimeet last Sunday are all impressed by how well made this dap is. AIGO will put to shame all the daps in our old days, from sansa to creative to sonys.
The buttons are neatly placed for easy access. But i personally prefer the XDUUO X3s button placements. And XDUOO's 2 MMC slot is a winner!
Volumes on the right side, along one mmc slot and usb for charging. No buttons on the left side and also under the dap.
The screen is more elevated than the facia.
The first thing you will notice when you hold it is weight. It's heavier compared to most daps of this size.
Let me remind you that the font is very small and not easy on the eyes when viewing and navigating your library. It CAN BE if fixed by an update from AIGO.
The SQ is leaning on the warm-fuller side. The amp section is powerful enough for any iems.
With my FITEAR TG334, im only using 15/100 and thats the standard volume i can take normally. The other 85 is extra juice for your other hard to drive cans in your collection.
When i use the TY HIZ (no foam), I find the sound to be on the bright side which i didnt like much unlike when i use the VE MONK. The funny thing is, i love my HIZ so much even to the H.O. of my iphone 6. And was amused why its not good with the AIGO.
The BALDOOR proved also to be a good pair on this dap. Using BALDOOR earbud, the AIGO reminds me what i like most on this earbud - good timbre and bass. It revealed the character of this earbud.
Using ZERO AUDIO TENORE, to level the same amount of volume with my TG, i went from 15 to now 25.
The soundstage is 2d-like only in layers if compared to directly with my usb dac amp ADR (audioquest dragonfly). Detail level however is excellent like that from XDUOO, considering it falls only in the budgetfi range.
Treble is more defined and extended than the XDUOO X3. The sound is not as bias as that of the XDUOO, it may not be as clean and blacker background as the XDUOO but you will feel this is more balance sounding from treble to bass. It felt like the thick mids has been taken out. The extension of treble is countered by thumping lows.
Sometimes the treble is almost leaning to the thin side, not by much, only in the extension. But it still compose on being smooth even in female vocals.
Im a little worried on the treble part. There are times when i like its extension because its one thing that helps to elevate the sound, but there are also parts when shouting vocals became a little alarming on certain tracks.
Sound is livelier. More articulate.
Not as soft as the XDUOO. Better attack and push but soundstage is smaller if compared directly to XDUOO. Theres layers of depth than wideness in width. Less spacious in soundstage and separation.
In my INEAR stagediver SD2S, im using 20/100 of volume.
My SD2S is a warm sounding iem, when i pair it with the AIGO, it became a little bright than usual warm sig im used too.
This dap is good with the gears i have. We all know, Synergy plays an important role in enjoyment of your set up.
Here i plugged the FITEAR, even the RED VE MONK PLUS, and when i push play, i just put the dap on the table and let the music do its thing to keep me inlvolved and happy. I love it.
The amp section is powerful and clean. Powerful. You wont be needing an extra amp for most of your gears. Clean. It is free from distortion at. Unlike the HIDIZS AP100 dap, you will hear a little distortion when you went up from neat full volume level.
Bass section is not as fuller as that of the XDUOOs (0db). But the treble on this one is better. On the mids part, i really like the XDUOOs. Background is blacker on the XDUOO too.
I wish the company can still improve the UI, its necessary to make this unbeatable, thats where the XDUOO win. And hope the AIGO, a not popular brand, wont cut its support.
Pair this with a bright and treble sensitive iem or earbud and you have a recipe for disaster. Lol. Kidding aside, warm sounding gears will tame the treble a little and will be have a synergy to this dap.
This dap has its own respective PROS and CONS. So is that of the XDUOOs. You will have to try them both and hear what fits your gears nicely in terms of synergy in what daps.
XDUOO has more blacker background, more smooth and spacious but its soft, attacks is a bit lame. The AIGO is clearer, livelier and has a powerful amp section, but the treble will play a role if it will match well with the gears you have. Its more balanced, yes, deep in depth but narrow. Might be fatiguing if youre not into this or not used to this kind of treble. The AIGO is good for fast phase music, POP, ROCK, METAL etc.
UI is graphically imperfect, it needs more polishing and thought. Its so confusing in so many ways. Sometimes i get lost in navigation.
What confuses me with this dap is, when i use a BA iem, it only needs lesser volume level. When i use DYNAMIC driver in earbud, it demands more volume than that of the BA. I dont know why its like that, or how to call it but i never experience that in the XDUOO.
If youre into balanced sounding dap, good attacks, longer battery life,more powerful amp, with a tank like build, you cant go wrong with the AIGO. It can outlast most daps in its time.
