AP80 - Hidizs next portable Hi-Res music player
Apr 24, 2018 at 8:21 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 4,614

IryxBRO

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It seems that this thread already has lots of interesting infromation, some repeating questions and would develop further. Therefore, I have decided to create FAQ and index to find valuable infromation quicker. This FAQ+Index would be placed right at the top of the first thread post for easy navigation. Whenever you feel that something should be added here - plase, PM me and I would add... I'd be monitoring the thread myself but a little help would be great in case if I've missed something.

LINK TO KICKSTARTER PAGE FOR AP80
LINK TO HIDIZS OFFICIAL STORE

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Technical specifications:

General:
  • CPU: Ingenic X1000
  • Screen: 2.45″, 360×480, IPS
  • Controls: touchscreen + physical buttons + jog dial
  • Storage: microSD card, up to 512GB
  • OS: Linux + HibyOS + HibyMusic + HibyLink
  • USB interface: type-C, file transfer / two-way USB DAC
  • Battery: 800mAh, LiON
  • Battery life: >15Hours
  • Charging time: ~1.5Hours, DC 5V/2A
Ports & Connectivity:
  • Audio: 3.5mm stereo headphones output & Line out
  • Wireless: Bluetooth V4.1 (aptX), FM radio
Audio:
  • DAC: Sabre ESS 9218P
  • Stream: 32bit/384KHz
  • DSD64/128
  • Gain control: Low/High
  • Line out: enabled (with volume lock)/disabled
  • Digital filter: slow descent/sharp drop
  • EQ: 10band, +/-12dB, 8 presets
  • Frequency response: 20Hz — 40KHz
  • SNR: 119dB
  • Dynamic Range: >105dB
  • Channel separation: 105dB
  • THD+noise: 0.003%
  • Output power: 80mW @ 32Ohms
  • USB DAC stream: up to 32bit|384KHz
Case:
  • Materials: CNC, stainless steel / alluminum-alloy
  • Back cover: 2.5D glass planel
  • Dimensions: 58x49x13mm
  • Weight: 70g
  • Colors: black, grey, steel, red, violet
Additional features:
  • Step counter
Audio formats:
  • Lossless: DSD64|128 (.dsf, .dff), DSD64 (.iso), APE (24|192), AIFF (32|384), FLAC (24|384), WAV (32|384), WMA LOSSLESS (24|96)
  • Lossy: mp3, aac, wma, ogg, etc…
LDAC IS WORKING ALREADY SINCE 1.0.1Beta FW
______________________________________________________________________________________

FAQ&Index:

1. Current FW version: 1.0.1Beta
2. First short video that was posted here
3. Hidizs AP80 vs Shanling M0 size comparison
4. Headpie input on sound quality
5. Would LDAC be implemented?
6. AP80 vs M0 sound quality input
7. Another AP80 vs M0 sound quality input
8. Official person from Hidizs comes to this thread
9. Greeting from kenlovesme (official Hidizs guy)
10. Does AP80 support Spotify?
11. LDAC certification
12. DAB or FM radio?
13. What about future support of FW?
14. Podcast support?
15. Two way LDAC?
16. aptX support?
17. When would the production start?
18. Name engraving?
19. Some input on comparison to Fiio x3, e12, etc
20. Icon to insert microSD card?
21. Input on comparison to pionner xdp-02u and hiby r3
22. Stainless steel version?
23. True lineout?
24. AAC support?
25. Audiobooks support?
26. Does it have Wi-Fi?
27. Cable acts as antenna for FM radio, does it record FM stations?
27. Protective case for AP80
28. Band for AP80 to fit on hand
29. Which colors are available?
30. Reply from Hidizs about ordering case for AP80 during Kickstarter campaign
31. Reply from Hidizs about other colors for case
32. Good news from Hidizs about extra units already in production
33. Abitdeef input on Hiby R3 vs AP80 vs M0
34. Channel separation value question
35.
Function of volume change upon switching on
36. How to lock controls
37. Are system files stored on external microSD card?
38. HeadPie on would bluetooth DAC work woth IPhone
39. AP80 + IE80 opinion
40. AP80+ IE80 another input + AP80 controls
41. Twister6 about volume knob
42. Twister6 AP80 volume knob VS Shanling M0
43. Mine inputs about HeadPie preliminary review
44. Digital output would be fixed or variable?
45. Vote for favorite color
46. Grey 7 black AP80 pics from Hidizs
47. What is the battery drain in sleep mode (FW0.08beta)
48. ExpatinJapan small test of AptX
49. AptX support explained by Hidizs
50. Hidizs response to aptX support in other Hidizs DAPs
51. Hidizs response about max amount of songs on card
52. Different color pics by Hidizs
53. Links to tech. feedback and issue report forms by Hidizs
54. Autoscan logics
55. Volume wheel modification from Hidizs after suggestions
56. Filesystem supported
57. Idle timer explained
58. Playlist creation and functioning explained by AndySocial
59. How to create directory and working with m3u


List of current issues

REVIEWS:

1. My review
2. Bad guy hands on review
3. HeadPie menu photos
4. Another video review
5. HeadPie additional menu photos
6. My small review of testing AP80 with different IEMs
7. Gestures and menus overview by Hidizs
8. Hidizs official test reports on SNR, THD and CH separation
9. Dobrescu George first impressions
10. HeadPie additional preliminary review
11. Review by cleg
12. Using HibyLink on AP80 by Hidizs
13. Headfonics review


_______________________________________________________________

LINK TO KICKSTARTER PAGE FOR AP80
LINK TO HIDIZS OFFICIAL STORE
 
Last edited:
Apr 24, 2018 at 1:01 PM Post #3 of 4,614
Here is our review:


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Too much rumorses, >17000 views, 10 pages of discussion and guessing on HeadFi, countless posts and comments in Facebook about the next Hidizs product and, finally, the wait is over! Hidizs has revealed their new, highly anticipated ultra-portable Hi-Res DAP — AP80 on Kickstarter!!!

ap80.jpg


We’ve been desperately waiting for this to happen since the time first rumorses about AP80 showed up in a hope to see the most balanced and advanced DAP on the market in its segment. The longer it took to get revealed, the more doubts we had that it would ever be finilized. But, we were wrong…

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Now, when we’ve finally got and examined our sample it became clear why it took Hidizs so long — they did a great job on polishing AP80 PRIOR to first market presentation. This clearly shows that Hidizs company has matured much in terms of market perception and quality control. We’ve also seen that approach in some previous excellent products like Seeds IEMs, Dawnwood ST08 IEMs, Sonata Dac&Amp — common brand identity and perfect crafting. Therefore, our expectations about their new DAP were higher that before, and guess what — Hidizs AP80 surpassed all and really astonished in almost every aspect…

So, here is our full review of the new ultraportable beast on Hi-Res audio market — Hidizs AP80 DAP:

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Technical Specifications:

General:
  • CPU: Ingenic X1000
  • Screen: 2.45″, 360×480, IPS
  • Controls: touchscreen + physical buttons + jog dial
  • Storage: microSD card, up to 512GB
  • OS: Linux + HibyOS + HibyMusic + HibyLink
  • USB interface: type-C, file transfer / two-way USB DAC
  • Battery: 800mAh, LiON
  • Battery life: >15Hours
  • Charging time: ~1.5Hours, DC 5V/2A
Ports & Connectivity:
  • Audio: 3.5mm stereo headphones output & Line out
  • Wireless: Bluetooth V4.1 (aptX), FM radio
Audio:
  • DAC: Sabre ESS 9218P
  • Stream: 32bit/384KHz
  • DSD64/128
  • Gain control: Low/High
  • Line out: enabled (with volume lock)/disabled
  • Digital filter: slow descent/sharp drop
  • EQ: 10band, +/-12dB, 8 presets
  • Frequency response: 20Hz — 40KHz
  • SNR: 119dB
  • Dynamic Range: >105dB
  • Channel separation: 105dB
  • THD+noise: 0.003%
  • Output power: 80mW @ 32Ohms
  • USB DAC stream: up to 32bit|384KHz
Case:
  • Materials: CNC, stainless steel / alluminum-alloy
  • Back cover: 2.5D glass planel
  • Dimensions: 58x49x13mm
  • Weight: 70g
  • Colors: black, grey, steel, red, violet
Additional features:
  • Step counter
Audio formats:
  • Lossless: DSD64|128 (.dsf, .dff), DSD64 (.iso), APE (24|192), AIFF (32|384), FLAC (24|384), WAV (32|384), WMA LOSSLESS (24|96)
  • Lossy: mp3, aac, wma, ogg, etc…
Plenty of good features packed in so small ultraportable DAC. When looking at stated figures and comparing to other DAPs in Hidizs lineup it gets obvious that AP80 stands in between AP60Pro enhanced entry-level player and flagship AP200 DAP. Sound quality is what bothers us the most and we would investigate on it a bit later.

BTW: LDAC function in AP80 is also expected in the nearest time as Hidizs already applied for the certification process.

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Box contents:

Hidizs sticks to their recent brand design guidelines and ships AP80 DAP in black satin box with logo and technical specifications embossed with silver paint. Strict, neat and solid box to prevent the device during the delivery process. In addition to that, AP80 is securely held by foamy podium.

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Box contents are regular:
  1. AP80 DAP with preapplied screen and back glass panel protectors
  2. Extra screen protector
  3. MicroUSB type-C ->USB A cable (file transfer, charging, USB DAC)
  4. MicroUSB type-C ->microUSB cable (USB DAC for microUSB OTG devices)
  5. Warranty and QC cards
There is no microSD card shipped along with the unit, neither it features internal storage. It means that you should bother to get one up to 512GB and feed it to player.

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Design and materials:

We like the overall approach of Hidizs to design as well as we like the new tendency towards implementing more complexity… Very familiar feel of perfectly crafted alluminum case with the introduction of further tiny details and much more efforts spent to shape the right part that includes jog dial and additional control elements.

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Not a mere squre or rectangle anymore but the new complicated and organic look that attracts the attention from the first glance.

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AP80 has unibody alluminum chassis with gorgeous screen almost covering the entire space at front and curved edge glass panel covering its back. It looks astonishing and creates an image of very valuable possession. Total device weight of 70g and cold solid feel in hands also add up to build perfect first impression. All elements are perfectly aligned, having no free play.

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MicroSD card slot is located on the left edge, microUSB type-C port and 3.5mm headphone output at the bottom. But the most important is the right side — it has newly introduced volume jog dial and 3 additional control buttons which are:
  • Next (long press: seek forward)
  • Play/Pause
  • Back (long press: seek backward)
Besides volume control, jog dial elements serves the funtion of ON|OFF switch. Press and hold to switch ON and OFF. All buttons have pronounced clicks and are easy to operate in pocket.

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Jog dial is a good addition to such kind of device and serves its role well. Although, we would say that it is a bit smaller than expected and people with large fingers would have some hard times operating it. Rough and textured jog dial edges should help with that. The good news are that when you’ve turned jog dial a little bit to change the volume — you can contunue changing it on screen by moving finger up and down.

What really shines in this unit is a its screen. A giant step ahead comparing to AP60 series DAPs or even to AP200. 2.45″ size, touch-sensitive, 360×480 dots resolution, IPS panel with large viewing angles, excellent crispness, high contrast and brightness values… When placed next to prior DAPs, AP80 screen revelas all advantages over previous models. It has the largest brightness and contrast levels plus the extreme viewing angles won’t invert or bleach the image. Touchscreen sensitivity is high. We haven’t spotted and problems or difficulties while operating UI smallest elements.

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In overall, AP80 is the most universal and convenient DAP from the whole Hidizs lineup. It features physical control elements along with the sensitive touchscreen and it also introduced a new beautiful design with handy volume jog dial element. Hope to see the future product from Hidizs utilizing the same approach.

UI and performance:

BASED ON 0.07beta FW

Perhaps, the most responsive DAP from Hidizs until now. Even the initial loading animation is unexpectedly fast… as well as total OS loading time of <8 seconds.

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AP80 features modern Linux-based HibyOS UI with logical touch control gestures. If you are using any smarpthones based on iOS or Android — you’d feel like being home. Each feature or program is represented by a separate icon. All general device and audio settings are gathered in Settings Menu, whereas all deep and more precise audio preferences like EQ and filters are located only in HibyMusic application. By the way, HibyMusic looks very similar to its versions for other platforms. No surprises here. It also features such function as HibyLink that allows you to control this DAP from a smartphone.

Menu structure:
  • Main screen apps:
    • Player
    • FM
    • Step
    • System settings
    • About
  • System settings:
    • Language
    • Database update (Auto|Manual)
    • Brightness (1-100% slider)
    • Color theme (ON|OFF, pattern selection, slider selection)
    • Font size (small|middle|big)
    • Backlight (stay on|10-120 sec)
    • USB DAC (USB, DAC, DOCK)
    • Button operation when screen off (ON|OFF)
    • Time settings (date, format, time)
    • Idle timer (OFF, 1-10min)
    • Sleep timer (OFF, 5-120min)
    • Battery percentage display (ON|OFF)
    • Standby (ON|OFF)
    • Screensaver (OFF|Album cover|Dynamic cover)
    • Restore defaults
    • Fw update
  • HibyMusic settings:
    • Update database
    • MSEB
    • EQ
    • Bluetooth
    • Play settings:
      • Play mode (thorugh list, loop single, shuffle, loop list)
      • Resume play (none, track, position)
      • Gapless play (ON|OFF)
      • Max volume
      • Power On volume (Memory, 0-100)
      • Crossfade (ON|OFF)
      • Gain (LOW|HIGH)
      • ReplayGain (none, by track, by album)
      • Balance
      • Antialiasing filter (LPFR, LPSR, MPFR, MPSR, AFR, ASR, CMPFR, BW)
      • Play through folders (ON|OFF)
      • Play through albums (ON|OFF)
  • Drop down PLAY NOW menu:
    • List now playing
    • Add to playlist
    • EQ
    • View album
    • Properties
    • Delete
  • PLAY NOW screen options:
    • PLAY|PAUSE
    • Seek slider
    • NEXT|PREVIOUS TRACK
    • PLAY MODE (shuffle, loop, etc)
    • Menu
    • Add to favorite
One additional and handy feature — you can drag down quick settings panel from the top of the screen to change gain, USB mode, toggle Bluetooth and toggle line out.

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Battery life is close to 15 hours of playing music… but you should understand that this figure depends of the total screen on time, brightness level, type of audio file and max volume. In general we got about 12 hours with mere screen usage.

One more feature is the ability to change overall UI color scheme by picking any color from color palette or by dragging color sliders. Although, we haven’t found the ability to change background image itself.

FM radio and step counter are present as declared. FM radio would only work when headphones are connected cause they serve the role of antenna. Autoscan and fine tuning functions are available. Scan range is between 76.00MHz to 108.00MHz.

The most important is that AP80 OS and UI is more or less polished despite that we are using very early 0.07beta FW. Playing with this UI and its functions for couple of days didn’t reveal any major or severe bugs. A couple of tiny visual problems — yes. But not more than that. Fully functional unit that shows that Hidizs spent much more time on fixing bugs before sending it to public.

Sound quality test:

As always, we have shared our reference Audio-Technica ATH-M50 studio monitor headphones among all DAPs to find the difference in their audio performance. AP80 was compared to AP60Pro, AP200 and Shanling M0. Audio material was mostly consiting of 24bit/96-192KHz lossless files of completely defferent genres — pop, electronic, hard rock, instrumental, opera, ambient, chorus, orchestra and many more…

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What we like the most that AP80 sounds neutral with no tendency to emphasize any frequency. Lows, mids and highs are in good balance making this DAP universal to feed it with any kind of music genre. We would call it a precise source for connecting any further audio equipment like headphones, large power amps, active speakers, etc.

We like the clarity and crispness on higher frequencies with the further ability to switch filter effects; precise texturing and presence of lows; powerfull, fast and punchy midbass; natural sounding at midrange with pleasing vocals and its weighted presence in the entire mix. ATH-M50 40Ohms load is easily driven by AP80 creating the feel of mature and balanced sound picture.

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The signature is a bit on the brighter side, no moody or tube-like performance, no cattle effect. Bass is completely enough to hear its nuances with ATH-M50, at least. Neither we’ve found the disturbing presence of sibilance in higest octave. Besides, we didn’t even try to play with HibyMusic MSEB feature that gives additional control over such aspects as:
  • sound temperature
  • bass extension
  • bass texture
  • note thickness
  • vocals
  • female overtones
  • sibilance LF
  • sibilance HF
  • impulse response
  • air
all of that was kept at default settings during out tests and the resulting sound didn’t require any changes. But the availability of such features, along with gain and filters gives you a huge field for rurther experiments of tuning this source for the final audio equipment in chain. Perhaps, we should give another try to dramatically unbalanced KZ ED16 IEMs cause AP80 might handle it… :)

Channel separation is better than entry-level models demonstrate but not so distant as in case with flagship DAPs or AMPs with coupled DAC or OPAMP chips. The resulting sound stage width, depth and instument location is equal or even a bit more than we would expected from such portable device. Monaural recordings show good distance and intsrument placement on stage with clear horizontal and vertical position.

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We have also tested AP80 with Hidizs Seeds IEMs and found that they make a great pair. ATH-M50, sometimes, might emphasize low frequencies and are very straight forward. Excellent for detail analysis and tests but too strict for getting some rest… Seeds IEMs are softer, warmer and smooth. They create the additional fluency while maintaining the same amount of details…

V|S AP60Pro:

AP60Pro was released as the revision of AP60II which, in its turn, was released as the revision of AP60 Last revision was aimed at higher sound quality and this DAP has finally matured to a very good entry-level Hi-Res player.

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Feature and hardware-wise AP60Pro is not a competitor to AP80. Newest DAP has better and sceen, touch controls paired with physical buttons, more attractive design and much more audio settings in HibyMusic app. Additionally, AP80 untilizes next generation ESS DAC chip and bit more powerful amplifier.

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This is not a surprise that AP80 outperforms AP60Pro in terms of sound quality as well. Especially on lower frequencies where new DAP shows more texturing and more precise behavior. Highs are also reproduced more gently with a bit warmer and delicate feel. So, the advantages were spotted right away which shows that AP80 is a better and more consistent performer. In terms of soundstage and channel separation there is not much to talk about — sounds similar.

V|S AP200:

This situation is vise versa. AP200 still holds the name of a flagship DAP among all other players in Hidizs lineup. Despite a bit slower loading time and less screen viewing angles and contrast — it still sounds the best. More power from the amplifier, more channel separation from paired DAC chips… Audio from AP200 is kind of even more intimate and gentle and more punchy at the same time if you’d want some juice at higher volume.

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Additionally, Android OS provides plenty of additional features and opens the whole world of different usage scenarios…

Comparison to Shanling M0:

This is very amusing. We don’t quite get who have decided that Shanling M0 is an appropriate rival to AP80….????!!!

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But for those who would like why it is not — here are our findings:
  1. M0 is much smaller, feels much cheaper
  2. M0 screen is too small to be convenient source of infromation and not too sensitive to operate. Besides, it has very low quality — our unit shows some strange dots (seems like a problem with glue between layers) and viewing angles are extremely low. Brightness is also low.
  3. It doesn’t have any physical controls apart from volume jog dial
  4. UI is very strange and not very logical. Especially when you are trying to move back from playing now screen to other apps…. Too much of swipes to perform
  5. UI screens are also not informative
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But the worst part is about audio quality of Shanling M0. It is far, far away from AP80 in almost any aspect apart from power output. Yes, M0 can drive our headphones to the same volume level but this is the only similarity… Lower frequencies are indistinct and feel very moody, there are not much of details — just some smudged bass… Highs sound more harsh and biting which is not good for many music genres. All instuments seems to be gathered closer to center with not enough air and room to take their sweet spot in the mix.

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Hidizs AP80 is much better product and should be compared to other mid-range DAPs on the market instead of entry-level Shanling M0.

USB DAC:

We always check this function because of spending some time watching live or recorded concerts on Youtube or other platforms. Short audio lag and good driver is what we chase in this test.

Hidizs haven’t shared a separate ASIO driver for AP80 yet. But Windows 10 OS would recignize it as USB DAC and let you use Wasapi instead which has the lowest possible audio lag. There is no problems in video to audio stream synchronization while watching videos and sending sound through AP80 to phones. Neither there are any problems of using it with Foobar2000 player over Wasapi (event or push).

We have also tried to use AP80 as external DAC for Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 smatphone with the provided microUSB type-C -> microUSB cable and it worked fine. HibyMusic app recognized this device and allowed us to send bit-by-bit perfect stream.

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Conclusion:

At this point we can definitely say that we are completely shifting to AP80 DAP from other ultraportable audio players. This one delivers the best sound quality of all, together with perfect crafting, high quality components and more convenient controls. Many people were waiting for AP80 to arrive to the market and we can tell for sure that they won’t be disappointed. Hidizs invested much of their efforts on polishing and finilizing this product to get the most positive feedback right after the launch. Additionally, Kickstarter bakers would have a chance of getting AP80 at lowest price or/and bundled with excellent Hidizs Seeds IEMs which makes such choice a perfect bargain!

Kickstarter campaign launched: HERE
Discount of 20% for any purchase from Hidizs store is available on my review resource
 
Last edited:
Apr 24, 2018 at 1:15 PM Post #4 of 4,614
Wonder if it's touchscreen or jog control?

Either way nice to see these smaller mp3 players coming out. It's going to be quite the 3 three way between hidizs shanling and hiby in the coming months.
 
Apr 24, 2018 at 2:48 PM Post #6 of 4,614
It looks like there are touch screen controls on it (if the picture is a true one of the actual OS). Would like to see how the size compares...interested
 
Apr 26, 2018 at 2:32 AM Post #7 of 4,614
It looks like there are touch screen controls on it (if the picture is a true one of the actual OS). Would like to see how the size compares...interested

You were right - it features touch screen. As promissed, I've just got the new information about upcoming AP80 (and I am including it to the 1st post as well):

  • Based on Sabre ESS 9210P DAC chip
  • 2,45" touch screen
  • CNC aluminum-alloy frame
  • HiByOS with HiByLink
  • DSD64/128
  • FM Function!!!
  • 13mm thin body
  • USB DAC (bidir USB type-C)
  • Blutooth 4.0 with AptX (bidirectional)
  • STEP COUNT!!!
  • HiRES Audio
  • RTL
  • 15 hours of battery life
AP8024a.jpg


I really like that Hidizs would use HiByOS + HiByLink - this is great stable FW with perfect remote control functions over smartphone. AP60II example showed that it is perfectly usable, fluid and utilizes most of the audio focused functions. Moreover, it perfectly matchees and works with lates Hidizs Sonata DH1000 external amplifier-DAC with bit-by-bit precise audio transfer (Sonata is a masterpiece of sound, read my review here). FM function is new for Hidizs, it would entertain during long runs, together with a unique step count function :) I hope that the battery life would be close to declared.

Seems that AP80 would become a desired HiRES audio DAP for many...
I'd share the further news here
 
Apr 26, 2018 at 12:17 PM Post #9 of 4,614
Only downside to using hiby firmware for me is no podcast or audiobook support :frowning2: Even though I've got the r6 on the way I may be after something a little more compact anyway.
 
Apr 26, 2018 at 1:37 PM Post #11 of 4,614
Only downside to using hiby firmware for me is no podcast or audiobook support :frowning2: Even though I've got the r6 on the way I may be after something a little more compact anyway.

I am sure that people from Hidizs are monitoring this thread - your struggle shall not be left unseen. I hope that Hidizs would listen and develop new functions.
 
Apr 27, 2018 at 4:02 PM Post #15 of 4,614
Arg why did I click on this? Touch screen oh man.:o2smile: Hopefully it will be around $80 US.
 

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