Overclocked11
Head-Fier
I just received the AP80 today and although I haven't had too much hands on time with it, a couple things emerged to me right away (good and bad).
Good:
- Sound on it is really great.. I am using it with a pair of IMR R1 iems and the sound is bold, clean and plenty powerful. Reading around about this player the suggestion is that MSEB is pretty much a requirement to make it sing, but I find the output to the R1 to be awesome without it. With tinkering though, can see how it could really allow to dial in the precise sound you wish depending on your IEMs or music you're listening to.
- MSEB provides LOTS of options to dial in the sound.. that is a really really nice feature that makes this player very versatile. EQ may or may not be necessary for most people, but is still nice to have as well.
- UI is simple and works well, not that much lag in my experience so far, though there really shouldn't be anyway since its very lightweight intentionally.
- Haven't had a chance to play consistent music through it, but find that the battery is pretty decent and charges quickly enough
- Unit has just the right weight and is just the right size. Any smaller and it would be a bit too smaller, though it wouldn't hurt too bad if it were a bit bigger either.
- buttons feel good, and fortunately mine doesn't have a loose volume wheel or anything
- even when turned up I haven't heard the slightest bit of noise - I am playing 16bit/44.1 Flac - will try with higher rate tracks before long, but so far so good here.
- the value based on its MSRP is undeniable. It gives a lot for price of entry and as someone who was just using IEMs with a phone as a source since forever, the upgrade in sound is staggering.
Bad:
- Buggy firmware is the biggest drawback with this unit without a doubt. Had to roll it back to 1.0 before it would scan and find more than 6 tracks no matter what I did. Tried with different SD cards, tried different files, using cable, using card reader.. made no difference. Only got past it once I placed more than 6 tracks using 1.0 and then updated to 1.0.1.. now its fine.
- Artwork doesn't display correctly - I took a folder of 50 .flac, ensured that all tracks have artwork and that artwork displays in any player on my PC (WMP, Foobar) - uploaded to the player, and whether 1.0 or 1.0.1, most tracks don't display the artwork, meanwhile the rest do. Not sure what to make of this honestly.
- Lack of any real documentation or description of what the firmware updates actually do is obviously concerning.
- Support has notably been a concern in this thread and elsewhere on the net, so the general sentiment around this device it to proceed with caution and know that if you run into issues, you are likely on your own.
Other thoughts:
I've read quite a bit about build quality and support on this device - maybe I'm just optimistic, but Im not getting the vibe that this device will just up and brick itself after a month. It seems well built though obviously anything can happen. I suppose if one is rough with it it could be susceptible to damage like any other device, but my initial impression is not one of this device being fragile in any way.
The Screen is passable. Not amazing by any stretch, but definitely good enough. At times the touch can be a bit unresponsive, though mostly its good.
I also wanted to mention the soundstage, which I find to be one of the biggest changes coming from using a phone as a source - the soundstage and imaging is exceptional in comparison.. not even close. It certainly feels like a premium music player.
For those who believe burn in is real (even on DAPs) I will certainly be listening to see how the characteristics change over time. So far though right out of box, I'm pretty impressed what this little dude is capable of.
Good:
- Sound on it is really great.. I am using it with a pair of IMR R1 iems and the sound is bold, clean and plenty powerful. Reading around about this player the suggestion is that MSEB is pretty much a requirement to make it sing, but I find the output to the R1 to be awesome without it. With tinkering though, can see how it could really allow to dial in the precise sound you wish depending on your IEMs or music you're listening to.
- MSEB provides LOTS of options to dial in the sound.. that is a really really nice feature that makes this player very versatile. EQ may or may not be necessary for most people, but is still nice to have as well.
- UI is simple and works well, not that much lag in my experience so far, though there really shouldn't be anyway since its very lightweight intentionally.
- Haven't had a chance to play consistent music through it, but find that the battery is pretty decent and charges quickly enough
- Unit has just the right weight and is just the right size. Any smaller and it would be a bit too smaller, though it wouldn't hurt too bad if it were a bit bigger either.
- buttons feel good, and fortunately mine doesn't have a loose volume wheel or anything
- even when turned up I haven't heard the slightest bit of noise - I am playing 16bit/44.1 Flac - will try with higher rate tracks before long, but so far so good here.
- the value based on its MSRP is undeniable. It gives a lot for price of entry and as someone who was just using IEMs with a phone as a source since forever, the upgrade in sound is staggering.
Bad:
- Buggy firmware is the biggest drawback with this unit without a doubt. Had to roll it back to 1.0 before it would scan and find more than 6 tracks no matter what I did. Tried with different SD cards, tried different files, using cable, using card reader.. made no difference. Only got past it once I placed more than 6 tracks using 1.0 and then updated to 1.0.1.. now its fine.
- Artwork doesn't display correctly - I took a folder of 50 .flac, ensured that all tracks have artwork and that artwork displays in any player on my PC (WMP, Foobar) - uploaded to the player, and whether 1.0 or 1.0.1, most tracks don't display the artwork, meanwhile the rest do. Not sure what to make of this honestly.
- Lack of any real documentation or description of what the firmware updates actually do is obviously concerning.
- Support has notably been a concern in this thread and elsewhere on the net, so the general sentiment around this device it to proceed with caution and know that if you run into issues, you are likely on your own.
Other thoughts:
I've read quite a bit about build quality and support on this device - maybe I'm just optimistic, but Im not getting the vibe that this device will just up and brick itself after a month. It seems well built though obviously anything can happen. I suppose if one is rough with it it could be susceptible to damage like any other device, but my initial impression is not one of this device being fragile in any way.
The Screen is passable. Not amazing by any stretch, but definitely good enough. At times the touch can be a bit unresponsive, though mostly its good.
I also wanted to mention the soundstage, which I find to be one of the biggest changes coming from using a phone as a source - the soundstage and imaging is exceptional in comparison.. not even close. It certainly feels like a premium music player.
For those who believe burn in is real (even on DAPs) I will certainly be listening to see how the characteristics change over time. So far though right out of box, I'm pretty impressed what this little dude is capable of.
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