change of plan

[gazzington]

I have decided that I am happy to up my budget from previous posts to get a player that i love.
 
Question is which?
 
I am looking at the opus 1, fiio 5 or 7, ibasso dx80, lotoo paw 500 but am open to any other suggestions.  I mainly listen to metal but also various other types of music at times.  A huge battery life is not that important as I will be using it at work primarily.  I also will be using earbuds rather than headphones most of the time.
 
I have been reading reviews of all these gadgets on this website but they all have good reviews and I have no means of trying them before I buy.  I live in rural wales!
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[WraithApe]

I can only comment on the DX80, which I bought a few months back - almost my first deviation into the world of Chinese DAPs (had a HiSoundAudio N1 further back but wasn't impressed with that at all!). I've mostly only got good things to say about the DX80. The build quality is sturdy and the looks are very much to my liking - clean, stealthy, sharp angles, modern-looking - and the SQ is excellent. The amp section is powerful enough to drive some fairly demanding headphones. Storage is also excellent - I have 2x 128gb SDXC on board. I find the battery life good and probably only have to charge once a week or so (based on about 10 hours listening time a week). It is pretty slow to charge, but you can just put it on charge and forget about it for a few hours!
 
The only real downside is the proprietary UI, in which I've found a number of annoying bugs. The touch screen is also a little on the laggy / unresponsive side. I think this is a typical trade-off with all the mid-tier DAPs that use a proprietary UI rather than Android variant - personally, it's one I'm happy to make, but it's something to think about if UI is near the top of your priority list.
 
When I bought the DX80, my other main consideration was the AK Jr, so that might be another one to look at.