Great, thanks for taking the time to write that up! I don’t think more is necessary, you’ve given me a good idea of the sound. Really interesting to hear your impression of the DX80 - you seem to have taken the words out of my mouth: I felt the bass was missing something that I could never quite pinpoint, and completely agree that the EQ only ever detracted from, rather than enhance, the sound. (I wrote some comparisons here:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ibasso-audio-dx80-high-resolution-audio-player.21124/reviews).
Also don’t worry I’m not an EQ purist either
maybe I could understand if someone only had experience of EQ like on the DX80 where it made the sound worse, then they’d come away with a negative attitude to it. But you’re right it makes no sense to say ‘don’t use EQ’ but then purposely use headphones or an amp that boosts the bass. Or what if the audio engineers played with tweaks while prototyping a DAP then went with the one that lifted the low end - is that okay but EQ isn’t? The possibilities lead to a whole lot of logical inconsistencies. Not to mention, if someone enjoys a sound with EQ I’d never want to take that away from them!
I too am looking for a new DAP to replace an earlier Cowon model - in my case the J3. I had it for years, good reliable player with good EQ, but just wanted something with the kind of greater detail and soundstage available now with newer DAPs and it sounds like the Plenue R could be the one.