[Womaz]

Hi first of all my apologies for trying to hijack a couple of other threads. I have now found this section and will post here my questions

I have owned the AK300 DAP for 6 months now and since then I have listened mainly through Tidal.

I would now like a DAP that works well with Tidal offline as I feel that this could possibly stop me buying as much music. This would then be used on holidays and long commutes etc.

AK will never have this as this has been explained to me by AK themselves. The issue is the sound quality from the AK300 is in my opinion excellent and far exceeded my expectations.

I also hear of a lot of bad experiences with Tidal offline with some DAPs.

I would be prepared to spend a decent amount of cash if the right DAP was available that had as good as SQ as the AK300, with a good working experience with Tidal offline.

Any suggestions or guidance would be really appreciated

 

[cossix]

You don't have to pay for music if that's the issue

 

[Womaz]

You don't have to pay for music if that's the issue

??. Sorry I am not sure I get your point. Paying for music not really the issue for me, more availability on holiday etc

 

[TimeSnow]

Well.... You could use Tidal offline with a phone and a DAC/amp

Many many people do this and are very happy with the sound quality.

It's less compact, but otherwise it's a great option IMO.

 

[Womaz]

Well.... You could use Tidal offline with a phone and a DAC/amp

Many many people do this and are very happy with the sound quality.

It's less compact, but otherwise it's a great option IMO.

I would consider this but as the offline mod is really only going to be used for holidays etc , it would not really be ideal. Prefer a dedicated DAP to be honest. Thanks for the megssahe

 

[stenog]

Ibasso DX200 and FiiO X7ii.

Both work very well with Tidal offline. At the moment these are best android daps available.

https://twister6.com/2017/09/11/fiio-x7ii-wam3a-vs-ibasso-dx200-wamp3/

 

[Womaz]

Ibasso DX200 and FiiO X7ii.

Both work very well with Tidal offline. At the moment these are best android daps available.

https://twister6.com/2017/09/11/fiio-x7ii-wam3a-vs-ibasso-dx200-wamp3/

Brilliant thank you, great information there. I will compose a short list but also admit to being a bit sad that the AK300 may have to go

 

[Womaz]

After reading a lot of threads on here and I mean a lot It appears there may not be an ideal solution really. The Ibasso seems to tick a lot of boxes, but reading stuff like you have to download apk files etc puts me off I guess. Ibasso and Filo also both seem to have a few software/interface issues. The AK is flawless in this respect for me. So I may sit it out for a few months, and see how these product progress.
In the meantime I could maybe use the Iphone 7 I have with a DAC/amp and see how that goes. All this new to me so thanks for the initial help.
I presume something like the dragonfly or Meridian would suffice? Its for use by the pool and on the beach so really has to be portable

 

[Womaz]

Hi again. A new chain of thought from me now. As I will probably only use offline mode when out and about and abroad I may go for the option of using mu iphone 7 for offline use.
I have listened to it and its not too bad, but you know what its like I want better .
If I was to use the IPhone how could I improve the quality. I do prefer the idae of one DAP but after browsing these pages to me none of them seem ready for flawless playback offline yet.
I dont want another amp the size of the phone. I am not really sure what I am doing here as you can probably tell. Will the AQ Dragonfly products do the job or something like the Meridian product. I want something small as must be portable......any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[TimeSnow]

Dragonfly will work (I use one with a phone with no problems), but there's also things like the Shozy Lancea:

https://penonaudio.com/SHOZY/SHOZY-Lances-DAC-AMP

Or Shozy Magic (not sure this works with iPhones, fyi):

https://penonaudio.com/SHOZY/Shozy-Magic

I can vouch for neither, but the reviews make me think they'd be worth considering.

There are other options though, from tiny to too big to consider... definitely worth googling a bit and reading reviews IMO.

 

[Womaz]

Dragonfly will work (I use one with a phone with no problems), but there's also things like the Shozy Lancea:

https://penonaudio.com/SHOZY/SHOZY-Lances-DAC-AMP

Or Shozy Magic (not sure this works with iPhones, fyi):

https://penonaudio.com/SHOZY/Shozy-Magic

I can vouch for neither, but the reviews make me think they'd be worth considering.

There are other options though, from tiny to too big to consider... definitely worth googling a bit and reading reviews IMO.

Thanks for the post I will have a read. There is a big price differential between these products and I think if I go down this route I may got for the cheaper option. For eg the Dragonfly products, I cant see a great deal of difference in what they claim to do.
Will the sound quality get close to the AK300 i wonder.

 

[TimeSnow]

Thanks for the post I will have a read. There is a big price differential between these products and I think if I go down this route I may got for the cheaper option. For eg the Dragonfly products, I cant see a great deal of difference in what they claim to do.
Will the sound quality get close to the AK300 i wonder.

The only thing I'd say about the Dragonfly Red is that it's very "warm". With warmer cans it can be a bit much.

I like it with my earbuds and IEMS, BUT with something like my HD650s I have to roll off some bass if I want to avoid distortion.

So, just be aware these things have "sounds" and you may not like those signatures.

Saying that, if you're comfy tweaking EQ the DFR sounds pretty great, is relatively cheap and is tiny. Plus it just works.

 

[Womaz]

The only thing I'd say about the Dragonfly Red is that it's very "warm". With warmer cans it can be a bit much.

I like it with my earbuds and IEMS, BUT with something like my HD650s I have to roll off some bass if I want to avoid distortion.

So, just be aware these things have "sounds" and you may not like those signatures.

Saying that, if you're comfy tweaking EQ the DFR sounds pretty great, is relatively cheap and is tiny. Plus it just works.

Thanks again. I will use it with my Campfire Audio Lyra 2, so it could work. I am going to have a think on this as still considering selling the AK300 for maybe the IBasso DX200.....as this will do what I want it to do. This would probably only cost me slightly more than the Dragonfly upgrade to my iPhone. Trouble is I do love the sound the AK has

 

[Womaz]

Also forgot to add I have also discovered that its not as simple as that with the DAPs for TIdal offline as have to use apk. files etc, and I have no idea what they are. It seems a DAP that will use TIDAL offline straight out of the box is not available. Hard to believe really

 

[TimeSnow]

Also forgot to add I have also discovered that its not as simple as that with the DAPs for TIdal offline as have to use apk. files etc, and I have no idea what they are. It seems a DAP that will use TIDAL offline straight out of the box is not available. Hard to believe really

I agree. But I assume that'll change at some point.

Tidal is about to get millions and millions of new users, and that'll push this to change I'd hope.