[thescientist]

I'm looking purchase a new DAP and was wondering if anyone could help me out with recommendation(s). The main thing I'm interested in is finding a DAP with good standby battery life, which is something I don't see commented on in reviews. I want something that I can be confident I can sit down for an hour with even if I've left it unplugged for a week or two. Ideally this would be a device that sips battery when I'm not actively playing music but I'd also be happy with a device that boots up quickly or one with a great power saving mode. Other criteria:
- Neutral sound
- Able to stream music from one or more of Spotify, Tidal, Amazon music
- Would be nice if the device had Bluetooth and supported Aptx and/or LDAC
- Something under $500 would be ideal, but no more than $1000.

Thanks in advance!

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

You described the A&K SR25 perfectly. Love mine and even the running battery life is pretty impressive (over 20 hours). Supports the remainder of your requirements as well.

 

[thescientist]

You described the A&K SR25 perfectly. Love mine and even the running battery life is pretty impressive (over 20 hours). Supports the remainder of your requirements as well.

Thanks! That definitely looks like an option. My only hesitation with the SR25 would be the ergonomics as the 'rotated' display is a little off putting. Does it just end up not being a big deal or is it fine after an adjustment period?

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

Thanks! That definitely looks like an option. My only hesitation with the SR25 would be the ergonomics as the 'rotated' display is a little off putting. Does it just end up not being a big deal or is it fine after an adjustment period?

It's barely noticeable in terms of ergonomics. Allegedly, the whole idea behind it is so that right-handed users don't have to rotate their wrist for proper screen alignment. Everything's within reach for single-handed use as well. The adjustment period reasonably takes a few seconds, in my opinion.

 

[rlw6534]

I'm looking purchase a new DAP and was wondering if anyone could help me out with recommendation(s). The main thing I'm interested in is finding a DAP with good standby battery life, which is something I don't see commented on in reviews. I want something that I can be confident I can sit down for an hour with even if I've left it unplugged for a week or two. Ideally this would be a device that sips battery when I'm not actively playing music but I'd also be happy with a device that boots up quickly or one with a great power saving mode. Other criteria:
- Neutral sound
- Able to stream music from one or more of Spotify, Tidal, Amazon music
- Would be nice if the device had Bluetooth and supported Aptx and/or LDAC
- Something under $500 would be ideal, but no more than $1000.

Thanks in advance!

I believe you will have a hard time finding a streaming capable device with two week standby time as most of them are Android based. The SR25 is an outstanding DAP with a few A&K quirks. There is also the Shanling M3x with a claimed 23 hour life (playing music). I don't know the exact standby life for either DAP, but is certainly several days, at least for the M3x. Outside the box, there are several non-android DAPs out there that can stream one or two services (i.e. Hiby R3 Pro). These DAPS turn on much more quickly than Android, so I think it's worth mentioning as an option. My R3 Pro takes less than 10 seconds from power button press to ready to play (I just timed it).

 

[thescientist]

I believe you will have a hard time finding a streaming capable device with two week standby time as most of them are Android based. The SR25 is an outstanding DAP with a few A&K quirks. There is also the Shanling M3x with a claimed 23 hour life (playing music). I don't know the exact standby life for either DAP, but is certainly several days, at least for the M3x. Outside the box, there are several non-android DAPs out there that can stream one or two services (i.e. Hiby R3 Pro). These DAPS turn on much more quickly than Android, so I think it's worth mentioning as an option. My R3 Pro takes less than 10 seconds from power button press to ready to play (I just timed it).

Thanks a lot for this! From the previous response it sounds like the SR25 would be great but I'll admit I'm skeptical about Android based standby life just based on my own experiences with Android phones. The R3 pro sounds like a solid option here and honestly it's so budget friendly I'm not sure how I could go wrong. Could you perhaps tell me whether the R3 Pro has an auto standby feature? Also how do you like the sound quality and is it fairly neutral?

 

[rlw6534]

Thanks a lot for this! From the previous response it sounds like the SR25 would be great but I'll admit I'm skeptical about Android based standby life just based on my own experiences with Android phones. The R3 pro sounds like a solid option here and honestly it's so budget friendly I'm not sure how I could go wrong. Could you perhaps tell me whether the R3 Pro has an auto standby feature? Also how do you like the sound quality and is it fairly neutral?

It does have standby and Hiby claims 50 days standby time. I can't vouch for that because I usually just turn it off. I think it sounds great but please do some research. Honestly, I have a hard time hearing differences in DAPs as they are most basically perfect to my ears and the choice of IEMs are where the differences are much more notable. Your ears may be better...

Be aware that it only streams Tidal and Qobuz and I wouldn't count on other services being added, although you never know.

If you haven't already found it, this is the main thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hiby-r3-pro-portable-bluetooth-dap.916299/

This one includes the R3 (the predecessor) as well, so jump to late 2019 for R3 Pro info:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-hiby-r3-the-new-double-dac-r3-pro-on-sale-now.872288/