[yavormoskov]

Hi. I am coming from ipod so I would appreciate your advice. I found 4 DAPs I like but I am not sure which one to get. For me the sound quality is important , but mechanical durability and software reliability as well.
 
1. Colorfly C3 - decent battery life and awesome design, but the price of 99$ on ebay makes me suspicious about the quality of the components.
 
2. iBasso DX50 - The memory can be expanded a lot and has a replaceable battery which is just great, but please share your thoughts about the quality of the hardware itself. I don't want to buy a new one after couple of months.
 
3. Cowon D20 - bad screen and software but awesome battery life and fm radio which is very nice addition. 

 

[H20Fidelity]

It's been debatable with quite a few members either keeping their C3 and selling DX50 or visa versa. Myself I kept  C3 selling DX50. Taking this into consideration you can see the sound is on comparable levels.

 When considering the Colorfly you need to remember it's a very basic interface that will only allow you to play music by folder, but the sound is quite a bit above any iPod, Cowon, or Sansa player I have tried, the unit is quite stable but you need to to pick up a few learning curves for folder sorting which is just drag n drop.

 On the other hand DX50 has better UI, features, and obviously things like removable battery for your extra $139.00.

I can show you exactly what's inside C3 with some photos. It's actually built very well.




I would forget about the Cowon and further research the C3 and DX50, that at least cuts your choices down. 
 

 

[lin0003]

The screen an UI is very frustrating though. 
 
Edit: from what I read. 

 

[H20Fidelity]

  The screen an UI is very frustrating though. 

When did you use C3?

 

[lin0003]

 
When did you use C3?

Fixed. 
 
Do you think that the UI is smooth and easy to use though? I might pick one up as a kind of backup player. And also what about the shuffle function because I always shuffle my songs? 

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Fixed. 
 
Do you think that the UI is smooth and easy to use though? I might pick one up as a kind of backup player. And also what about the shuffle function because I always shuffle my songs? 

Yeah it's not to bad, just a small learning curve at the start. I don't use shuffle mode, doesn't interest me.

 

[lin0003]

 
Yeah it's not to bad, just a small learning curve at the start. I don't use shuffle mode, doesn't interest me.

Sweet!
 
If it had a line out I would probably get it. It has the track forward/backwards keys like the Clip+ right? I usually just hit those on the DX50 instead of turning the screen on and off a lot. 

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Sweet!
 
If it had a line out I would probably get it. It has the track forward/backwards keys like the Clip+ right? I usually just hit those on the DX50 instead of turning the screen on and off a lot. 

Of course it does, C3 has play, pause, forward, back, return, volume up. volume down, you can lock the keypad etc.. there's menu options, repeat, shuffle, repeat all, back light timer, brightness some EQ presets. I've had mine over a year, almost a year and a half and it's one device I've never thought of selling. I've had many DAP's inbetween like Cowon J3,S9,C2,D2+, HIFIMAN HM-601 and sold them all. I even sold Colorfly CK4 because I thought it didn't pull away from C3 that much. It's not going to have the UI of an iPod. But if you ask many people in the C3 thread which I followed from the start many people compliment the sound. For $100 far as sounds concerned C3 is hard to beat. The HO is clean so amping isn't a problem, everyone has been using it with C&C BH (especially BH) and most recently connecting it to C5. Just set the volume to 40/40

Take a look in the Bh thread album how many people use it with C3. 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/644363/c-c-bh-portable-headphone-amp-80-hours-from-a-single-charge-buyer-review#post_9018559

Here's an educational post about double amping.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/552605/fiio-e11-impression-information-support/1035#post_9461801


 

 

[lin0003]

Cheers, I'll check it out. 

 

[Ardian]

It's been debatable with quite a few members either keeping their C3 and selling DX50 or visa versa. Myself I kept  C3 selling DX50. Taking this into consideration you can see the sound is on comparable levels.


 When considering the Colorfly you need to remember it's a very basic interface that will only allow you to play music by folder, but the sound is quite a bit above any iPod, Cowon, or Sansa player I have tried, the unit is quite stable but you need to to pick up a few learning curves for folder sorting which is just drag n drop.


 On the other hand DX50 has better UI, features, and obviously things like removable battery for your extra $139.00.


I can show you exactly what's inside C3 with some photos. It's actually built very well.






I would forget about the Cowon and further research the C3 and DX50, that at least cuts your choices down. 

 

And between Colorfly C3 and Hisoundaudio Rocoo BA, which is the best at all?

Do you even know the SQ of the iPod Classic 7G to compare with Colorfly?

Thank you very much

 

[H20Fidelity]

And between Colorfly C3 and Hisoundaudio Rocoo BA, which is the best at all?

Do you even know the SQ of the iPod Classic 7G to compare with Colorfly?

Thank you very much

Between Rocco BA or C3 I feel Rocco pulls away, it has noticeably stronger instrument separation, more power, sounds clearer, more natural, it's a touch brighter than C3, it's not night and day one being better than the other but BA pulls away. this also depends what headphone you're using, bright headphone or IEM may sound to lean on BA. Rocco BA is very good player imo.

I haven't heard 7G iPod, so cannot help. Although I do own 4G iPod touch which I think sounds nice.

.

 

[Ardian]

Between Rocco BA or C3 I feel Rocco pulls away, it has noticeably stronger instrument separation, more power, sounds clearer, more natural, it's a touch brighter than C3, it's not night and day one being better than the other but BA pulls away. this also depends what headphone you're using, bright headphone or IEM may sound to rich on BA. Rocco BA is very good player.

I haven't heard 7G iPod, so cannot help. Although I do own 4G iPod touch which I think sounds nice.

.

I own Shure SE215 Limited Edition, and Martin Logan Mikros 90! Do you think Rocoo is better? And fort battery life?

In the case of the touch, how many differences are against the BA or the C3?

 

[H20Fidelity]

I own Shure SE215 Limited Edition, and Martin Logan Mikros 90! Do you think Rocoo is better? And fort battery life?

In the case of the touch, how many differences are against the BA or the C3?

Battery life:

C3: 16-18 hours (FLAC)
BA: 12-13 hours (FLAC)

I cannot say which will be better for your gear as I haven't heard them and synergy really comes down to each pairing. if you can find a Rocco cheap I would lean towards it over C3 however, there's an another option which I was mentioning a few posts above briefly. Many members buy Colorfly C3 then add  $100 C&C BH amp making C3/BH Rig. This has become very popular on head-fi and I see the rig popping up on other sites. It seems the trend has caught on. You can put it together for $200 USD.

If you can make this combo then it has a better frequency response then both players alone and sounds far better than any iPod.

With this there is no need worry about iPod comparison

C3/BH  Rig.


 

You can read about BH here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/644363/c-c-bh-portable-headphone-amp-80-hours-from-a-single-charge-buyer-review#post_9018558

.

 

[Ardian]

 
Battery life:

C3: 16-18 hours (FLAC)
BA: 12-13 hours (FLAC)

I cannot say which will be better for your gear as I haven't heard them and synergy really comes down to each pairing. if you can find a Rocco cheap I would lean towards it over C3 however, there's an another option which I was mentioning a few posts above briefly. Many members buy Colorfly C3 then add  $100 C&C BH amp making C3/BH Rig. This has become very popular on head-fi and I see the rig popping up on other sites. It seems the trend has caught on. You can put it together for $200 USD.

If you can make this combo then it has a better frequency response then both players alone and sounds far better than any iPod.

With this there is no need worry about iPod comparison

C3/BH  Rig.


 

You can read about BH here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/644363/c-c-bh-portable-headphone-amp-80-hours-from-a-single-charge-buyer-review#post_9018558

.

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep that in mind

 

[nick n]

Excellent advice H2O. I should add also the interface on the C3 really is not any harder than using a computer web browser. Seriously if you can do that then it should be a cinch.
 tapping say a forward arrow area will instantly forward , or hitting it and holding it down simply fast forwards through the tracks until you take your finger off the touchscreen area in question. same with scrolling through the folders=  the return arrow is simply much the same as a "GO BACK" button on a web browser.  Not much more than say a 5-10 minute learning curve. I was a a little worried at first , but it was really intuitive to be honest for me. SO much now that even going back to it after a while it takes little if any thought to "get it" again.
 Add a BH and it bumps it up another notch. I mean look at it there...just perfect like they were meant for each other.