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How to know if a DAP is "good"

Jul 15, 2021 at 6:34 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 9
Quanghungphung

Quanghungphung

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Dear all,
I am looking for a DAP to replace my setup of phone and DAC. Can I ask how do you read or know what DAP is good?
I see lots of chip and review and function... but get very confusing.

I keep myself open for price wise but I dont want too big DAP which cant fit the pocket or hard to carry around. I also see that some expensive DAP the battery do not last long? and I dont need all those functions of it.

Is the only way is to go shop and try?

Btw, Here is what I need from a DAP:
1. Simple off-line play files from memory card / I dont need online stream and all the fancy function
2. Long battery life (20h more)
3. Good quality to pair with the Meze 99 classic. I am not keen with balance or some fancy connectors - 3.5mm do the trick for me :P
4. charge by USB C - less cable for me to carry around
5. not too big to put in a pocket

and here is what I love to have but not compulsory

1. has FM tunner - this is silly but i think handy to have. so i dont need to carry a radio with me.
2. bluetooth is good to have but not a big deal.
3. weather resistant. i hear that some sony DAP has weather resistant. well, i would not put them under rain but handy to have?

thank you all
 
Jul 15, 2021 at 11:11 AM Post #2 of 9
I think the key item in your list is the headphones that you want to drive. In general, over the ear headphones need more power.

So I would focus on the power of the units you are considering. Nowadays most higher powered units are going to include features that you may not need with the exception of one off units like the Cayin N3Pro. I would go to the forums for you headphones and ask what kinds of units people are using to drive them well.
 
Jul 15, 2021 at 11:24 AM Post #3 of 9
originalsnuffy said:
I think the key item in your list is the headphones that you want to drive. In general, over the ear headphones need more power.

So I would focus on the power of the units you are considering. Nowadays most higher powered units are going to include features that you may not need with the exception of one off units like the Cayin N3Pro. I would go to the forums for you headphones and ask what kinds of units people are using to drive them well.
Click to expand...
Sorry i forgot to mention, I'm having meze 99 classics. It it not hard to drive. But I'm thinking to change to something required more power (around 300-500 ohm)
 
Jul 15, 2021 at 5:35 PM Post #4 of 9
Grab a Hiby R5. Simple function, clean UI, plenty of power, and sounds fantastic with the 99s. This combo is actually my gym setup. The sonic character of the R5 compliments the 99s really well. The form factor is outstanding - perfect size imo. The R5 with the Cirrus Logic dac chips sounds quite a bit better than my LG V40 imo. Plus you have the option of going balanced, which I highly recommend. Dap isn't terribly expensive, so make sure to grab one of Meze 99 4.4mm balanced cables. It will take the listening experience to another level.
 
Jul 16, 2021 at 8:34 AM Post #5 of 9
Mhog55 said:
Hiby R5
Click to expand...

I have the Hiby R3 Pro and I love it. The streaming works about as expected though some lagging between switching playlists which I'm not too concerned about since the size of the unit and price, they had to cut costs somewhere. For TF card listening it's great. Powers even my Fostex Argons easily, bluetooth for my TWS and with USB-C for a desktop portable for the office, it works nicely.
 
Jul 19, 2021 at 3:45 AM Post #7 of 9
Quanghungphung said:
Dear all,
I am looking for a DAP to replace my setup of phone and DAC. Can I ask how do you read or know what DAP is good?
I see lots of chip and review and function... but get very confusing.
Click to expand...

First and most important: if even people on Android and Windows or Linux want to throw it against the wall, then it's not good.

If iOS+MacOS users want to toss it, but you're not an iOS+MacOS user, then maybe it won't be that bad for you. Maybe.


Quanghungphung said:
I keep myself open for price wise but I dont want too big DAP which cant fit the pocket or hard to carry around. I also see that some expensive DAP the battery do not last long?
Click to expand...

Think of it like a gaming laptop.

A $1,000 Macbook Air can run 20hrs on a single charge, but playing any game on it is torture at best on many games.

A $1,799 Alienware M17 R3 can run many games at 120fps, but good luck getting that to run over 3hrs even on the same tasks that you put on the Macbook Air ie MS Office and browser, maybe Spotify.

As much as you can have design parameters either way regardless of price point, the target customers are very different and these dictate what parameters they're designed for. The lower end DAPs are aimed at people who want something just markedly better than a smartphone if not merely something to replace the smartphone either because they're using one that sucks or doesn't even have a headphone jack anymore (nor expandable storage), which is kind of like when older generation console emulators work on the M1 ARM chip now (if they don't already) for some light gaming. By contrast those who are willing to pay more want it to have enough raw power so any reasonably sensitive headphone can be driven well enough without the need to haul a portable amp, or paired with a very powerful portable amp when transportable or a desktop amp (something some low end DAPs can't even do as some don't even have a line out port, although this is increasingly baked into the firmware so can be selected to bypass the headphone driver stage), which is kind of like having an Alienware with a lot of power for games and then can output via DisplayPort. On top of that the prevalence for better UIs means there's also a preference for more powerful CPUs, which, while not exactly on par with flagship smartphones, will at least be snappy enough as to feel like a phone on the Android-based UI if not on full Android mode.


Quanghungphung said:
Is the only way is to go shop and try?

Btw, Here is what I need from a DAP:
1. Simple off-line play files from memory card / I dont need online stream and all the fancy function
2. Long battery life (20h more)
3. Good quality to pair with the Meze 99 classic. I am not keen with balance or some fancy connectors - 3.5mm do the trick for me :p
4. charge by USB C - less cable for me to carry around
5. not too big to put in a pocket
Click to expand...

We can narrow it down to a few DAPs before you buy any to try (unless you can go to a physical store to try them out), but there's one real hitch in there.

As much as I used the laptop as an example above where the bigger Alienware has shorter battery life than the slimmer, smaller Macbook, that doesn't hold true infinitely in that direction meaning at some point you're going to have a device that's so tiny you'd need the processor to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more efficient than the Macbook's current ARM processor - which gets almost 20hrs off its huge battery bank (Macs have separately packaged cells, not one large rectangle as on PCs) just to get 20hrs out of a much smaller battery.

Your best bet there is probably a Sony but I'm pretty sure it's kind of unrealistic to expect 20hrs of playback much less on a headphone (as opposed to an IEM that you can crank the volume way down for) before it starts getting problematic for pocket fit. Not to mention insane battery life isn't exactly a parameter for the large ones so even if they have bigger batteries chances are that's going to be offset by the amplifier and CPU performance.
 
Jul 19, 2021 at 4:49 AM Post #8 of 9
Quanghungphung said:
Dear all,
Can I ask how do you read or know what DAP is good?
Click to expand...

Well from my experience once a got DAP it gave me first a different appreciation from all the IEM and Headphones I bought.
Will never go back to a smartphone + DAC/Amp first and foremost because any smartphone can't match the High Def Codec formats quality from a DAP for me (Wav, DSD 128/256, ect).
 
Last edited:
Jul 21, 2021 at 1:39 PM Post #9 of 9
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