Obscure Chinese DAPs

[peter123]

Jeez-m-cripes… is there anything you won't try

LOL, actually a couple of things comes to mind but I don't think it's suited for a public forum.

Edit : wait, did you mean sound releated? In that case no

 

[Mr Trev]

LOL, actually a couple of things comes to mind but I don't think it's suited for a public forum.

Edit : wait, did you mean sound releated? In that case no

Good to know if there's anything that piques my interest, I can give you a shout

 
Really hoping that some for these Chinese manufacturers start putting the same effort into making DAPs (or headphones) that they put into IEMs.

 

[peter123]

Good to know if there's anything that piques my interest, I can give you a shout

Really hoping that some for these Chinese manufacturers start putting the same effort into making DAPs (or headphones) that they put into IEMs.

Ha ha, please do.

Yeah I agree. There are some good sounding ones as far as I understand (I'm quite impressed by the sound on the $20 Idealist S1813 myself) but the real challenge seem to be to get good enough UI and stability fw wise.

 

[HiFiChris]

 
Good to know if there's anything that piques my interest, I can give you a shout

 
Really hoping that some for these Chinese manufacturers start putting the same effort into making DAPs (or headphones) that they put into IEMs.

 
Try the AGPTek C05 - flat FR, no caps in the signal path (-> no roll-off with low impedance headphones), low output impedance (somewhere between 1 and 1.5 Ohms) and a logically laid-out menu structure (well, the me at least). And it is cheap as dirt.
Basically like the A06 if you want to check my English review of that one out, but with more buttons (yay, dedicated volume buttons) and a slightly wider soundstage. Menu structure is also better (3x3 vs. sideways scrolling list). You could also check out the C05 review in German with pictures of the UI. Still undecided whether I should translate it and put onto Head-Fi, considering that it is like the A06 but with improvements.
The only disadvantage is that the folders and files aren't sorted alphabetically, but that can be solved by using software like FATSorter.

But whatever you do, stay away from the AGPTek C1 - it is horrible.

 

[Mr Trev]

No need for a bluetooth capable player, but I might get an A02 next time Amazon.ca has 'em on sale

 

[HiFiChris]

  No need for a bluetooth capable player, but I might get an A02 next time Amazon.ca has 'em on sale

 
Knowing that, I'd actually suggest to get the B03 instead. Don't know about the price difference, but it measures just as good as the B06 and C05, sounds subjectively more neutral (the other two sound a smidgen bright to me), has more buttons for better control and menu navigation and last but not least a better plastic screen over the LCD (much thicker and less scratch-prone).

 

[Aevum]

i have a AGPTek Imp, 
 
first the bad, 
The menus and firmware are very spartan, 
You have to erase the library files off the SD card which are hidden to make it refresh, i´ve been unable to find a menu option to refresh. 
Its horrible recognizing tags, 19 out of 20 files it shows the filename directly, 
no tactile interface, the touch bottons are like touching a touchscreen on a cellphone.
Menus can be annoying like when you change the volume you go to a volume control screen that shows the volume on a 1/50 scale, but until you press back it wont let you do anything else like pause or change song. 
You´re going to have to use a SD card, atleast on the player i got the internal flash memory is extreamly slow, 1.5-2MBPS speed,
 
The good, 
the 20 hour battery life... is an underestimation, i´ve had it for around 2 months with around 10-15 h use a week, i have yet to drop the battery under 50% on the indicator with 2 partial charges playing a mixture of MP3 and 48Khz 16 bit Flac.
So i suspect battery life is closer to 30-35 hours. 
The sound... the wolfson dac sounds familiar, it sounds like an unvailed D20 without the bass rolloff but still has a slightly weaker bass, the EQ is very spartan but the player does sound very good flat. 
i havent amped it and i lost my main equipment so im running a Zero audio tenore right and Audio Technica M50´s. 
 
Would i recommend it ? the Fiio M3 has a better firmware and faster internal memory, just based on that it might be a better buy since both players cost about the same (around 65 euros here), the M3 might have a shorter battery life but the defects on the IMP are hard to ignore and you will always have to use a microSD with it due to the poor USB speeds. 
 
Unfortunatly i dont have a M3 on hand to compare but if i had the oportunity to recant my purchess. 

 

[Raketen]

  i have a AGPTek Imp, 
 
  i havent amped it and i lost my main equipment so im running a Zero audio tenore right and Audio Technica M50´s. 
 
Would i recommend it ? the Fiio M3 has a better firmware and faster internal memory, just based on that it might be a better buy since both players cost about the same (around 65 euros here), the M3 might have a shorter battery life but the defects on the IMP are hard to ignore and you will always have to use a microSD with it due to the poor USB speeds. 
 
Unfortunatly i dont have a M3 on hand to compare but if i had the oportunity to recant my purchess. 

Thanks for impressions I was curious about that DAP.

Ended up buying someone's crowdfunded Cyberdrive Seiun instead and it is also a bit disappointing, no discrete DAC yet decent sounding, but hissy and very rudimentary UI- though it does have a little speaker and recording functionality which is neat... if it had an alarm clock feature I'd have a reason to keep it

 

[HiFiChris]

@Raketen
 
May I ask which Seiun you got? The Seiun, Pro or Pro X?

 

[Raketen]

  @Raketen
 
May I ask which Seiun you got? The Seiun, Pro or Pro X?

The tiny non-android one-  either called just the Seiun or the Seiun Player. afaik they haven't shipped the android daps yet.

 

[HiFiChris]

Originally Posted by Raketen /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
The tiny non-android one-  either called just the Seiun or the Seiun Player.

 
Thanks for your reply. Too bad it is hissy - would have been a nice DAP for hiking elsewise.

 

[audionewbi]

C200 looks good to me.

 

[Deviltooth]

Just received my Benjie C1 (it's charging as I type).  It looks exactly, distressingly like a Ruizu.  Everything, the font on the player itself and the menus... I have a a sinking feeling that this is no different than an R02.  I already own an X09 (it broke in just a few weeks) and an X10; the interfaces for either could best be described as byzantine, ridiculous, horrible and dumb.
 
I'll hold off judgement until after use but first impressions are off-putting.
 
P.S. On the pleasant side this was my first order from Penon audio who were extremely responsive over e-mail and shipped the player in excellent, protective packaging.  I will definitely deal with them again.

 

[Deviltooth]

  Just received my Benjie C1 (it's charging as I type).  It looks exactly, distressingly like a Ruizu.  Everything, the font on the player itself and the menus... I have a a sinking feeling that this is no different than an R02.  I already own an X09 (it broke in just a few weeks) and an X10; the interfaces for either could best be described as byzantine, ridiculous, horrible and dumb.
 
I'll hold off judgement until after use but first impressions are off-putting.
 
P.S. On the pleasant side this was my first order from Penon audio who were extremely responsive over e-mail and shipped the player in excellent, protective packaging.  I will definitely deal with them again.

My initial negative impressions are transitioning to a much more positive experience.  The Benjie C1 has an interface that's workable (I'll stop short of saying good) and sound quality appears to be at least as good as that of the Sansa Clip.  It'll visit the gym with me tomorrow and after a week or so of use I'll either extend my impressions or write a review.  So far so good.

 

[peter123]

 
My initial negative impressions are transitioning to a much more positive experience.  The Benjie C1 has an interface that's workable (I'll stop short of saying good) and sound quality appears to be at least as good as that of the Sansa Clip.  It'll visit the gym with me tomorrow and after a week or so of use I'll either extend my impressions or write a review.  So far so good.

Nice to hear that your impressions has changed for the better. Although I didn't find the UI on the Ruizu X02 (and the Idealist s1813 that's identical) to be very impressive I'd describe it as workable as well. My biggest grip with the X02 was how rolled off the bass was on it, most likely a trade off to reach the impressive 80 hours of playback time on one charge.