[neog007]

Some more information found in taobao. You can have the hole package -player + amp- for the amazing price of around €150 -€95 just the player...still thinking it is worth -a priori- the aliexpress price-. It appears to be made for one another. Player is in size as the ak100 -a bit more fat..- and some people there customize it with some kind of covering material to get it less ugly..  Here are some pictures to have an idea.
Confirmed it can be used on android-otg and as a dac for windows pretty well and for mac with some kind of problem. Battery is 3000mah.
It is said that it has a cold sound, bass is strong and mids and highs are clear. well we´ll see..
Finally ordered the amp too..
    

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Yeah taobao is usually quite a bit cheaper than alixpress, but taobao arent well set up to take international orders, did you manage to order from taobao? Link me the taobao amp+dac.

 

[neog007]

They sell them separately. Here is the link of the manufacturer in taobao:
https://shop72826291.world.taobao.com/
I didn´t manage any order in taobao yet. With some tricks is possible to buy there but i´m still considering it.
What´s weird about this is how to get all this hardware in the player at €95 and still get some decent profit..

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  They sell them separately. Here is the link of the manufacturer in taobao:https://shop72826291.world.taobao.com/
I didn´t manage any order in taobao yet. With some tricks is possible to buy there, but i´m still considering it.
What´s weird about this is how to get all this hardware in the player at €95 and still get some decent profit..

- what's that jack beside the usb-jack? maybe a line-in and could it be used as a sort of amplifier?

 
Most people would be shocked at how much their dap actually costs to manufacture, a tiny pcb+components doesn't rack up cost, a nicely manufactured cnc body can easily end up costing more than the circuit. With mainstream daps and audio gear we are mainly being charged a premium for the design, as some companies feel their design and circuit deserves a premium price, even fiio and ibasso charge a premium for their designs compared to these diy type products, and some companies charge a ridiculous premium for their designs (AK). But yeah, the profit on this dap would be much less than the mainstream companies would be comfortable with lol.
 
As for that unknown jack, it has to be digital (spdif) in or out, as it is labeled iec-60958-3 on the circuit diagram, 

 

[bzfrank]

You ordered the bigger one? Does this player also play AAC? Load Rockbox?

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  You ordered the bigger one? Does this player also play AAC? Load Rockbox?

 
The dsd one doesn't mention aac and there is no rockbox, only the mini can load rockbox.

 

[neog007]

  You ordered the bigger one? Does this player also play AAC? Load Rockbox?

I ordered the dsd. I ignore if it plays AAC files. As far as I know it has no rockbox and I think it wont have it. This player processes almost every hi-res format in the market and rockbox only reach FLAC16 maximum
- edit: according to the chart it does not play aac originally, but i don´t know if it does with the 2 already firmware updates-

 

[Chris Lee]

Hi everyone, I've been mostly a stereo hi-fi guy after spending thousands of dollars on hi-fi speakers, amps, dacs, etc. I just got into DAP's. Before, I mostly listened to Mp3's on my phone with my old AKG K450 headphones. 
 
A couple days ago, I received my new AGPTeK H01 that everyone's been talking about and paired it with my new AKG K52 headphones. This is my first hi-res player ever. I also bought a 64gb Samsung Evo+ micro SD card for storage. 
 
First impressions:
 
I'm quite impressed with the build quality. Initially, I wanted my friend to get me the Aigo 108 which is the same player but only comes in silver and gold. The black is so much more professional looking, reminds me of the old AK100. I would only get this player in black. 
 
Pros:
The player boots up fast with a cool AGPTek logo. Interface is responsive and easy to use, though there is occasionally a slight delay when pausing and playing files. It's not bad to deter it from the overall experience. No issues with it recognizing my 64gb SD card. 
 
Sound:
This player is all about the mids with forwarding-sounding vocals that's warm and engaging. There's a slight sibilance occasionally, but that could be my AKG headphones not being fully broken-in yet.
 
Timing is excellent with good rhythm and flow. 
 
Plenty of power to drive my K52 (using 80/100 volume setting on H01)
 
Musical sounding if not the most exciting of listens.  
 
 
Cons:
EQ reduces the volume and does nothing to improve sound, but general sound w/o EQ is excellent
Volume control is precise, but is slow to adjust volume
Fonts could be larger and clearer.
Tiny album cover pic
Can't adjust volume once screen goes off
Some high notes are smeared and lacking in organization. (lacks a bit of air and detail)
Some background noise (not a lot but noticeable); lack of detail could be due to not-so-perfect noise floor 
Bass could go deeper, but generally very good. 
Storage is limited to 64gb
AAC probably not supported, but haven't tried it yet.
96/24 Flac probably not supported, but haven't tried it yet. (I don't have a lot of 96/24 files anyways)
 
For the price, it's tough to beat. Upon initial listening, it's the vocals and timing of this player that strikes you the most. There's a real sense of presence with vocals, presented more forward than anything else. I would say it's veered more towards the warm side of neutral. Pair this player with a brighter sounding headphone with a lot of bass and you will have great sounding combo without breaking the bank. I'm getting the new AKG K92 and see how it sounds with this player. The K92 should be more a bit more revealing and should sound better with this player. I will let everyone know. Feel feel to ask any more questions about this player. 

 

[neog007]

  Zishan DSD
...........................................................................

- what's that jack beside the usb-jack? maybe a line-in and could it be used as a sort of amplifier?

ok auto answer: is a coaxial out. that's great

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

I ordered the dsd.

 
I'm guessing you bought from aliexpress, as I was talking to the seller on Taobao, he won't sell overseas. Have to use a Taobao agent which ends up costing the same as buying from Aliexpress.
 
Although a cool thing about buying from the Taobao store is you can pay $50 extra to be upgraded to the best components possible, metal film resistors for analog stage and opamps like AD8610, AD797, OPA627. It's actually worth it, he's not marking up costs, the components alone would equal $50. I would have gone this route if I hadn't ordered already...
.

 

[vapman]

   
I'm guessing you bought from aliexpress, as I was talking to the seller on Taobao, he won't sell overseas. Have to use a Taobao agent which ends up costing the same as buying from Aliexpress.
 
Although a cool thing about buying from the Taobao store is you can pay $50 extra to be upgraded to the best components possible, metal film resistors for analog stage and opamps like AD8610, AD797, OPA627. It's actually worth it, he's not marking up costs, the components alone would equal $50. I would have gone this route if I hadn't ordered already...
.

Can this be arranged thru Taobao agent? (The $50 upgrade)

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

 
Can this be arranged thru Taobao agent? (The $50 upgrade)

 
Sure why not, this is the page for the upgrades: https://world.taobao.com/item/530460657059.htm?fromSite=main&spm=a312a.7700824.w4004-14073443532.6.qmVLTO
 
He has 11 different opamp combos listed, but it looks like only half of them are available atm, I didn't ask if we can get custom opamp combos. You would have to communicate either with the seller or through the agent as to which opamps you want for the LPF and Amp, the upgrades to the resistors and capacitors are standard across all.

 

[neog007]

I'm guessing you bought from aliexpress, as I was talking to the seller on Taobao, he won't sell overseas. Have to use a Taobao agent which ends up costing the same as buying from Aliexpress.

Although a cool thing about buying from the Taobao store is you can pay $50 extra to be upgraded to the best components possible, metal film resistors for analog stage and opamps like AD8610, AD797, OPA627. It's actually worth it, he's not marking up costs, the components alone would equal $50. I would have gone this route if I hadn't ordered already...
.

yeap bought them -amp+player- in aliexpress. If the unit is as good as I expect could be an option to buy the upgrade one you mention in taobao. the thing is how hard could it be to sell the already ordered player in order to buy the new one..
- I'm still quite happy for this purchance decision, will se the results-

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

yeap bought them -amp+player- in aliexpress. If the unit is as good as I expect could be an option to buy the upgrade one you mention in taobao. the thing is how hard could it be to sell the already ordered player in order to buy the new one..- I'm still quite happy for this purchance decision, will see the results-

 
I'm happy also, after all the upgrade mainly affects the analog amp stage of the dap, because luckily we can change the LPF opamp ourselves as it's in a socket.
 
Anyway even with the upgrade the dap's amp still won't be anywhere as good as the mini a1 amp we got, which btw also makes use of the high quality metal film resistors throughout, and also uses one of my all time favorite opamps AD797, and instead of using an opamp current buffer (BUF634) which the dap uses (nothing to sneeze at though, widely used), the mini a1 amp uses a discrete current buffer with 8x TO-92 transistors and has a higher operating voltage at +/- 12v.
 
So it still makes more sense to buy the dap+amp in terms of performance per dollar, than getting the dap+upgrade, but obviously the form factor is very different between the two options. I'd just get the dap+upgrade+amp 

 

 
Yeah it's pretty darn amazing that this <$150 dap plays 32bit 384Khz and Native DSD256. It's not perfect though, I recently noticed that there is very little in the way of power regulation LDO's used in the analog circuit, which is critical to sound quality, I'm sure the dap will still sound good, but it does have weak spots (and just to be clear, I've seen corners cut on every dap I've seen the inside of, no matter the price; ak240, x7, hm901, dx90, etc, etc). It is still value for the hardware, the profit made on this dap is surely small, or fair I should say, most are just over charging.
.

 

[neog007]

Yeap the power regulation thing you mentioned, screen, volume potenciometer, UI and software implementation, brick design... But i´m still pretty excited with the player for that price and even more now that is possible to change the oamp what a great news!
The amp seems to be pretty damn good for the price too. quite happy with your discovery here yes.  there´s no doubt the guy knows how to build pretty decent machines at tight price, but zero knowledge in marketing matters i´m afraid
Agree player + amp is not the best portable solution -double brick-.If u want portability try this clip-mod a I found in feedback pics in taobao..