So, my experience has to let you know that even though I just stated the above half-review above, that is with my IEMs, and personal preferences in terms of sound signature. Depending on the Earphones you use, it may bring out better qualities from the DX80 over the M5, or over the Aune M2 and of course, vice versa. The statements I made are what I've noticed with the IEMs I consistently use and have used for months, so I know exactly what they should sound like with specific songs, as I've listened to them hundreds if not thousands of times. As a general rule though, the Wolfson WM8790 is warm, Sabre ES9018 is on the bright to analytical side of the spectrum, while the Cirrus Logic CS4398 and the AKM AK4490 is somewhere in between. Once again, that is probably an over generalization, but for most players, that's pretty true. So depending on your earphones, you may want to choose a Warm player to darken up overly bright headphones like the Grado SR80's or the Dunu DN2000's or for earphones that are too dark such as the Sony XBA-4's you may want to give a Bright signature player to neutralize everything out. So at the end of the day, choose a player that will compliment your equipment you currently own, or else you may find whichever player you choose to be too bright, too dark or just right, and it will be due to the synergy with the earphones more than the player characteristics.
I purchased mine through Bright Audio, I had a fantastic buying experience. I usually am an avid Amazon Prime purchaser, as I've purchased all my previous DAPs from Amazon, I too was a little hesitant to purchase using AliExpress. However, saving over $100 was well worth the hesitation now that I have it in my possession.
Last comment I have.. You made the statement "do you guys think it will perform the same against AK380?" That seriously all depends on the music you listen to, the earphones you use, the file quality you are playing, and how close are you really paying attention to every aspect of the music. If it's a quiet house, you have full size cans, and aren't distracted by anything else. Jst simply listening to music, then yes, you will probably notice the difference between the AK380 and the M5, or any other player for that matter, but is that price justified, that is something only you can answer. After listening to the M5, I can completely understand paying a premium if it was $500 or more. With the AK380, you're paying for the exclusivity factor of being able to say you are one of the few to own one, and the rest of the price is due to the perceived value we hold in Astell & Kern players. We just hear the name Astell & Kern and our ears melt just thinking about how caramelized the sound probably is. We have it in our heads that Astell & Kern and Audio Perfection are synonymous. And as I stated earlier, they do, but you're talking about owning the high end earphones to go along with it, because are you seriously going to own an Astell & Kern AK380 and use some $16 Xiaomi Hybrids? Don't get me wrong, they sound good, but if you're spending $3,000 on the player, clearly, you care more about your audio than most people do even their pets, or some 2nd hand cars. So you better be buying a pair of earphones that are worthy of the AK380's price point. Or you can save yourself a ton of money, and pay half ($1,600) for the AK300 that is about to be released. It is supposed to sound pretty close.
Sorry, one more thing, I think there already is a couple of videos on the Aune M2, and it depends on which variant you buy, I believe there are 3 different versions. So be sure to compare them with the matching m2 closest matching the price point.
