DAP options (Digital Audio Player) in 2016

[soli528]

Looking for opinions on Hi-Res music listening options- I've seen portable options like the Fiio X5 and Lotoo Paw Gold, other modular solutions coupling a DAC to a headphone amp, then the proprietary stuff like PONO.
Who is listening to Hi-Res audio over headphones and how?

 

[94prs22]

I have and use a Color Fly c4 that I've had for several years. My headphones are Grado RS-1s from 2001.

 

[walkthewalk]

I use both a Fiio X3 (2nd Gen) and a Pono to listen to FLAC files. I'm either listening to rips from CDs I own or 94 khz/24 bit downloads I've bought. I use either Sony MDR7506 headphones or Ultimate Ears 11 Pro IEMs.

Both the Pono and the Fiio X3 sound great. I bought the Fiio for it's small size and very long battery life which is great if I'm making long international flights. IEMs are great on an airplane. I usually only use my Pono at work at my desk. It's more bulky than the Fiio and has much shorter battery life. It's also signed by Neil Young and numbered so it has collectible value and can't really be replaced if lost or damaged.

 

[soli528]

Considering that many units account for line outs to a home system, you'd think there would be some way to access cloud storage. I guess maybe there is, via USB to a laptop...
It seems like something I'll buy, then in 3-4 months a wifi capable version will drop.

 

[paulg]

So many ways to go, it's confusing. Pono is cool. My only criticism is that it doesn't stream. I believe within a few years downloading music files will be dead. I'd recommend starting with a streaming service you like (it's called Tidal(no affiliation)) and work back from there. A cost effective way to go is to use your laptop with a USB DAC headphone amp combo.

 

[Sheherezadeh]

I loved the Cowon X7 I had for a few years until the hard drive failed. I'm currently using a Fiio X1, like it, and intend to try the X5. I also still have several iPods, which sound better using an LOD into a DAC, like my Fiio X11.

 

[mpickup]

Looking for opinions on Hi-Res music listening options- I've seen portable options like the Fiio X5 and Lotoo Paw Gold, other modular solutions coupling a DAC to a headphone amp, then the proprietary stuff like PONO.
Who is listening to Hi-Res audio over headphones and how?

Enjoying my Pono... nothing proprietary about flac.

 

[IGuitUpIGuitDown]

It's really confusing trying to decide on a model. Astell&Kern are astronomical in price.

Would you pay $4000.00 for a new digital audio player?

Damn.

 

[Elantric]

I'm using a LG V20 - this has a 32 bit DAC and supports 2TB micro SD cards

LG V20 Android 7 phone

 

[IGuitUpIGuitDown]

I have thought of buying a new Android phone, but am leaning toward a Fiio, Onkyo, Pioneer, or maybe an A&K70?

After not being very impressed with my last dead iPod classic 160gb, I'm hoping the sound quality will be much better. Apple had a great interface but really pretty crappy audio. And I had all .aiff files ripped from cds or even MFSL master cds.

 

[Elantric]

https://www.headfonia.com/review-the-hidizs-ap60-body/


HIDZS AP60
Dimensions： 70mmX42mmX14mm
Weight： about 50g
Screen： 2.0 inch HD TFT（320X240）
DSD decoding： Supported DSD64/128
USB DAC/CTG DAC： Supported
Bluetooth： 4.0&APT-X
CPU： X1000
D/A converter chip： AK4452VN
AMP chip： MAX97220A
Gain Setting： Low gain、High gain
Sampling rate： 44.1kHz-192kHz/24 Bit
Audio format： FLAC.APE.WMA.WAV.ALAC.AAC.OGG.MP3.AIFF.DSF.DIFF
Output port： 3.5mm Headphone Port
Output power： 35mW@32 ohm
Output impedance： 0.1Ω
Frequency response： 20Hz-20000Hz(-0.5dB)
THD+N： 0.005%
SNR： >109dB
Dynamic range： >105dB
Channel separation： >106dB
Storage： Supported 256GB
Power： Marco USB2.0
Battery： 1000mAH Li-ion Battery
Battery Life： about10-12 hours
Supported systems： MAC OSX10.7、Windows XP、windows7/8/10 or more update systems

 

[rollyfoster]

Pono is still alive?

 

[tiktok]

Pono is still alive?

Not really.

After five years, it appears that Neil Young's Pono initiative -- which resulted in a hardware player and digital music store -- may be finally over. In its place: Xstream.

A post on Pono's forums this week (membership required) confirmed that eight months after its music download store went down, the company was now channeling its efforts into a new streaming service called Xstream instead.

Xstream will provide hi-res music at a "normal price" Young says, and in a direct dig at Tidal (and Spotify) he says that companies shouldn't charge a premium for hi-res streams.

Pono's music download webstore went down in July of 2016 after music partner Omnifone was sold, and Pono announced at the time it was moving to to 7digital.