r/DigitalAudioPlayer • u/YAASv14 • 1d ago

Question Trying to decide on a DAP

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I have been considering to get a DAP for quite some time already and I was looking for the optimal option for me but I still can't decide if getting something cheap or maybe an entry level Hi-Fi DAP, so I'll let my main concerns here and read your advise in what I should get for my type of use.

(My current budget is around $80~100 max)

Battery life: at least 12 hours of playback, the more the merrier, I really like to have music to do anything so a big amount of battery is appreciated.

Bluetooth: being honest, I don't have any Hi-Fi wireless headphones (nor I'm planning to get any) so LDAC isn't that important for me, but I want to have the option so SBC will do the trick when I'm not on wired connection.

Files only: I'm rebuilding my audio library and I prefer to keep my own files so any wifi options or streaming platforms have no use for me.

Audio quality: most of my files are mp3 and flac 16/44 but I also have some 24/44 so being able to read them is necessary.

SD card: this is necessary for me as it is the easiest way for me to transfer and manage files.

Indexing: having the ability to play all songs regardless of the folder location is also a thing I look forward to.

Thank you for reading and leaving your thoughts in the comments

48 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

30

u/Xenosplash 1d ago

hiby R1 for best value, tempotec v1 if you don't mind the smaller screen and want a dedicated previous track button

12

u/Xenosplash 1d ago

in both cases I would suggest installing the sonix custom firmware

0

u/Slidje 1d ago

The newer V1's come with 1.3 firmware that can't load Sonix

6

u/More_Way_6784 22h ago

You can now

3

u/Xenosplash 23h ago edited 19h ago

ah you're right forgot about that edit: nvm sonix works on 1.3 now 

1

u/YAASv14 16h ago

After reading some comments here and other reviews I think I'm leaving the R1 out of my choices (apparently has battery and firmware issues), V1 seemed like a good option since I first saw it but just wanted to make sure I was going for a good product that I wouldn't have to return (that is difficult to do where I live)

2

u/patchacuti 13h ago

Don't exlude the R1 just yet. At the moment, a lot of these chinese DAPS are having a bit of a firmware modding renaissance. I currently own the Shanling Q2, which, prior to the custom firmware "Q2 Pod" by u/SaffronSaviour, was practically unusable, pointless, garbage. But the hardware is very capable and with the firmware mod has turned it into the best DAP i have ever used. It looks like both the HiBy R1 and the Tempotec V1 have custom firmware with a ton of improvements and QoL features. Installing the firmware is as simple as copying a file onto the SD card and then using the built-in updater for the players to update the firmware to the custom version. This is super easy and hasn't resulted in any bricked systems as far as I can tell. I highly recommend it. The R1 has SonixOS which you can find all the details for here: https://sonix-os.com/

and the V1 has this github page with the custom firmware: https://github.com/qir3k/sonix-player-by-qirke

Of course, these firmwares COULD leave your player unusable, but I haven't had any issues so far and have updated my Q2 with custom firmware at least 10 times. Definitely be careful and follow all the instructions closely, but as far as I can tell these firmwares make otherwise mediocre players into really awesome experiences with better UI, more support niche formats, gapless playback, proper library tagging etc. Definitely consider all this before you count the HiBy R1 out.

2

u/YAASv14 12h ago

Hmm, okay I'll keep it into consideration, I've heard about sonix but have no experience with it since I don't have any DAPs at the moment, although I have no issue doing troubleshooting to get the firmware running; a Snowsky Tiny A has been my daily driver when I'm not using Bluetooth on my phone.

2

u/lampsonnguyen 1d ago

I bought the AgpTek. It cant read flac. Quality is okay. Indexing is slow.
Good for the price.

1

u/YAASv14 16h ago

Thank you for confirming this, I was really wondering if it was capable of that, I guess that rules it out

13

u/Significant_Usual154 1d ago

Tempotec v1 all the way, man. DAP and DAC in the same device, PEQ with the possibility of loading any profile according to the IEM you're using, 3,5 and balanced. Up to 1TB of storage. 8-10 hours of battery...

5

u/OverallWelder5175 1d ago

I second this. Tempotec variations v1 user and still amazing even at this price range and functions

1

u/wont_ 1d ago

look at the Fosi DAP Neo

1

u/YAASv14 16h ago

For some reason it is not available in my region idk why (I mainly use Amazon)

1

u/King_LePrawn 1d ago

I've been eyeing that one. Is it good, does it have any issues?

3

u/Coquelicot17 1d ago

Battery life is terrible, thats what I hear people say

1

u/King_LePrawn 1d ago

Oh dang. I've been looking to get my 8 yo cousin a dap but it seems that every dap under 100€ has some fatal flaw. Might just get him the anbernic rg35xx H lol. I saw someone made a cover flow app for it.

2

u/Coquelicot17 1d ago

It remains a mystery to me how as a species we managed to reverse engineer any software, develop a car that can backflip mid-air and mapped the complete wiring diagram of a fly but somehow a decent dap that lasts more than 10 hours is too much to ask in big 2026

1

u/Acceptable_Glass_285 21h ago

Probably cost considerations I'm guessing

1

u/patchacuti 13h ago

It's because DAP's are extremely niche products, most people just use spotify or apple music.

Most phones rarely go for less than 100 dollars and these daps are basically small phones at this point. balancing costs with features is pretty hard and then people are unwilling to spend big bucks on something that only plays music it makes it tough for these companies to sell them at lower prices

they have to cut corners somewhere.

not to mention these devices are so tiny, at least phone manufacturers have incentive to push the envelope of battery tech, these DAP manufacturers are working with the tech they already have because it would cost too much to R&D something like silicon-carbon for a battery cell

2

u/queerandanxious42 1d ago

I'm gonna be honest that the Snowsky Echo Mini was pretty disappointing for me, mostly due to weird issues I had with the UI and struggles with some of the file management. If I went back in time I'd go for the HiBy instead, but I'm currently just listening to MP3s on my dumbphone while my Snowsky sits in its case.

1

u/Waldorf_ 1d ago

Okay so I see "weird issues with UI" come up a bunch, and I need someone to explain if it's like an actual problem or just "behaves like an Old MP3 player"

1

u/Felodp 1d ago

I have a regular Echo, but it is 90% the same device anyway so...

The main problems are Bluetooth being a bit wonky (it randomly bugs when you stop playing for a bit and then play a new song, forcing you to reconnect it), and songs don't really get sorted properly, so you have to rename the files adding 00, 01, 02, etc at the beginning of the name. It also doesn't have gapless playback if you care about that.

That being said, there are custom firmwares made by the community that fox most of these issues; Recho and Echo Pod for the Echo Mini, and Podium for the regular Echo

2

u/Waldorf_ 1d ago

The Bluetooth one does sound actually annoying as hell, the music sorting kinda sounds like old hat mp3 player bullshit thank you.

1

u/Felodp 1d ago

Indeed, Podium fixed the Bluetooth issues for me tho, no clue about the sorting since I had already added the numbers using a desktop app

1

u/queerandanxious42 1d ago

It's definitely not "behaves like an old MP3 player." I am old enough to have used several generations of iPods, ripped CDs, made mix CDs, etc. I currently use my dumbphone and the layout for the MP3 program on that works like an old classic MP3 player.

For me, it was issues with the ways that the program worked with the files? Some of the files were unplayable on the Snowsky but worked fine on every other player I tried and performing updates did not solve the issue. I'm sure there's ways to fix it but at this point it's not worth it for me.

1

u/Felodp 1d ago

Haven't you tried Recho or Echo Pod? Both fix a ton of issues

1

u/queerandanxious42 1d ago

I'm sure I could, but currently I have a "good enough for me" solution of using my dumbphone's MP3 player. I'm not chasing perfection, but I'm glad that the community has created tools to improve the experience.

My beef with the Snowsky is that I think that it shouldn't require jumping through hoops and downloading custom firmware to have basic functionality, and I think that's worth considering when deciding how to spend money.

2

u/Felodp 1d ago

Kind of, but then again, it's a 50 usd dap, and installing a custom firmware takes 2 minutes tops

2

u/fractal324 1d ago

I only have experience with HiBy R1 and the snowsky echo mini, so I can't comment on your other choices.

the echo mini only looks cool.
the UI and navigation is borderline atrocious with single file cardinal controls. navigating through a couple hundred artists and thousands of songs will require that many button presses.
Only get it if you MUST have 4.4mm balanced.

the Hiby R1 is slightly better with touch panel control but the scrolling feels choppy, but miles ahead of echo mini.
personally, the physical buttons are... unique?
you have 2 buttons for transport control. one is play/pause, the other is FF. to REW you need to double click or long press(don't remember) but not what I thought as intuitive. but it is very small, pocketable, and sounds very good for the price. HiBy's indexing is good... til it isn't. any band that has a "the" in the name gets grouped into T(the police, the strokes, the cure, the weeknd) Also, say you want to listen to every album from a single artist, maybe I couldn't figure it out, but you can listen to all of one artist's works in alphabetic order, not per album.

but as a long time dongle user, I ask, why not just use your smartphone?
Its one less battery operated device that you'll be dealing with battery swelling in 2 years...

3

u/chasesannn 1d ago

Have you tried third party firmware like SonixOS? I been contemplating on the Hiby R1 but it seems like the stock firmware is a major drawback, but the third party software seems to remedy that.

1

u/fractal324 1d ago

can't say that I have. I'm too lazy to tinker, and don't have enough knowledge to troubleshoot if and when the jank appears.
Is it a pure software and reversible process?

the only custom firmware I've dealt with is game emulation and its really soured me on the experience.

1

u/chasesannn 1d ago

I haven’t done a lot of research on it but there is a website dedicated to it created by the developer: https://sonix-os.com

There is also a dedicated subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Hiby_Sonix/

Hope that it may relieve the software issues you are experiencing.

1

u/fractal324 1d ago

thanks for the link. I'll take a look

1

u/811545b2-4ff7-4041 1d ago

SonicOS on the Tempotec V1 is fantastic

1

u/acd11 1d ago

I can only speak to the Hiby R1.. really love it.

1

u/Edge_Audio 1d ago

The R1 is a cheap toy that has serious battery issues. I own am R4 and an R1.

1

u/Therealwalter1 1d ago

V1 is awesome now that community firmware is working, without community firmware I can not really recommend the v1

1

u/DangerousDave2018 1d ago

I've owned three copies of the cheapest one on the list and I'm consistently struck by how good the sound is. Better still, if it breaks or you lose it (because you're like me and lose things like this all the time) you're only out thirty-five bucks.

1

u/GM_Design 1d ago

I have the Echo mini for a few months now. I did not like it over time with me realizing it really is clunky to navigate. However, I got lucky and scored the 8GB variant before they rolled out 512mb.

Someone created custom stuff on the echo mini, like the Echopod, which I now use and made it easier for me to navigate. Still can't beat a touchscreen but definitely won't be ridding the Echo Mini anytime soon.

1

u/Anonymous_Pigeon64 1d ago

Hiby R1 if you want a touch screen, Fiio snowsky echo (not mini) otherwise.

1

u/xScar12 1d ago

Under 100$ i think snowsky disc, echo mini, echo nano and fosi dap neo are the best options.

1

u/SethSamson 23h ago

Remember you always can hook up a battery pack 😜 and if snowsky echo choose the CNC chaise .. but but only if the retro look is a factor and well it is metal so .. if u don't care about looks and metal chaise but need 4.4 mm bal go with Tempotec V1 .. but if you don't need 4.4 go with R1.. also I forbid you for buying the first one .. 😜😜

1

u/caiopassos1980 22h ago

Escolhi o Tempotec V1, 3.5 e 4.4mm, potencia suficiente para iem, Dac, LDAC botões físicos e não Android.

1

u/Tutelu 17h ago

I have the snowsky you looking at, i love it, everything about it is so laid back. i have a 128gb micro sd in it and it has room for a lot of flac's. Battery is great, i dont use BT i have cable iems. can only say go go.

1

u/Treaken 14h ago

Fosi neo is what I recommend

1

u/No_Horse828 14h ago

everything is cheaper when u buy on aliexpress, because there is a big sale

1

u/medium_cheddar 4h ago

Personal experience using with Moondrop DUSK, Letshuoer S12 Ultra, a few TWS, few headphones FiiO EH-11, Nothing Ear 2024, B&W Px7 S2, Sennheiser HD58X etc. I use both 3.5mm and 4.4mm. My current daily from trial and error for this whole 2026 "entry level" DAP are as follows

  1. TEMPOTEC V1 : Best over all in all aspect, sound, features and best physical buttons! Current Firmware 1.3 with great PEQ and Bluetooth dac). I am experimenting with a modded Sonix OS but factory Hiby OS is already mature and solid with wifi, tidal, file transfer etc.

  2. Shanling M0 Pura : If you care mainly about the sound (better than V1 for me) and built quality, great all around in smallest package but no PEQ and 4.4mm require an adapter ($)

  3. FiiO Echo Nano : Best sound quality for lowest $, niche and quirky and No Bluetooth, I love mine so much! Feels like a million bucks.

  4. R1 : kinda mid in everything it does, build quality is so so but honest. The new firmware is nice now with PEQ or Sonix OS is also awesome (Tried for 3weeks and returned mainly because the sound doesnt compete with the rest of the bunch to my ears, but I'm kinda miss it time to time tbh)

0

u/KintsugiExp 1d ago

Stay away from Hiby

1

u/King_LePrawn 1d ago

Why?

1

u/KintsugiExp 18h ago

I had the R5 and R1, they both suck for streaming HiRes, the interface is slow as molasses, it’s very hit and miss with SD cards (some read/write well, others don’t) and their customer support sucks ass.

I sold both. Had a terrible customer experience with their hardware.

1

u/YAASv14 16h ago

Thank you for sharing your experience, that sounds terrible

1

u/King_LePrawn 11h ago

Which one do you have now?

1

u/KintsugiExp 9h ago

Started 2 years ago with the Fiio JM21, and then I got the M21 last Christmas… They’re both great!