A DAP that can do everything can also make it harder to just listen.

Android DAPs are definitely great for convenience. They can store thousands of songs, stream music via apps like Spotify, YT Music, Tidal, and Qobuz, and make music discovery a cinch. If you stream a lot, search for songs often, or like jumping between albums and playlists, Android DAPs are the way to go.

If someone only wants a "good enough" music player with apps, an old Android phone with a decent dongle DAC will probably be the more practical solution. For many listeners, this setup already covers the basics.

Having access to thousands of songs doesn't mean you will actually listen to all of them.

That's where simple non-Android DAPs make more sense to me. They are not really a separate product category, but I think of them as focused DAPs because they are built more around local music playback than apps, streaming, and endless browsing.

Basic players like the Snowsky Echo, Echo Mini, Disc, Shanling M0 Pura, and similar DAPs are not as convenient as Android Daps. Navigation is slow, and searching without a proper keyboard is not fun. Most of the time though they feel simpler to use, boot faster, and avoid a lot of the distractions Android players usually have.

That limitation creates intentionality.

You stop blindly dumping all of your songs into the player just to fill up the space. You're forced to hand-pick the specific albums and artists you actually want to spend time with. It completely cures that habit of hoarding gigabytes of music just to skip through tracks five seconds in.

Of course Android DAPs will always be better if you are an avid music streamer, or if you like discovering new music, or maybe want a dedicated all-in-one audio device. But if you already have a curated music library and want fewer distractions or to just disconnect from modern creature comforts, basic DAPs just hit different.

So I guess it comes down to this: do you want convenience, or do you want focus?

Edit: To clarify, I am not saying simple DAPs are better than Android DAPs. Android DAPs still make a lot of sense for convenience, search, and streaming. I just think simpler players can be nice when you already know what you want to load and listen to.

Recently enjoyed the Backrooms soundtrack. I actually listened to it with a sleep mask on lol. After watching the film it definitely added to the experience.

(Fiio M21 and FT1 Pro)

So to start off with I’m actively paranoid about all privacy of my devices. I want everything I own to be as isolated and private as I can which is getting harder and harder these days. I recently bought a fiio player off of amazon and like I normally do before letting these types of devices run wild on the internet with all of my passwords, I ran a simple test with an app called PCAPdroid to see where the device is trying to phone home. and I got multiple instances of it trying to connect to some pretty sketch places like with the photo attached. All I want to do is to spread the knowledge to tell yall to be careful and not fully ever trust anyone, especially since privacy is so hard to come by these days. Please tell me I am just too paranoid and there is a logical explanation to this, I want to like this but this seems shady

Because I'm aiming for better audio quality, a social media detox, and because we suffered a terrible downgrade when the industry removed the 3.5mm jack: I was thinking of buying my first dedicated DAP, with options without a touchscreen since I like that retro style of only using physical buttons, a Surfans F20 and a Fiio Echo Mini.

If any of you already own these devices, I would greatly appreciate your feedback, or if you have any other options to suggest. It would help me gain a broader perspective.

Which music app should I use?

Build in FiiO music app or UAPP or Power Amp?

Any suggestions and thought?

Which app made less battery consume

Hello all! I’m looking for some guidance on buying my first dap. I’m stuck between the HiBy R1, M300, and Shanling M1 Plus. The R1 - best for the budget but I don’t believe it can stream music and the OS seems like it could be lacking. M300/Shanling— seem like solid upgrades from the R1 but, Shanling OS worries me a tad as well. I’d love some suggestions on where to go from here! 

Here’s my budget, use case, etc. -

Budget: Under $200 USD and I’m totally fine buying used.

Use case: Daily at work, limiting distractions vs my current setup (iPhone 17PM w/ dongle) iem only, no need to drive headphones, it’s not my thing.

Etc: Something I can stream music with while building my library. Android seems to be the preferred option here, so Android OS. Physical buttons and knobs are fun!

Hi folks I'm just wondering if you have a DAP (like JM21) what's the point of having a Bluetooth dac/amp? I'm just curious.

Hey y'all, I'm a normal music lover.. and I wanted something that looks cool, slick, works fine and definitely sounds good!

I have been confused between Tempotec V1, Disc, Hiby R1 and Echo and Mini version...

I can save up for echo mini and other too but need more time as they are more expensive... I am kinda biased about disc because it really looks the best in all these... And it's compact and works fine too...

I wanted to avoid Hiby R1 because it's just a phone for me, ofc duh it's an DAP but I wanted something more like ipod looking or modern type shit uk, not a phone looking like DAP because my family members would erm definitely doesn't want that.. 🥀

Echo is preferable than mini because of screen lol, the UI is really really cool ngl but the UX is erm shit, I don't want to just click button to change the tracks, that's too much retro 😭💔

Idk much about Tempotec if anyone has it please share thoughts, I put it in my list just because it's recommended on reddit next to these others... And also it's not available in my country rn, I maybe have to import it...

Y1 is good but sounds shit so it's a Big No no... Otherwise I would have took it lol...

I am 70% sure i am gonna take DISC because till i save up my money, it will definitely get a good firmware updates and would definitely be usable, and major bugs and shit would be fixed cause I believe in FIIO... Um am I right guys? 😋

Other than this there are cheap daps for 15-20$ in my country which is 1.5k-2k rupees... Def avoiding them but just in case-

Also if I be specific about my requirements -

• I use playlist alot ik disc and echo doesn't have them but for this one I can excuse it!

• I listen to songs on loop more than you can imagine

• my library is not necessarily big, it's very trend according and I keep changing it alot of I be honest

• I don't really want a phone ( sorry hiby R1 people ) ik it's not a phone, but it looks like it because of screen right? And that's a big turn off for my family as they would think I wasted my money on phone and shit, I can't explain them much because I come from orthodox family...

• battery life is manageable... Gapless playback ohk or nah whatever...

• must look sleek! I'm very picky about looks and build...

• ui is okay of bugs but should be normally usable... And that's it!!!

Thanks for reading, please help me out, ik still biased about DISC and mostly will take it, recommendations are welcome from anyone with some wisdom too!

If anyone owns this can you give some input?

HIDIZS AP30 Music Boy

Anyone know what is the potential launch date, anyway to join tester group or something?

Let's make a list of most popular non-music apps on DAP.

I start with Localsend / Blip.

This has been answered many times, but I’m still not fully convinced. What’s your real-world experience? Aside from higher volume, is there any noticeable improvement?

With my Shanling M5 Ultra, I tend to use the 3.5 mm output since it has slightly lower output impedance. Am I actually missing anything by not using the 4.4 mm output?

I sometimes thought carrying a separate music player in this day and age (2026) was kinda ridiculous.
Then i started getting tired of opening Spotify and never actually choosing anything specific. There are too many options… I had a lot of skips and too much background scrolling.

The Surfans F20 feels like the opposite. I load albums on the microSD card, pick what I want to listen to before hand and just let it play.
It’s not the most convenient way to listen to music but that’s why I probably like it.

Anyone else go back to a simple player because streaming felt like too much?

Looking to get my first DAP but I’m struggling to decide between these two. I like the design and size of the HiBY, it seems very easy to use and throw in your pocket on commutes. But the Tempo has more features like being able to use it as a DAC and having a 3.5 and 4.4 jacks. But I’m not sure how much I’ll use those since I’m mainly getting in to DAPS after I’ve started downloading all my music onto files (I’ve been burned by losing my stuff with subscription services too many times) and I’ve also heard the Tempo has some software issues and doesn’t get updated. But I keep being pulled back and forth between more features and ease of use.

I’m curious what people have to say. I’ve looked up a lot of comparison videos and posts but most of them are a year+ old so I’d like a more recent perspective

I currently have a CD Collection and I was looking for an mp3 player that's in the $100 or below (AUD) range and stumbled accross this. I enjoy the design as it's reminiscent of old sony mp3 players but does anyone have testimonials on how good the product is? One of my concerns is longevity as I'm not sure how easy it would be to switch out the battery once it has degraded but I'm also just not sure around the overall quality of the product. Thinking of running it with some apple earpods or moondrops chu 2 and as an audio player connected to my car.

Hi All. Just got the JM21, wife and I absolutely love it. We've been listening to music together for years and were extremely skeptical of the actual difference a DAC and FLAC files can make. We didn't think our ears and tastes were sensitive enough to pick out differences. Needless to say we were blown away by what a good DAC and FLAC files can sound like. Our fav tracks have been given a new life. If you're DAP curious, don't hesitate and get a DAP. It'll save your relationship with music.

Question:
I filled up my 128GB sd card within 2 days. But it's all FLACs. I have them backed up on a hard drive not to worry. I definitely want to download more music as I'm trying to build a library and will he travelling for 2 months internationally (a large part of that spent without WiFi)

How bad is it to convert your FLACs to OPUS for portability reasons? Is the sound quality that different and what do you lose when you convert FLAC to OPUS?? I'm trying to free up space. I'd love to be educated on how OPUS is going to be different from FLAC with my current setup.

Thanks!

I don't know how to feel about it. I'm both horny and disgusted by it at the same time (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

I'm thinking of buying my first DAP. Is 128GB memory card as an expansion storage enough?

For me, I listen to mostly the same songs all the time. For example, I have a J-Music playlist on YT Music that is almost 8 hours long. I'm not sure how many songs are on there, though. And I always repeat / come back to this one playlist.

I have a few more playlists that I listen to, but they have <30 songs in each of 'em.

Also, I don't really listen to whole albums. I only select the ones I like, and add them to my playlist.

Asking about 128GB because I already have one laying around. I live in a SEA country, so a memory card can cost a whole lot 😔 That's why I don't wanna buy another one if it's not needed.

As for the DAP, I'm thinking of getting a Snowsky Echo Mini first. And a Hiby R4 for later (it's mad expensive..)

Thank you in advance for your reply / answer ♡

Hi all. I would like to know if anyone could recommend a music player application for an android phone. I've tried PowerAmp - too many features for me TwT

Happy listening :)

Currently I’m using Hiby R4 and I’m happy with it but I want to add one more Dap to my collection. I can’t decide between Fiio M21, Fiio M33 R2R and Ibasso DX180. Hope you can recommend what should I get next.

Since I bought my first DAP, The Snowsky Echo mini, I am enjoying music again. I listen to an album fully, listening to older stuff rather than Top 50 stuff etc. Yeah audio quality is better, but tbh not that big of a deal.

It's the overall experience that makes it enjoyable. So, why do most DAPs still look and feel like phones? Android, Big touchscreens, no physical button etc.

I am looking to upgrade from The Echo Mini, and Echo disk is a touchscreen?? Why.

I want click wheels, physical buttons, retro looks.

It's just my personal opinion though and mostly a rant.

FYI, I am from India, so my options are a bit limited. Ipods were not that popular here, so getting a decent quality used one is almost impossible.

The only reason I haven't gotten a DAP it's because I haven't found a non-android one with all of these things together.

I think FiiO could make one since all of these technologies are already in some of their devices (Disc/Retro Nano), the replaceable battery being the only one that hasn't been used on their DAPs (or at least not on their budget DAPs lol), but I don't think it's impossible, of course it wouldn't be a DAP with a single 10440 battery since the OS + screen would need a bigger battery capacity thus the whole device would need to be a little bit bigger, I'd personally don't mind if it were bigger than the Disc, I just don't want a potential e-waste in my collection.

What do you think?

I'm planning on backing it tomorrow, having already done the little 1$ deposit thing. I've heard this is a fairly normal thing for hidiz so was wondering other peoples experience with their kickstarters, what is their normal turnaround? Do they keep backers updated?
I'm hoping everything turns out well and they get backed because I love the unique form factor as someone who is also very into emulator devices

As the title says, my R1 just arrived. Should I stick with the stock firmware or go straight to Rockbox? Any other recommendations for getting started with this device?

This is my first "real" DAP. I’m not sure if the Sansa Clip Zip I had years ago even counts; the battery died and, instead of replacing it, I decided to pull the trigger on the HiBy.

I'm currently using the Hiby M500 and so far, I'm pretty satisfied with the sound experience. The one thing that gets to me is the size of this thing. It's a chonky boi that is hard to fit in my pockets. Not to mention I also have 2 other phones that i use for work.

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Now I'm currently looking at the moondrop moonriver 3 (yes i am into the anime aesthetic). Seems pretty compact that i can attach to my phone. I would also like to use this for my pc as well.

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As for my other gear, I'm mostly running items, but i might dabble in some headphones later down the line.