Let me tell you, the constant connection issues with the USB dongle was the main reason I had to buy a DAP instead. It was so annoying when it happen in the middle of the song if touch the cable by accident while holding the phone. And whenever I would unlock my phone the music would stop for a millisecond or you could hear pops and cracks through the the IEM (maybe interference of the cellular connection or data being transfer, I´m not sure), not to mention the battery of my phone dying more often and the wearing of the USB port and the possibility of damaging the port while jamming all the damn cables on my jacket. Minors things like these I describe will accumulate making the dongle experience not worth it, at least for me. I only use my DAC if I wanna listen music through my computer or my car stereo. Maybe a more expensive DAC with a better cable, pair with a better phone than mine would not have these issues, but now with my DAP (Hiby M300) I just plug my headphones and I can be sitting, doing groceries, at the park, etc and enjoying. My two cents, cheers!
Those are some good points. All I can say is that I don't really have those issues with my Cayin ru7 and OnePlus 12. Still may get a dap at some point tho, I can't help but admit they're pretty cool! Thanks for watching!
I agree about the comment concerning dongle disconnect issues. For my long commute I use a dongle with a Bluetooth option - HifiGo Muse M4 . Sounds good enough for noisy commutes and powers headphones too.
I think the biggest reason to buy a digital audio player is micro SD card support since Flagship smartphones no longer have them and there is something to be said for having your music on your local device rather than stream it
I'm still new to digital players the first one I had Pioneer XP 300 sounds fantastic I'm looking to upgrade outdated software running slow battery issues so it's time for an upgrade the Hiby R4 looks good and it's right in my price range and yes it does look cool is that a bad thing. The specs on HIBY R4 are just amazing for that price.
Some of us just enjoy spending money into this hobby. I have over a 15 dongle dacs and 4 DAPS (3 Android), not to mention 48 IEM's, 15 headphones and 2 additional android phones. Do I need all of this, hell no but I got caught up in to this hobby chasing for the perfect sound, which I come to realize I will never find. But I enjoy the chase. :-)
Absolutely! The key feature of such a phone is streaming on the go. Too bad LG stopped making and perfecting their smartphones! They could easily own very large portion of a DAC and portable DAC/AMP market!
I do recommend dongles to most people for its usability and value, but having owned Cayin RU7 and N7, I can say N7 is much better on sound quality than RU7. I still think RU7 is a great value and my favorite dongle, but it's not exactly on a comparable level to the DAP. Any Android DAP with a SD665 is fine. Runs Spotify and other streaming apps smoothly, and it's not a bad experience at all.
Dacs are connected through data cables which are less reliable than audio cables. Their construction quality is really poor if you compare them to audio cables. That's why DAPS are better for me at least
some of you are riding dumb reasons for dongles...you gotta realize that MOST OF YOU are not going to connect your dongles to sources THAT ARENT YOUR PHONE. None of you are buying unlocked phones and putting dongles on them (you should, but you dont). That said, most dongles do cause stress on a USB-C port ONLY IF the dongle is light...some dongles are not light, and once you add a heavy headphone cable , it will mos def cause stress on your chain UNLESS YOU USE IEMs solely. That said, there is a plethora amount of reasons a dongle is not practical and a standalone portable amp with a DAP is a better solution
Makes video about daps being worth it or not… never actually used one 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ lmao this video is useless for anyone looking for actual information to make a decision.
I went over the scenarios where it would be worth it or not worth it… if you are not sure whether or not you need one, I would just get a dongle. I think it would be very apparent to you if your use cases really call for one. Thanks for watching!
@ToastyTexan911 yeah but that's about as useless as looking at specs online. Your video has no unique content value as far as information is concerned. An opinion on a product you've never actually used is useless. It's like leaving a review on a product you never bought but for some reason have strong irrelevant opinions on. Most of the people who agree with you already did and your video didn't effect anyone because it had no useful information to do so. As someone who's looking into the potential of getting a dap I've been watching videos and yours has no factual information just opinions based on your personal feelings about the devices. Just saying you could do better 🤷🤷
@ToastyTexan911 also nobody wants a camera on them lmao or the newest version of android and the purpose isn't so you have a device with no notifications. If you want the best quality audio it's best to have the actual on board files and those files take up space as well as require a quality decoder and Amp. A dap bundles that all together. Phones are good at alot of things but rarely the best at anything. Just not what they're made for. Also you don't wanna take up your entire phone with your music library. Phones are fine for casual music listeners who don't care about high quality and are fine just streaming but not really anything more than that.
Having at least ONE for Having stand-alone music to conserve phone battery is extremely versatile. Aside from that i prefer portable DACs for long term listening sessions
Got an lg g8 for around $30. Really miss the headphone jack and micro sd cards. Use it as a second phone/dap for flac movies games emulators etc. Soundwise I'd say it's about on par with an apple dongle but has a warmer sound to it. Don't have much dacs or amps so idk how good a dac/amp can get but the q5k is definitely still better sounding.
You can’t beat your dap setup for anywhere near $30!! Cayin ru7 is my favorite dac I’ve heard, I enjoyed my Qudelix 5k very much, I wouldn’t upgrade before you have some $300-400 iems. Thanks for watching!!
You would want a camera on a dap that has a sim tray because you could then theoretically use it as a phone as well, eliminating the need for 2 devices
To each their own and i agree with some of your points but many of i don't ! Things i would say 1) The marginal utility you get from spending each more USD is true but it's also upto the person if he/she can afford it or has deep pocket but ya i agree tho. 2) The android version situation is true and many of them aren't even android 12 (kinda latest) apart from some like Hiby R4. Although its a DAP and it does it work but it doesn't mean that the device shouldn't be as snappy as latest phone and future proof regarding performance. Basically mediocre processor are used there. 3) Android phones are faster and dac is good alternative as per users usage but good DAPs doesn't just limit to 3.5 and 4.4 plugs and good DACs they also have plethora of audio features like given in Hiby R4 and depends on person using if he/she needs or not. If i heard it right, android also has restriction on sampling rate. If design is good then yes DAP seems cool to me and i agree on this but if I'm being honest not every DAP catches my attention like if isn't cool or have features i needed. 4) Yes android is faster with better support and overall a better device in most aspects but you're also compromising on comfort by taking your DAC and it's cable out then plugging one after another everytime you want to play a music and moving with it is huge mess. Any movement i make i have this thought in back of my mind oh I'm gonna put pressure on my dac, cable or phone jack/charging port if i sit this way or stand that way or walk a bit faster or walking carelessly. Also the more you use Type C port the vulnerable it becomes to getting damaged. Paranoia hits fr here and its not for paranoid people like me. High chances are that eventually one of any those things will get damaged. Once my DDHifi USB C to 3.5 mm dac got damaged in 2-3 months because i was careless about it being in my pocket and walking around. Here DAP saves at least my phone port and lack of components attached to DAP is less then quantity of each components getting damaged is less. 5) You're kinda right about Hiby R3 II, it provides the good value but Shanling M0 Pro provides the best value for me but the reason i can't go with it is that i don't have any huge audio files library and only few songs are there in my device. So either i have to get an Android DAP or increase my offline songs collection and get the M0 Pro because the thing with Hiby R3 II is that even though it has wifi but the music can be streamed only through Tidal or Quoobuz and i need Apple music or Spotify due to unavailability of those streaming services in my country. At that point i would rather get M0 Pro for 100 USD and build up my offline song collection in someway because Hiby R3 Ii is selling for approx 200 USD in my country so it's better to get R4 by adding 50 USD. 6) It saves both my phone's battery and it's battery life too. The thing i use my phone for the most time is to play music and if i play music less on my phone and more on DAP not only I'm getting better sound quality but also i don't have to charge my phone 2 times a day and if i charge it less then the battery health will also deplete less too due to less charging cycle being completed. 7) Unlike you, I don't want my DAP to have Camera and Mics due to privacy reasons and DAP manufacturers aren't a major phone brand known for it's privacy so a big no for paranoid people like me. Maybe some people have their own usage case. Also most of DAP brands are from China and Chinese devices aren't those who you can trust on and for sure you never know if it has any spyware or not. Sorry for my chinese friends and good felllas, nothing against you and didn't mean to offend you but it is what it is and image is particularly not good in this regard. 8) Having Sim Card in my DAP would be a nightmare for me because first of all i had to buy a separate sim card for it and secondly i have to recharge the sim plans which i wouldn't even use and if i don't recharge then the sim card gets deactivated so why even bother ? Also depending on area people can snatch your DAP or it might get stolen. Then i have to file a complaint in Police station otherwise someone could misuse my sim card and i would be in trouble for nothing then i would need to buy a new sim card if i still want to use it in DAP. My rule is simple in DAP case get it and forget it. I would assume i have given charity to poor guys who wouldn't have bought DAP with their whole life earnings. Anyways nothing harm in having a discussion and looking at things from different perspective. Being right or wrong is not the only option, it also about whats right for you and whats not.
Do you let your DAC dongle hang in the air, or do you attach it/hold it together with your phone? I let my Cayin RU7 dongle hang, and the USB cable broke after less than two weeks. It's kind of useless as a portable solution.
@ToastyTexan911 I see. I've decided to be more deliberate with my listening, even on the go, so I stopped using Bluetooth earbuds unless I really have to do a lot of things and talk to a lot of people. I've just bought a DDHIFI TC05L USB cable. It's L-shaped on both ends, so maybe it will be easier to hold and put in my pocket. If it's still too much trouble to use, I'm going to give up and just use a cheap KZ dongle or maybe a Fiio KA11.
I don’t have that set on hand to test but I’d imagine it would be fine. Cayin ru7 outputs 400mw from the 4.4 connection. Sonically I would highly recommend the ru7. Thanks for watching!
It depends on your needs. I have really sensitive iems. When connected to my phone via dongle, the hum and buzz are pretty obvious between songs even while on the subway. It is worst when I have other apps running in the background, wifi connection, etc. A plain old dap solves this. Or else I'd grab my tws to pair with my phone instead, if I'm prioritizing convenience over sound quality.
LG V60 all the way. Cheaper than most DAPS or even DACS. Better processing power. QUAD DAC. 3.5mm port. USB C. Faster charging. larger screen and it's a phone too.
SUNDAY bought Fiio M15 S. Its very large. Too bad not displayed otherwise I would wait for new M23. In process of transferring 950 Gb of files from PC. Replaces Fiio M11 as noted below. A higher end Hiby might have been a reasonable choice, but I like to buy in store. Some choices ae left here in NYC. I don't stream; unit is good to connect to a DAC/heaphone amp, or my full size component stereo. I had 46k tracks on Fiiio M11, unusual as it had 2 micro SD slots. Two 428Gb cards in there for years. Could have doubled to larger 1TB cards to hold all future files, but sadly old Fiio M11 case has no bottom. Small bathroom, gripping in my had while standing over the toilet. It slipped in, it is not fully functional after drying.
