Firstly I would like to thank Rhapsodio for
lending me this AP100 sample to review, I will try and write as honest a review
possible. These are my subjective findings after many hours listening time.
Gear Used:
Hidizs AP100 > German Maestro GMP 8.35D,
Westone UM Pro30, Dunu DN-2000 and Audiofly AF-160
I did not try the AP100 with an external
amp or DAC, I thought I would review it purely based on its standalone DAP
capabilities.
General
Specifications:
·
Screen:2.4 inch 320*240 TFT 260 Thousand color screen
·
Supported Audio: WAV,FLAC,WMA,MP3,OGG,AAC,APE(NORMAL,HIGHLEVEL),and ALAC
loss-less audio formats
·
Frequency response range:±0.02DB 20-20000Hz/±0.2DB 10-70000Hz
·
SNR:108dB
·
Distortion total harmonic:＜0.003%
·
PO output power： L：2.2Vrms R:2.2Vrms.
·
LO output power: L：1.2Vrms R:1.2Vrms.
·
Isolation:＞92db
·
Buit-in memory: 8gb
·
External memory: Micro SD card maximum support 64GB
·
Weight:156G
·
Earphone: earphone interface 3.5mm
·
Line out:3.5mm earphone interface
·
Digital audio output:3.5mm coaxial output
·
ŸDigital audio input:3.5mm coaxial input
·
MSRP: $299
Packaging, Accessories and Build Quality:
Packaging is sleek and very low key but is made
of quality card. It is all black with an image of the AP100 embossed on the
front, all specs and info is printed in silver on the back of the box. Out of
this box slides another with a tray that holds the AP100 in a foam cut out,
accessories can be found in a small box beneath this and everything is well
packaged and held in place.
Accessories included are the normal micro
USB cable, 3.5mm to 3.5mm interconnect, 3.5mm to normal coax cable, screen
protectors and I also received a leather case for it. It also has a quick start
guide, manual and warranty card. Cannot complain here.
Build quality is good overall, the housing
is all meta with very little flex, but the main buttons feel a little cheap,
which detracts from the overall look and feel of the AP100. All ports are tight
and I never had any connection issues. Overall the build quality is good, just
a shame about the cheap feeling plastic buttons in the middle.
Features, UI and Ease of use:
The AP100 features the normal headphone
out, a line-out, and also coax in and out, so it can be used as a DAC only too.
Unfortunately the USB is only for file management and firmware update, not for
DAC use. It has multiple EQ and SRC so you can upsample. Packed full of
features, it is a truly versatile DAP.
The UI is very good, and simple, it is easy
to use but unfortunately doesn't support organizing by album/artist. You either
get a list in alphabetical order of all songs you have, or normal folder view.
I hope this is a feature they integrate in the future, because with 8gb
internal and 64gb external memory it can take a while to scroll through all the
albums until you find the one you want to listen to. The rest of the UI is
good, album artwork is displayed nicely, with track info on the now playing
screen. The settings menu has a lot of options, as does the playback menu, so
just play around until you find your favourite settings, or take a look at the
well explained guide.
Ease of use, well the buttons are neatly
laid out and it takes no time at all to remember their location. the menus are
intuitive and it is a very easy device to use overall. Everything is clearly
labelled and I cannot see anyone finding this DAP hard to use.
Sound:
I will just write a general section about
the sound, without splitting it between lows, mids and highs.
The overall signature is a little laid
back, a little to the warmer side of sound but with exceptional detail. It has
a pleasant fullness to the sound, but unlike the Fiio X3 this does not lead to
less clarity. Playing with the SRC settings on the AP100 also gives a little
more body to the sound, which can greatly help depending on the headphones
being used. The stereo image blends perfectly, I cannot hint at any imbalance
and it is a very natural sounding player.
The highs still retain their shimmer and
sparkle throughout, the mids are smooth and the lows extend low and have
excellent impact and rumble. The sound is quite linear, giving maybe a slight
tilt to the lows. It is a resolving player, and depending on the headphones, it
renders well recorded tracks with incredible emotion, it does not sound clinical
or harsh, it doesn't throw detail at you, instead it envelops you with
incredible reality, it is true to the source and not to its own colouring.
So overall what do I think of the new
AP100, well I love the sound and form factor, it is a little on the bulky side
but I can live with that. The UI is excellent compared to many Chinese DAP's,
the build quality is good and the sound does not disappoint, the micro SD
expansion will allow for a moderately large library and you can always carry
spare with you should you need more space. It supports all major codecs, even
high resolution files, now if only they could implement the library update
feature and have it sort the files by artist, album and so on that would make
this a fantastic DAP.
In terms of SQ it beats the X3 hands down,
and the iPod classic just sounds a little boring and "digital" with a
coldness that I cannot detect with the natural sounding AP100.
The big question, is it worth the $$$, I
would say yes, it is easy to use and very functional with an array of inputs
and outputs to suit every listener, and the sound quality is excellent. The
internal amp is powerful enough as well to power most headphones and IEM's, so
no need to carry around an external amp/DAC.
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