So i got some final e3000 iem and have found myself listening to a bunch of music and watching things on my phone. Problem is i don’t like listening on my phone and hate things that kill my phone battery.
I am getting a player and different iem with my tax return and can’t figure out which dap would help most.
I think I’ve settled on the shuoer tape iem because I’m one of those weird detail people lol.
As far as a dap, I like the idea of streaming, but the Amazon hd music and tidal often sound a little disappointing quality wise to me. Really i think it’s just finding music i both want and easily putting it onto the player. I don’t need more internet, just good sound and battery life, so there may even be cheaper options.
I currently have a topping nx1s amp i use with my LG g7. I know i don’t want an iPod and i want a dedicated player that can handle all the good files.
I’m already the portable amp guy at Starbucks. I may as well embrace it and satisfy my little irritations.
The fiio m6 is pretty nice if you want a touch screen option for a good price. Admittedly the G7 already has pretty good audio to begin with. The hiby r3 pro is actually pretty nice and coming out soon
https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-r3 the hiby r3 is exactly within budget right now from hiby
Well then it looks like I’ve been looking at decent things. I’ve been considering the m6 and r3 pro. I suppose it may just come down to battery and it they need any additional amp. Hope does the r3 compare to the pro?
Yeah i don’t really have an issue with the audio on the phone, but i think i prefer a dedicated device. Touch screen isn’t even necessary. I like tactile buttons and solid build that isn’t terribly laggy. Lol but perhaps that’s a combination not in this price range.
Why not just purchase another LG, just for use as a dap? I’ve got an LG V20 for this purpose with an extended battery and I don’t really see a need to upgrade from that. And that would fit in your budget too. You wouldn’t have to use streaming or internet on it, but it would be there if you ever needed it.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but i prefer my music stuff separate. I don’t need more phones in my life.
Don’t think of the v20 as a phone think of it as a more functional DAP holds all your music runs off Android and more functional than a traditional dap
Exactly, mine isn’t activated with a service and almost everything it came with has been uninstalled, the only things on my home screen are just audio related apps like UAPP. So, it really isn’t a phone to me, nor could I use it for that purpose.
I’m curious if anyone here has experience with the cowon players. I’m not so concerned with wifi access. I’d prefer actual files over streaming just like I prefer physical discs over streaming movies. Any players put out decent power for headphones that maybe require a little juice?
If you want to use a planar magnetic or electrostatic Iem you’re gonna need power. Most Dap below 200 Usd will struggle with those (and the Shuoer Tape is power hungry too). If you do so (buy one ot these under 200 Dap) you will have to get another portable amp like the Nx3s (If you really want to get the maximun performance from you earphones)
I bought initially a Sony Nwa 45 wich sounds really well and has a battery life of 45 hours, but only 150 mW of power. I gave to my dad who’s very happy with it (he listens at low volumes with a 1more triple driver Iem) then changed to a Fiio M9, and this also has its shortcomings and I am looking for a replacement. Imo you need something that can provide at least 350 mW at 32 Ohm. So if I were you i wouldn’t be looking at something below Fiio M11, iBasso DX160 or Hiby R5. They are all around 400/450 USD, less used. But, as I said, this is just my opinion…
Shanling M2X at $219
FiiO M6 at $189
But… Would those move the Shipper Tape properly? IDK.
The tape isn’t that hard to drive tbh, are you thinking of the tin p1?
No I meant the Tape. Though I thought were hard to drive…
Not really, somewhat easy to power from my experience. Higher sensitivity and decent impedance so it’s not going to be that demanding to drive. You will benefit from using an amp but they don’t need a ton of power behind them to sound good
@Paul I have the Cowon Plenue D as my main music player. It has okay power. It isn’t super powerful, I had to almost max out the volume to get DT770 250 ohm to a good volume. While not powerful, it is quite good clean power. It is quite archaic in design, and is very slow and not snappy at all, but I am okay with that since I don’t usually go to a specific song and play it, I just dump all of my music into one big folder and shuffle it. Some people can’t stand that lol.
My favorite thing about it is the battery life. I can get about 90hrs continuous playback with lossy mp3 and ogg files. With lossless flac, I usually get almost 50 hrs. Nothing else comes close lol. Literally nothing. I also like playing with the EQ and reverb room effects, even if it isn’t necessarily accurate, it is fun.
If you format a micro SD card to FAT32, it can use up to a 128gb card. It has 32gb internal storage as well. A glaring problem with it though is that it can only output through the 3.5mm jack, no usb in or out, it can only be used for charging the device. Personally, this fits all my needs despite the archaic design. My needs center more around battery life and storage, while still providing good clean sound, since I don’t have anything hard to drive.
You might want to watch Zeos’ old review of this player in the 1 plus long review he did of a bunch of DAPs a long time ago, and skip ahead to it, although watching the part about the Cowon M2 would also be good since he references it a lot in the Plenue D, where he just says it is the same as the M2 for certain things.
I would look at reviews for it. However, if it doesn’t seem like it is for you, I would wait and see what the reviews for the Hiby r3 Pro are, then compare it to the Fiio M6. 
Yeah i saw his review of it, that’s why i was curious. I like me some battery life.
I mean, you could order it from Amazon and try it. They have no problem accepting a free return if you say something was defective or not working well.