For a short, but sweet while now, I've been using the Hidizs AP100. Like most audiophile players in its price, and size category, it does hi-resolution files, and plays pretty much every industry-accepted file type.
Better yet, it boots up in less than 2 seconds. Even its library updates before you can say "Big in Japan", or "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater". Eat your heart out, iBasso, Astell & Kern, and you other guys.
Those points, plus a ridiculously simple interface, are the reasons I LOVE to use the AP100.
The other is that it sounds good, has decent drive power, and is capable of pulling good detail out of rather difficult-to-drive earphones. Its control set and UI are as easy to learn as Hibiki on the rocks is to drink. It just doesn't smell as good. (In fact, it's packaging and manual, smell like poodoo.)
Other niceties are: coaxial in/outputs, not to mention their analogue analogue (yep), USB charging, and a decently-made micro-USB carriage. And again, it sounds good.
Except that there's more hiss in it than, say, an iRiver AK100, or a modern iPod. And that if (and, trust me, when) the AP100 freezes, the only way to get it back on track is to whip out a needle (because not even a paperclip can fit into the reset pore) and hopelessly poke the reset button. I'm sorry, that isn't true: the other way is to let the battery run out. All this proves that we audiophiles pay a LOT in frustration credits just to better the sound of something like the long-toothed iPod 5G.
Anyway, I don't have a needle.
In less than a week of use, I've had to let the the battery run down thrice. That's three times. A new firmware has come out that makes the AP100 less freeze-friendly, but it isn't good enough- not yet.
As this is a nice-sounding, easy-to-use player, I hope it becomes stable.
I'll get into more detail in my Headfonia review of the AP100 tomorrow. Suffice it to say that my relationship with this good-sounding player is love. And hate.
Check the AP100 out at Hidizs.
Keep up with my reviews at Headfonia.
Then check out these images.
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