Digital Audio Players (DAPs)

[woodbar]

No, it appears to have been picked up twice when I commented. No idea why.

Gremlins in the machine!

 

[RTHerringbone]

Micro SD cards aren't cheap, are they? I figure that 1TB is absolutely ample for me as I don't need access to ~50k tracks at max quality, so 1TB can save me a few quid.

Are there any brands to favour / avoid, and do things like read / write speeds actually matter for audio, or are they more relevant for other media types?

 

[Al ears]

Micro SD cards aren't cheap, are they? I figure that 1TB is absolutely ample for me as I don't need access to ~50k tracks at max quality, so 1TB can save me a few quid.

Are there any brands to favour / avoid, and do things like read / write speeds actually matter for audio, or are they more relevant for other media types?

One TB?, How much music do you want on a card?

 

[RTHerringbone]

One TB?, How much music do you want on a card?

I thought it represented a compromise from the 2TB that the DAPs I'm looking at can take 😆

What sort of card size do you typically use?

In reality I'm not really likely to ever need as many as 1,000 songs on there so I can easily scale right back as there's no point having masses of redundant space. I think I'd probably go slightly overboard with 256GB just for headroom but even that's moot because I can obviously just add / remove tracks as I see fit anyway.

 

[Dave_]

I thought it represented a compromise from the 2TB that the DAPs I'm looking at can take 😆

What sort of card size do you typically use?

In reality I'm not really likely to ever need as many as 1,000 songs on there so I can easily scale right back as there's no point having masses of redundant space. I think I'd probably go slightly overboard with 256GB just for headroom but even that's moot because I can obviously just add / remove tracks as I see fit anyway.

Even a 128GB card will hold several thousand lossless tracks....

 

[Jasonovich]

Micro SD cards aren't cheap, are they? I figure that 1TB is absolutely ample for me as I don't need access to ~50k tracks at max quality, so 1TB can save me a few quid.

Are there any brands to favour / avoid, and do things like read / write speeds actually matter for audio, or are they more relevant for other media types?

Beware of SD fakes, particularly Sandisk and Samsung.
I buy from Amazon because there's no fuss if I need to return.
The good memories are, Kingston, Lexar, Sandisk, Samsung, Integral and Amazon Basics.

Slightly off topic, I only wish DAPs use CFexpress like digital cameras, less fragile and much faster. I guess, speed while necessary in video and photography, not so crucial in audio.
It'll be nice to have CFexpress reliability and longevity, happy to pay a little extra for it.

 

[Al ears]

I thought it represented a compromise from the 2TB that the DAPs I'm looking at can take 😆

What sort of card size do you typically use?

In reality I'm not really likely to ever need as many as 1,000 songs on there so I can easily scale right back as there's no point having masses of redundant space. I think I'd probably go slightly overboard with 256GB just for headroom but even that's moot because I can obviously just add / remove tracks as I see fit anyway.

I currently employ a 256gb card. It has loads of tracks on it including many hires ones...... and it's still only 60% full.
Mind you it's mainly used at work and travelling.
All my CDs get backed up onto an external USB hard drive which is 1tb for home and archive purposes

 

[RTHerringbone]

I'm going to break recent habits and scale back my initial foray into DAPs and portability in general.

I've decided that unless I hear strong opinions to the contrary, that it makes most sense for me to go in right at the budget end so I get a sense of what that end of the market offers me, rather than flying in at the mid-tier and feeling a bit lost.

My DAP of choice is going to be the modest FiiO JM21 rather than the M21, and I'll pair that with their sister FT1 closed-back DD headphones rather than the £200+ costlier Meze Audio 99 Classic Gen 2s. I do have a bit of an affinity with FiiO given other products of theirs that I own, so they've earned my trust.

It's a simple decision really. It's a portable setup so if I drop it / lose it / it's pinched, then it's not a disaster. The FT1s look less "showy" than other closed-backs I've seen, so I won't feel like a tit wearing them when commuting. The DAP has what I need - balanced option, Android, battery lasts long enough, it's small and light.

 

[woodbar]

I'm going to break recent habits and scale back my initial foray into DAPs and portability in general.

I've decided that unless I hear strong opinions to the contrary, that it makes most sense for me to go in right at the budget end so I get a sense of what that end of the market offers me, rather than flying in at the mid-tier and feeling a bit lost.

My DAP of choice is going to be the modest FiiO JM21 rather than the M21, and I'll pair that with their sister FT1 closed-back DD headphones rather than the £200+ costlier Meze Audio 99 Classic Gen 2s. I do have a bit of an affinity with FiiO given other products of theirs that I own, so they've earned my trust.

It's a simple decision really. It's a portable setup so if I drop it / lose it / it's pinched, then it's not a disaster. The FT1s look less "showy" than other closed-backs I've seen, so I won't feel like a tit wearing them when commuting. The DAP has what I need - balanced option, Android, battery lasts long enough, it's small and light.

That sounds like a plan. Think you will be pleased with that setup - I use FT1s with my Fiio M15S on occasions and it all works well.

I do rather regret paying the rather high price for the M15S especially as I don't use it that much these days!

 

[RTHerringbone]

That sounds like a plan. Think you will be pleased with that setup - I use FT1s with my Fiio M15S on occasions and it all works well.

I do rather regret paying the rather high price for the M15S especially as I don't use it that much these days!

The bold bit particularly applies to me and a DAP. I will certainly use it on holiday in July and for mooching about in the garden, so with such limited guaranteed use it would just be pointless throwing a lot of money at it.

Have you had any issues with the FT1s? I saw some issues with the early production runs and then some reviews speculating that longer term durability might be an issue.

 

[Jasonovich]

I'm going to break recent habits and scale back my initial foray into DAPs and portability in general.

I've decided that unless I hear strong opinions to the contrary, that it makes most sense for me to go in right at the budget end so I get a sense of what that end of the market offers me, rather than flying in at the mid-tier and feeling a bit lost.

My DAP of choice is going to be the modest FiiO JM21 rather than the M21, and I'll pair that with their sister FT1 closed-back DD headphones rather than the £200+ costlier Meze Audio 99 Classic Gen 2s. I do have a bit of an affinity with FiiO given other products of theirs that I own, so they've earned my trust.

It's a simple decision really. It's a portable setup so if I drop it / lose it / it's pinched, then it's not a disaster. The FT1s look less "showy" than other closed-backs I've seen, so I won't feel like a tit wearing them when commuting. The DAP has what I need - balanced option, Android, battery lasts long enough, it's small and light.

FT1 closed-back dynamic headphones are really good, real wood and very good quality. I'm using Meze litzs cables with mine but stock cables are good also.

 

[woodbar]

No issues at all - I know they had a problem with the swivel joint pivot on early ones where the fixing would just fall off!

Mine came with the newer modified joints and not had any problem with them. I did try some sheep skin ear pads from Ali originally, because I just can't get on with fabric faced ones they supply. Unfortunately they did change the sound profile quite a bit so I ended up getting the proper Fiio genuine leather ones which sound great and are very comfortable.

They tend to be my first choice when having a session although depending on my ears performance that day sometimes I perceive they are a bit "forward" but that is probably just my variable hearing !

They seem to have a good bass performance, not bloated at all, and very dynamic sounding.

Hope that all makes sense?

 

[RTHerringbone]

Perfect - thanks for your input @woodbar and @Jasonovich 👍

The deed is done - the DAP, headphones and a separate case for the DAP all arrive tomorrow. My scaling back of ambition also extends to me just getting by with the stock 64GB SD card for starters.

EDIT: I lied and have ordered a 256GB card too - I saw how big my favourited track list on Tidal was.....