DAPs
New digital audio players: onboard DAC, output power and battery, plus what the price is really buying.
Astell&Kern announces the PD5, an eight-DAC player with a switchable half
The successor to the SR35 carries eight Cirrus Logic converters and lets the listener run four or all eight, trading measured performance against up to 28 hours of playback.
Fosi Audio shows the DAP Neo, a sub-$100 player with no internet at all
A prototype shown at CanJam London: an offline-only digital audio player in an iPod-shaped body, deliberately without streaming, Wi-Fi or apps, expected below $100.
FiiO previews the M25 and M25 R2R, one player with two converter architectures
Shown at CanJam London, the two players share a chassis and a platform but split on the DAC: AKM's separated architecture in one, FiiO's second-generation R2R ladder in the other.
Cayin announces the N8iii at $3,999, limited to 500 units
The flagship digital audio player returns with tube modes, an AKM DAC, up to 1.285 watts of output and a 13,500 mAh battery, in a run of 500 worldwide.
These are announcements, not verdicts. Nothing here is measured until a unit reaches the rig. For tested daps, see DAPs reviews. Back to all new releases.