Hidizs AP100 Portable Player

Launched earlier in the year at CES in Las Vegas, it immediately got our attention thanks to its reasonable price tag and hi res capacities. Its looks are a little utilitarian and it is around exactly the same size as an iPod Classic, but it can playback an impressive variety of file formats including hires sound up to 24/192, but no DSD.

Unlike the FiiO - its closest rival - it's 8GB of internal storage, which is expandable to 72GB by adding a 64GB MicroSD card. It feels solidly constructed and is among the lighter models in the group. It has a 2.4in TFT screen with 320 x 240-pixel resolution, which is alright but nothing to get excited about. Menus are simple to browse and operation is intuitive. A number of the text is a bit small for eyes that are tired, especially the numbers that represent the frequency bands 7-band graphic equaliser which can be very hard to decipher.

Plus the screen may not be easy to view from any angle other than straight on, and track info and onscreen graphics instantly becomes solarised when you have a look at the player.

Display apart, it is a slick portable with useful features like gapless playback, headphone sensitivity output and support for ALAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, AAC, APE, AIFF and WAV FLAC, while DSD is in the pipeline with future firmware upgrades.

With an ability to upsample tracks through the Cirrus Logic 24/192 DAC - see Bargain Specs - the AP100 sets a neat little feature that can in theory help to improve on subtle audio. that are details and is itself up as a quite versatile portable at the cost, In addition, there is a healthy collection of socketry, along with the AP100 can also be utilized as an inline DAC between a pc connected to its input signal that is microUSB and fed out to a complete music system via optical or coaxial digital outputs.

Sound quality

For such a the AP100 has a sound that comes very close to higher-priced versions. Listening to Norah Jones' In the Morning, which can be one of only a few 24/192 ALAC records in my group, vocals have more of a raspy quality to them that makes me feel as though I am actually hearing the performance as it is taking place in the studio. It conjures up a remarkably strong and open sonic image of the remaining part of the group positioned around Jones that's indeed strong I feel like I could almost walk around it.

Similarly the High Hopes of Pink Floyd captures the song's haunting church bell with the conviction and feeling and proves just as listenable. Take Me Back is nearly euphoric in its presentation and doesn't show any real signs of hardening up at higher volume levels. Vocals are expressed and there is a small hint of mid heat that makes the AP100 easy to listen to over longer periods of time and provides a silky quality to male voices despite the EQ setting switched off.

Hidizs AP100 Portable Player photo