I am also a bit of an amateur photographer. Kids changed using anything but the phone really. 
The camera part of the thread made me want to find some pictures of my old room at my parent’s house. My father was a photography nut. He has a large museum of cameras in glass cases and labeling. That’s what my old room became.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any pictures.
Do the Shanling DAPs allow control from iPhone?
I know they can be controlled via BT from Android but I don’t know if there is an Apple app for them.
(They also support AAC)
Gonna look at them again and remind myself why they aren’t on the short list. (or if I messed up)
So, some of them are proprietary OS. Even so, those might work (the m5s for example). I am pretty sure a bluetooth button won’t work for them, but BT/aac will for the mobile use case. But not for the streaming from whatever services use case.
The m6 does not appear to have aac.
The m8 has mixed information as to whether it has aac.
And m6 does appear to allow streaming stuff to be installed, not sure about the m8.
It should be noted, shanlings site appears to be broken for me currently. So I can’t get official information.
I can’t solidly answer quickly if google services are available and on which ones.
I think they probably dropped off the priority list at least because they are older SOC’s. So, from an integration and use perspective, android 9 with snapdragon 660 and BT 5 should beat them in every way (except maybe sound, depending on preferences).
In terms of something like hiby link (which doesn’t work for this) I don’t know.
Shanling m8 is on the list! Joins the dx300 and r6.
However, it is more money. The dac is crazy elite though.
Same dac as the topping a90. Not sure I care about that. The topping 90 stack didn’t impress me.
I know I’m late @Dynamic, but the shanling UP4 maybe what you’re looking for as well, only $100. I’m sure you already purchased something but that’s another option if you’re not satisfied
Purchased and returned a bunch of products. UP4 has been on the radar but I haven’t tried it yet. I am trying the qudelix 5k. But, I don’t really expect one of these devices to be the one device. I expect them to be a convenience scenario at this point. And, the BTR5 is fine, but if the qudelix is better (or the UP4) than great.
I think I will be trying hiby r6 2020 or iBasso dx300 as the “main listening” device eventually.
I am going to have the fiio btr5, qudelix 5k, iDSD micro signature and iBasso dx300 at the same time this week.
Would people be interested in a comparison of the 4? I know it’s a weird combo.
I’m interested in the last 2 but sure, why not all 4. Your audio journey is fascinating, so TBH, I’m just happy to read each installment.
I have the micro here already. Listening to it now. This micro hasn’t shown the problems the last one did. At least not yet. The spiderweb of cables is nuts.
This would be great @Dynamic.
iBasso dx300 vs iDSD micro signature
Originally, I was going to do this as a 4 way. dx300 vs signature vs btr5 vs qudelix. In reality, I think I will be keeping one of the bigger units and one (or both) of the portable. Consider this a Part 1.
Let me get something out of the way about the dx300 and the signature: If I were involved in a blind, volume matched test on the same songs, I am not sure I could tell them apart sonically. There, I said it. These two are shockingly similar to me. And, I think part of that may be the Zen.
To make sure it wasn’t a source quality issue, I even re-subscribed to amazon hd music and put them on as level a high quality playing field as I could. So, sonically, between the two, I don’t care.
Preface
In my headphone experience, what I found I wanted in an amp pairing is driving the headphone with authority. I still am not 100% sure how to describe this. I can give some examples: dx3 pro just barely got there with sundara. SP200 did it easily. The zen are fairly easy to drive to good if not great sound. When powered well, it feels like that power develops at a lower volume. For example, if I crank the volume on the apple dongle, I definitely get that feeling. But on a better source I get that feeling at a much lower volume. I can’t quite describe what it is that I am hearing, but both the dx300 and signature have it on the zen. This is what I am looking for when I say “with authority”.
I also want to say: Testing with only the Zen is probably limiting the differences between these units. The zen seems to take any source and make it great for me. I feel like something like a final a8000 or even a monarch, I would have more opinions here. I just don’t with the Zen and that may be one of the reasons I love it so much. Love Zen! Love Zen!
Signature
The signature drives the zen on eco (no iematch required) with the same authority as the dx300 with high gain. This is frankly impressive. Nothing beyond eco is required and the usable volume on the knob is excellent with plenty of headroom even including the issue below.
Channel Imbalance - There is extreme channel imbalance until around 10 o’clock on the knob. This is a problem in normal and turbo modes as balanced sound can be really loud at the required knob position. I didn’t notice any advantage of using anything above eco for zen. (I absolutely did for sundara and the other over ears I tried on my previous signature)
Volume knob - It’s fine. I do prefer the tactile feeling and response of the dx300 more. And based on mode you are in, you have to be very careful how much you turn it.
IEMatch - On the zen, this really isn’t needed. I did play with it, and I couldn’t find any advantage for it on the zen. It does make normal and turbo mode “usable” in terms of volume on the knob. No issues with hiss or anything else so far. In fact, it might be slightly blacker in general than the dx300 overall.
Xbass - While it’s not bad, on the zen it’s just silly. The zen has the ultimate balance for me as is. This switch is completely unnecessary. I could see it warming up something with a less rich bass signature. (maybe a monarch?)
3D Thing - This sometimes makes a huge change and sometimes it’s like a fake switch. I am not sure it’s an improvement. It just doesn’t seem to matter much at all to me. Some frequencies basically just get louder. I haven’t heard any benefit really.
The Plug - It’s stupid. Don’t be different just to be different. Pick ANY OTHER PLUG. Any of them. This stupid plug might get it sent back because it’s so hard to find a cable situation that works. It’s a really stupid reason to be thrown out as a product. (Not to mention it just potentially ruled out several other of ifi products)
Firmwares - IF I cared about iDSD or MQA, I would throw this device out a window. Burn it or go buy some explosives. One firmware for one thing and another for another? What if I want both? Answer: buy a diablo ($250 more). But, I want IEMatch too! Answer: buy it separately but not in 4.4 which is what’s on these units. Yeah. This is a big fat ugly wart along with the plug. But this one? This one I don’t care about. I have zero interest in either MQA or DSD. So, there it is. Oh, you have interest in them? Don’t buy this.
dx300
Well, it’s basically a bigger dx160. Warts and all.
I preferred the dx300 in high gain mode. I felt like anything short of that simply didn’t bring out the best in the Zen.
Updates were smooth - It upgraded to the latest firmware and then I installed my 2 music apps with apk pure. No issues.
Snappy - It doesn’t lag or think the way the dx160 did. This is good.
It’s HUGE - I mean, I saw pictures. I read the weight. But it makes my iPhone Pro Max feel like a runt. Like, seriously, enormous.
Bluetooth button works (mostly) - IT at least re-connects on its own without having to fiddle with settings or re-pairing. See problems below.
Hiss - Saying hiss is strong. Every once in a while I could hear a very very subtle background hiss that had no bearing on the music. But, I didn’t hear anything on the signature ever. I even went and listened for it.
The case - It sucks. It slips off. It makes the buttons impossible to use. No. Just no. They should have included that cheaper TPU one I see available for it. But, at the same time, I wouldn’t use it without the case. It needs one.
Problems - A few of the issues, like songs simply not advancing, are clearly software issues. These continued over from the dx160. External buttons simply not working? Yep, still there. AND when that happens the bluetooth buttons also don’t work. Yeah. Not looking good iBasso. Not looking good.
Portability
Let’s be honest, neither of these are an actual portable solution. I need to give the edge to the dx300 here because it doesn’t need the wire like the signature. But, when actually in use, I prefer to place them on a table near me, not a pocket. The spaghetti mess that is the signature is simply not conducive to any listening that isn’t at a table.
dx300 - There is an advantage here. When I do have an extra pocket (wearing a hoodie or a jacket, etc) the dx300 is fine in the extra pocket. Except the stupid buttons fail. When in t-shirt and jeans mode? Fanny pack? maybe? No. Just no.
signature - I am going to have to try it for a while. I think there might be portable scenarios where it works just fine. But that isn’t going to become clear quickly.
Brief comments on btr5
I am still planning to compare the btr5 and the qudelix as a separate post. As I don’t have the qudelix yet I just want to give some guidance on the BTR5 with more details later. When using the BTR5 wired, it seems like a slightly lighter sound. This may be a good thing as the Zen itself adds all the warmth it needs. I also have no problems with authority. It tickled my eardrums with loud clear bass just like the others (admittedly likely at a higher volume). So, on an SQ perspective? Are the others better? Yeah, but man the diminishing returns are extreme at 6x and 12x more money. Geezum. Will have more opinions later. One thing: Having a physical volume knob is very satisfying. Analog is cool.
What am I going to do?
dx300 - Return it. I simply have no tolerance for a company that can have such blatant usability issues across multiple products for years. If you can’t make your products better, I won’t pay for them. Test your products for 5 minutes in the real world and then at least fix the broken crap. Not this case, fix the buttons. Those two simple things may have caused me to keep it. Instead, your brand is banned from my life. And I will vocally say hard no to all iBasso products when asked. Deleted. Exterminated. Ba-bye.
I am going to keep it long enough to determine if it’s worth ordering a hiby r6 2020. As there are some advantages to a dap. And that is the biggest argument against the signature below.
signature - Will I keep it? I don’t know yet. It does what it claims to do. And it does it very well. The question is does it fit into my life well enough to keep it? I honestly don’t know yet. It has a 60 day trial, so I think I am going to give it a longer term honest chance. I am not having the problems I had with the first unit. And the only flaws so far are ones I knew going in and simply need to decide if I can live with them. It’s an easy to recommend product given that. Does it fit your needs on paper? Buy it. If not, don’t. Done and Done.
Fin.
Not sure it’s so great anymore. 
Part 2 will happen when the qudelix gets here.
Fiio BTR5 vs Qudelix 5k
And here we are! Another slightly more sensible showdown between 2 products. This time the products are practically identical in concept. They have the same dacs, the same supported codecs (I think), the same output, the same input and similar app controls.
BTR5
Size - The size is pretty good. The case that came with it has a clip which is basically a requirement for me. All together, it feels like a nice solid unit.
Button Usage - The buttons are basically almost instantly clear. There are a few things that you can multi-tap or tap and hold. All the buttons are on one side which is probably a good thing to prevent accidental dual pressing of opposite buttons.
Charging - This has been a bit of a pain point. I have had it refuse to charge on various things because of the charging mode. When switching between wired and BT you often have to flip a setting as it can’t seem to tell the difference between a charger and a phone/computer. You must turn charging off from the device to use it wired. So forgetting to tinker with it means a dead device in the morning sometimes.
Firmware - Fiio has not deemed it important enough to be able to update firmware for a mac. So I can’t do it. That is not good. However, apparently I can send it back and they will do it. Which seems silly, but that’s where we are.
Sound - Pretty good. I mean, the dx300 and iDSD micro signature both beat it, but not by the amount I would expect given the price differences. And, frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of that difference results from the amp power more than the dac. It feels it bit leaner to me compared to the big boys. On the Zen it doesn’t much matter.
Wired - As mentioned, to get it to charge you have to switch the setting when done. Running wired does clean up the sound a bit.
BT - Just about every bluetooth solution I have heard has a subtle noise in the background. It is minimal here.
App - The app is not very good. Parts of it have no translation into english. It gets into this cycle of retrying connections to devices. (It did this with the Q5s to the point where I almost didn’t try it out). The btr5 was better than that. It seems like some settings require you to back out and go in and/or restart the device. The app is just not good.
Volume - It works differently in BT vs wired. In wired, you can’t adjust volume from the phone at all but the it only needs to be at 24ish of 60 to get to a good volume. 30 to be loud. And volume controls only work on the device. In BT, you have volume control from the phone and on the device. I tend to leave the device maxed and control from the phone.
Connecting - 3.5mm and 2.5mm balanced. I really only use the balanced connection.
Qudelix
Size - This thing is seriously small. I thought the BTR5 was tiny and this thing just takes size to the next smallest level. As it turns out, it makes it more susceptible to cord pulls. It could be hanging by the headphone cable and you might not notice.
Button Usage - Interestingly, the initial impression is confusion. But one look at the manual (not included) clears that up. Both lights on the side are rocker buttons with upper and lower switches. And there are a multitude of tap/hold combinations. The only real annoyance is I can’t tell whether I am touching the red or the blue side without touching it. I will adapt to this in time based on the orientation. I just haven’t adapted yet.
One annoyance, it’s so small I keep accidentally pushing buttons. Again, I think once I am used to it, it won’t be an issue.
Charging - Interestingly, it is always willing to charge. Even from the iPhone (despite claiming that wouldn’t work). It’s very nice not to have to think about modes to charge it when switching around setups. This is one of the pain points on the BTR5.
Firmware - The first time I launched the app and turned on the device it asked to do the firmware update. Did it painlessly and I am good to go. Again, a huge step up over the BTR5.
Sound - They use the same DACs. They sound very similar to me. Maybe identical. My brain wants to say the Qudelix has an edge here, but honestly, it may just be that I want to like it more given how well it is doing in other areas. I’d call this a tie.
Wired - Completely painless. All I had to do was tell the app to prefer to be wired if connected to something that wants it to be a DAC. And in most cases (possibly all), it will charge at the same time. Again, beats the BTR5.
BT - The only thing I will say is I think the Qudelix shows no noise even over bluetooth. At least, I haven’t detected any yet. And that is quite impressive. Again, possibly a slight advantage over the BTR5. No issues at all so far.
App - The qudelix app was entirely painless. It connected and worked out of the box, updated firmwares, and instantly changes all settings. It maintains two separate connections, one for BLE and the other for A2DP. The app (and the device in general) was clearly built by engineers who at least kept their eye on usability. Does it look pretty? No. Does it function well? Yes.
Volume - Qudelix calls out the fact that there are two volume controls, one from the phone and one from qudelix. What is different about it, is both are always available independently. And you can control whether you want that or not. I didn’t play with it much because the default behavior is perfect. Basically, whether I am running BT or Wired, I can independently control both the qudelix and the iPhone volume. The new thing here is that I can still turn volume up and down from the phone when wired. BTR5 can’t do that.
In addition, the qudelix does volume matching magic if you change gain/power settings. So, I am never at risk of blowing my ears off. It’s not clear to me if it remembers it separately for BT vs Wired yet. (It seems so, but I haven’t done extreme testing for this). On the down side, I think this can only be switched from the app.
Connecting - It has standard 3.5mm and 2.5mm balanced. I have only used the 2.5mm. Same as BTR5.
Performance Controls - This has a bunch of settings that allow you to specify your performance to battery ratios. I honestly have not yet heard a difference between any of the settings. So, I am leaving them on the longest battery option.
Conclusion
I mentioned that the qudelix felt like it was built by engineers with an eye on usability. I want to expand that. It feels like it was built by engineers that were solving a problem they were passionate about while making sure others could use their solution. The fiio feels like it was directed by product marketers to meet a specification. The engineers cared about the quality of execution while the product marketers cared about the specifications.
If it’s not clear already, I find the qudelix to be the far superior device. It is simply best in class from a usability perspective. I won’t knock the BTR5 too hard. I just can’t think of many reasons to buy it over the qudelix. Similar specs and concept, one is just executed far better.
I present to you the current Best iPhone friendly portable dac/amp. Congratulations Qudelix!
Side note: I do not find crazy levels of detail differences between these and the dx300/signature. My test headphone is obviously the Zen. I don’t know if it has the resolution to detect differences. But there is something about signature/dx300 sound that is different. And I haven’t been able to put my finger on it. The signature and dx300 almost sound a touch smoother. Going to try and figure that out at some point.
The End.
Very nice comparison piece. I enjoyed reading it.
The qudelix is insane! I have on multiple occasions today forgotten my phone in my office and went through the entire house. And there was no skips in music at all. Nothing. Even the btr5 didn’t pull that off. Get to the kitchen? or, yup, forgot my phone, music is skipping. Not the qudelix.
Seriously good product here. Everyone should just go buy one so they have a reliable portable dac/amp. 
Congrats on reaching the end of your journey. I never thought you’d make it, and that we’d enjoy reading about your journey for a little while longer.
I have to admit I’d prefer 4.4mm balanced instead of 2.5mm so it looks like I’m still searching.
Oh, that’s not the end. Still have the hiby r6 2020 to try. And maybe more iems.
But for mobility, the qudelix is it.
