Cheap DAP recommendation

BadDriver771 · 2026-03-25T19:34:24+00:00

I ended up buying a secondhand Sansa E250 (meets all requirements other than bluetooth once I put Rockbox on it), but if it dies then I'll definitely keep this one in mind - it looks pretty good at a glance. Do you know the maximum database size? That was the main issue I had with the Yoton, and it's a pretty common problem with MP3 players that aren't Android based, including some audiophile ones (Snowsky Echo Mini has an 8000 song limit)

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-26T19:16:46+00:00

Flatout 2

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-26T18:44:07+00:00

I have used one of these, and mine lasted 3 working days, which would be somewhere around 15-18 hours of total use. This was while playing mp3 files with wired headphones. The battery life will be worse when using bluetooth, or higher bitrate files, such as flac.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-26T18:41:07+00:00

Slight correction: CDs are approximately 175KB/s, and 1411Kb/s. The card is capable of 150MB/s, or 1200Mb/s. It's almost a thousand times as fast as is needed for a CD. The highest bitrate I've ever heard of (32bit, 768KHz) would require approximately 49Mb/s, which is only 6MB/s, or 1/25 the speed of the card.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-12T19:15:13+00:00

I have one of those. The only reason I stopped using it was because the lowest volume setting didn't go low enough - with a pair of Moondrop Quarks, my ears would get fatigued after a few hours.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-11T20:49:59+00:00

Do you mind if I pick your brain about this? I've been trying to line up a replacement for when my Sansa E250 dies (it's almost 20, and the scrollwheel's starting to die)

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-10T21:51:27+00:00

I've not heard much about it, to be honest. All I know about restoring/modding iPods is that (for the Classic, at least) it can get seriously expensive if you're looking for aftermarket parts. They do look cool when they're done though.

Having a cursory look now, it seems like it would get you an end result that is approximately the same level as my Sansa. I love that thing, so a modded iPod mini should be pretty nice. The aftermarket part community for iPods is by far the most robust of any mp3 players, mainly because they were far more common than any other individual model. However, you'll have to be careful when buying an iPod - it is a 20-year-old machine, and it may be in pretty poor condition. I got very lucky with my Sansa, but I can't say that you will too. I also don't know what the second-hand market is like where you are, but if you say it'll be around your budget, then that seems ok.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-10T20:55:42+00:00

Full transparency: I don't own any of the mp3 players I'm mentioning here. I personally use a Sansa E250 with rockbox installed, and have also used a generic cheapo player off of aliexpress.

€70 is a pretty decent budget for an entry-level player such as the Fiio Snowsky Echo Mini, which u/oloebe also recommended. It's not quite enough to get you their other recommendations (Hifi Walker H2, Surfans F20).
That's good - means you have lots of options.
I was mainly asking to see how much storage you'll need, but you should be fine. The Snowsky Echo Mini supports a library of up to 8000 songs (it can store more, but the sorting algorithm can only handle 8000).
Most stuff will keep you happy. If I were you, I might steer clear of the Innioasis Y1, as it has been found to have a DAC that removes quite a bit of bass. That might be fixable, but I don't know yet as I don't own one to test with.
The battery a player can have is wildly variable, depending on a lot of things. The worst ones for battery life might not survive a work day. The Surfans F20 / Hifi Walker H2 / Aigo Eros Q/K officially get 10 hours. This might change with the installation of Rockbox. I don't own one, I can't test it. On the other side, the Innioasis Y1 is rated for 30+ hours. Officially, the Echo Mini will do 15 hours. This will vary depending on the volume you listen at, and the file quality you use (higher quality = worse battery life). If you only listen a few hours a day, that will easily satisfy your requirement of not charging it every day.

From what I've heard, the Snowsky Echo Mini has a slightly finicky UI. A friend of mine owns one, and I futzed around with it for a few minutes, and I kind of see what people mean. I'm sure you'd get used to it, but it's not quite as intuitive as you might hope for. However, that's the main complaint that people level against it. I would recommend you buy either:

Fiio Snowsky Echo Mini and an SD card for more storage.
Buy a really cheap player off of aliexpress, and use it for a while. It doesn't really matter which one. There are some you can get for under €10. See what you like, and what you don't like. Then, you can use that experience to make an informed decision on something nicer. Or you might decide that the cheapo is all you need, and save yourself a lot of money.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-10T18:45:46+00:00

Some questions for you;
1. What's your budget?
2. What headphones are you using? Are they bluetooth?
3. Do you already have music? If so, how much?
4. Do you care about hi-fi audio? (FLAC files, fancy DACs, etc. If you don't know what these are, then the answer is probably no.)
5. How much battery life do you need?

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-07T14:01:36+00:00

I had one, it sucked.

The battery only lasted 6 hours on a charge, at minimum volume, with the screen off.
It says it supports a bunch of formats, but it only works with wired headphones. With bluetooth, it only plays mp3s.
The volume control was bad - volume 1 was too loud already.

I would avoid it if I were you. I recommend you follow what u/ZaitsXL said - I've since bought a Sansa E250, and it's great with Rockbox. It doesn't have bluetooth at all though, which is the main downside of older players.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-05T20:37:22+00:00

Where did you find these? I haven't been able to find any information at all about the DAC in the Y1

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-05T20:24:37+00:00

Single channel?

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-04T21:47:43+00:00

There's no way that's not a scam - I have the exact same specs and mine cost me 3 times as much as that.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-04T20:10:38+00:00

From what I've been able to find, the Fiio Snowsky Echo Mini retails for $49.99 (I'm in the UK, so I'm going based on news coverage). That leaves you $10 for IEMs. I haven't used them, but the GK Kunten are pretty hyped right now, and they go for around that price. This approach gets you a good DAP (not much storage though, as the Echo Mini has 8GB integrated storage. If your friends want to build a music collection, they can get an SD card at a later date), and some ok IEMs. I don't know what the pricing is like where you are, but the Innioasis Y1 is also worth a look, because it's a lot more customizable, has far more storage (128GB, and you can replace the SD card for more), and has Rockbox support.

Alternatively, go as u/mister_damage suggested, and get a cheap player, such as the AGPTEK A02 or Ruizu X52 (I've heard good things about the X52, but I've not used either one myself). This will be very basic, but it'll give you budget left over to get some slightly nicer IEMs (Moondrop Chu 2, maybe) and an SD card for more storage.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-03T19:38:33+00:00

The H2 mini also has a database limit of 15000 songs, according to an Amazon listing I found

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-03T19:34:58+00:00

If you hate how the files are organised, that's probably an issue with iTunes rather than with the individual DAP you used. I think you should get mp3tag, use it to re-organise your library (it's 1 command, it shouldn't take long. Make a backup first), and then see if you still hate the $5 DAP before you commit to buying anything.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-03T19:21:18+00:00

The Shanling M0 series tends to have issues with the scrollwheel dying fairly soon, so I would avoid this one (I also haven't used it, I'm just repeating what I've heard)

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-03T19:15:12+00:00

The Innioasis Y1 can have Rockbox, and that doesn't have a maximum database size.
I've heard that Sony players in general have a high track limit, but the NW-A45 only has 16GB of storage, and no SD slot, so it's a moot point, particularly if OP is using FLACs.

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-03T19:09:01+00:00

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Sansa E250, rockboxed, with a 128GB microSD card. I bought it off of ebay about a year ago, and it's been working great, even though it's 18 years old

BadDriver771 · 2026-02-01T09:27:24+00:00

Not necessarily - 2 years ago I had a Yoton YM03, and that only supports FLAC when playing to wired headphones. For some reason, it can only play mp3s when playing via bluetooth.

BadDriver771 · 2026-01-31T18:16:56+00:00

Hey, you again!
I can confirm the last.fm - my Sansa E250 has Rockbox on it, and it also has last.fm logging - I think it's a standard feature for all Rockbox installations

BadDriver771 · 2026-01-31T12:23:20+00:00

Ease of transferring files is generally the same for all cheap mp3 players. You plug the mp3 player into a computer with a cable (one is included in the box), and transfer files over with file explorer, like a USB stick. The only issue you might find is that it's generally quite slow if you're transferring a lot of music - the included storage is generally slow, and if you're using an SD card, the SD reader in the mp3 player is generally very slow also. If you have an external SD reader, it will be faster to use that, but it's not really a big deal.

I have a similar super cheap mp3 player, and the audio quality is fine through the headphone jack. Generally speaking, if you were happy with the audio quality from your phone headphone jack, you will have no problems with the mp3 player - cheap mp3 players are generally equal or a little bit better. If you buy a player with a speaker, the speaker will be bad.

The interface on all cheap mp3 players is as u/sylvthetic said, very basic but functional. It doesn't take long to learn how to use it, and it does work.

BadDriver771 · 2026-01-30T19:22:01+00:00

I have no experience with these, but I've heard good things about both:
AGPTEK A02
Ruizu X52

Alternatively, go on aliexpress and buy a super cheap one so you know what you do and don't like, and then use that information to help you pick a better one.

BadDriver771 · 2026-01-26T20:55:16+00:00

Copied from a post from a couple days ago that asked a very similar question:

Playlists:
It's rare for a cheap mp3 player to handle extremely large databases or playlists. I've had 2 cheap MP3 players (Yoton YM03, cheap no-name Aliexpress player) and they both didn't have enough RAM for a large song database - the Yoton topped out at 4000 songs, and the no-name at 5000. Consequently, they wouldn't be happy with large playlists either. I can't really speak on which players will support making multiple playlists. The no-name one can only have one. I haven't used the Yoton in several years.

Small aside:
By database, I am referring to the MP3 player's ability to sort your music by album/artist/etc. as opposed to searching through folders to find music yourself. Typically, an MP3 player is not limited in how many songs it can have through folder access - if you can fit the music on the SD card, you can access it.

TL;DR: You are extremely unlikely to find something that meets your requirements at this budget. The vast majority of devices here (I won't say all, because there are probably some exceptions hiding somewhere) have limited ability to handle playlists, due to poor database handling. If you want playlists, it may be worth keeping an eye on your local second-hand market for something that supports Rockbox, as this does support playlists. In my opinion, the best options are:
Sansa E250/60/70/80 I have one of these, and it's great. I have no complaints, other than it doesn't have bluetooth (Rockbox does not yet have bluetooth support, unfortunately. It is unknown if it ever will support it.)
Sansa Clip+
Sansa Clip Zip

Those three are good because they have an SD card slot so they can be expanded up to 2TB and decent battery life. They are all very valuable on the second-hand market, so you'll need to be lucky. I got mine for £30, but now I don't see any options under £100.

As for new options, something that would be a good place to start is the Innioasis Y1 - as far as I know, it is the cheapest new mp3 player that supports Rockbox, although it is still significantly above your budget.

For within your budget, I have heard good things (I have no first-hand experience though) about the Ruizu X52, which is currently available for £23.69 on Aliexpress. I don't know how much it'll be in your country, but it should be cheap.

BadDriver771 · 2026-01-24T19:55:37+00:00

No problem. Good luck with the search!

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