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Lows are fast and tight, and highs are snappy. For my preference,I find this pairing to be pretty good.
The X has a very similar clear and transparent sound to the PRO. This is likely due to the SOC (system on a chip) architecture of the ESS9219C chipset being an evolution of the previous ES9218P. I find the sound signature to produce a neutral and natural-sounding base upon which the audio tweaking settings can build. What I like the most is that AP80 sounds neutral with slight tendency towards bright/cold tonality. Lows, mids and highs are in good balance making this DAP universal to feed it with any kind of music genre. I would call it a precise source for connecting any further audio equipment like headphones, large power amps, active speakers, etc. The AP80 Pro-X has its sound dictated by its prefabricated SoC. It will sound very similar to other devices using the same all-in-one chip. The presentation is neutral without being analytical or edgy. Nothing is boosted, which results in great midrange clarity. Staging is wide with good depth resulting in a decent headroom even with the single-ended circuit. Dynamics is great, the image is vivid. It also has good intimacy. This results in essentially the same performance specifications between AP80 Pro and AP80 Pro-X with channel separation as apparent exemption. Hidizs lists a much improved channel separation for the AP80 Pro-X model. Upon further inspection, the AP80 Pro-X’s better value stems from a measurement at no load, whereas the AP80 Pro’s number was generated under load. Disclaimer: Hidizs sent us the AP80 PRO-X, free of charge, for the purpose of this review. In exchange, we’re going to give our honest opinion, as always.I’m quite familiar with the Hidizs line of AP80 mini-DAPs and have reviewed and compared many of their variants (per chassis material) in the past. Introduction of AP80 Pro, which I also reviewed 2yrs ago, was a noticeable step forward with the addition of balanced output and even a dedicated FPGA for a higher rate of DSD decoding. The crazy thing was they keep a similar palm-size footprint while adding more functionality to the Pro model. Then, early this year when the AP80 Pro-X model was announced, I thought to myself it was probably going to be a minor cosmetic refresh. After all, it looked similar, still had 3.5mm SE and 2.5mm BAL outputs, output spec didn’t change, and the main difference was going from dual ES9218P to dual ES9219C. Minor changes, right? Nope, I was wrong. Unboxing and Accessories. One letdown was the decision to use a BT 4.2 instead of BT 5.0. Bluetooth 5.0 would’ve enabled a longer range which would be nice when moving from place to place. Although, Bluetooth 4.2 range is good enough for the common listening use case.
Kai is probably one of the unconventional IEM for the year, where most of the company is striving for neutral bright,or even neutral tuning,Kai is the IEM tuned with “fun” in mind. With up to 190mW @32Ω from the balanced output, the AP80 Pro X can drive most off the shelf headphones. Hidizs recommends the device for headphones up to 200 ohms and I think that’s a good ballpark figure.
Test
Disclaimer: The Hidizs AP80 Pro sent to us is a sample in exchange for our honest opinion. We thank the team at Hidizsfor giving us this opportunity. Since there are almost limitless combinations of audio tweaks available through the software, I completed all my testing and notes with settings ‘flat’ and unaltered unless noted. Imaging is also just right. At times, it feels a sound comes from a single direction and is intimate. However, if you want great imaging, be prepared to save for a DAP twice or thrice the price of the AP80 Pro-X.
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