Cowon iAudio X5L/M5L line-out

[pigamble]

Hi and thanks for reading!
I'm buying a portable player and have narrowed it down (I think) to either iAudio X5L or M5L, but I have a question about their line-out capabilities.

I read that the line-out, which is only accessible via their "subpack" adaptor (which plugs into player's USB port) is rather weak (in terms of sound quality) and I'm worried about feeding my amplifier with already ~crippled/altered sound.

I suspect that the "subpack" is the weak link and not the USB port, which should not alter the signal in any way. Am I guessing right?

So... Is it possible to bypass the "subpack" by plugging Porta corda MkIII directly into the player's USB port or _preferably_ RSA Hornet (via some sort of simple usb to line-out adapter, if so - which one) to improve the quality of the line-out?

Please help
Thank you!

PS: I'll be listening to FLAC (+ cue) sources exclusively, via RockBox firmware with either Porta Corda or (hopefully) The Hornet and my Sennheiser HD 595.

[h-man]

No, the subpack connects via a proprietary connector at the bottom of the player (rather like the ipod's dock connector), so it is impossible to plug any third-party devices into it. The line out is not as good as the ipod's lineout.

Welcome to headfi by the way, and sorry about your wallet!!!

[Honken]

Most who own a X5/M5 plug the amp to the headphone jack, works well, better than the line out at least.

[h-man]

and the unamped headphone out is quite good anyway........

[pigamble]

Hey,
thank you for the warm greeting and your swift answers!

Oh, so it's a proprietary connector and not USB - fooled me. My wallet is still in-tact since I haven't purchased the player yet (yay!).

So, do you think that plugging a good amplifier (like the Hornet) into the headphone jack would be a bit pointless in terms of sound quality?

Should I be looking at different players? Can you suggest one?
Must be RockBox-able (FLAC + cue), with good battery life and sound quality. I don't care about color displays or videos. M5L and X5L (for its usb-to-go and bigger HD) seemed great, apart from the line-out. But how much of a problem is it?

iDislike iPods or anything fancy. I just want my FLAC + cue collection portable.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

[Dixie Flatline]

The connector for the subpack or cradle is the same connector used for the iPaq PDA, actually, and I believe there were a few people making custom line-out cables for the X5 for a while. However, the consensus seems to be that the issue lies within the X5 itself, rather than the subpack. (I use the cradle, and the line-out seems to be the same.)

I've been pretty happy with the X5 line-out going from the cradle to a Ray Samuels SR-71 and AKG K81-DJ-- it's certainly less bassy than the HP-out, but it still sounds good. And the X5 is a very good, mature, choice for Rockbox, so I'd certainly still recommend it.

[exec_]

Originally Posted by Dixie Flatline

The connector for the subpack or cradle is the same connector used for the iPaq PDA, actually, and I believe there were a few people making custom line-out cables for the X5 for a while.

e.g. here.
But I can't tell you if there are any major differences when using such a cable or a subpack+cable (mini2mini). But in theory the sq would suffer the more interconnections there are (the greater the possibillity of a weak link).

But nevertheless, the X5 is a great DAP. And the lineout isn't that bad at all. When you read some postings about it in the forums, you might think that it is totally crap, but it really ain't.

[dwc]

Headphone out, vol at 40, all effects and e.q. off.
Sounds great, and performs great on square wave tests, etc.

[clc220]

there is distortion on 40.

[mwallace573]

The main complaint most have had about the X5 lineout is the so called bass roll-off. I personally never experienced this while I was running my X5L amped with a Xtra X-1 and a Pint with a Qables LOD. Both sounded great. There wasn't a huge difference between amping either the HP out or the line out as far as I could tell though. Personally, I think the HP out of the X5L is good enough to run unamped as it sounds pretty good. More that adequate for portable use anyway. Whether or not you want to spend the extra money for a good LOD is up to you.

I can vouch for the quality of the Qables LOD, as well as their customer support. Both are excellent.

Oh, and these opinions were gathered from a Rockboxed X5L.

[pigamble]

Thank you all for replying!
I'm now much more confident about buying the player and will be doing so, probably with the Qables line-out cable. However I'll most likely be buying the M5L model, since it has grayscale display (I prefer simplicity) and charges without the subpack. It is also half the X5L's price!

As far as I understand the M5L is a X5L without the unnecessary stuff (OK, +10GB is nice, but not worth the price difference) and should be just as good for MUSIC-ONLY use.

Thanks again!

[klenkar]

I always use the line out........can't hear any difference......but you could damage your hearing if forgetting the volume set at 40...happened to me once
don dom