[reihead]

1, About the storage, the initial design is includes 2 Micro SD card slot. but now  change to one cause the Soc has limited I/O pin,  so if we design 2 Micro SD card slot. the WiFi module will have to connect to the Soc by SPI mode which will consume more power. 

    Also the X7 will includes 32g build in memory and we may release a 64g model in the future. BTW, I think there will have 256g Micro SD card in 2015.


2, About the size , we need to balance the SQ and the size. there will always different opinion about it.  and we don't want to make a big and heavy DAP.
t 

I have two 128gb cards in my X5 already. 256gb of music. With the X7 (2015) I will have less space...

Ummm interesting choice for a flagship.

Any idea of when the 256gb microSD cards will be available?

 

[cattlethief]

I have two 128gb cards in my X5 already. 256gb of music. With the X7 (2015) I will have less space...

Ummm interesting choice for a flagship.

Any idea of when the 256gb microSD cards will be available?

If it can do hi-rez streaming,have great wifi, DLNA/upnp compatible,bluetooth aptx,solid build,fluid UI and decent internal storage,then it will be a true flagship,it will  after all be 2015!!
not to mention outstanding SQ!!thats a given!

 

[piotrekfronc]

   
Damn, I was hoping for 2 slots, and Spotify compatibility ( downloaded playlists ).
I don't care whether there's wireless connectivity like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, I'd happily download my Spotify playlists and other Hi-Rez content via USB.
 
My interest hasn't completely died, it's definitely in need of some TLC though

Bluetooth is important for connecting remote. It should be like DX100 but newer OS, nicer screen, replacable amp section and tough bullet proof arse kicking build quality (magnesium build like my canon 5D m3 would be just something that doesnt exists yet and pulling down pants of other companies). If fiio get build, modularity and OS right... it will be market killer

 

[piotrekfronc]

An I will be happy paying extra for "the crap" !!!!
 
Please no hipsters-like "silver" edges, shiny nonsense - terminator like, magnesium, tough, able to replace hammer build - all metal magnesium, including buttons, color can be native metal or even painted black like the SLR cameras are.
 
Come on guys... kick it!

 

[piotrekfronc]

  An I will be happy paying extra for "the crap" !!!!
 
Please no hipsters-like "silver" edges, shiny nonsense - terminator like, magnesium, tough, able to replace hammer build - all metal magnesium, including buttons, color can be native metal or even painted black like the SLR cameras are.
 
Come on guys... kick it!

 
Thjat initial design is just... to shiny nonsense, im happy its dismissed. Look how SLRs are build, that's what you call a solid build. Ibasso DX100 were almost there with build, but they did that bacl shiny cheap metal cover nonsense. They could finish with same magnesium back cover... but nah... someone just probaly got lazy...
 
Look how SLRs like 5D m3 has screen on it mounted etc. how well build all is. Having same matte build with tough magnesium is a dream.

 

[reihead]

If it can do hi-rez streaming,have great wifi, DLNA/upnp compatible,bluetooth aptx,solid build,fluid UI and decent internal storage,then it will be a true flagship,it will  after all be 2015!!
not to mention outstanding SQ!!thats a given!

I understand where you come from. In my opinion and also most people in this thread list storage as top 3 feature. I would expect that the flagship offers the same top features of the previous product or better (and then some), I understand this is not always the case, but storage being such important feature, it is a huge miss on my book.

Again this is my case, I'm sure WiFi and dnla will do for a lot of people.
Definitely will like to test the X7 and learn from it and these new features. If implemented properly, most likely fiio will have another winner. But as now, is not a sure buy for me.

 

[kraken2109]

My player is the Cowon J3, and the best feature is the 60 hour battery life. It means I never have to worry about charging it. I came home for Christmas and managed to leave the cable behind, but I know that it will last Christmas without being charged.
I couldn't imagine using a player with a 10 hour battery life.

 

[alnilam]

Just of curiosity, what if we take ALL of the wishes and desires of users in this thread into account, and produce some sort of 'portable reference DAP' or 'what that hypothetical all-inclusive X7 would be like, if I made it using the available components', delivering ALL of the desired technical parameters including SQ, ability to drive most headphones, wifi, Bluetooth aptX, SATA/mSATA storage, replaceable battery etc, and some limited portability, and disregarding size-weight-looks, just packing it all neatly into some case? I for one would be very curious to test such a device, maybe to buy one too (not that I am aware of any offerings). In particular, what size and weight we are talking about here? Some people claim (I suspect without giving much thought to it) that portability-wise it would be a behemoth too big and heavy to be any practical, but what if not.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  My player is the Cowon J3, and the best feature is the 60 hour battery life. It means I never have to worry about charging it. I came home for Christmas and managed to leave the cable behind, but I know that it will last Christmas without being charged.
I couldn't imagine using a player with a 10 hour battery life.

you listen only to mp3s at 20 volume with ultra sensitive IEMs, without any eq?... HOW do you get 60 hours?... i also had cowon j3 before fiio x5, and cowon lasted around 8 hours, while x5 lasts around 10 hours. 
i listen to volume around 3/4, eq, mostly FLAC.

 

[kraken2109]

  you listen only to mp3s at 20 volume with ultra sensitive IEMs, without any eq?... HOW do you get 60 hours?... i also had cowon j3 before fiio x5, and cowon lasted around 8 hours, while x5 lasts around 10 hours. 
i listen to volume around 3/4, eq, mostly FLAC.

I listen to a mix of flac and mp3 at probably around 20 volume. I also use it to play music in my car. I think if you got 8 hours then something was wrong with your battery.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  I listen to a mix of flac and mp3 at probably around 20 volume. I also use it to play music in my car. I think if you got 8 hours then something was wrong with your battery.

i touched 50 hours with mp3 at 20 volume, with all eq options off, this is why i asked.
 
bu i usually listen to almost full volume, on j3 actually, i listened to one or two bars away from full, so 38/40, with all eq options on and used, only flac...
 
what from your list can be driven to listenable levels with 20/40 on cowon j3?... only the IEMs, i think. and consider that i used ie8 with cowon j3, and i used them at 34/40, still not gone over 14 hours at best.
this is why i was amazed.
 
you can buy fiio x5, and a fiio e12, stack, and the entire thing will last for 20 hours or more...

 

[waynes world]

  You can't download Spotify playlists via USB (or with any other streaming services).
Wi-Fi is a must to use such services.

 
And just to be clear, I'm pretty sure that you are saying that wifi is a must for the "downloading" services (because after they are downloaded, you can listen to them without internet connection).

 

[kraken2109]

  i touched 50 hours with mp3 at 20 volume, with all eq options off, this is why i asked.
 
bu i usually listen to almost full volume, on j3 actually, i listened to one or two bars away from full, so 38/40, with all eq options on and used, only flac...
 
what from your list can be driven to listenable levels with 20/40 on cowon j3?... only the IEMs, i think. and consider that i used ie8 with cowon j3, and i used them at 34/40, still not gone over 14 hours at best.
this is why i was amazed.
 
you can buy fiio x5, and a fiio e12, stack, and the entire thing will last for 20 hours or more...

My 2 pairs of IEMs are more than loud enough at 20, in a quiet environment I'd have it lower than that. I can play drums and still hear the music clearly with the Etymotic (mainly due to the amazing isolation) at around 30. The amperiors are also loud enough at around 20 volume. Even my fairly hard to drive AKGs are listenable at 30, and more than loud enough at max.
 
In the nicest possible way, do you have any hearing damage? Because 30+ on the volume scale on IEMs is going to cause damage in the long term. Also are you aware of the EU volume limitations? Setting the location in settings to 'outside the EU' or 'rest of the world' (can't remember what they called it) will remove the volume cap making it louder.
 
Anyway, I stand by my original point. If I'm going to spend hundreds on a portable music player I'd expect a minimum of 25 hours playback time at normal listening levels as pretty much every consumer player will do that.

 

[awayeah]

   
And just to be clear, I'm pretty sure that you are saying that wifi is a must for the "downloading" services (because after they are downloaded, you can listen to them without internet connection).

Yeah. But someone claims that you can use USB cable to transfer your playlist to a mobile device - and that's not true. With all streaming services that I know and used you need a device with internet connection. There's no getting around this.
You can listen to your playlist offline - but you need to download them first.
So if they don't include WiFi module in X7 you won't be able to use Spotify, Wimp, etc.
Anyhow. I'm beginning to lost interest in this DAP. 700$ is a lot and it seems compromises will be made.
For me ES9018 DAC is not everything. I was hoping for OLED screen and some nice dark, simple, elegant interface (that's not gonna happen), 128GB of built-in memory is minimum at this price point (it's reasonable I think), while flat response and as precise audio playback as possible is very important I would like to see hardware 2-level bass boost (because it's useful and I doubt there'll be one).
Given that you can buy nice smartphone for -100-200$ that will be more powerful and functional and connect it to external DAC (FiiO E18 is around 160$ - but there's more and more portable DACs that work with Android, especially rooted and unlocked); for less than 700$ you can put together very nice combo that suits your needs. I know there are much more expensive DAPs but FiiO was always the reasonable, value-oriented company. I think that if they want to create >700$ DAP, it should be amazingly sounding player with plethora of audio-related functions to tune it to your needs (if you don't want that, just don't use it) and enough storage capacity to justified high-resolution playback capabilities. And it should be very well-made. 700$ is a lot for portable player after all....

 

[olddude]

James said:
 
"About the storage, the initial design is includes 2 Micro SD card slot. but now  change to one cause the Soc has limited I/O pin,  so if we design 2 Micro SD card slot. the WiFi module will have to connect to the Soc by SPI mode which will consume more power." 
 
​Fiio can't please everyone.  Streamers want wifi, storage folks want two slots, people who want longer battery charge want, well, longer battery charge.
 
How can Fiio please all three groups, keep to its price point, and keep the thing from becoming a brick?
 
So Fiio is making choices in the design.   Something has to give somewhere, or the price and size go up exponentially.  Making a product is not magic, it is making hard decisions based on money, time, technology and market base.  I keep saying that WE aren't the major market base, China is.  Fiio has to please that market  base or be supplanted by another company.  
 
If the X7 ends up being a device that doesn't meet someone's needs, it may be that another device from a different company will.  That's what a free market is.  So far I like what I am hearing re the X7.  But if it ends up not being the device for me, I'll look elsewhere (maybe an A&K120ll).  It's not personal, it's just market choices.