[jdriver]

I sent mine back to China to have the wheel fixed and a relay issue. It cost me $60 for postage on my end but it was returned to me with no charge for the postage or the repair (it was slightly beyond warranty). It took nearly a month each way. I had an X5ii to keep me company so I didn't really care how long it took. I was surprised when it actually did arrive, it was in the flimsiest padded envelope wrapped in deflated bubble wrap. It had a little ding on one edge but nothing serious. The wheel is totally fixed and sits flatter on the unit than before.
 
Fiio also notified me when they received it and when they sent it out along with the tracking number. As far as I'm concerned Fiio is going above and beyond normal customer service and I truly appreciate it. I may sell the X5 now that it's fixed and I have the X5ii, or I may keep it as a spare. I don't hear a huge difference between them, my ears aren't so golden any more.

 

[H2Ologd]

After a month of dealing with my X5 wheel issue, I have finally sent an email to fiio to have mine fixed under warranty.  They have confirmed receiving my email, but not agreed that there is a problem.  I'm in a waiting mode now.  

 

[PinkyPowers]

What problems are you guys having with the wheel? Mine isn't loose or anything, but it sure jumps around a lot when scrolling. What can FiiO do to fix that?

 

[punit]

They installed a new wheel (or repaired my old one..not sure which) on mine which has very accurate tracking

 

[Thx1326]

As a new owner of an X5 (1st Generation), I have a couple of questions that I hope I can get some help with:
 
1. Is there any benefit to using an Alpen E17 with the X5?  If so, what and why?
2. Which has the better amplifier?  Comparison?
3. Which has the better DAC's?
 
Also... I find a number of "themes' which are downloadable - is there any place or site to view them before installing?
 
Also... I still have a Zune 120 which works perfectly but will not play flac.  I must say that the user interface on the Zune is infinitely better than the X5.  Easier to use and more graphical. Forget the sound quality (which is very good), if you have never seen the Zune Interface, you should take a look.
 
It would be a good upgrade if someone could port the Zune Interface to the Fiio units.  The ability to display the album art as icons for the albums is great.
 
Is there anyway to replace the standard folder icon of the Fiio with a jpg of the actual Album Art?
 
Thanks in advance for any answers to the above.

 

[x RELIC x]

As a new owner of an X5 (1st Generation), I have a couple of questions that I hope I can get some help with:

1. Is there any benefit to using an Alpen E17 with the X5?  If so, what and why?
2. Which has the better amplifier?  Comparison?
3. Which has the better DAC's?

Also... I find a number of "themes' which are downloadable - is there any place or site to view them before installing?

Also... I still have a Zune 120 which works perfectly but will not play flac.  I must say that the user interface on the Zune is infinitely better than the X5.  Easier to use and more graphical. Forget the sound quality (which is very good), if you have never seen the Zune Interface, you should take a look.

It would be a good upgrade if someone could port the Zune Interface to the Fiio units.  The ability to display the album art as icons for the albums is great.

Is there anyway to replace the standard folder icon of the Fiio with a jpg of the actual Album Art?

Thanks in advance for any answers to the above.

1. The E17 Alpen has hardware based bass/treble tone controls that you may prefer over the X5 EQ. That's about it, and I've owned both.

2. I found the X5 amplifier section to be cleaner than the Alpen.

3. The X5 DAC is a clear step up IMO.

You will never ever get the Zune interface over to the X5. Not possible, not even remotely. The only way to replace the standard folder icon is to change it with the custom firmware tools but you can not use individual album art as the folder icon.

If you want to see what the custom themes look like then you'll either want to click on the 'post' link next to the 'direct download' link for each theme as most themers will upload pictures when the announce their theme. Or you can look at the picture gallery on the right hand side of the thread page to see a gallery view of all the pictures in the thread.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

So I just got my fiio x5 gen 1 today and immediately went to 2.5 firmware. Only have my Westone 1 for listening at the moment but so far my initial impression is :/

I'm guessing it's either a bad match with the westone 1 which is odd because my phone and Dx50 matches well. And if there's such thing as portable and dap matching to sound decent, that's a minus in my book. Or it could be because all my files are in ogg vorbis (500kbps) and it doesn't like it. Either way I feel everything is colored by overly smooth and slightly a warm sound.

Later in the night edit:
I've now tried it with other portables. Klipsch x7i, Sennheiser px-100ii, and the Westone 1. This DAP definitely has coloration which works for certain genres and mastering quality but also makes clean recordings inaccurate. If FiiO had chosen a sharper/cleaner filter this DAP would be a beast.

Super late night edit:
Now have my he560 running on the project sunrise 3 with an lps. The x5 1 running line out, so I've come to the conclusion that the amp section is what's causing the coloration on the onboard amp. I will further test with the k612 and hd650 on the bravo ocean amp.

 

[fenodi]

What problems are you guys having with the wheel? Mine isn't loose or anything, but it sure jumps around a lot when scrolling. What can FiiO do to fix that?

For scroll wheel issue you can use contact cleaner. You can see the video, but unfortunately it's in Bahasa Indonesia.
It's so simple. Spray it around outside and inside scroll gap and then rotate it. Don't forget to turn it off first.
Hope it will fix this issue. DIWYOR.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_OVT056w2kI&feature=youtu.be

 

[willyvlyminck]

The X5 original is now for sale at bargain price , would it be intresting to buy one or is the second version so much better that the first version becomes obsolete?

 

[JaZZ]

The X5 original is now for sale at bargain price , would it be intresting to buy one or is the second version so much better that the first version becomes obsolete?

 
I have both, and the X5 II sounds better to my ears (clearer, more neutral). So much so that the X5 I doesn't get any use anymore, not even as a digital drive: Surprisingly it also sounds less transparent than X5 II and X3 II when feeding the Hugo.

 

[x RELIC x]

I have both, and the X5 II sounds better to my ears (clearer, more neutral). So much so that the X5 I doesn't get any use anymore, not even as a digital drive: Surprisingly it also sounds less transparent than X5 II and X3 II when feeding the Hugo.

I agree with this JaZZ, but depending on the headphones the difference may not seem as noticeable.

 

[willyvlyminck]

I have both, and the X5 II sounds better to my ears (clearer, more neutral). So much so that the X5 I doesn't get any use anymore, not even as a digital drive: Surprisingly it also sounds less transparent than X5 II and X3 II when feeding the Hugo.

I will use only the Dac inside the player, and I listen with IE80, Grado GR10, so the difference in sound could be marginal but what about the hardware?The handling?

 

[JaZZ]

 

I have both, and the X5 II sounds better to my ears (clearer, more neutral). So much so that the X5 I doesn't get any use anymore, not even as a digital drive: Surprisingly it also sounds less transparent than X5 II and X3 II when feeding the Hugo.

I will use only the Dac inside the player, and I listen with IE80, Grado GR10, so the difference in sound could be marginal but what about the hardware?The handling?

 
That's about the same. The screen on the X5 II has higher contrast.
 
On a side note: The internal DAC will be just as much affected by the transport's characteristic as an external DAC. To my ears anyway. BTW, when I first noticed the sonic difference (via Hugo) it was with an IEM – either IE 800 or SE846. I use to listen to music in my bed while reading a book. Something didn't sound as good as the night before. Switching from X5 to X5 II fixed it.

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
That's about the same. The screen on the X5 II has higher contrast.
 
On a side note: The internal DAC will be just as much affected by the transport's characteristic as an external DAC. To my ears anyway. BTW, when I first noticed the sonic difference (via Hugo) it was with an IEM – either IE 800 or SE846. I use to listen to music in my bed while reading a book. Something didn't sound as good as the night before. Switching from X5 to X5 II fixed it.

X5II has a much better insulation against interferrence. With the original I could hear beepeing when having my cellphone in my pocket. With X5II, there is no noise. 
 
I wonder if the original could had worked as a geiger counter 

 

[JaZZ]

  X5II has a much better insulation against interferrence. With the original I could hear beepeing when having my cellphone in my pocket. With X5II, there is no noise. 
 
I wonder if the original could had worked as a geiger counter 

 
But you aren't saying that there are gamma rays in my bedroom!?