Ok, after a quick 10 minute inspection the build is solid one of those "wonder how they did it this cheap" situations from Chinese market, the player feels great in the hand and has a little weight to it which makes it feel quality so to speak. Everything on my unit is working fine, the card sits flush and it switched on no problem.
Now, the UI took a little while to work out and I'll go into that further when finally get to the bottom of it but there might be a little double handling buttons such as when I adjust volume I need to press the centre button to return to the now playing screen (otherwise it seems to stay there). The way folders work is a little awkward though nothing a little practice shouldn't help.
The sound is good! Clean, wide soundstage, no bass-roll-off with T-Peos H-300, it sounds clean detailed better than a Clip and up around Colorfly C3 levels from the first 15 minute listen I had. There's no problem with the sound, they've got that down really well.
I'll pop back in later but I'm really pleased with:
Build.
Sound
Edit: Once you adjust the screen timeout then the volume adjusting screen times out back to the now playing screen? It appears because that wasn't set it was causing the screen to stay there? Anyway, its no problem.
I've only used H-300 (I think about 32ohms) atm and I couldn't detect any, actually there's a decent black background. It's definitely not a hiss festival that I can hear and I've been listening for it. Maybe other IEM though as it's been mention.
It has a unique sound which you'll often find in these audiophile DAP like Colorfly C3 etc. I really like it and can only see people going a bit mental over the folder navigating Interface.
Start up time is quick - about 3 seconds from switch on to the now playing screen.
On boot up X2 goes directly to the now playing screen at a resume position where you switched the unit off. (so it auto-resumes that track position)
When playing a folder skipping between tracks is dead silent (no pop or click like C3)
No gapless, but transition to the next track is quick about 1-2 seconds.
When pausing / skipping tracks the volume fades out rather than stopping dead.
Playing albums has been fault free -every one of my 16/44 FLAC files play, skips smoothly.
You can also see the kpbs for each track on the screen and format (mine says FLA)
OLED Screen is bright and well lite like Colorfly C3.
My opinion is the firmware's pretty much bug free however I cannot help feel the folder sorting design could have been easier. To back out through the menu there's a backslash key
/ at the top of each folder you must press to back outwards, this is the only way I can see backing out of each folder menu? Pushing that aside you're going to have no problems with the sound, it sounds pretty good in areas like separation soundstage, detail and that unique touch I mentioned.
I'll pop back in later again, see if I can find any glaring bugs or faults.
So no major issues - sounds nice. Hopefully my x2 will arrive soon too, although it seems it hasn't been dispatched yet, which is weird given that we ordered the same day a couple of hours apart.
Nope, nothing major to report, there's also no worrying about bass roll-off. I was listening to some tracks earlier with H-300 and the sub-bass was rocking, I mean pounding deep, tight and textured. so there's no problem here. It might not be the most detailed player in the world and for $55 USD we never expected to be, (think a bit more than a Clip or half way between Clip and C3) but.... (and a big but) what it does - X2 does very right, areas like competent separation, soundstage, that nice bass impact I mentioned all contribute towards a great presentation. One could say from my few hours with the player it makes the most of what its got and emphasise those areas. it sounds more 'audiophille' than either a Clip or X1 which is kind of what you'd expect from a Chinese player focusing on the audiophille market.
(keep in mind all these impressions are with one IEM - T-Peos H-300 which is very transparent and bright so judging the tonality of X2 I need something more neutral)
Am I pleased for $55? Hell yeah, really happy with the outcome so far.
You should email them Kova, I would check it out.
I just had a quick listen between the two players with Fidue A83.
X2 is smoother warmer (as in bassier) and less engaging than Alien, more relaxed or laid back, maybe a touch rolled off in the highs. This probably explains why I'm having such good results with the overly cool analytical H-300 hybrid. This also means X2' isn't quite as detailed, but on a technical standpoint X2 isn't really far behind in instrument separation and maybe even edge out on soundstage width as you see me keep mentioning these as strong points.
It actually pairs really well with A83 similar to H-300. I think if you're looking to replace Alien for $55 that's not going to happen as we know that unit performs terribly high for its price. If however, you're like me always looking to mix n match tonality on that quest for synergy between IEM and DAP then X2 is going to have a place for you.
For example, my H-300 has just found a new long time partner with X2. (I will leave them together because their tone sits well)
I've also noticed X2 has a relay switch like found on common amps and iBasso units, that click you hear on start up switching the amp section on/off. For those who don't know what this means bassically there's no loud pop on start up because this relay switch inside X2 prevents any current reaching the IEMs.
Theres some fancy repeat options.
Normal.
Repeat one.
Folder.
Repeat all.
Random.
When a folders finished playing it seems to start again at track one. Maybe it just stops if all files within a folder are played once. (I was checking the last track to see if it bounces to the next folder).
Alright, it appears if you change the the repeat option to 'repeat all' it then plays the next folder after the final track.
Volume goes from 0/40, with a 32ohm hybrid I usually hang around 15-20 depending on the albums mastering. You can also go very low in volume for quiet listening. So nothing to worry about, everything's been accounted for. I really don't know how true the 250mW @ 32ohm rating is and would handle it loosely atm although It seems more powerful than an iPod Touch, Sansa Clip or Cowon player.
Anyone tried it wit a 64gb+ SD card?
Maybe
@H20Fidelity can help verify whether 64gb works or not ...?
64gb cards confirmed = working.
Btw: There's no scan time its almost instant start up, the player quickly says initializing for about 1-2 seconds and that's it straight to the now playing screen. I'm still really really enjoying this little unit, though patiently waiting for others thoughts.
I also think we're going to get more than the rated 10 hour run times, because I've put over 5 hours on my unit so far with FLAC and I've only lost 1 of 4 battery bars. My unit hasn't missed a beat either its been completely smooth sailing.
,
@H20Fidelityis this better than Kogan's sound quality?
Different.
Kogan is very detailed especially in the upper mid-range, it's quite bright, clear, kind of aggressive with that wow factor, some people really admire this sound. But Kogan's downfall (to me) which we don't really mention is it's not the most polished sounding product, its technical ability such as separation, bass impact, dynamics aren't completely at heart with the player. X2 is smoother, warmer and less detailed by a percentage, but its technical ability is more complete. Someone completed their homework whilst the other wandered off to play GTA 5 online.
I was comparing X2 to X1 last night, the instrument separation and mid-range coherency was apparent over X1, the FiiO sounds rather confused whereas instruments roll off the tongue with X2. But in saying this, X1 probably took the lead in detail, take vocals for example, hearing deeper into Norah Jone's voice.
X2 does enough, and some more.
I completed a small comparsion between Kogan and XDuoo X2 quite a few pages back. I still feel the same about it.
I think X2 is simply a more polished product. Its UI runs smoother and the sound is more 'complete'.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/748909/xduoo-x2-small-lossless-player-with-microsd-and-oled/135#post_11228457
In other news, I connected my Shure SRH440 to X2 this afternoon and incredibly impressed with the results, especially the driving power this little unit has, areas like dynamics are completely intact. I think it's quite safe to say most lower impedance full-size headphone won't have much problem. Even at 28/40 volume I wouldn't go much louder.
My thoughts on it handling full-size headphone (and the sound) are quite positive. For those thinking its just an IEM - DAP, think again (within reason) I think people who would like to drive headphones like Sennheiser Momentum, Amperior, Vmoda etc would have no problems with X2.
Has anyone tried the x2 with an external amp?
If so how did it pair with it?
Haven't tried any amping, won't be long before someone does.
I've been looking into this DAP and have found all answers I wanted except one.I can't find anything that says if it has shuffle or not, and if so, if it's a decent shuffle (or if it'll play the same song as the first track every time). Any owners have input on this? Thanks.
EDIT: Also, what does the EQ look like? Is it just a few mode selections, or does it have band adjustment?
Haven't tried shuffle but here's the options in the repeat setting.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/748909/xduoo-x2-small-lossless-player-with-microsd-and-oled/105#post_11222475
Possibly Random is what you're looking for. How this works whether be the entire card or folder I cannot tell and too busy to sit down and patiently wait for songs to finish and shuffle. This would cost you money actually for me to try.
EQ is just presets, (like Apple) no 5 band EQ.
Cheers
You can also delete single files or folders guys.
How it works is X2 has
two menus. One you access by pressing the "menu" button whilst music is "paused".
(file management)
The other you access pressing the "menu" button while
music is playing.
(Menu)
Four lines/files at a time whilst viewing your files.
I also worked out the
"menu" button works as the
"back" button in this section for backing out of a folder and back to cards root menu etc.
And I kid you not I'm well over 10 hours now and still rocking 3 of 4 battery bars.
Either this battery is going to go flat with a faulty reading very soon or someone seriously screwed up the spec sheet stating 10 hours.
Running GR07 MK2 atm, this thing has got some power!
Try it with some full sized cans and see how it goes.
Need to leave some fun for the others, I feel like I'm overwhelming the thread, but also helping potential buyers. =)
I have come across my first two problems with XDuoo X2.
1) Two folders/albums I added to my card which play on all other players said ' format error' (or something along those lines). I know there's nothing wrong with them. First thing I did was open MP3Tag and remove their tags. They worked no problem after this. Keep in mind almost every album on my card has tags and other albums I've added work no problem (with tags)
Bit of a mystery there.
2) Not sure if my charging/data port is just new or there was some dust but the player disconnected from Windows for no apparent reason, it then re-connected and I needed to do a scan of the card.
I think for me now, its so easy to just remove card (and faster) I'll do that from now on.
Also, X2 adapts the same file sorting by date as Colorfly C3 and IHIFI 760. So get your drive sort program ready
Tried driving 100ohm ER4S tonight, the little guy can do it but not to the degree my JDS C421 amp can. The Etymotic is probably a true test to any DAPs internal amp section, whilst they definitely went more than loud enough or louder than my listening level at 35/40, they were lacking dynamics and authority, but rest assured the little XDuoo gave it everything he had! GR07 MK2 on the otherhand as I've lightly spoken about are driven by this little thing like a true champion, also a very
good pairing. This little champ of a player will make you proud, its really that much fun and taken my FiiO X1's former spot as
"the coolest little DAP that ever was"
About you guys dealing with delays, remember we're dealing with lithium batteries and they can cause hold ups at customs. I really think I was just lucky this time round as I've ordered my IHIFI 760 from Penon and it took absolutely ages (some will remember from the thread)
I did redo my flac's with compression 5 still problem.
The only thing that worked is I had to convert my flac to wav than back to flac then this new flac was able to work. The other problem is if you send a folder of flac files, 1st one will say format error.
Use MP3Tag and remove the tags on those files. I had this problem with 1-2 albums. You do not need tags for this player as its completely folder browsing based and they're interfering.
Keep in mind this is not the case for every album, but it depends on which ripper or decoder was used.
1) Highlight every single folder on your micro sd card by pressing Ctrl + A.
2 ) Right Click then open them in MP3Tag.
3) Press Ctrl + A again to highlight every file whilst inside MP3Tag. Then right click and press "Remove Tag"