aleXmod - true audiophile tweak of cowon i-audio X5 DAP
Feb 3, 2010 at 1:45 PM Post #46 of 60
Hi everybody!
Just for fun: there are some votes from alexmod users (nowaday there are 9 aleXmoded X5 around the world)
Right now I'm workin on the next 15 examples of aleXmod (10 is the original versions 5 - is the premial ones)
1. aleXmod #008
"Now, there is second week i listening to the aleXmod+SA6 combo. The sound is beatifull. All sounds localised in it's exact place at the soundstage. The volume -16dB is h enought to hear all the details on the go..
Trance has an impact, dub has a deep bass, electric guitar has it's distirtion, the jazz is LIVE.
There is a one minus - when listening on the go with the IEM the music sound so involving that you can loose the sense of reality...it could really damage the health so you must to be really carefull!
In short, if the aleXmos was the woman, i'll do the best to married! "

2. aleXmod #003
"..The music for testing was different: from classic (Vagner, Gaidn..)to the popular throuout the rock & jazz (all in flac) And...exactly from this litlle item..I hear (even with descent IEM) the real soundspace...Sound has determinated. But the most impotant thing..it became possible to realise any microdetails and nuances of instrument's playing. Especially it was an evident with classic recordings, and , I think, with complex metal rock music. I wonder, because couldn't expect such BIG quality from such little box...When connecting it to my home system I just came to the prostraition...and really think why I need to buy anything else??
Famouse Microtrack II sounds chiper , it just haven't such SOUNDSTAGE...
The sound of an aleXmod+HD800 is just another story..."
3. aleXmod #006
"...The mod has made, the mod is great! There is an only player which sounds as good as stationary devices. The limits in dimensions isn't came to a limits in the SOUND. So I could say I just found my last-in-life PLAYER. The sound i rich, full-bodied, great and tasty. I listen it with UE-10, ER-4S, HD-650 and with all of them it sounds just WELL.
..."and te OSCAR winner is...aleXmod!!!"
Thanks Aex for the making of wonder-sounding DAP!"
4. aleXmod #009
"Wear the Grado GS1000, connect it to the aleXmod and just listen!
Said that sound is better than my original setup is saying nothing! The Music became alive.
I’m a musical master, specialist in guitar tuning and, believe me, had listened many different setups in my life…But now..I have a real sense that my hands laid upon the upper deck of counter bass when I listen to the recording.. I just really SENSE the instrument. And what do you think about the sound of the delicately vibrating string? Such sense you could feel only when you are really stay near the counter bass…So…I just haven’t feel such emotions from ANY sound devices had listened before. As said owner of aleXmod #005: “…this little thing plays only THE MUSIC. All another things stay outboard. I mean noises, sibilances, tonal balance, other audiophile aspects – it’s all just became unimportant at the moment when you start to feel THE MUSIC…”
Thanks for the work, Alex! Without any doubt this item make great bang for the money!'
5. aleXmod #005
" At the end of testing aleXmod + HE5 combo, I must say that the only “not perfect” thing is it’s slightly emphasized highs. Such slightly vivid manner of sounding degrades the impact from deep meditative melodies. But I must say – only when compare it with HM-801 or another multibit DAC based source.
While just listening (not comparing) there is no such sense though.
AleXmod sounds great even when driving low sensivity isodynamic Head-Direct HE5 headphones. There are no any problem with tonal balance, speed, details and volume to work almost with any so-called “Hi-END” headphones. All music, that a listened to, sounds fast, exact, detailed, accurate and balanced (in limits that is available for best delta-sigma DACs).
Bass, without any doubts, is exact, deep and accurate …highs, as I said before, need to be less vivid, more smooth…"
6. aleXmod #006
"…So what about the sound…I had listening the aleXmod with Shure SE530, AT es7, Denon d5000, Sennheiser hd 580 with different kind of music…All decision I made with respect to my vision of right sound, based on the experience with the sound of Hi-fi home equipments.
At first I must to notice the right tonal balance. I mean the RIGHT capitalized! This is the first and the most impression from this player. Nothing is shouting, highs are sound well-balanced and the bass isn’t harsh for my ears.
It is possible to listen to the aleXmod by hours, without any listening fatigue because of its “naturalness”. That is that cannot being found in almost any of modern players.

At first, the sound of aleXmod looks “darker” then usual. It sounds anything but “not bright”.
But I mean the word “bright” in a bad manner. Just for example: I have аn Elvis’s songs CD printed in early 1984’s. The modern remastered Elvis’s recordings sounds more bright, clear and sharp, more detailed. But when listen to an old CD for a more time it is clear that it sounds more musical and natural.
That is a problem typical for almost any of modern portable players less or more…
AleXmod has a wide soundstage and sounds very detailed!
It has a power more then enough to drive almost any headphones.
As a result – aleXmod is a real musical thing."
 
Feb 3, 2010 at 2:08 PM Post #47 of 60
I still have a X5L lying around that I hardly use anymore because of my Sony X1050. This mod looks very interesting though and might grant my poor old X5L a new life. Looking forward to more reviews & subscribed!
 
Feb 4, 2010 at 9:53 PM Post #49 of 60
Quote:

Originally Posted by penartur /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Some guys from this mod's team are writing patches to rockbox to get 24-bit audio support.


Were these patches continued after it turned out that aparently there is a hardware limit of 16bit? Alex, do your programmers know if there are hardware limits for others players, especially the iriver H1xx?
 
Feb 5, 2010 at 2:41 AM Post #50 of 60
Unfortunatelly I' m not a programmer, so I just might to live with such 16bit limits.
The aleXmod pathes couldn't change the limits of it's CPU. As Iknow Coldfire CF5240 could only send data in 16bit IIS or RJ PCMs despite 32-bit inside mathematics.
The most part of aleXmod build is software regulated volume, made in digital domain not analog.
So my board recieves up to 16bx88.2kHz PCM and just made high quality sound from them
wink.gif
Original X5L just used as a digital transport with rockbox platform.
 
Apr 16, 2010 at 3:07 PM Post #56 of 60
Afaik they did. Ibasso is not a competitor. Alexmid is more or less in the league of better stuff like portable microamp\dac and hifiman. At least that's the opinion I got reading what people say about it on "Russian Head-fi". Actually, D10 is pretty mid-fi stuff, I never could understand why people use it as some reference. Sure it is better than most daps out there, but that's about all.
 

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