[amidsttundra]

I currently own three, 160gb iPod Classics, and I am looking to replace them with a higher capacity DAP. I've primarily been researching the FiiO x5 and the Lotoo PAW 5000. I've read the Lotoo PAW has the potential to scale up to 2tb in the future, although I believe the largest SDXC currently available is 512gb. I've also read the Lotoo device has a rather clunky UI.
 
I read somewhere that FiiO have stopped support for the X5, I'm not sure if that is correct. I know that the x5 has space for two micro SD's and Sandisk have a 200gb micro SD, while Microdia is looking to release a 512gb microSD in 2016 (although for a $1000 I don't imagine on my limited budget I'd be jumping on that, or even if the unit can run it.) I've also read some people have attached 256gb USB 3.0's to the FiiO. I mean, what is the maximum potential capacity to scale up the X5? Has anyone experimented?
 
At the moment I'm leaning toward the FiiO simply because it looks the more complete unit and I like the potential options to scale up the capacity, although I am wary of how much lag a huge amount of capacity would have on navigating the UI and how much it would drain the battery. I also don't mind carrying additional MicroSD's to house my collection.

Does anyone have any experience with these units or can anyone recommend a better product which isn't above £600?
If anyone is interested in my capacity obsession, I work at sea, so I like being able to take my collection with me in its entirety as I'm away six months a year.

 

[joe]

When referencing the X5, are you looking at the first or second generation? I don't believe FiiO stopped support for the X5II, as they came out with the FiiO K5 docking headphone amp at the beginning of the year, and the X5II is one of the supported players. As of right now, the X5II can take two 128GB micro SD cards, so you'd be able to have a good portion of that iPod capacity in one unit.
 
@Brooko reviewed the X5II here, so give that a read. @twister6 reviewed the PAW 5000 here, and offers some brief comparison to the X5II (which he also reviewed here), so those reviews may be good reads as well, to help you sort a few things out.

 

[amidsttundra]

Yeah, I'm looking at the second gen X5. I was specifically wondering if it would be able to take two SanDisk 200gb micro SDs? I read on the dedicated forum someone was using a single 200gb card, is there a limit at which point the device starts locking up? I would love to create a mega mp3 player with something approaching 500gigs of capacity, primarily because I tend to listen to my music on shuffle and the idea of having my entire collection available to shuffle would be a big selling point.

Obviously I could cope with using more micro SD's, but it would be similar to simply having three iPod's, although more portable.

I've read the reviews for both and watched YouTube vids, but in the rush to be first there's a lot I don't know about the current firmware and what is physically capable. The more I read about the Lotoo, the more clunky it sounds.

 

[happychef]

Have you considered modifying you're iPods,I was in a similar situation,a full iPod and nothing to replace it wi th I was also looking at those same players, but none of them seemed right for me,I found a very easy mod on you tube using the tarken iflash duel and 2 512gb sd cards it was very easy to do and cost £430 the cards were £200 each , but now I have a 1tb ipod

 

[amidsttundra]

I hadn't, but that seems a fairly preferable alternative. Do you know anything about the Sata version? How easy was it to do? My only concern would be canning my iPod!

 

[Bob A (SD)]

Undoubtedly not on your radar but you might want to check the xDuoo X3 thread in the Portable Source Gear sub-forum.  Folks who own both the FiiO DAPs and the xDuoo say the later's SQ is much better.  It also sports twin mSD slots that although rated for 128Gb cards has successfully been used with twin SanDisk 200Gb mSD cards.  Further it has a great Rockbox port available which adds a lot of bells and whistles to the DAP as well as correcting a factory pitch issue. 
 
Given it's inexpensive price you might want to get one and see if it checks all the squares you're looking for. 

 

[amidsttundra]

It's an option and a price that certainly can't be sniffed at. However, I'd be interested to see how it handles 400gb of music with that interface. For me, I like being able to see the album artwork and shuffle the songs. I've read a couple of reviews about this product and noticed that neither the function nor artwork seemed available.

 

[happychef]

I hadn't, but that seems a fairly preferable alternative. Do you know anything about the Sata version? How easy was it to do? My only concern would be canning my iPod!

the hard part for me was getting the back off, after that it was a 5minute job, I found it easy and I don't have great technical skills,if you have big fingers though you might find it a wee bit fiddly,I don't have any experience with the msata version but from what I've seen of it the fitting of it is pretty Much the same as the sd card one, there are videos on YouTube of them being fitted and working

 

[Bob A (SD)]

  It's an option and a price that certainly can't be sniffed at. However, I'd be interested to see how it handles 400gb of music with that interface. For me, I like being able to see the album artwork and shuffle the songs. I've read a couple of reviews about this product and noticed that neither the function nor artwork seemed available.

 
With both the factory firmware v1.1 and Rockbox shuffle is in fact available as that is my preferred mode.  I take the contents of both my 128Gb cards and create one humongeous playlist and shuffle that. 

   A couple of members have the dual 200Gb cards and have reported the Rockboxed X3 handles the load.
 
As for album art it is viewable with Rockbox but not the factory firmware.  I haven't seen a theme that displays it though; I've had to use the menu system to find and then display the album covers.  And no, the display is not color.  For folks opting for the xDuoo X3, sound quality, dual mSD slots, build, battery life, solid UI, etc trump color and graphics.

 

[JK1]

  Undoubtedly not on your radar but you might want to check the xDuoo X3 thread in the Portable Source Gear sub-forum.  Folks who own both the FiiO DAPs and the xDuoo say the later's SQ is much better.  It also sports twin mSD slots that although rated for 128Gb cards has successfully been used with twin SanDisk 200Gb mSD cards.  Further it has a great Rockbox port available which adds a lot of bells and whistles to the DAP as well as correcting a factory pitch issue. 
 
Given it's inexpensive price you might want to get one and see if it checks all the squares you're looking for. 

Bob,have you put Rockbox on your Xduoo X3? if so, have you used any other players with Rockbox?