Update: I returned theN5 to the vendor via Amazon and they took it back. Originally they said the power button worked fine and that it worked as designed requiring a long press to wake the unit up or activate the screen but I explained to them that their assessment was incorrect and to check the button again. It didn't respond to ANY button presses without them being a really hard/long press and that it should respond to a light short press They finally saw the light and refunded the full amount.
Before returning the N5, I had already ordered a replacement Fiio X5 and got it before I sent the N5 back so I had the opportunity to compare them along with my ancient iRiver H340 (using identical wav files) and the same set of headphones I have been using for years (Sony MDR-V4). What I found was that they all sound pretty much the same. That's quite interesting. This says a lot about the quality of the H340 (it is, after all an ancestor of the Astell & Kerrn line), the solid sound of the MDR-V4 headphones or that my ears are so bad, everything sounds the same!
I will say this though - the X5 definitely has a slight bit of a muffled feel to it and I find the best fix for that is to use the "metal" EQ setting which, to me, makes it sound correct (to my ears anyway.) This setting also sounds most like the N5 without EQ on as well as the H340 without EQ. This is a bit different from the reviews I have read that say the X5 tends to be more treble forward. In my testing, the N5 sounded better in this regard though the few hours I played with them together, the overall feel was they all sounded pretty much the same otherwise. Oh, I hooked them all up to my PC and volume matched them using Audacity with the same test tones from one of my DVD test discs. So I tried to take out any volume bias in my testing. Poor man's level matching!
What was better about the N5? Gold plated jacks, smaller scroll wheel (seemed to scroll through the files faster), better battery life (granted I only had it a little over a week but only recharged it once whereas I have charged the X5 twice in a week - maybe I'm playing the X5 more?) and the overall feel of the build quality was better. Even though the N5 is only about 10g heavier, it sure felt more solid - like a block of metal. The X5, also metal, feels a bit hollow to me and sound as much when handling it. The N5 clearly was more solid. Well, except for the power button! And has slightly better sound. USB 3 was a big plus too.
What's better about the X5? One extra button on the front for a bit more functionality, an easier to read interface, slightly better volume button arrangement (I did not like the extra menu button on the N5 as I always hit it when looking for the volume buttons) and a bit more responsive UI. I think the UI is hit or miss for people in regards to responsiveness but for me the X5 seems a bit more snappy.
Overall I feel both are practically identical with enough differences to provide a clear choice depending on which one floats your boat. But with almost identical sound, you can't go wrong with either one of them. Oh, and if you happen to have an old H340 in your desk and some wav files, I recommend you keep using it as that player definitely keeps up with this new generation of DAPs. If only it played FLAC!
Sorry the N5 did not work out for me as it seemed like a solid player until the power button failed. If it hadn't, I'd still have it otherwise.
Thanks for listening,
Kevin
