[Joe Bloggs]

Thinking about buying the X1 but I have two main questions before I do it:

1)  I have a 2010 G37X with a USB audio input only which works great with my Ipod but like many, am not a fan of Apple.  I have seen various answers that are conflicting on this issue.  i) Will the FiiO play in the car's USB port?  I understand it has a 3.5 mm output so I assume I will I have to purchase a 3.5MM to USB - ii) is that how you connected it?  iii) Does how you connected it also provide the control system display on the dash board i.e. Song, playlists etc. or is the screen blank?

2) completely different topic.  I have all of my music on ITunes in both MP3 and AAC.  Please confirm that the X1 plays both as, again, seen differing answers on this one.  Also, I have all my playlists in ITunes.  Is this a drag and drop to the X1 once it is plugged onto the computer.  I know that the Sandisk Fuse+ requires a number of steps such as converting to m3u.  How easy is it to transfer the playlists and have them appear on the X1 as a selection choice that you can shuffle.  Both the car capability and the ability to play playlists are keys for me before I buy.  Everything else looks great.

1. No, you just need to connect it to the USB port on the X1 via a micro USB cable.

2. If you're using iTunes on Mac, you would want to use Dapper to sync songs and playlists to the X1:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/743338/dapper-digital-audio-player-sync-utility-for-mac-released-on-the-app-store

 

[Jaybee2]

I had heard that it behaves just like an old iPod classic. The only issue is that I have heard it takes a long time to scan the device I think each time you start the car: approx 19 minutes to scan 1000 songs, which is not very practicable. I assume this is every time you start the car.  Is that the case with you or just one time?  As suggested, I am using this with my car so I very much want the storage capacity (I have 15K+ songs) but would like things like: i) song display, ii) total control of playlists, song selection, volume etc., iii) album art, iv) immediate start picking up at the last song when the car was turned off and v) usb in car charging.  
 
Do you get all of these elements like an IPod?  I assume your cable is the same mini USB to USB and that there is no other equipment required.  Do you like the X1?
 
Thanks for your help.
 

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I had heard that it behaves just like an old iPod classic. The only issue is that I have heard it takes a long time to scan the device I think each time you start the car: approx 19 minutes to scan 1000 songs, which is not very practicable. I assume this is every time you start the car.  Is that the case with you or just one time?  As suggested, I am using this with my car so I very much want the storage capacity (I have 15K+ songs) but would like things like: i) song display, ii) total control of playlists, song selection, volume etc., iii) album art, iv) immediate start picking up at the last song when the car was turned off and v) usb in car charging.  

Do you get all of these elements like an IPod?  I assume your cable is the same mini USB to USB and that there is no other equipment required.  Do you like the X1?

Thanks for your help.

 

Hello Jaybee2,

The X1 functions like a USB thumb drive to the car. To test whether the above functions work with your car's head unit, you may load some songs onto any USB thumb drive you have with you and connect it to your car's head unit to see if it works as you want.

The X1 needs some time to scan all the music you load onto it the first time; this is only necessary if you load new music onto it, and only if you wish to use its library function (you may access songs directly via folders without scanning), and is in any case not related to use in the car.

All you need to connect to the car would be the supplied USB cable. OTOH, please note that the X1 does not come with storage; it supports up to 128GB via a micro SD card slot, but you have to buy the micro SD card separately, although some dealers are making package deals including such a card.

I like the X1 very well, but then I'm an official FiiO representative so take what I say about that with a grain of salt

 

[Maths15]

The X1 needs some time to scan all the music you load onto it the first time; this is only necessary if you load new music onto it, and only if you wish to use its library function (you may access songs directly via folders without scanning), and is in any case not related to use in the car.

The speed at which it scans, is this something that will be addressed in futer firmware upgrades? I ask as out of the box my X1 had 1.2 and was not recognised by my car but was after a firmware upgrade, also a thumb drive with the same songs on scans in a couple of minutes, a lot faster than the X1.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

The X1 needs some time to scan all the music you load onto it the first time; this is only necessary if you load new music onto it, and only if you wish to use its library function (you may access songs directly via folders without scanning), and is in any case not related to use in the car.

The speed at which it scans, is this something that will be addressed in futer firmware upgrades? I ask as out of the box my X1 had 1.2 and was not recognised by my car but was after a firmware upgrade, also a thumb drive with the same songs on scans in a couple of minutes, a lot faster than the X1.

Do you mean faster than the X1 scanning itself (for its own library management when you use the X1 alone) or faster than the X1 being scanned by the car (when you're using your car to access the songs)?

 

[Maths15]

Do you mean faster than the X1 scanning itself (for its own library management when you use the X1 alone) or faster than the X1 being scanned by the car (when you're using your car to access the songs)?

Hi, sorry for the confusion. I mean the time it takes for X1 to be scanned using the car.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Do you mean faster than the X1 scanning itself (for its own library management when you use the X1 alone) or faster than the X1 being scanned by the car (when you're using your car to access the songs)?

Hi, sorry for the confusion. I mean the time it takes for X1 to be scanned using the car.

I suppose your car may have a USB3 port which runs at super-speed when connected directly to a thumb drive. The X1 is only specced up to USB2.0 high-speed so this may be a limiting factor when using it with the car. This may not be fully addressable via firmware.

For Jaybee2's benefit, does your car do this scan every time it starts or would it skip the scan if the same X1 / same thumb drive was the last thing connected to the car before you turn it off? (Although I suppose this behaviour would differ depending on the particular head unit of the car)

 

[Maths15]

I suppose your car may have a USB3 port which runs at super-speed when connected directly to a thumb drive. The X1 is only specced up to USB2.0 high-speed so this may be a limiting factor when using it with the car. This may not be fully addressable via firmware.

For Jaybee2's benefit, does your car do this scan every time it starts or would it skip the scan if the same X1 / same thumb drive was the last thing connected to the car before you turn it off? (Although I suppose this behaviour would differ depending on the particular head unit of the car)

It scans each time and it is USB 2.. It's a CD400 in a Vauxhall AKA an Opel If someone wants to look at the spec on that.

 

[pikwik]

Hi,
I've just bought Fiio X1 (firmware 1.3) and I don't understand why my car's usb port doesn't recognized X1.
When I use supplied usb cable, it's only charging but can't play music.
If I use an audio cable with LO, it's working, but I'd like to use usb in order to display id tags on autoradio screen.
I've read here that if our car can read music stored in a usb thumb drive, x1 will do the same ; but for me, that's not the case.
Has anyone got an explanation ? Is there a trick I don't know with x1 ?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ccfixx]

Hi,
I've just bought Fiio X1 (firmware 1.3) and I don't understand why my car's usb port doesn't recognized X1.
When I use supplied usb cable, it's only charging but can't play music.
If I use an audio cable with LO, it's working, but I'd like to use usb in order to display id tags on auto radio screen.
I've read here that if our car can read music stored in a usb thumb drive, x1 will do the same ; but for me, that's not the case.
Has anyone got an explanation ? Is there a trick I don't know with x1 ?
Thanks in advance.

 
I have a 2012 Kia Soul+ and my X1 functions the same way as what you're experiencing.  The Soul has an auxiliary cord next to a USB input, but those two ports were designed for use with an iPod and a special cable (3.5mm/USB) that Kia had designed.  Like you, the receiver will display the information on its screen when using a flash drive, but it doesn't do that with the X1.  I originally wanted to use only the 3.5mm to connect the X1 in my car, but that resulted in a very low muffled sound of the music, and I knew that it wasn't correct.  As far as I recall, the USB-only connection would just charge, as well.  At first I thought it was the auxiliary cable I was using, so it took me a little while to figure out I needed to use both the auxiliary cable and the USB cable to get the full sound from the X1 in my Soul, which stinks because I was hoping to only use one cable, but that's just the way it is.  As far as I can tell, it's all dependent on your car's receiver.  So, unless you change out your receiver, I don't think you're going to get the song ID tags to show up on the screen.  Your best bet, if possible, would be to go into a store that sells radios and try out your X1 on different head units to see if it actually works or not.

 

[pikwik]

Hi,

Thanks for your answer, ccfixx.
I've got some fresh news ! Actually, I remembered that with new firmware 1.3, Exfat format is allowed for X1 Fiio. It avoided me from formating my new 128 Go micro SD Card in Fat32. So, I've made some more tests with another micro sd card (8Go FAT32) VS. my new sd card (128Go exFat) and at last, only via my car's usb port, music in X1 Fiio is playing on !
X1 acts well like a thumb drive and my car's receiver displays on its screen song titles.
The only problem for me is that when I try to control music through X1 and not through my car's head unit (mode usb storage off in X1), X1 is not recognized anymore via usb port.
In consequence, I have to choose between having song titles displayed on my car's receiver screen (with one usb cable only) but with exclusive control music via my car OR exclusive control music by X1 with 3.5 audio cable / LO (+ usb cable for charging) but without song titles displayed on my car's receiver screen...
FYI, my car is a 2011 Renault Megane Estate (3D Sound Arkamys)

 

[Weddingsingr]

The thing when you use the X1 via the USB AUX of your car head unit it that it just becomes a USB memory device, reading the contents only of your microSD. Thus, you are not able to use the processing power of the X1. Its really equivalent to attaching a microSD card reader to your head unit's USB AUX input.  So if your car head unit cannot read lossless files, it will not be able to play those files in your X1's memory card also.

Hoping there would be a remedy for this one day.

 

[stilleh]

  The thing when you use the X1 via the USB AUX of your car head unit it that it just becomes a USB memory device, reading the contents only of your microSD. Thus, you are not able to use the processing power of the X1. Its really equivalent to attaching a microSD card reader to your head unit's USB AUX input.  So if your car head unit cannot read lossless files, it will not be able to play those files in your X1's memory card also.

Hoping there would be a remedy for this one day.

I have a Kia Sorento 2014 with the navigation unit. I can connect my X1 fine using an USB cable to the USB input. The thing is, like Weddingsingr says, my x1 is working like a thumbdrive and will only play mp3 files. It can´t read flac.

 

[Weddingsingr]

I think the remaining option for now is check if the car stereo has an option for another aux connection that can accommodate a 3.5mm jack which would most likely require a proprietary aux connection cable.

 

[OldRoadToad]

Has anyone had any issues with the amount of time it takes for theirncar to scan the X1? It takes over ten minutes if I only have 1000 songs on the device,which is inpractable.

Sorry to answer this so late.  My Mustang scanned my X1 with over 5,800 songs in under five minutes.  It works great too!  My only real complaint right now is my inability to import play lists.  The player is great!