[franz12]

I don't think I have a balanced cable here for the Aeon. I have balanced for my Pioneer SE Monitor 5 so I have been able to listen to it both SE and balanced. If I'm not too lazy tonight I might break out the Sony Z1R and give it a try with the Q5. That should make for an interesting listen.

Try the balanced output if you can. I believe its balanced output implementation is lot better than SE. I am listening Clear and Ether C Flow via a 2.5mm adapter, both of which are better with the balanced output. And Ether C Flow benefits more from it.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Try the balanced output if you can. I believe its balanced output implementation is lot better than SE. I am listening Clear and Ether C Flow via a 2.5mm adapter, both of which are better with the balanced output. And Ether C Flow benefits more from it.

No adapter available either. That's okay, I have enough low Z headphones around right now. I even have a Denon D7200 and a Focal Clear (loaners).

 

[KopaneDePooj]

My Q5 came with the latest 0.52 system firmware installed and I think it also has the new BT firmware because FiiO Music beta app for Android works with the Q5 settings screen. Can @FiiO confirm if this is the case? Don't want to bother with new BT fw. install if I already have it.

 

[franz12]

No adapter available either. That's okay, I have enough low Z headphones around right now. I even have a Denon D7200 and a Focal Clear (loaners).

This quote is from Dan (MrSpeakers). This case may also apply to the Q5, IMO.

"There is no inherent advantage to a balanced amplifier vs single ended, however many balanced amplifiers with single ended outputs sound better balanced. This is usually because the amp is optimized for balanced operation, and many circuits allow "for free" single ended output."

 

[bahamot]

I get as far as this... and the System Uodate just stalls at Entering Update Mode. Then Error Message: Firmware Upgrade Failed

Try different USB port, if possible the one that attached directly from the motherboard (if using desktop pc).

 

[325xia]

Try different USB port, if possible the one that attached directly from the motherboard (if using desktop pc).

I got it to work. Thank You. Both System and BT updated now successfully.

 

[snellemin]

This quote is from Dan (MrSpeakers). This case may also apply to the Q5, IMO.

"There is no inherent advantage to a balanced amplifier vs single ended, however many balanced amplifiers with single ended outputs sound better balanced. This is usually because the amp is optimized for balanced operation, and many circuits allow "for free" single ended output."

I agree up to a point with what Mr.Speakers says. Well implemented "SE" amps do sound good, because they have the power to to produce the proper dynamics/headroom. But they are also bigger. Fiio does a good job with their A5, E12 series of amps, on how well the SE can sound in a portable unit. But to produce more power for proper dynamics, Balanced mode in portable amps wins every time.

Anyways, I am not a fan of Mr.Speakers boring sound signature. I couldn't even enjoy my Reggea jams on his Aeons, with my bigger amps. So I can see why he made that statement about the two different amplification methods.

 

[franz12]

I agree up to a point with what Mr.Speakers says. Well implemented "SE" amps do sound good, because they have the power to to produce the proper dynamics/headroom. But they are also bigger. Fiio does a good job with their A5, E12 series of amps, on how well the SE can sound in a portable unit. But to produce more power for proper dynamics, Balanced mode in portable amps wins every time.

Anyways, I am not a fan of Mr.Speakers boring sound signature. I couldn't even enjoy my Reggea jams on his Aeons, with my bigger amps. So I can see why he made that statement about the two different amplification methods.

You need it more carefully. You misinterpreted it. What I mean is that if fiio Q5 is optimized for the balanced output, sounds out from it should be better than SE no matter what the level of the power is. Of course, whether fiio is optimized for the balanced output and SE is just a bonus is purely my hypothesis.

 

[Brooko]

You need it more carefully. You misinterpreted it. What I mean is that if fiio Q5 is optimized for the balanced output, sounds out from it should be better than SE no matter what the level of the power is. Of course, whether fiio is optimized for the balanced output and SE is just a bonus is purely my hypothesis.

If you look at the information we have on the parts - SE uses single AK4490EN. Balanced uses two of the same DAC chip. So its not the DAC.

In my tests, they both sound exactly the same. One of course is louder than the other. How did you volume match when you compared, and what headphones did you use to compare?

 

[jam130]

@FiiO can you post English version of change log posted by @demond at 2018-03-27 10:59:37 for Q5 firmware update?

Thanks

 

[Trainsauce]

Fiio, what is "drive free mode"? Could be a bad english translation... thanks

 

[gazzington]

Can anybody write a simple how to update the q5?

 

[milkyspray]

Sorry everyone but why do we need to update it again? Does it make the unit sound better?

 

[Coyotex83]

If any of you got problems with connecting Bluetooth devices to your computers after upgrading Q5 Bluetooth to newer version this is especially for you.

I have a simple BT dongle to pair it with my XOne Pad. In Device Manager it is called CSR8510 A10. After upgrading the Q5 BT I couldn't connect my pad to computer, moreover BT dongle wasn't even recognized as a working device.
CSR means Cambridge Silicon Radio Ltd. which is coincidentally the same manufacturer that is responsible for drivers for Q5 BT. So in my case CSR BlueCore in DFU Mode that we see after installing the driver took priority over Microsoft universal BT driver which governs all normal BT devices connecting to computer. And BT dongle was unable to work properly.

All I had to do was to uninstall driver packages that FiiO asked us to install. In W10 these programs are called something like: Windows Driver Package - Cambridge Silicon Radio Ltd. (CSRBC) USB / Windows Driver Package - Cambridge Silicon Radio Ltd. (USBPI?). Your package names may be different, but there is overall 4 packages, installation date is identical in all of them. Just try to uninstall all of them, this should re-enable Microsoft's own BT driver again.

 

[Sonic Defender]

For the record, in my limited experience, I use balanced for the extra power, like Brooko I never find it sounds better. I like louder playback volumes to get that dynamic range and impact experience. Less efficient and or low Z headphones won't be driven to those levels for me with a 150mW output so balanced is essential in those cases. I'm quite sure for people who like lower playback levels they may actually be very pleased with the SE even with more power hungry headphones. It also will depend on the music I'm listening to. Better recorded, more dynamic music is often at much lower average amplitude so the power has to be there. I listen at easily a sustained 85 to 90db level with the peaks being higher of course. My hearing remains quite good because while I do that, I don't listen for very long sessions, typically 20 to 30 minutes and often I go a few days without much time listening to music, but it depends.

Anyway, I'm babbling, but as I said, I seek balanced output for more power, not to achieve a better sound quality.