[Sonic Defender]

Yeah well... I feel much better now
Thank you @FiiO !

Everybody should remove any posting of the private communication. IMO.

 

[gazzington]

What amp module comes with it?

 

[Sonic Defender]

What amp module comes with it?

AM3E which I am using now via 4.4 and I have the THX AAA module as well.

 

[KopaneDePooj]

Everybody should remove any posting of the private communication. IMO.

I didn't post any private communication. My reaction was to what FiiO posted publicly here. (The Boss decision)

 

[Cevisi]

AM3E which I am using now via 4.4 and I have the THX AAA module as well.

How do the compare

 

[Sonic Defender]

So I have been battling really annoying clicks and pops with the Q5s and JRiver Media Center. First off, this isn't an indication there are bugs with the Q5s, not all. Clicks and pops with DACs over USB are very common from my research, which has of late been rather extensive. In my case using WASAPI buffering seems to have been the issue and it was compounded a little by the use of DSP which should be no surprise. I post this so that if anybody else uses JRiver Media Center (my version is 24) on a Windows 10 PC and experiences clicks and pops you can get rid of them easily enough, at least with trial and error I was able to.

So in the FiiO Control Panel I made sure that it is 2 channel 16 bit and using Reliable as the Buffer setting. In JRiver I used the Output Format to set things at 16bit 44,1000 and in the Device Settings I set the Buffering to 25 milliseconds. It is now rock stable and I can't hear any clicks or pops whereas before it was very bad, almost unusable. Again, this is just a common reality that these very complex DAC architectures have to contend with, it is not a FiiO thing. Our systems are a digital network where the various architectures and settings interact with one another. Very happy that I was able to solve this issue and now I am fully loving the Q5s.

I didn't post about this until it was solved as I knew it wasn't a bug. I expect different software clients may have different buffer interactions so what worked for me with JRiver on this laptop (old Lenovo T440 ThinkPad) may not work for others. Just an FYI.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I didn't post any private communication. My reaction was to what FiiO posted publicly here. (The Boss decision)

I thought that you had quoted gibby's post? My bad if I'm mistaken.

 

[Sonic Defender]

How do the compare

Haven't been doing head to head, but the AM3E seems excellent to me. I will do some swapping tonight when I have time. Both are excellent regardless.

 

[abitdeef]

I'm not sure I would post private communications here. I know that you mean well, but it might be less well received and could even get an employee in trouble. I think FiiO said they are taking care of this at the company level. Anyway, alls well that ends well as they say and you will be delighted with the Q5s. I love mine and I am so glad that I managed to get one from what clearly was a small first run. The stock will get out soon so can't wait for more impressions from all of you who are waiting.

I'm mighty impressed with mine Can't wait to hear what other people think also.

 

[abitdeef]

How do the compare

I compared them a bit, I think the stage is a touch wider on the am3d and the bass is controlled better (bass is really impressive) and the highs are a bit sharper.

I found the am3e to be a bit smoother and a touch warmer. Not a big difference by any means the stock amp is very nice, in fact to me it sounds like the m11. Which is awesome in it's own right.

Oh I didn't hear any hiss on either on my akt8ieii which can pick up some, and I thought they were both pretty natural sounding, maybe even a bit more than the m11. And it's playing everything in the right format- hi rez, dsd on the fiio app on my phone and daps.

So unlike dragonfly red I didn't need uaap to get dsd and hi rez to play properly. Assuming the q5's color indicator is accurate.

I also want to add, it's not like you're going to switch to the am3d and be blown away or have a omg moment of sonic enlightenment. But I've been listening to it a ton since yesterday and I'm really appreciating how clean and transparent it is. If you've got decent cans/iems and good source material I'll think you'll be very pleased.

I played some of my old 128 and 165 kbs mp3 files and they sounded pretty awful. I could hear every artifact and the roughness came through. There was no coloration or extra warmth to smooth them out. But I'm confident they would sound ok on the am3e, enjoyable at least.

Sorry, didn't want to write a novella

 

[Cevisi]

I compared them a bit, I think the stage is a touch wider on the am3d and the bass is controlled better (bass is really impressive) and the highs are a bit sharper.

I found the am3e to be a bit smoother and a touch warmer. Not a big difference by any means the stock amp is very nice, in fact to me it sounds like the m11. Which is awesome in it's own right.

Oh I didn't hear any hiss on either on my akt8ieii which can pick up some, and I thought they were both pretty natural sounding, maybe even a bit more than the m11. And it's playing everything in the right format- hi rez, dsd on the fiio app on my phone and daps.

So unlike dragonfly red I didn't need uaap to get dsd and hi rez to play properly. Assuming the q5's color indicator is accurate.

I also want to add, it's not like you're going to switch to the am3d and be blown away or have a omg moment of sonic enlightenment. But I've been listening to it a ton since yesterday and I'm really appreciating how clean and transparent it is. If you've got decent cans/iems and good source material I'll think you'll be very pleased.

I played some of my old 128 and 165 kbs mp3 files and they sounded pretty awful. I could hear every artifact and the roughness came through. There was no coloration or extra warmth to smooth them out. But I'm confident they would sound ok on the am3e, enjoyable at least.

Sorry, didn't want to write a novella

I love your despription of the am3d now i have to wait to get it

 

[Sonic Defender]

Yes, that matches my impressions well enough. I do think the AM3D is cleaner sounding, but if that is an accurate impression as abitbeef said, such differences are not night and day. I am glad to have both amp modules, but if I couldn't afford the AM3D right away, or it wasn't available, I would be quite content with the AM3E.

 

[abitdeef]

Yes, that matches my impressions well enough. I do think the AM3D is cleaner sounding, but if that is an accurate impression as abitbeef said, such differences are not night and day. I am glad to have both amp modules, but if I couldn't afford the AM3D right away, or it wasn't available, I would be quite content with the AM3E.

Ditto. I couldn't see anyone not liking the stock amp, fiio did a nice job with it, plus it has ALL the ports covered.

But I am loving the am3d with all my high quality stuff the sub bass is really good, deep and very clear- but not sterile sounding. I mean the q5s just sounds good all around.

 

[bgtip]

well, FiiO is not going to send me one. I didn’t win after all, and that’s fine. It would have been nice if FiiO felt obligated to, but they don’t. The marketing employee that represents @FiiO here was willing to buy one with their own money, which is really nice of them, but not necessary.

Here you are wrong. FiiO's announcement is legally binding and they are obliged to give you a Q5s regardless if you won or not.

 

[bgtip]

Dear friend,

It will be in stock again early next month.

Best regards

What do you mean 'again'? It has never been in stock on amazon UK, except from a fraudulent seller, which disappeared after 48 hours.
FiiO neglects it's EU customers with the full knowledge that we don't have a choice but wait.