[DSpezzia]

I used the EX number and tracked with 17track.net as they appear to be the fastest to give tracking. Once the item arrives into the UK the EX number became an EH number, but again I still have found 17track.net to be the best for tracking. They up dated that the item had gone through customs and was at the national hub quicker than Parcel Force.

Yeah my parcel has been stuck at "in transit" and "notification of shipping confirmation" since the 30th of June

 

[Cevisi]

You seem to be equating the bad luck and poor service that you had with a vendor with the Q5s itself. Of course it gets hots, there are lots of electronics inside, why wouldn't it get hot? And of course the module you were mistakenly sent won't power the headphones you mentioned. It is very unfortunate that you were sent the wrong amp module, but you should direct your anger where it is deserved.

I just looked and the AM0 has no amplification section so how is it you can evaluate the amplification capability when you didn't have an actual amp module to test with? I'm confused. Could you please clarify this. I hope that the situation it gets rectified to your satisfaction and you get the proper amp module. Good luck.

I got my Q5s last week, haven't really had time to listen as much as I would like. On some briefly listening I can say that:

It get warm regardless of bluetooth connection or USB.
At least on my Phone appears as a Q5 on the bluetooth list of discovery devices, which I think is a pretty cheap, but at least it supports LDAC (which I don't find really all that useful).
The amp section does not have a lot of juice and cannot drive very well a pair of Sennheiser HD600 or Hifiman HE400i, on low gain is pretty much the same as the jack of my Galaxy S10 which is not the best sounding phone out there.
Finally and the worst thing of all, when I bought it on Aliexpress I selected the bundle with the AM1 module, but isntaed I got an AM0 module which is worhtless for a DAC/AMP, it is only useful for a DAP. I have already open a dispute on Aliexpress regarding this.

Overall I am not very satisfied with this purchase and if I had bought it on Amazon I would return it. My NX4 DSD has more power, and the only two drawbacks I can think off are that it has no bluetooth/optical inputs and that the Fiio as a digital controlled volume pot which is more precised than the analog pot on the Topping. Plus the Bass boost switch sounds better on the Topping.

They send me also the am0 instead of am1 and they wrote my adress wrong i had problems to get it deliverd. And it gets damn hot iam not really satisfied whit the q5s. It has definitely less power than they say. my es 100 puts out more power and can driver harder to drive headphones like my dt770 better. I am really not sure if there is really the hardware they say in it.

 

[sinquito]

You seem to be equating the bad luck and poor service that you had with a vendor with the Q5s itself. Of course it gets hots, there are lots of electronics inside, why wouldn't it get hot? And of course the module you were mistakenly sent won't power the headphones you mentioned. It is very unfortunate that you were sent the wrong amp module, but you should direct your anger where it is deserved.

I just looked and the AM0 has no amplification section so how is it you can evaluate the amplification capability when you didn't have an actual amp module to test with? I'm confused. Could you please clarify this. I hope that the situation it gets rectified to your satisfaction and you get the proper amp module. Good luck.

I have the AM3E module that is standard with the Q5S, but the bundle I bought also contained the AM1 or supuse to.

The NX4 DSD get less warm and has more output power. Proper design of electronic devices would make it to dissipate less heat, say my phone is more packly dense and does not dissipate so much heat.

I bought it directly from the Fiio Store on Aliexpress so...

 

[sinquito]

They send me also the am0 instead of am1 and they wrote my adress wrong i had problems to get it deliverd. And it gets damn hot iam not really satisfied whit the q5s. It has definitely less power than they say. my es 100 puts out more power and can driver harder to drive headphones like my dt770 better. I am really not sure if there is really the hardware they say in it.

Are you going to contact them regarding the AM0?

I would not be making any fuss about this if:

A) On the aliexpress page were no bundles and only the Q5s could be purchase, which is what I actually wanted. So no expectation on my side to get an additional module as promised.
B) Send the correct module, I have no use for the AM0 module, maybe if they had send me an AM2 or AM5 module I would not complain, since I can use those, with the AM0 I can only charge the Q5s, maybe that way I don't wear the micro usb connector on the AM3E

This is not professional on my opinion.

Sorry if this seems to be a rant, just sharing my experience.

 

[mfaverooo]

Quick question, is SQ very different between the q5s and the m11 used as a dac mode? I ask because the fac chip is the same, right? The main difference would be the amp card...

 

[maxngck]

I got my Q5s last week, haven't really had time to listen as much as I would like. On some briefly listening I can say that:

It get warm regardless of bluetooth connection or USB.
At least on my Phone appears as a Q5 on the bluetooth list of discovery devices, which I think is a pretty cheap, but at least it supports LDAC (which I don't find really all that useful).
The amp section does not have a lot of juice and cannot drive very well a pair of Sennheiser HD600 or Hifiman HE400i, on low gain is pretty much the same as the jack of my Galaxy S10 which is not the best sounding phone out there.
Finally and the worst thing of all, when I bought it on Aliexpress I selected the bundle with the AM1 module, but isntaed I got an AM0 module which is worhtless for a DAC/AMP, it is only useful for a DAP. I have already open a dispute on Aliexpress regarding this.

Overall I am not very satisfied with this purchase and if I had bought it on Amazon I would return it. My NX4 DSD has more power, and the only two drawbacks I can think off are that it has no bluetooth/optical inputs and that the Fiio as a digital controlled volume pot which is more precised than the analog pot on the Topping. Plus the Bass boost switch sounds better on the Topping.

Hi

Yes it is recognized as Q5 instead of Q5S which i was also puzzled when i 1st used. Anyway, that does not bother me as long as i have set the phone to use LDAC codec and in the bluetooth setting make sure LDAC is turn on.

I presume you are using 3.5mm unbalanced output. If that is the case, i suggest you try out the balanced output 2.5/ 4.4. During my audion, i was using my stock 3.5mm cable for FA7. I requested to test it using balanced output 4.4mm but they only have 2.5mm which i feel ok as long is balanced. Just FYI, i was using LC-2.5D Fiio Pure Silver cable. I can say it really makes a different from unbalanced to balanced output. Without hesitation, I bought LC-4.4D after the test. I hope i have more time to listen and run in my Q5S and the 4.4mm silver cable

 

[warriorpoet]

Actually I think that would be interesting.
All the phone manufacturers like LG incorporated hi-fi components in their phones as a bonus. They made phones with good audio.
But what if FiiO would reverse the approach and make a hi-fi DAP with phone capabilities as a bonus - even as a separate attachable module with e-SIM, phone antenna and mic?

LG was pretty intentional about the audio in their phones, to the point they even consulted on board layout.

 

[sinquito]

Hi

Yes it is recognized as Q5 instead of Q5S which i was also puzzled when i 1st used. Anyway, that does not bother me as long as i have set the phone to use LDAC codec and in the bluetooth setting make sure LDAC is turn on.

I presume you are using 3.5mm unbalanced output. If that is the case, i suggest you try out the balanced output 2.5/ 4.4. During my audion, i was using my stock 3.5mm cable for FA7. I requested to test it using balanced output 4.4mm but they only have 2.5mm which i feel ok as long is balanced. Just FYI, i was using LC-2.5D Fiio Pure Silver cable. I can say it really makes a different from unbalanced to balanced output. Without hesitation, I bought LC-4.4D after the test. I hope i have more time to listen and run in my Q5S and the 4.4mm silver cable

I am pretty sure that balanced output will sound louder, no doubt, the thing is, I don't have any balanced cables, most are 50 dollars each. I seriously don't plan on buying balanced cables, especially if a headphone I like does not offer the option without modding. Maybe I will buy a cable for my Sennheiser HD600 since the stock is too long and I was planning to replaced anyway, but going balanced limits my playback options... first world problems I guess.

 

[Cevisi]

Which USB output should I use ?

 

[maxngck]

I am pretty sure that balanced output will sound louder, no doubt, the thing is, I don't have any balanced cables, most are 50 dollars each. I seriously don't plan on buying balanced cables, especially if a headphone I like does not offer the option without modding. Maybe I will buy a cable for my Sennheiser HD600 since the stock is too long and I was planning to replaced anyway, but going balanced limits my playback options... first world problems I guess.

Hi

I guess HD600 is not so easy to drive and it needs more power to drive it. This is the 1st time I used balanced output and base on what i can hear, it is not only louder but it also more dynamic and bass is tigher.

Yes i do understand your feel on the playback option if choose to use balanced output. I did have this dilemma too but more importantly is the SQ i got from balanced output. I just want to fully utilize what Q5S can output.

My friend test Q5S using his Sony Z7 with 3.5mm unbalanced. His comment is that Q5S totally lack of power to drive it as he already turned to the max volume. I cant comment much on this as he does not have any balanced cable. But i am definately sure that balanced output will sure giving more juices to such hard to drive headphones or iem.

 

[sinquito]

Hi

I guess HD600 is not so easy to drive and it needs more power to drive it. This is the 1st time I used balanced output and base on what i can hear, it is not only louder but it also more dynamic and bass is tigher.

Yes i do understand your feel on the playback option if choose to use balanced output. I did have this dilemma too but more importantly is the SQ i got from balanced output. I just want to fully utilize what Q5S can output.

My friend test Q5S using his Sony Z7 with 3.5mm unbalanced. His comment is that Q5S totally lack of power to drive it as he already turned to the max volume. I cant comment much on this as he does not have any balanced cable. But i am definately sure that balanced output will sure giving more juices to such hard to drive headphones or iem.

The HD600 is not an easy to drive headphone, but my creative E5 which is also portable and bluetooth drives them better and so my NX4 on unbalanced outputs, so I don't see why the Fiio could not. I guess that this amp/dac is just not for me.

 

[Ghawke]

Yeah my parcel has been stuck at "in transit" and "notification of shipping confirmation" since the 30th of June

Who did you order the Q5s from? I understood that Fiio did not release any units for sale until the 23th July. I ordered mine on the 24th.

 

[elNan]

The HD600 is not an easy to drive headphone, but my creative E5 which is also portable and bluetooth drives them better and so my NX4 on unbalanced outputs, so I don't see why the Fiio could not. I guess that this amp/dac is just not for me.

If you want to drive open and (somewhat) power hungry headphones using only SE outputs, maybe what you need is not a portable device but a stationary one, maybe something like the JDS Atom or the DX3 Pro (for a DAC/Amp combo) would be more suited for you.

Saludos compa!

 

[Ghawke]

If you want to drive open and (somewhat) power hungry headphones using only SE outputs, maybe what you need is not a portable device but a stationary one, maybe something like the JDS Atom is more suited for you.

Saludos compa!

Not sure how power hungry they are but to fully drive my DT 1770 pro I had to get the AM5 for the X7ii.

 

[DSpezzia]

Who did you order the Q5s from? I understood that Fiio did not release any units for sale until the 23th July. I ordered mine on the 24th.

I meant July. I ordered the day they announced them on here from AliExpress