FiiO X1 II (2nd Gen) w/ Bluetooth!

[iancraig10]

Re: Ipods

Actually, going from digital out, they're not too shabby.

Headphone out is weaker and the bass does get slightly rolled off though.



I had a couple of Irivers as well until both batteries went and one hard drive. They used to make a funny whining sound in operation!!

I would have liked to have tried a Cowon. Read very good things about them.

The best I have is the Fiio x5 I think, but I like the smaller size and just buttons on the X3 v1. I also like the original X1 and haven't had problems with the wheel, yet .....

 

[bruce1967]

The best I have is the Fiio x5 I think, but I like the smaller size and just buttons on the X3 v1. I also like the original X1 and haven't had problems with the wheel, yet .....

I liked the old X3 too with the buttons. I always thought the buttons were the best for navigation.

 

[zaero69]

Is there a place to leave suggestions for the firmware to Fiio?

 

[iancraig10]

I liked the old X3 too with the buttons. I always thought the buttons were the best for navigation.

Less finicky for me than the wheels!! Yes, I really like the older X3.

Zaero69, I guess if you leave firmware suggestions here, it will be seen by Fiio. They do work hard with their fans but this one is possibly a little bit of a challenge to them in all fairness.

IMO, shouldn't have gone out and the original should have kept its position.

 

[zaero69]

Less finicky for me than the wheels!! Yes, I really like the older X3.

Zaero69, I guess if you leave firmware suggestions here, it will be seen by Fiio. They do work hard with their fans but this one is possibly a little bit of a challenge to them in all fairness.

IMO, shouldn't have gone out and the original should have kept its position.

In an message 2 pages earlier i wrote those suggestions. 

- Gapless should be implemented since the beginning.  - When you see a file larger than the screen, the horizontal scroll is slow as hell. it should be faster or it should be configurable. 
- The click sound from the clickwheel should also be internal and sound from the heaphones also configurable. 

 
I really expect they implement those settings. It's the absolute minimum 

 

[fish1050]

as someone who has played with electronics for over 40 years you should understand that FWs of those CD walkmans were many dozens of times simplier. so it's not a good comparision actually.

there is Aune M1, it plays only WAV files and doesn't have any interface besides simple file browser, and it's almost bug-free. but it's definitely a spartan firmware.

That may be true but manufacturers should never release products with this many issues.  Those who buy the X1 II are basically beta testers at this point letting Fiio know about problems with the units.  Selling electronics for over 15 years I did alot of beta testing and typically I got test units for free or at a significant discount.  
 
No offence but I don't really care about the Aune's, Shanlings, et al as I will never be in the market to buy one of them.  I honestly can't understand why you guys are defending and making excuses for Fiio releasing the X1 II in this state.  This isn't a mom and pop operation being run out of someones garage this is a significant player in the portable audio market.  
 
You guys are paying the full retail price for basically a beta quality unit and hoping Fiio can fix the problems.  Six months from now I can buy a hopefully much more stable unit for the same price you guys paid for this buggy DAP.  How are you going to feel if Fiio ends up upgrading some components in the X1 II to fix some of the problems that can't be fixed through firmware updates?  Do you think Fiio will let you exchange your buggy unit for a new one?
 
I can actually see Fiio having a fire sale on the X1 II just to unload the units they have produced.   I can see discounts coming next year on the X3 II and X5 II as retailers unload stock in preparation for the new X3 and X5 so you might be able to pickup an X3 II for not much more than a buggy X1 II.
 
I for one am willing to wait and see what shakes out next year. Then you would have the X1 II, discounted X3 II's and X5 II's and the new X3 and X5 units.  Then I can decide which unit is the best deal for me or buy from another manufacturer if none of them fit my needs.  

 

[MPNow]

Yes, in the IPod's case, the scan is done via computer. A workaround.

Interface and speed issues on using it aren't an issue with them though. If Apple had allowed drag and drop, I would have stayed with IPods TBH, although I love the X5 which is much more settled than the X1.

Some better deals for the original X1 are around though and I think that's probably a better buy TBH.

Well Apple's updated Itunes software does give you the ability to sync songs by a combination of searching for the file and dragging and dropping them. But I understand what your referring to.

 

[ClieOS]

  That may be true but manufacturers should never release products with this many issues.  Those who buy the X1 II are basically beta testers at this point letting Fiio know about problems with the units.  Selling electronics for over 15 years I did alot of beta testing and typically I got test units for free or at a significant discount.  
...

 
I read similar statement when X3 was released, then on X5, then on X1, then on X3-II, then on X5-II, then on X7, and here we are again. But this is not unique to FiiO. I read the same things on just about every Chinese DAP threads I ever paid attention to - iBasso, ShanLing, you name it and those same comments will be found in their thread. I am not saying this justifies manufacturer from releasing DAP with buggy firmware. I am merely pointing out that it is a common practice among the Chinese DAP maker, where none of them have a large enough software team to completely debug their firmware before release, nor have them had any actual beta testing team because, lets face it - many of them are really relatively small company and software engineer in China are in generally very sought after. I have heard from a couple of good sources that big companies like Foxconn will send out head hunters that offer any experienced software engineer with salary that will eclipses the CEO's salary from those DAP's makers. DAP maker only choice is to hire less experienced fresh graduate for programing, only to see them leave from much higher paid job when they have enough experience. It is easier said than done to ask any of those DAP maker to release a DAP with completely stable firmware - can they do it? Sure, but then software R&D cycle will probably cost so much that will put the company is a financial pitfall. They need to release the product fast enough so the company will have enough cash flow to keep paying the software engineers for bugfix. That is the real situation about the Chinese DAP market, whether we as a consumer like it or not.
 
 
..and as I said it before, you should really avoid any Chinese DAP if you have no patience for bugfix.

 

[TheoS53]

   
..and as I said it before, you should really avoid any Chinese DAP if you have no patience for bugfix.

Or just wait a few months to wait for the bugs to get ironed out before purchasing, rather than buying at or near the release date 

 

[Tober138]

I am sure Fiio has multiple design teams and the DAP and DAC/Amp teams are probably working independently.  So what one team does or doesn't do should not affect the other.  Besides the bottom line is sales and Fiio needs to keep the pipeline going.  Especially with their DAC/Amp products selling well and relatively problem free compared to their DAP's

I meant to say "DAP" not "DAC".

So...yeah, Fiio needs to get their current DAPs working properly before they start making new versions available. And when they do release new DAP models, they need to do more in-house testing before releasing them.

 

[Tober138]

I’m enjoying the player and will happily utilize the firmware updates and fixes, but it does sound sometimes like expectations are for this to be comparable right out of the box with higher end DAPS.   This is FiiO’s basic budget player and similar to the first X1, we are getting some great sound with decent value.  Not wishing to quarrel, just adding a perspective.

However, as their "budget player" this is the model likely to appeal to a larger segment of buyers - such as those looking to replace their old iPods; those who want a stand-alone music player and do not want to spend hundreds on such a device. Many of these buyers are likely not as knowledgeable about the DAP market as those who spend a lot of time on places like Head-Fi. They want a player, will see it on Amazon or some other site, buy it, and expect it to pretty much work perfectly out of the box. When it doesn't, they will return it and not be likely to look at Fiio products in the future.

So the wider the potential audience, the more important it is to not release an unfinished product.

 

[TheoS53]

However, as their "budget player" this is the model likely to appeal to a larger segment of buyers - such as those looking to replace their old iPods; those who want a stand-alone music player and do not want to spend hundreds on such a device. Many of these buyers are likely not as knowledgeable about the DAP market as those who spend a lot of time on places like Head-Fi. They want a player, will see it on Amazon or some other site, buy it, and expect it to pretty much work perfectly out of the box. When it doesn't, they will return it and not be likely to look at Fiio products in the future.

So the wider the potential audience, the more important it is to not release an unfinished product.

Couldn't agree more. Many of these potential costumers would likely be replacing an ipod. They will expect the same type of ease of use that they got out of the device they're replacing

 

[fish1050]

   
I read similar statement when X3 was released, then on X5, then on X1, then on X3-II, then on X5-II, then on X7, and here we are again. But this is not unique to FiiO. I read the same things on just about every Chinese DAP threads I ever paid attention to - iBasso, ShanLing, you name it and those same comments will be found in their thread. I am not saying this justifies manufacturer from releasing DAP with buggy firmware. I am merely pointing out that it is a common practice among the Chinese DAP maker, where none of them have a large enough software team to completely debug their firmware before release, nor have them had any actual beta testing team because, lets face it - many of them are really relatively small company and software engineer in China are in generally very sought after. I have heard from a couple of good sources that big companies like Foxconn will send out head hunters that offer any experienced software engineer with salary that will eclipses the CEO's salary from those DAP's makers. DAP maker only choice is to hire less experienced fresh graduate for programing, only to see them leave from much higher paid job when they have enough experience. It is easier said than done to ask any of those DAP maker to release a DAP with completely stable firmware - can they do it? Sure, but then software R&D cycle will probably cost so much that will put the company is a financial pitfall. They need to release the product fast enough so the company will have enough cash flow to keep paying the software engineers for bugfix. That is the real situation about the Chinese DAP market, whether we as a consumer like it or not.
 
 
..and as I said it before, you should really avoid any Chinese DAP if you have no patience for bugfix.

That may be true of Chinese DAP's in general but Fiio is probably the largest of all these Chinese DAP makers so you would hope for better.  Also Fiio has a much greater penetration into international markets than the other Chinese DAP makers.  In my market North America we are much less tolerant of these buggy products.  Fiio products are readily available here, even more than Sony DAP's and I can see the X1 II doing damage to the solid reputation Fiio had built here.
 
I can't speak to the Asian market but here having sold these products I know what turns consumers of most is buggy unreliable products.  Consumers here simply aren't use to having to do firmware updates to get stuff working and most have no idea what firmware is let alone how to update it.

 

[zaero69]

Well if fiio does not provide the absolute minimum settings within this x1-2 this will be the first and last device I buy from them. My money does not grow on trees and if they can't provide what Apple did more than 10 years ago (you just need to copy, not create software) there is no point to buy from them

 

[FiiO]

  @JamesFiiO: any plans for support for DSD via a firmware upgrade?

Hi, 8BitKid
X1 2nd gen supports neither native DSD decoding nor non-native DSD decoding.Non-native DSD decoding will occupy too much source of the control chip and can cause system delay or lower down the operation response.