[mandrake50]

That's the longer of the two. The other was from dx.com

I found a listing at DX.com. Much cheaper, but an interminable wait.
If I decide to do it, I will likely go with Amazon.
 
Thanks again!

 

[imackler]

Can anyone help me with a recommended wall charger? I've got several cell phone charges but they all are over 5V and aren't near 2A. The one I have is 5.1V and .7A. Is that ok to use? Will it be just slower? 

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Can anyone help me with a recommended wall charger? I've got several cell phone charges but they all are over 5V and aren't near 2A. The one I have is 5.1V and .7A. Is that ok to use? Will it be just slower? 

 
I'm sure some will offer other options though I use something like this.
 
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-Port-USB-AC-Adapter-Plug-Home-Travel-Wall-Charger-For-iPhone-iPad-Samsung-Plus-/251129133026?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3a787677e2
 
Because I own a few MP3 players I can charge 1-2 at the same time.

 

[miniskipper]

Hello together!
 
Just registered to ask some questions. Don't know if they have been asked already (admittedly, I did not read the whole thread).
 
1. The included silicone cover smells terrible! Like a mixture of cheap parfume and gasoline... Will this get better after some days? Not sure if it's healthy to inhale these fumes.
2. All the buttons wiggle. The center button is the worst, I can move it around half a millimeter. That's not what I expected from a "high quality build." Is this normal with this device?
3. The micro usb connector is recessed a little bit in the case so that some usb cables won't fit perfectly. Is this normal with this device?
4. Wasn't the scroll wheel supposed to be improved over the previous version? It still "looses" some steps and does not feel natural, so scrolling to a certain position in lists often results in overshooting. Are there plans to improve this in a later firmware?
 
Already mentioned in the reviews is the not-perfect UI. I can second this, its not user friendly and feels slow.
 
So all problems are in the haptic/ergonomic part, but for me that is almost as important as sound quality.
 
I still could return the device. Taking the price into account (400 Euro here in Austria) I'm a little bit uncertain.
But what would be the alternatives?
 
 
Greetings from Austria
miniskipper

 

[Klonatans]

 
I still could return the device. Taking the price into account (400 Euro here in Austria) I'm a little bit uncertain.
But what would be the alternatives?
 

Astell & Kern Jr.? iBasso DX90?

 

[miniskipper]

  Astell & Kern Jr.? iBasso DX90?

 
Hello Klonatans,
 
You have listed exactly the two devices, which attracted me most (besides the FiiO devices, of course).
But: The AK is 600 Euros and that is a little bit above my limit (to be honest: originally I wanted to buy X3II or X5, so the X5II is already maxing out the budget). DX90 is not available in my country and I dont want to import.
 
I read in the FiiO-Forums that they move from silicon cases to clear hardcases because of the smell.
Does anybody know, if the bad smell goes away after some days?
Still remaining are the buttons, they could be fixes by a thin layer of adhesive tape around each button (same procedure was necessary with my mobile phone). Center button would require some more layers, though.
But normally i don't want to void a devices warranty after only 2 days of ownership... :S
 
 
Greetings

 

[SashimiWu]

   
Hello Klonatans,
 
You have listed exactly the two devices, which attracted me most (besides the FiiO devices, of course).
But: The AK is 600 Euros and that is a little bit above my limit (to be honest: originally I wanted to buy X3II or X5, so the X5II is already maxing out the budget). DX90 is not available in my country and I dont want to import.
 
I read in the FiiO-Forums that they move from silicon cases to clear hardcases because of the smell.
Does anybody know, if the bad smell goes away after some days?
Still remaining are the buttons, they could be fixes by a thin layer of adhesive tape around each button (same procedure was necessary with my mobile phone). Center button would require some more layers, though.
But normally i don't want to void a devices warranty after only 2 days of ownership... :S
 
 
Greetings

 
There might be a couple of DX90's in the classified sections of the forum.  I highly recommend both the X5II and the DX90 since I love how they sound.  I would say that the DX90 has a better UI due to the touchscreen making browsing way easier.  Additionally the physical control buttons are a lot sturdier than the X5II in addition to fit and feel of the headphone out jack.  I will say that while the extra stiffness is nice meaning no accidental button presses, it made skipping songs much much easier from my pocket.
 
If you're looking for something similar in SQ with better physical buttons, the DX90 is a winner.  Both are great DAP's made by great companies.

 

[Klonatans]

   
Hello Klonatans,
 
You have listed exactly the two devices, which attracted me most (besides the FiiO devices, of course).
But: The AK is 600 Euros and that is a little bit above my limit (to be honest: originally I wanted to buy X3II or X5, so the X5II is already maxing out the budget). DX90 is not available in my country and I dont want to import.
 
 

Actually it was discouraging to read your description of  X5II quality issues. I really hope that the X7 as "an affordable hi-end" device will receive better quality control.
 
If you had nothing against import from Germany, there's an option: http://hifinesse.com/astell-und-kern-ak-jr-promo-bundle Probably there's a mistake as it has 64 GB (and not 32 GB as mentioned) internal memory.

 

[ZimZam]

Hey all! I want to make sure i can see my album covers when my x5 arrives tomorrow. How can i check a file before uploading them? I didnt care on the x3 1st gen really...

First I'd visit: http://www.albumartexchange.com/
 
Grab the album art in the resolution/quality you prefer. From my experiences with the X5ii, 600x600 seems to work well. Also, my HDTracks art is all .pdf and that displays nicely. Neither format hang or are slow to display.
 
I'd just make sure if you're NOT embedding, you add the image as JPG or PDF in the folder where the audio files reside (just one image needed for all tracks/files in the particular album folder). The naming convention you use for the artwork is not important for the player (use what's best for your library categorization needs [I suppose repeating the names of album covers could cause issues- suggest using something more creative then: "cover.pdf"]. Also, if the Album Art Exchange site doesn't host your art, head over to Amazon, Wikipedia, OR just scan your own (what a tip!)
 
Have fun and good luck.

 

[ZimZam]

  ps. i'm glad I provoked some humor on this otherwise quite sedate thread!
 
Look, if they do throw us in a padded cell will they let me keep my x5 II? 

Congrats on the inspiration Luvdac.
 
Listening to George Carlin's FM & AM right now...in 16/44 FLAC no less.

 

[imackler]

Hey guys! Thanks for all the help! Here's another question: How are idle and standby different? What timing do you have yours set for?

 

[Luvdac]

On the topic of sd cards and how they can affect the sound. Have a read here http://www.head-fi.org/t/639945/can-the-read-speed-of-micro-sd-effect-audio-quality and more specifically 
 From the design/build blog for the Altman Tera player.
 
 
 
""It turned out that the problem was the flash-card. While reading from the SDHC-card, every time I jumped to the FAT in order to look where the next cluster of data would be, there was a huge current surge from the supply. As the FAT has to be looked up regularly there was a very bad jitter correlation.
I learned that this was not only a problem for the one card I was using, but it is a problem inherent in all SD-cards. Whenever you have to change the reading location (i.e. jump to FAT) there will be a jerk in the supply, causing a significant and badly correlated amount of jitter.
So flash storage, just because there are no moving parts, does not mean that you will not have jitter
The mess you see below the SD-card socket on the following pic shows my attempt to smooth out the power supply of the flash card, using a simple R-C-R-C-R-C chain.
 
While the filter chain reduced the jitter, this was not a complete solution. I had to come up with something better ...
Then I had the idea, that if I could reduce the number of FAT reads per time, I would be able to break the jitter correlation.
Up to know I was jumping to the FAT for each and every cluster. That gave me a constant jitter frequency that was very audible also dependent on the sample-rate of the wav file.
The solution was the introduction of a continuity counter. While running through the FAT, I would count the number of clusters that are linearly allocated without fragmentation. This way I only need to jump to the FAT again when the continuous cluster chain is running out.
 
With the continuity counter the number of power supply jerks that are caused during each FAT read, were reduced from a couple of times per second to about 1x per minute.
This completely solved the SD-card jitter problem."
 
Could it be that the random heating that I and many headfiers experience with the x5 II can be attributed to the power surges required to  read the data off the sd cards? Just a thought.

 

[Uncle E1]

  On the topic of sd cards and how they can affect the sound. Have a read here http://www.head-fi.org/t/639945/can-the-read-speed-of-micro-sd-effect-audio-quality and more specifically 
 From the design/build blog for the Altman Tera player.
 
 
 
""It turned out that the problem was the flash-card. While reading from the SDHC-card, every time I jumped to the FAT in order to look where the next cluster of data would be, there was a huge current surge from the supply. As the FAT has to be looked up regularly there was a very bad jitter correlation.
I learned that this was not only a problem for the one card I was using, but it is a problem inherent in all SD-cards. Whenever you have to change the reading location (i.e. jump to FAT) there will be a jerk in the supply, causing a significant and badly correlated amount of jitter.
So flash storage, just because there are no moving parts, does not mean that you will not have jitter
The mess you see below the SD-card socket on the following pic shows my attempt to smooth out the power supply of the flash card, using a simple R-C-R-C-R-C chain.
 
While the filter chain reduced the jitter, this was not a complete solution. I had to come up with something better ...
Then I had the idea, that if I could reduce the number of FAT reads per time, I would be able to break the jitter correlation.
Up to know I was jumping to the FAT for each and every cluster. That gave me a constant jitter frequency that was very audible also dependent on the sample-rate of the wav file.
The solution was the introduction of a continuity counter. While running through the FAT, I would count the number of clusters that are linearly allocated without fragmentation. This way I only need to jump to the FAT again when the continuous cluster chain is running out.
 
With the continuity counter the number of power supply jerks that are caused during each FAT read, were reduced from a couple of times per second to about 1x per minute.
This completely solved the SD-card jitter problem."
 
Could it be that the random heating that I and many headfiers experience with the x5 II can be attributed to the power surges required to  read the data off the sd cards? Just a thought.

 
that is a heavy load to understand

 

[Dobrescu George]

  On the topic of sd cards and how they can affect the sound. Have a read here http://www.head-fi.org/t/639945/can-the-read-speed-of-micro-sd-effect-audio-quality and more specifically 
 From the design/build blog for the Altman Tera player.
 
 
 
""It turned out that the problem was the flash-card. While reading from the SDHC-card, every time I jumped to the FAT in order to look where the next cluster of data would be, there was a huge current surge from the supply. As the FAT has to be looked up regularly there was a very bad jitter correlation.
I learned that this was not only a problem for the one card I was using, but it is a problem inherent in all SD-cards. Whenever you have to change the reading location (i.e. jump to FAT) there will be a jerk in the supply, causing a significant and badly correlated amount of jitter.
So flash storage, just because there are no moving parts, does not mean that you will not have jitter
The mess you see below the SD-card socket on the following pic shows my attempt to smooth out the power supply of the flash card, using a simple R-C-R-C-R-C chain.
 
While the filter chain reduced the jitter, this was not a complete solution. I had to come up with something better ...
Then I had the idea, that if I could reduce the number of FAT reads per time, I would be able to break the jitter correlation.
Up to know I was jumping to the FAT for each and every cluster. That gave me a constant jitter frequency that was very audible also dependent on the sample-rate of the wav file.
The solution was the introduction of a continuity counter. While running through the FAT, I would count the number of clusters that are linearly allocated without fragmentation. This way I only need to jump to the FAT again when the continuous cluster chain is running out.
 
With the continuity counter the number of power supply jerks that are caused during each FAT read, were reduced from a couple of times per second to about 1x per minute.
This completely solved the SD-card jitter problem."
 
Could it be that the random heating that I and many headfiers experience with the x5 II can be attributed to the power surges required to  read the data off the sd cards? Just a thought.

I think that the heat is generated more by the amps, and DAC than microsds. 
 
Also, microsd jitter should not be a problem, because the files are buffered, and the reading is done before-hand, so no reading takes places in the moment of playing. Maybe a little jitter at the beggining of the song. 
 
TerraPlayers reads differently, if iy had problems with jitter like that. 
 
Also, current surges because of microsd reading should be minor, I mean, compared with the current used by AMP, DAC, display, and other circuits, the microsd surges should not be very significant. 
 
Though, I do think that as Terra player uses a different phylosophy, it works exactly as stated, I think that this ideea will not work the same for other DAPs. 

 

[osiris1]

hi... i just got this player. i created a playlist externally and it can play every song there except one. says that the file is not found but it's clearly there and i can play that song from its own folder. i tried recreating the playlist as well. 
 
anyone knows why? i searched the thread but didn't manage to find any answer.