[JaZZ]

  There is something I just noticed with the player responsiveness. Apologies if this is well known with Fiio players or has been covered somewhere in the prior 231 pages...
 
I did a reset of my player and immediately noticed the firmware speed and wheel responsiveness was back to what it was out of the box...fast. I continued to do a toggle of every single setting and played some music until I noticed 2 things that resulted in a slow down:
 
1) As long as the Equalizer setting is "OFF", firmware speed remains impressive. As soon as any other Equalizer setting is chosen however, the entire firmware slows down. Switch back to "OFF" and the software is snappy and responsive again.
2) Any currently playing track with artwork. Even if you press back and exit the Currently Playing screen, the rest of the navigation slows down. Once another track is selected without artwork, the player remains slow, however pressing the power button to lock the device followed by another press to turn the screen back on results in snappy speed again. I think the locking of the device must clear the cache from the prior artwork or something.
 
Not even playing high quality tracks seems to cause slowness even though I thought it would. I can live without artwork but I am disappointed I can't use the Equalizer. I'm sure the audio purists would be thinking "why would you"

 
I use the X5 II exclusively with EQ (because I'm a «purist») and it doesn't show any slowness – responsiveness remains the same with EQ on or off.

 

[AndrewH13]

i've been asking for this feature for ~2months now with no response. this is critical for any progressive rock albums and/or reissues with bonus content. disc # is a very important tag to implement @JamesFiiO
 @Joe Bloggs
 please consider implementing this asap in the next FW update. thank you for all your work so far!

Easily solved for now by renumbering tracks in mp3tag. 101, 102, 201 etc. Or folder play with each disk held separately.

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
I use the X5 II exclusively with EQ (because I'm a «purist») and it doesn't show any slowness – responsiveness remains the same with EQ on or off.

I had had the exact same experience, EQ does not affect responsiveness.

 

[Romani]

Interesting to know. Maybe my player is faulty then.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Interesting to know. Maybe my player is faulty then.

.. The way it behaves would mean a very specific fault, have you considered upgrading the firmware, updateing the database with no cards in, and see if this is solved??

 

[Romani]

.. The way it behaves would mean a very specific fault, have you considered upgrading the firmware, updateing the database with no cards in, and see if this is solved??

You are right on the money. I have done exactly that. Did a reset, did a firmware update to 1.1 then back to 1.0, did an update media library with no cards in. Even worse, I have muffled unbalanced sound so I think I've got a dud. I will be getting it replaced today as my store does replacements for anything under 3 weeks old. I've lost a few nights of sleep over this.

 

[Romani]

I managed to replicate the issue with the X5 2nd gen on display at the store I purchased it from. I ended up getting it replaced for the X3 2nd gen. I will wait for 200gb micro SD cards to become cheaper and pray the player will support it.

 

[Rob49]

I'm thinking of buying some new headphones, to go with my recently purchased Fiio X5ii & I'm considering the Senn HD650's or the OPPO PM-3's.
Can anyone give me any feedback on either, please ?

 

[DDDamian]

  I'm thinking of buying some new headphones, to go with my recently purchased Fiio X5ii & I'm considering the Senn HD650's or the OPPO PM-3's.
Can anyone give me any feedback on either, please ?

Hi Rob - if it's for portable use the PM-3's are going to be easier to drive for sure, and are closed so will offer much better isolation both in-and-outbound. The X5ii alone will drive them nicely, and you'll get that planar sound.
 
Myself I found the 650 a poor match for the X5ii alone - they E12 was needed for that combo. That makes for a much heavier brick and still it won't take the 650 to full potential IMO. They really are more suited to dedicated amps and indoor usage.

 

[flognarde]

  I'm thinking of buying some new headphones, to go with my recently purchased Fiio X5ii & I'm considering the Senn HD650's or the OPPO PM-3's.
Can anyone give me any feedback on either, please ?

Considering the rather dark and mellow sound signature of the X5II, I would advise you to get a rather clear sounding earphone. I had good results with AKG K550, not with Shure SE215.

 

[Rob49]

  Hi Rob - if it's for portable use the PM-3's are going to be easier to drive for sure, and are closed so will offer much better isolation both in-and-outbound. The X5ii alone will drive them nicely, and you'll get that planar sound.
 
Myself I found the 650 a poor match for the X5ii alone - they E12 was needed for that combo. That makes for a much heavier brick and still it won't take the 650 to full potential IMO. They really are more suited to dedicated amps and indoor usage.

 
 

  Considering the rather dark and mellow sound signature of the X5II, I would advise you to get a rather clear sounding earphone. I had good results with AKG K550, not with Shure SE215.

Thank you both for the feedback & suggestions. I suppose I feel more undecided ? I have listened to my Fiio X5ii without an amp ( E12 ) but I always go back to the amp. I've never had a planar headphone before & I'm intrigued. Decisions, decisions....

 

[mandrake50]

  I'm thinking of buying some new headphones, to go with my recently purchased Fiio X5ii & I'm considering the Senn HD650's or the OPPO PM-3's.
Can anyone give me any feedback on either, please ?

I had the PM-3 for about a week on the demo tour. The day before I was to ship them to the next person was a Sunday. I used the PM-3 with my X5II for about 8 hours. The Oppo Pm-3 was comfortable for the entire period and I really like the sound. The X5II had no problem at all driving the headphones. At a setting of about 50 to 60, it was plenty loud... but very well controlled. The PM-3 has a very lush sound, very smooth, but detailed enough for this use, for sure. I have been using my HP 50 for use on the go. I have it in mind to pick up a set of PM-3 at some point to use in that scenario. If you like the sound signature, the PM-3 pairs very well with the X5II.
 
I have tried the X5II with my HD650. I am really not that impressed. While it sounds OK, I like them much better with desktop level amplification

 

[Rob49]

 
I had the PM-3 for about a week on the demo tour. The day before I was to ship them to the next person was a Sunday. I used the PM-3 with my X5II for about 8 hours. The Oppo Pm-3 was comfortable for the entire period and I really like the sound. The X5II had no problem at all driving the headphones. At a setting of about 50 to 60, it was plenty loud... but very well controlled. The PM-3 has a very lush sound, very smooth, but detailed enough for this use, for sure. I have been using my HP 50 for use on the go. I have it in mind to pick up a set of PM-3 at some point to use in that scenario. If you like the sound signature, the PM-3 pairs very well with the X5II.
 
I have tried the X5II with my HD650. I am really not that impressed. While it sounds OK, I like them much better with desktop level amplification

Thank you. It looks like I might be veering towards the PM-3's....?

 

[Offworld42]

I have owned my X5ii since mid July and I am certainly very happy with the build & sound quality.  The scroll wheel is, of course, the weakest link in it's chain so I hope it will withstand at least 3 years of use.

I bought a pair of AKG K550's about a month ago and have used them for several hours so far.  They are only really suitable for indoor use as the fixed cable is quite long and I'm not sure whether I would want to have to coil it up and keep it in a pocket out of the way while I wear the headphones.

The sound is very clear but there was a definite lack of bass.  Then I set my FiiO to High Gain and the bass improved enough to keep me happy.  I think they are not properly 'burnt in' yet - we'll see.
 
 
I only have a £20 pair of Sennheiser earbuds for outdoor use at the moment - but the music does sound very good through them.
 
However, in a few days time I will almost certainly be buying myself a pair of RHA T20's.   All the reviews and feedback have been very positive.  This will be the most money I have ever spent on an item as small as these - so I hope they are as good as others have said.
 
Do we have any T20 owners reading this X5ii thread?

 

[1781cc]

 
Thank you. It looks like I might be veering towards the PM-3's....?

I can't comment on the PM-3's but I am running Bowers and Wilkins P7s with my Fiio and they sound great straight out, but even better through the E12A Mont Blanc.
 
If you get a chance to try them out, they are lovely headphones and so well made, just thought I would throw my 2c behind them