Buddhasense
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2015
- Posts
- 49
- Likes
- 17
No, there is not a BIG difference. That said, there is a noticeable difference. The X5ii is more resolving and has a slightly broader soundstage. The differences are more nuanced than they are "night and day."
I've owned a few around 15 Apple iDevices (various iPods, iPhones and iPads) and nothing sounds as good as the X5ii. The only portable device I've owned that sounds better than the X5ii is my Entrance M8, but it's a total pain to use on-the-go.
What sold me on the X5ii was the following:
- It's bulletproof. Arguably built better than any iPod classic.
- The UI is descent, but not as sharp as Apple (yet, but FiiO is getting there).
- The storage is expandable. Although I am a raving Apple fanboy, I detest the logic of Apple to not allow for storage expansion.
- I'm weird and I don't want my DAP to also play Angry Birds, to have a camera, a flash, check email, surf the web, be bluetooth and wifi enabled. I have an iPhone for that. I just want it to store a ton of my music, not crash, be easy to navigate and sound great.
- Well, it sounds great!
- It has an easy line-out to pair with a portable amp for more demanding headphones.
The Apple devices lost me when they went to the Lightning port. The audio from the Lightning port is no longer analog so you have to use the headphone-out to amp, which is actually double amping.
Don't expect the X5ii to be the Second Coming of Christ, but it's very-very good. I think it's FiiO's most thought out, sharpest device to date.
You're forgetting dynamics. Ipods have next to none. If you listen to complex stuff with a lot of layers like Nine Inch Nails or classical music the difference is indeed night and day. On an ipod you end up having to increase the volume to harmful levels in a vain attempt to penetrative the Vale.