After lurking around Head-fi for roughly a year, I decided to actually join in the thread. Thanks to head-fi, I've made purchases throughout last year including the fiio X1, the amp Q1, in-ear Shure SE215 and the Audio Technica ATH MSR7. My latest investment, the fiio x5II, which I bought yesterday feel likes a great improvement over the x1. I tried Aune M2 standard and Ibasso DX80 a while back wondering what's to upgrade to from my 1 year old x1. I went to a local store and decide to try the out a few amps and headphones. I also want to hear the Plenue D which unfortunately the sample unit was sent for review so ultimately I bought the x5II. I immediately upgrade to 1.27beta firmware and this dap certainly has more functions than dx80 and M2 I tried. Here is some of my first impression:
The design is amazing, the brushed chassis look way more premium than x1 and when it feels more solid than the dx80 imo. I like the way the status led is intergrated into the power button, it looks cooler that way and prevent the glare I ften encounter on the x1 when used at dark places.
The screen's brightness is great, on par with the dx80 and so does the resolution.
The UI is okay but it's a bit unresponsive on the 1.27 firmware. In fact, I prefer Fiio x5II UI and button layout more then that of the touchsceen onthe dx80 and the limited buttons on M2.
Paired with my MSR7, the X5II is slightly less spacious than my X1+Q1 combo, also I have to EQ to compensate for the lack of bass on MSR7. On the other hand, the X5II is warmer with a intimate sense to my ear.
I'm planning to go for orthos headphones like the hifiman's but I'm concerned with the driving power of the x5II. The 32 ohm MSR7 is fully drived with high gain on vol. 65~75/120. I don't know if it could drive some high impendence like some Beyer's or Senn's.
Used as a DAC for my laptop, I could say the overall sound was better than the fiio Q1.
Well this is my first post and English is not my native language so I hope I can get well with anyone around here