[LCMusicLover]

Anyone with Cowon Plenue D and Opus#1 did any direct comparison to the X5III?

These are 3 fairly different devices in terms of capabilities. I had the Opus for a while, and I still own the Plenue D and the X5iii.

Opus and Plenue D are player-only devices (no streaming) while X5iii has streaming. PD only has 1 SD slot, limited to 128Gb, while X5 & Opus have 2 (although the Opus seems to be limited to 200Gb cards). Folks have reported using 256Gb cards successfully with x5, and supposedly it will support 512Gb cards when they become available.

Prices (in US) are ~ $200 for PD, $359 for Opus (musicteck.com) and $400 for X5.

Opus and X5 have balanced and single-ended output. PD has single-ended output only. Opus has optical out while X5 has coax out (for use as transport).

X5 can be used as an external USB DAC, PD cannot. Opus is supposed to be able to do that as well, but the original Windows drivers didn't support that functionality. I don't know whether it has since been implemented.

X5 firmware is buggier than the other two, Opus has 'best' firmware/UI experience. PD is solid (no crashes) but the UI can be somewhat laggy.

Battery life in X5 & Opus are similar -- 8 - 10 hours ish. PD has MUCH longer battery life (more than 50 hours). In fact, I've never run my PD all the way down. I put it on a charger once a week, and use it when I'm biking or doing other active stuff. So some weeks it's down to 80%, some down to 55%, with 20 - 40 hours of use.

I don't use 'demanding' head/earphones (and I never listen at high volume), so I can't say much about power -- all three drive all of my transducers at 25 - 35% of max volume.

As far as SQ, if you look at some of the X5iii reviews, you'll see several comparisons between X5 and Opus, authored by respected Head-Fi members. I will only say that I find the X5iii to be in the same ballpark as the Opus. I perceive its biggest weakness to be a 'shallow' soundstage, and I think the Opus was better in this area. However, I do think the X5 soundstage is better via balanced out. X5iii is slightly warm of neutral, while the Opus is probably slightly less warm, but certainly not 'analytical/bright'. PD is maybe not quite as detailed, and similarly 'just warm of neutral'. One feature of the PD is the EQ, which (as in all Cowon players) is very good. Allows me to use a variety of IEMs and get close to my preferred sound sig.

Hope this helps.

 

[THGM]

Interesting you mention the external USB DAC function of the X5 iii; I have been unable to get this to work with my MacBook - the Fiio is not recognised by the Mac and I cannot find the USB DAC option in any of the menus. I have emailed Fiio but yet to receive a response, perhaps due to copious amounts of Tsingtao beer being consumed over the holiday weekend! If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. Apart from this issue (and DLNA problems) I really like the Fiio; it has a warm but detailed sound and, being Android based, is easy to use. I also use the X5 to stream Apple Music and it works perfectly in this regard, although do not download to memory for offline use. Thanks to all who championed the Fiio.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Interesting you mention the external USB DAC function of the X5 iii; I have been unable to get this to work with my MacBook - the Fiio is not recognised by the Mac and I cannot find the USB DAC option in any of the menus. I have emailed Fiio but yet to receive a response, perhaps due to copious amounts of Tsingtao beer being consumed over the holiday weekend! If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. Apart from this issue (and DLNA problems) I really like the Fiio; it has a warm but detailed sound and, being Android based, is easy to use. I also use the X5 to stream Apple Music and it works perfectly in this regard, although do not download to memory for offline use. Thanks to all who championed the Fiio.

I haven't tried USB DAC on a Mac, only Windows 7, 8 & 10.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Interesting you mention the external USB DAC function of the X5 iii; I have been unable to get this to work with my MacBook - the Fiio is not recognised by the Mac and I cannot find the USB DAC option in any of the menus. I have emailed Fiio but yet to receive a response, perhaps due to copious amounts of Tsingtao beer being consumed over the holiday weekend! If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. Apart from this issue (and DLNA problems) I really like the Fiio; it has a warm but detailed sound and, being Android based, is easy to use. I also use the X5 to stream Apple Music and it works perfectly in this regard, although do not download to memory for offline use. Thanks to all who championed the Fiio.

Connect USB cable, swipe down from the top and click on the "storage" icon, it'll change to a DAC icon. I had the same issue and question awhile back myself and someone helped me.

 

[THGM]

Thanks WayTooCrazy, that worked a treat! Strange why it is buried in the menu system like that.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Thanks WayTooCrazy, that worked a treat! Strange why it is buried in the menu system like that.

I agree. Weird design choices on this DAP.

 

[THGM]

Weird, for sure, which is a pity as it may put off some prospective buyers who will miss out on the great sound.

 

[SteveUK]

Thanks WayTooCrazy, that worked a treat! Strange why it is buried in the menu system like that.

I agree. Weird design choices on this DAP.

Weird, for sure, which is a pity as it may put off some prospective buyers who will miss out on the great sound.

Pretty standard android really I think.

 

[SteveUK]

BTW... only just got mine and loving it so far.... Few small tweaks like turning off animations make the ui snappier... sounds fine on it's own, but I'm right now listening it to it as a transport to my Mojo.... what a combination!

 

[sjb57]

BTW... only just got mine and loving it so far.... Few small tweaks like turning off animations make the ui snappier... sounds fine on it's own, but I'm right now listening it to it as a transport to my Mojo.... what a combination!

What kind of animations can be turned off, how might I do that, please?

 

[SteveUK]

What kind of animations can be turned off, how might I do that, please?

1. Make sure developer options are enabled. If they're not, go to Settings> About phone, then tap on Build number several times to enable it
2. Go to Settings > Developer options, and scroll down to Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale.
3. Tap on each of the animation options and turn them off.

Remember to leave Developer options turned on to keep the animations disabled. Turning Developer options off will reset the animations back to their default settings.

 

[frankieteardrop]

The saga continues here. I am able to scan 63,000 songs into the library (not the full amount) but then after the app crashes it only shows 26,000 in the library. This is with 1.1.5, though the beta worked just fin to scan my full library AND maintain it.

This is definitely SD card reader related. The internal storage tracks have no issues scanning ever. These are brand new SD cards as of March when I purchased the player, and the issue persisted with my original SD cards as well before I upgraded. It appears as if these card readers eventually time out, which bricks the entire scanning process and causes issues reading the files that cannot be resolved until I reset the player, kill the database, and try again. It's never the same result each time, and since 1.1.5beta worked to scan all my files, it's not the files either.

I would scan the library in chunks as has been suggested, but the few times I've tried that with 1.1.5, the database lovingly reset itself and undid all the scanning, so that's out.

This is getting beyond frustrating, as I haven't been able to use this player in the most basic of ways for months. I'm at my wits end with this thing. Can someone out there advise about how to downgrade this firmware using a Mac? The file linked before has drivers and instructions for Windows. This has to be possible otherwise... I really am hoping to revert to beta 1.1.5 and will never update again until the "final" firmware comes out.

 

[Marvellous_DAP]

As far as SQ, if you look at some of the X5iii reviews, you'll see several comparisons between X5 and Opus, authored by respected Head-Fi members. I will only say that I find the X5iii to be in the same ballpark as the Opus. I perceive its biggest weakness to be a 'shallow' soundstage, and I think the Opus was better in this area. However, I do think the X5 soundstage is better via balanced out. X5iii is slightly warm of neutral, while the Opus is probably slightly less warm, but certainly not 'analytical/bright'. PD is maybe not quite as detailed, and similarly 'just warm of neutral'. One feature of the PD is the EQ, which (as in all Cowon players) is very good. Allows me to use a variety of IEMs and get close to my preferred sound sig.

Hope this helps.

Very helpful indeed! Thanks for the detailed comparison of the 3 DAPs. Read other feedback as well and Opus#1 seems to be a good DAP, with some finding it better sounding than X5III. Will probably do an audition later at the audio store.

 

[Marvellous_DAP]

Here's a link to the downgrade tool FiiO gave to me:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ga1ds64k2u999aj/X5III Firmware Upgrade Tool with FW1.1.4.zip?dl=0

Did ask them if it was ok to share, but didn't get a reply. So I assume it's alright...

This one is a much earlier version with FW 1.0.9 (some believed that the sound kernel of this firmware is better, but most likely placebo). If you want to try out a different firmware from 1.0.9 onwards, this will be nice to keep, as you can start with 1.0.9 (the usual way of update-on-the-air does not allow "downgrading"):
FW1.0.9: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2dtcx80idj2rwb3/X5III Firmware Upgrade Tool with FW1.0.9.zip?dl=0

After flashing this original rom and tools provided by James, you can choose any later firmware to try out from here (rule is flashing from older to newer firmware and not backwards):
OTA files from 1.0.9 onwards:
http://www.fiio.net/en/supports/43

 

[Weaves]

Two requests please.

1. Full integration with auto audio systems. I have a new Honda, and although I can pair the Fiio with the music system, I can't access the controls through the music system's interface. To change song/albums, I need to use the Fiio itself. Because I like to use the Fiio during long commutes, this causes a big problem. It's both unsafe and illegal (in New York) for me to use the device when I'm driving. More importantly, my wife yells at me. In an early post, I think someone said Fiio plans to upgrade the X5iii to integrate, but in a later post, someone said there would not be an upgrade. Please, if possible, upgrade the X5iii to fully integrate with auto audio systems. (By the way -- is there a type of audio system that is able to control the Fiio X5iii? If so, what brand/model? Is there a particular function to look for?)

I'm sorry, but this is 2017 and you have a new car. Just do the easiest thing possible: A 256Gb usb flash drive can be found on Amazon for $70usd. Just buy one and load it up with music. You new Honda should easily be able to use with existing voice commands. Then you never have to worry about leaving your $399 player in your car, or bringing with you all the time. Most new cars have the USB hidden, so no one will know it is in the car. Why bother to continually run your x5 battery down?

or, if you still want to run down your X5, why not install the Android Auto app on it?