[TjPhysicist]

Yeah, i always had this feeling that android is just a crap gui for some lightweight unix kernel or something, now i know it.
I wouldn't just yet try to rewrite rom as fiio chose to use us as beta testers and customized the android so that nothing will work if we change something so deep in the system. Or at list sound might be affected. Anyway, then if the services are not just apk, why are they available as apk downloads?

again, i'm not sure exactly what you did, but they are available for phones that ALREADY HAVE working services that need update to those APKs. Like I said, there are some hardwares out there that do NOT have permission to install google services (this is actually a license you have to get) and if you install play.apk on those you have google play but it WON'T work. You also have to install and get working the programs and background things that deal with talking to the google servers etc. It's a little odd to me that you were able to uninstall play services - this may be a bug with how Fiio makes the ROM, on phones you wouldn't be able to do that, in fact you wouldn't be able to do that on most every ROM i've seen out there.

But getting a bit more philosophical: i think this was talked about a few pages back, the biggest issue with "audio player that can do Tidal and Spotify including offline" is that pretty much the ONLY way to do this is to have either android or iOS (tidal for e.g. has a legal restriction that lets offline only be used on iOS or android apps). Android Audio, is meant for regular people. It's not hte best, but the sort of thing that is their priority on getting right makes sense for someone like my mom: Bluetooth audio, working audio, multiple apps being able to play sound, music while screen off and some apps able to take priority (e.g. i may wanna hear a call come in even if i'm listening to music). Unfortunately, bit perfect audio is NOT one of those features and for whatever reason google's audio implementation is REALLY BAD in these respects (my personal bias against HAL and ALSA mean that I blame the fact that Android uses them, for the badness). So, fiio's job, although seemingly easier than constructing an OS from scratch like say AK or Sony have done, is to build a working audio subsystem for android - if you've ever tried to work/code with OTHER people's software it can often be HARDER than coding from scratch because now you have all these lines you have to color within. Frankly, it's great that Fiio has done such a good job of the audio subsystem, unfortunately they don't seem to be as good as say apple at UI programming or squishing bugs...so there's that.

Honestly, I really wish google THEMSELVES would put out an audio player, or maybe apple: heck apple could bring back the ipod, the way sony bbrought back the walkman (well, maybe not "back", but walkmans are STILL a thing, unlike ipod, but now only $1000+ audiophile devices) - now with iOS and crazy expensive DAC/Amp for audiophiles. Hell, they could charge $3000 for it and i'm 100% certain this entire forum would go CRAZY over it, myself included.

 

[K1030]

Just some quick tips for better performance. Go to settings---about phone---build number. Click build number over and over very quickly until developer options is unlocked. Go back to main settings screen scroll all the way down to developer options. Three things here you can do is limit background processes (do this everytime you boot or switch to Android mode), force gpu rendering, and turn off app transitions. Do this on your phone too imo.

Also format your SD card outside your DAP. Using your PC; format them to NTFS.

Lastly if using Tidal or Spotify etc...Keep your playlists below 500 songs to give that rock chip and 1GB RAM a break

 

[TjPhysicist]

Just some quick tips for better performance. Go to settings---about phone---build number. Click build number over and over very quickly until developer options is unlocked. Go back to main settings screen scroll all the way down to developer options. Three things here you can do is limit background processes (do this everytime you boot or switch to Android mode), force gpu rendering, and turn off app transitions. Do this on your phone too imo.

Also format your SD card outside your DAP. Using your PC; format them to NTFS.

Lastly if using Tidal or Spotify etc...Keep your playlists below 500 songs to give that rock chip and 1GB RAM a break

oh and also: the 3 "animation" settings, I usually either set it to OFF or 0.5. This doesn't SPEED things UP per say, but try it: makes this seem much faster cuz u're not waiting for slow animations to finish.

 

[seanwee]

oh and also: the 3 "animation" settings, I usually either set it to OFF or 0.5. This doesn't SPEED things UP per say, but try it: makes this seem much faster cuz u're not waiting for slow animations to finish.

I've never noticed any visual difference when I switch the animations off. Where is it noticeable?

 

[LightBlue77]

@TjPhysicist
What i did was simple: play store and services were disabled, but not by me, they somehow became disabled. Now i realised it happened after upgrading to 1.2.0. If this is the reason then fiio not only made a poor job but... Ok i won't say for the moment what i would think of it.
Back to my problem, i entered app details and there was no enable button, but Uninstall button yes. Why would this be there, maybe other people could go to details and see if they have it. And why would it be possible to disable it, that's another mistery. My phone only has stop button, no disable nor uninstall which would be ponitless anyway.
So, please check your devices and let me know what you have in play store and services app details, also any help would be appreciated.

 

[TjPhysicist]

I've never noticed any visual difference when I switch the animations off. Where is it noticeable?

REALLY? It's MOST noticable when you switch BACK (or have to use a device where it isn't off or at 0.5), one place where TO ME it's obvious is when you're "alt tabbing"/switching between apps.

 

[TjPhysicist]

@TjPhysicist
What i did was simple: play store and services were disabled, but not by me, they somehow became disabled. Now i realised it happened after upgrading to 1.2.0. If this is the reason then fiio not only made a poor job but... Ok i won't say for the moment what i would think of it.
Back to my problem, i entered app details and there was no enable button, but Uninstall button yes. Why would this be there, maybe other people could go to details and see if they have it. And why would it be possible to disable it, that's another mistery. My phone only has stop button, no disable nor uninstall which would be ponitless anyway.
So, please check your devices and let me know what you have in play store and services app details, also any help would be appreciated.

like i said, try upgrading. Or rather, PRETEND to manually update. The instructions are on Fiio's site. This SHOULD reinstall the OS (i know you're already on 1.2.0 but basically 'reinstall 1.2.0'). Hopefully that should work. And yea, the disable thing isn't odd but it's VERY odd taht play services has an 'uninstall' button, that's not right.

 

[LightBlue77]

Ok, i’ll try it.
For the record, it's also possible the unit has some serious issues as the sound is poorer then the sound on my lg g3, which is quite old, but maybe it has something to do with the headphones. They have 18 ohms impedance but still whithin supported range.

 

[seanwee]

Ok, i’ll try it.
For the record, it's also possible the unit has some serious issues as the sound is poorer then the sound on my lg g3, which is quite old, but maybe it has something to do with the headphones. They have 18 ohms impedance but still whithin supported range.

FiiO has a track record of releasing very well built products so I think it's unlikely that it is caused by a defective unit.

Its more likely that you don't like the warm sound of the X5iii

 

[Brooko]

Saw some of your recent posts, remembered some of your old ones, so I went back and had a look at your complete history.

@TjPhysicist
What i did was simple: play store and services were disabled, but not by me, they somehow became disabled. Now i realised it happened after upgrading to 1.2.0. If this is the reason then fiio not only made a poor job but... Ok i won't say for the moment what i would think of it.

Yet there are early posts from you stating that when you first got the X5iii with 1.1.8, you actually went about removing all the things you didn't use. I now find it somewhat strange that you upgraded to 1.2.0, claiming you've done nothing, and that FiiO's fault for a "poor job". Guess what - mine is vanilla - everything is working. Difference is that I haven't tried to do whatever "customisations" you have. Suggestion - if you wnat people to help you - own what you have done already. The reason yours is partly borked now is because of what you have done - not FiiO.

@TjPhysicist
Back to my problem, i entered app details and there was no enable button, but Uninstall button yes. Why would this be there, maybe other people could go to details and see if they have it. And why would it be possible to disable it, that's another mistery. My phone only has stop button, no disable nor uninstall which would be ponitless anyway.
So, please check your devices and let me know what you have in play store and services app details, also any help would be appreciated.

I have full playstore functionality - but like I said, mine is vanilla. All I've done is install Neutron, and enable Viper.

What I would suggest is going into setting and doing a factory data reset (it'll wipe everything). Then manually download 1.2.0, and use FiiO's instructions to manually install it rather than upgrading
http://www.fiio.net/en/supports/43
After you get back to a vanilla install - reinstall your DAC drivers again (as I see you've had a lot issues with them - you can find them from the above link). Then from a vanilla (unchanged install), catalogue the issues you are having. The problem that FiiO has is when people supply feedback (blaming FiiO for shoddy software) without giving the information that they've done to their own device. Unfortunately that helps no-one solve any real issues with the device.

 

[LightBlue77]

Thanks for the link.
Still, how do you explain sudden play store disabling without disable button?
Why is uninstall button available?
The dac function is activated, except it won’t give sound when on pure music mode, only on android mode. Sound volume sometimes doesn’t work on dac mode.
If fiio did a good job why would i need to renistall dac drivers?
What i disabled was things like email exchange and apps like these running in background and slowing down the system. I also removed animation as discussed a few posts before.
And also, check out the history of many other software issues this has, stated not only here but on many other sites.
As for the sound, warmth is one thing, quality is another. It shouldn't in any way compare to an old lg phone.

 

[Stealthy]

Would the Fiio X5iii sound good with Advanced Model 3 IEM's?

 

[seanwee]

As for the sound, warmth is one thing, quality is another. It shouldn't in any way compare to an old lg phone.

Ok, then do elaborate more on how it compares to the G3

 

[Brooko]

Thanks for the link.
Still, how do you explain sudden play store disabling without disable button?
Why is uninstall button available?

That I can't answer - but then again, you've obviously been turning other stuff off as well. Any chance this has happened as a result of the settings you've been playing with? [just something to perhaps think about]. Note that if this was a widespread issue - you'd have many people talking about it. Hint - it's not. So simple deduction indicates its something you've done. Easiest way to investigate further is return it back to pristine state.

The dac function is ok, except it won’t give sound when on pure music mode, only on android mode. Sound volume sometimes doesn’t work on dac mode.

Because Pure Music is for playback as a DAP. If I am in Pure Music, then pull down to access the Android menu, set it on DAC mode, return to Pure Music, and then plug via USB - it goes straight to DAC mode. What is it doing for you? Sound may not work on DAC mode if you:
(a) Have the music/sound app already open, and it was previously configured for a different DAC. EG if itunes was using onboard, and then you loaded X5 DAC, and no sound - try closing and opening itunes again - you'll get sound. This isn't a FiiO issue - its simply coding/default action within Windows and/or the sound app you may be using.
(b) Don't have the X5 selected as default playback device

If fiio did a good job why would i need to reinstall dac drivers?

Because at this stage you've been playing around with other stuff - so the only way to be sure to get back to things in their intended environment is to "clean the slate". This eliminates any potential issues with something you may have inadvertently done.

What i disabled was things like email exchange and apps like these running in background and slowing down the system. I also removed animation as discussed a few posts before. And also, check out the history of many other software issues this has, stated not only here but on many other sites.

Well I guess all I can do is give you the other side of the story. For use as a DAP (ie its intended use) I've had virtually no issues. Yes - its occasionally laggy, they've had issues on and off with gapless (seems to be mostly fixed now), and still has no replay gain (the one feature I really miss). But I've had the DAP longer than most, I've been actively involved in testing a lot of their software, and I guess I come from a different POV. I remember my experiences with players which were very basic - no EQ, horrible UIs which relied on incessant scrolling, and a real desert as far as features go. The X5iii isn't meant to be a smart-phone or tablet. Its a DAP, and it does a pretty good job at it (IMO of course).

As for the sound, warmth is one thing, quality is another. It shouldn't in any way compare to an old lg phone.

Ah yes - the old subjective comparison. A lot of people go into purchasing a new DAP and expect night and day differences. Guess what - they don't really exist when you get to a certain level. The actual resolution of most DAPs from around $300 plus is pretty similar, and most fo the time you'll be comparing tonality rather than resolution. Two things to consider:
- when comparing make sure you always volume match accurately. Otherwise the louder will sound better/clearer/more vivid. If that happens to be the smartphone - it will sound better.
- when making comparisons - listen for specific things. Eg choose a track with a lot of micro details and see how both devices render them.

At the end of the day, you are the only one who matters. Just know that your experience (like your opinion) will be unique to you. Personally (for me) I think it is a DAP with very good value, good features, good sonics. The amp is probably the weakest part (which is a pity). With warmer earphones it can be a little too warm for me personally - but with something a little brighter or leaner, I really like the tonality. Neither of us is right or wrong - we're simply different. If you're looking for a different experience and tonality - maybe consider the Cayin N5ii?

 

[FiiO]

What do you mean has its own decoding library?

Dear friend,

Some APPs may have their own decoding library for resampling the music files.

Best regards