[west0ne]

Couldn't they switch processors? The Hiby R6 uses a Snapdragon processor that supports Android 6, although admittedly, that player isn't available yet on the retail market. (And even Android 6 is an outdated OS.)

Is there a reason why the DAP market is so far behind the curve compared to phones and tablets? The Samsung Galaxy S9 ships with Android 8. As mentioned, my Samsung Galaxy Tab A (which cost considerably less than the X5) came with Android 7. Conversely, a Headphonia review of the R6 says Android 6 "is one of the most advanced versions we’ve seen in Android DAP market yet." Android 6 came out in 2015, and was superseded by Android 7 in 2016. Android 5 isn't even supported for security updates anymore, but FIIO is using it as the OS in their flagship DAP because of their choice of processor? What am I missing?

Fiio have mentioned in the past that they don't buy in the sort of volume required to get a deal with Qualcomm on the Snapdragon processors. If the processor/memory pushed prices too high they would probably price themselves out of the market.

There is no reason why Android 5 can't be the base for a decent DAP, the problem really comes when you start to take advantage of the other features that come with Android such as the ability to install apps, many of which will be slow on the hardware as they have been coded for more capable devices.

Other DAPs use Android at their core but have locked down the OS in such a way that they only perform as a DAP with the stock player and no third party app support.

I'm sure at some point we will find that streaming apps and the like will stop supporting older releases of Android leaving us in a position where we can only use the X5iii as a DAP with the stock player.

 

[GiacomoHoldini]

Snapdragon processors cost quite a bit of money which doesn't make sense for DAPs which focus on AUDIO.

That's a fair answer to my question, at least regarding DAPs marketed primarily or exclusively as self-contained audio playing devices. FIIO, among other companies, is clearly intent on expanding past that niche market to tap into the streaming market, since they go out of their way to tout the streaming capability of their devices, notably the X5iii and the X7ii. Literally, the first phrase FIIO uses to describe the X7ii is "Android-based." That comes before the audiophile descriptors of "High Resolution" or "Lossless." On their description for the X5iii, they make the explicit claim, "In Android mode, users are free to install any third-party apps to suit their listening needs." If my experience is any indication, that really isn't true. By using an outdated OS (even a "deeply customized" one), increasing numbers of apps are likely to be incompatible with the device. If they really want to compete in the streaming market, they're going to need to step up. If they don't intend to (or simply can't) back up their words with capable hardware, it might be better if they stopped making the claims in the first place.

 

[seanwee]

That's a fair answer to my question, at least regarding DAPs marketed primarily or exclusively as self-contained audio playing devices. FIIO, among other companies, is clearly intent on expanding past that niche market to tap into the streaming market, since they go out of their way to tout the streaming capability of their devices, notably the X5iii and the X7ii. Literally, the first phrase FIIO uses to describe the X7ii is "Android-based." That comes before the audiophile descriptors of "High Resolution" or "Lossless." On their description for the X5iii, they make the explicit claim, "In Android mode, users are free to install any third-party apps to suit their listening needs." If my experience is any indication, that really isn't true. By using an outdated OS (even a "deeply customized" one), increasing numbers of apps are likely to be incompatible with the device. If they really want to compete in the streaming market, they're going to need to step up. If they don't intend to (or simply can't) back up their words with capable hardware, it might be better if they stopped making the claims in the first place.

Users are free to INSTALL. They never said anything about smooth usage

Jokes aside, some marketing inevitable. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

The X7ii is actually quite a bit smoother and nicer to use compared to the X5iii.

 

[dissembled]

Almost 1000 pages in this thread. Just...wow. Why is this player so dang popular here? Is it the Android operating system and UI? Or is it just sonically superior compared to anything out there? I don't own it and have not had the time to peruse all 1000 pages, so I must ask: why, people, why? I do own the X5 II and am looking to upgrade, and hence my curiosity.

 

[GiacomoHoldini]

Almost 1000 pages in this thread. Just...wow. Why is this player so dang popular here?

The volume of the thread is not necessarily directly proportional to the device's popularity. I wouldn't expect you to read all 901 pages (I certainly haven't), but if you'll peruse just the last five or ten, you'll see a lot of the volume is due to people having problems with the device and seeking answers.

 

[HungryPanda]

Most people who are happy with it do not post a lot

 

[arionomus]

Most people who are happy with it do not post a lot

I too imagine this to be true and as a mid-fi device with a handful of quirks, I still think the x5iii is worth the asking price. Even better if you can snag one at a discount.

But I wonder if Fiio's reluctance to implement even minor fixes and software upgrades is due to the limitations of the developers or the device itself. The stock music app is a mess but the fact that better written and supported apps struggle and hiccup through regular operations seems to indicate that even with future fixes implemented, the device may simply be too underpowered for smooth performance.

Almost 1000 pages in this thread. Just...wow. Why is this player so dang popular here? Is it the Android operating system and UI? Or is it just sonically superior compared to anything out there? I don't own it and have not had the time to peruse all 1000 pages, so I must ask: why, people, why? I do own the X5 II and am looking to upgrade, and hence my curiosity.

Maybe hold out until the 4th iteration?

 

[seanwee]

Almost 1000 pages in this thread. Just...wow. Why is this player so dang popular here? Is it the Android operating system and UI? Or is it just sonically superior compared to anything out there? I don't own it and have not had the time to peruse all 1000 pages, so I must ask: why, people, why? I do own the X5 II and am looking to upgrade, and hence my curiosity.

What kind of upgrade are you looking for? Do you really need streaming or are you just looking for better sound quality?

Personally I don't think the X5iii is the best sounding in this price range but YMMV.

By the way, the number of pages does not indicate how popular a product is lol

 

[HappyHelmet]

I do not want to extract the MP4 audio to .wav and recompress as MP3, as this will create more signal loss and likely be a larger file anyway.
So how about it? What's the best option on this device for playing just the audio from all MP4 videos in shuffle mode from a single folder? Will I need to update ES File Explorer or is there a better option?

I wanted to update on this because you guys have so many horror stories about installing apps on the X5 iii, so it made me reconsider using VLC, as was suggested here.

There's a command line program called ffmpeg which has the ability to extract the audio stream unaltered from mp4 files as output to m4a. To create a batch file and convert many files quickly, you can copy a dir listing of the mp4 files into Excel or Open Office Calc, then put a formula in the next column that would concatenate the correct command line elements with each filename. This column's results were then pasted into a batch file and run in a command prompt window. ffmpeg install dir was also added to the PATH environment variable prior to this. So I used the following formula in Open Office Calc, where the filename list is in column A(minus the .mp4 extension), and the batch file lines are in column B:

=CONCATENATE("ffmpeg -i "; CHAR(34); A1; ".mp4"; CHAR(34); " -vn -c:a copy "; CHAR(34); A1; ".m4a"; CHAR(34))

I was able to convert over 300 files this way very quickly. They take up roughly one half the disk space of a MP4 file each. I played some already in Pure Music mode and all so far have worked fine.

 

[aangen]

Almost 1000 pages in this thread. Just...wow. Why is this player so dang popular here? Is it the Android operating system and UI? Or is it just sonically superior compared to anything out there? I don't own it and have not had the time to peruse all 1000 pages, so I must ask: why, people, why? I do own the X5 II and am looking to upgrade, and hence my curiosity.

For me it was a simple step. First I had an X3, still own it, still love it. Then I had an X5, more of the same. The 3rd gen X5 looked nice, can handle two memory cards, and it was under $400. Okay fine. I still am very happy with it. I am not looking for better a year after purchasing it. I do use it just to listen to music. No Tidal or any of that. Normally it's just my SE 846 iems plugged in and that's it.

 

[MinnieOne]

I wanted to update on this because you guys have so many horror stories about installing apps on the X5 iii, so it made me reconsider using VLC, as was suggested here.

There's a command line program called ffmpeg which has the ability to extract the audio stream unaltered from mp4 files as output to m4a. To create a batch file and convert many files quickly, you can copy a dir listing of the mp4 files into Excel or Open Office Calc, then put a formula in the next column that would concatenate the correct command line elements with each filename. This column's results were then pasted into a batch file and run in a command prompt window. ffmpeg install dir was also added to the PATH environment variable prior to this. So I used the following formula in Open Office Calc, where the filename list is in column A(minus the .mp4 extension), and the batch file lines are in column B:

=CONCATENATE("ffmpeg -i "; CHAR(34); A1; ".mp4"; CHAR(34); " -vn -c:a copy "; CHAR(34); A1; ".m4a"; CHAR(34))

I was able to convert over 300 files this way very quickly. They take up roughly one half the disk space of a MP4 file each. I played some already in Pure Music mode and all so far have worked fine.

Thanks for sharing, good info. ffmpeg also has loads of front ends so that people wanting to do this and are scared off (me) by command line stuff can probably set it up easier.

btw - if anyone has a simple method to extract music from blu-ray, I'd love to see it.

 

[FiiO]

Snapdragon processors cost quite a bit of money which doesn't make sense for DAPs which focus on AUDIO.

You must also remember that the DAP market is still very small compared to the smartphone market. It's also likely that DAP makers can't fulfill the minimum order quantity needed for the processors.

Samsung owns their own processor fabrication plants so you can't really compare it like that.

Thanks for the kind understanding.

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

Thanks. Anything that indicates my X5III has no such fault is music to my ears. I am happy to find out that such comparisons don't mean a thing!

Dear friend,

Yes, please don't worry so much about that.

Best regards

 

[Croptop]

Fired up my X5III this morning and received an OTA firmware update to 1.2.1. Things seem to be working fine but I can't really tell what has been updated. So far, no posts (here or on the Fiio site) as to what has changed but I'm sure that's coming.

 

[micgao]

Is it fine to apply the OTA update with a rooted device?