[JWolf]

  Right, I am finally at home, so here is the early impression I promised: The actual tonal quality of the new X5II is actually pretty similar to that of X5II. That is, both have that signature FiiO house sound that is neutral while tilting ever slightly to a very faded warmish tone. The most noticeable difference between the two for me is the 'grandness' of the image - it is very hard to pinpoint a number, but I'll say the new X5II is about 30~40% large in its image than X5II. Everything sounds grander, more specious and better separated, thus everything also sounds more defined and refined. It will be the equivalent of moving a live performance from a private club to a concert hall. Compared to the X7 (with AM3 / balanced amp module) however, I'll say X7 probably still hold a 10~20% advantage for sounding even bigger / grander. X7 is also ever so slightly more neutral. That being sad, I do think the new X5III is closed to that of X7 than it is to the old X5II in overall SQ.
 
I saw some of you are asking about gapless - as far as I can tell, gapless is not working on the default FiiO music app, but it works just fine on Neutron and any third party app that supports gapless. As far as I can tell, third party apps sounds just as good as FiiO's app. I assume it is because FiiO already works out the SRC issue in Android Lollipop.
 
p/s: regarding the volume dial - it has a little resistance to it and can't be easily turned. You do have to push it with your finger a little to change volume, so I don't think there will be any issue with accidental volume change.

 
You compare the X5II to the X5II. Are you meaning X5III or X3II? You make this all rather confusing.

 

[lostinthesauce]

All this talk about battery life...hasn't anyone heard of battery banks?
 
Worried about having to charge your DAP once a day...or changing the battery on the fly...just wow.  Pack along a battery bank, slap the USB cable in and charge on the go.  A bit of a pain if one is using the OTG feature, but as we have some who want to download streaming music obviously people can figure out work arounds.

 

[JWolf]

  simon740,,the suggested price in the EU is ERU 489.99

 
What will the price be in UK pounds?

 

[x RELIC x]

The battery life is not only dependant on the amp. Running dual DACs will also drain the battery, as well as the SoC load, 4" screen power-on time, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.. We don't know under what operation conditions FiiO has used for their recommended 10 hour battery life. All of FiiO's DAPs in the past have been stated to be around 10hrs battery life. With the X5/X5ii the battery life almost doubles to 20hrs when using line-out (no amp) and I get almost 30hrs with digital coaxial out (bypassing both DAC and amp).

My AK240 only lasts around 5-6hrs when playing DSD/highres files exclusively (which is normal from the manufacturer) because of the extra processing load, so 10 hours from my current FiiO DAPs with the same conditions is very welcome. Shoot, even when using optical out on the AK240 the amp is still engaged and the run time is just as poor. Stupid implementation from AK there. Sony's DAPs, IMO, go for a consumer friendly very long battery life, but with the sacrifice of power output. Their SMaster DAC/amp is geared toward efficiency, while their marketing team has sold the world on the 'Sony SMaster quality' spin.

If 10hrs is a deal breaker then there are other options to acquire a longer running device. Right now the battery life is what it is.

 

[JWolf]

Please have a good amp that can power the HD650.

 
It's already stated that it handles up to 150 ohms.

 

[cirodts]

   
Most reviews I've read of the X5ii that compares it to the X3ii says that the difference is not that great and that the X3ii is a better value.

I tried several times and X3II x5II and the difference is not at all easy, x5II and much, much more open, natural, detailed and has excellent separation between the instruments, the X3II is much more closed and dark as sound
l x5II is not a small upgrade compared to X3II

 

[cirodts]

 
I'd say thats point based on perceived value. Owned the X3ii and recently switched to the X5ii. Made a noticeable difference in clarity and detail on my Noble Sage. That being said, wether it was a big enough difference to justify the price difference (retail) is another question and up to personal opinion I suppose. Picked up the X5ii used for a ridiculous price and was able to sell the X3ii for not much less. I am definitely interested in the X5iii even after the recent purchase, and even if Fiio follows the same formula and releases the X3iii behind it with similar features, I'd still shell out the extra dough for the X5iii for the dual slots and a similar SQ difference. 

fully agree with you I tried several times and X3II x5II and the difference is not at all easy, x5II and much, much more open, natural, detailed and has excellent separation between the instruments, the X3II is much more closed and dark as sound
l x5II is not a small upgrade compared to X3II

 

[nmatheis]

All this talk about battery life...hasn't anyone heard of battery banks?

Worried about having to charge your DAP once a day...or changing the battery on the fly...just wow.  Pack along a battery bank, slap the USB cable in and charge on the go.  A bit of a pain if one is using the OTG feature, but as we have some who want to download streaming music obviously people can figure out work arounds.

Pretty sure there are Quick Charge 2.0 portable batteries, too. So you can top off very quickly on the go if needed.

 

[talkingparrot]

I wish this had the ability to play 300 ohm headphones. Looks like I'm heading to Onkyo

 

[Holypal]

I wish this had the ability to play 300 ohm headphones. Looks like I'm heading to Onkyo

Any player can play 300 ohm headphones. It's how good you want. Does Onkyo drives better than X5iii? Maybe, but by how much?

 

[warrior1975]

Specs look real nice on this device, love the fact that it has V4A built in too. Makes me really look forward to the X7ii.

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
Most reviews I've read of the X5ii that compares it to the X3ii says that the difference is not that great and that the X3ii is a better value.

 
Listened to both, the difference is HUGE. 
 
I guess it depends on what you listen for in music. For a treble head who loves clear and sparkly treble, X3ii is very far from x5ii. 
 

  With regard to the X5II, I thought it was only a small upgrade to the X3II.
 
I have good hopes, however, for the X5 III.   I heard a similar chipset in the Cayin i5 and that provided a very nice, smooth sound.
 

 
The more people say that it's smooth the more I'm confused, especially since X5ii was brighter than X5 to my ears 

 

[FizzlePop]

I wish this had the ability to play 300 ohm headphones. Looks like I'm heading to Onkyo

FiiO is always modest about this. The E12, which was a monster of a portable amp, puts out almost a watt and FiiO only rated it up to 300 ohms I believe. 
 
And the Onkyo and X5 III have very similar measurements, so you won't find much difference going that route. 

 

[JWolf]

  i have learned, that US prices are presented without tax, which would explain that circa 20% increase for EU. Cant wait for sound impressions btw. Isn't today the realease day in China?

 
But I can order an X5III without tax in the US from some online shops such as Amazon. I'm going to be  in the US in June so if I decide to get an X5III, I can do so at the US price and I won't even have to pay import.

 

[originalsnuffy]

   
Listened to both, the difference is HUGE. 
 
I guess it depends on what you listen for in music. For a treble head who loves clear and sparkly treble, X3ii is very far from x5ii. 
 
 
The more people say that it's smooth the more I'm confused, especially since X5ii was brighter than X5 to my ears 

I do think the X5Ii was brighter than the X5 original.  Similarly, the X3II is brighter than the original X3 (I have owned both and still have the X3II).
 
I was suggesting that the X5III is likely to have similar sound signature to the Cayin i5 which uses related chipsets.  The Cayin has a great sound, and I would expect something similar from the X5III.
 
Early reports suggest the X5III has a sound signature in between the original X5 and the X5II.