[ngoshawk]

Has anybody tried the Opus 1 and X5 3?  I have been told different things about the bass on both.  Ears do vary some I realize that.  Which has better bass and is more neutral with good treble extension.  I have the Shure SE846 iems and am getting tired of the overly forward mids and sub bass and even mid bass and lack of treble extension.  I am going to be slowly getting more neutral gear in general and would like to know if I would prefer the X53 or the Opus 1?  I will only be listening to music and do not have much need if any at all for app and streaming and internet and such.   I don't want forward mids, but also don't want the mids sucked out really either.  I would like them either flat with a little warmth or I don't mind a slight recess in the mids if it is not to a substantial degree.  Which DAP would I like better of these 2?  I also need at least 10 hours of battery life and a smooth and responsive UI that doesn't lag or have many bugs to annoy me.  I am OCD and constant glitches annoy me.  I am easily frustrated by computer and electronics problems in general if that helps.

Thank you

Riley

Hi Riley,

Yes indeed wars can vary. What to me might be a thicker, deeper bass sound can certainly be the song playing, or other functions such as PinkyPowers mentioned. The Opus is a straight forward music player, which sounds great and can be EQ'd to personal sound characteristics. It is a wonderful player.

Nothing fancy, it just plays music. The x5iii has more bells and whistles. And "to me" a warmer sound. My old ears are not perfect, so what I consider darker may actually be closer to neutral. I'm not sure.

I think you would be happy with either, but if you prefer a simple, logical to use DAP, then go with the Opus. Any sound characteristics, which you do not like, can be EQ'd out. Both are worthy of purchase. That is the great part, then modifying to meet ones personal taste gives us that personal touch.

Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Brooko]

  I want the top end to bite and pinch, I want it to be like a whole new level of reality to me, and this is where X5ii comes in handy. X5-3 is undeniably smooth and it will recover all the details up top, but it won't cause tinnitus to anyone and it won't cause any listener fatigue. Out of the two, X5-3 works better listened at high volumes and X5ii works better at low volumes 

 
I know I'm being pedantic, and you probably didn't mean it like this, but as a permanent tinnitus sufferer, I abhor it when flippant remarks like this are stated.
 
One of the most common causes of tinnitus is listening too loud.  You damage your hearing, and the brain basically replaces the frequency you can't hear by a high pitched ringing.  I would give anything to simply be able to listen to silence again.  Its something I can't do now - the ringing is always there.  You learn to live with it so that most times you don't notice it, but when it is quiet, its impossible to block it out.  And for anyone interested - mine wasn't listening too loud for extended periods of time, it was one concert (a 3 hour event) where I was stupid enough not to take hearing protection, and the organisers had the system jacked up too loud.
 
Back to George's comments.

• Stating that you won't get tinnitus or listener fatigue and you can basically listen louder is like saying that you can drive as fast as you like with a new Ferrari, and because of the road handling, you don't need to worry about a seat-belt.  It is patently, utterly wrong.  Always use restraint with IEMs, and try to keep the volume levels well under 80dB.
• No matter what DAP you have - smooth or sharp, thin or full bodied - they can all cause tinnitus or hearing damage if you listen too loud.
• The X5iii does not "work better" if listened to at high volumes.  Its better for your long term hearing if you train yourself to listen at safe volumes - and I can assure you that at 65-75dB you can still get all the enjoyment you need from the X5iii.

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
I know I'm being pedantic, and you probably didn't mean it like this, but as a permanent tinnitus sufferer, I abhor it when flippant remarks like this are stated.
 
One of the most common causes of tinnitus is listening too loud.  You damage your hearing, and the brain basically replaces the frequency you can't hear by a high pitched ringing.  I would give anything to simply be able to listen to silence again.  Its something I can't do now - the ringing is always there.  You learn to live with it so that most times you don't notice it, but when it is quiet, its impossible to block it out.  And for anyone interested - mine wasn't listening too loud for extended periods of time, it was one concert (a 3 hour event) where I was stupid enough not to take hearing protection, and the organisers had the system jacked up too loud.
 
Back to George's comments.

• Stating that you won't get tinnitus or listener fatigue and you can basically listen louder is like saying that you can drive as fast as you like with a new Ferrari, and because of the road handling, you don't need to worry about a seat-belt.  It is patently, utterly wrong.  Always use restraint with IEMs, and try to keep the volume levels well under 80dB.
• No matter what DAP you have - smooth or sharp, thin or full bodied - they can all cause tinnitus or hearing damage if you listen too loud.
• The X5iii does not "work better" if listened to at high volumes.  Its better for your long term hearing if you train yourself to listen at safe volumes - and I can assure you that at 65-75dB you can still get all the enjoyment you need from the X5iii.

 
Sorry, Paul! 
 
We Romanians have a habit of making fun of the downsides. I also suffer from some tinnitus and it's also making my day break sometimes, but Romanians are known for this bad habit. There is a cemetery in Romania called Sapanta where people write the worst and funny part of the deceased on the memorials. For example when someone who liked women too much dies, they write that on his memorial and in a funny way. It's part of trying to cheer yourself up 

 
Sadly, I don't think I can ever get rid of my tinnitus so the most I can do is joke about it.... 
 
Both me and my wife and from a similar experience - that one room concert where the volume was tuned way too high. I remember feeling some kind of dizziness and nausea afterwards - so I cannot even say how loud it was. Left some kind of scar or something - I get a headache when I am exposed to bass that is too loud. 
 
I don't advice blowing one's eardrums up - I'm not a loud listener. at east not necessarily. Somewhere around 85 - 90dB for the first 30 minutes or so, then 60-70dB for prolonged listening, even lower volumes. 
 
Anyways, I'm sorry if I offend anyone by the figures of speech I use. It would be worse if I wasn't a sufferer of the condition myself to be honest, but staying late at night and hearing that tiny hiss in my ears that I cannot get rid of can be quite annoying to me as well - I feel like laughing about it takes some of the edge off 

 
 
I recommend decent listening levels as well! 
 
Of course it can - it was mostly a figure of speech, sorry if it's straightforward wrong 
 
About the last one, I think that both work well at both volumes, but by comparison, I seemed to increase volume a bit more on X5-3. Might be because I was just getting used to it though - so the statement might be null from my side 

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

Lol, I'm doing that test right now.


I bumped the track skip for the pic, I realize they aren't on the same track here

The X5-3 is much better in overall smoothness. I'm not talking about primary frequency response where the X5-3 would sound much darker, but the overall way it presents details. The X5-1 sounds less defined. However, the bass and mids sound slightly more full overall with more impact and more presence. The overall presentation of the X5-3 is cleaner than the X5-1. I'll go in to some more detail in my review as it's difficult to articulate.

​ We both ( If you listen to a lot of Floyd as I do....and it seems you do..) have the same sonic pref.  I love the Mojo and the X5iii. The devil is in the details  and I am down for some Fire.
 
Switching Classic groups
 
 
 

 
If mercy's a business,
then, i wish it for you
More than just ashes
when your dreams come true.
 
Fire..
Fire on the mountain

 

[TheoS53]

My review for the X5iii can be found at https://goo.gl/68GZ9i

The X5iii has been an interesting device for me as I, and a few others, had lost trust and confidence in their ability to release proper quality, well designed and thought-out device. The X5iii, though, seems to have turned things around completely.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  My review for the X5iii can be found at https://goo.gl/68GZ9i

The X5iii has been an interesting device for me as I, and a few others, had lost trust and confidence in their ability to release proper quality, well designed and thought-out device. The X5iii, though, seems to have turned things around completely.

 
Nice review, @TheoS53 ! 
 
You own an audio shop now, or it's just a very tidy collection? 

 

[ngoshawk]

My review for the X5iii can be found at https://goo.gl/68GZ9i


The X5iii has been an interesting device for me as I, and a few others, had lost trust and confidence in their ability to release proper quality, well designed and thought-out device. The X5iii, though, seems to have turned things around completely.

Excellent review. Love the layout, and the top quality offerings on your blog. Something for me to shoot for!

Well done, sir.

 

[TheoS53]

   
Nice review, @TheoS53 ! 
 
You own an audio shop now, or it's just a very tidy collection? 

 
 

Excellent review. Love the layout, and the top quality offerings on your blog. Something for me to shoot for!

Well done, sir.

Cheers for the kind words, gents. 
It's a shop I'm affiliated with, but I do not own it

 

[Riley Beale]

Lol, I'm doing that test right now.


I bumped the track skip for the pic, I realize they aren't on the same track here

The X5-3 is much better in overall smoothness. I'm not talking about primary frequency response where the X5-3 would sound much darker, but the overall way it presents details. The X5-1 sounds less defined. However, the bass and mids sound slightly more full overall with more impact and more presence. The overall presentation of the X5-3 is cleaner than the X5-1. I'll go in to some more detail in my review as it's difficult to articulate.

Thank you.  I guess I misunderstood the term smooth as a super lush warm sound.  I don't really understand the terminology some.
 
That is great
 
Thank you
 
Riley

 

[jeffhawke]

  My review for the X5iii can be found at https://goo.gl/68GZ9i

The X5iii has been an interesting device for me as I, and a few others, had lost trust and confidence in their ability to release proper quality, well designed and thought-out device. The X5iii, though, seems to have turned things around completely.

I don't mean to sound overly appreciative of @TheoS53 

but I honestly believe that this review format should become a head-fi standard (especially the scoring system) to be followed by every reviewer. In fact, the issue I have with many reviews (and reviewers) is that by having very experienced, somewhat experienced and unexperienced reviewers, the standard  (and the quality) of the reviews is way too volatile. By having a common standard that every reviewer adheres to, there would be a level of consistency in the reports, and it would be so much easier to make comparisons. May the powers that be listen to my plea! 

 

[TheoS53]

  I don't mean to sound overly appreciative of @TheoS53 

but I honestly believe that this review format should become a head-fi standard (especially the scoring system) to be followed by every reviewer. In fact, the issue I have with many reviews (and reviewers) is that by having very experienced, somewhat experienced and unexperienced reviewers, the standard  (and the quality) of the reviews is way too volatile. By having a common standard that every reviewer adheres to, there would be a level of consistency in the reports, and it would be so much easier to make comparisons. May the powers that be listen to my plea! 

Thanks buddy, much appreciated.

I spent quite a lot of time setting up separate rating systems for DAPs, DACs, Amps, Headphones, and IEMs in an attempt to limit the subjective part of a review as much as possible. I know from experience that it's difficult (as a consumer) to get a clear picture of a product when much of it is based on opinion, rather than a baseline system to compare. 

 

[Djsenjaya]

Who has any luck connecting x5iii to mojo with usb cable to play dsd without problems. (DOP)

 

[Riley Beale]

I like the universal stacking kit FIio.  It looks pretty nice and it works with Mojo.  That is Aces in my book.  Excellent jib Fiio.
 
Thank you for working on that so hard.  I actually would carry that stack around.  I never thought I would even consider carrying around a Mojo or anything else with a DAP in my pocket.
 
Great work Fiio!

Riley

 

[vincik]

would be nice to read a sound quality comparison with astell junior, if anyone have the chance

 

[nekromantik]

Those in UK ea audio website states in stock. I'm still waiting for amp3 who not updated date yet.