I'm looking at the X5iii the cayin n5ii and r6 to possibly replace my X3ii so i can use spotify offline and try a balanced output .
While looking for a player to replace my Xduoo X10(sound degradation due to battery), I mainly considered the FiiO X5iii, Cayin N5ii and Hidizs AP 200.
I would place the 3 DAPs as such when it comes to sound. N5ii > AP 200> X5iii.
The X5iii was really underwhelming to me as I had always thought highly of the X5 series. Comparing the N5ii and the X5iii I would even say that the N5ii is an upgrade from the X5iii. The N5ii has is noticeably cleaner sounding and has much better layering and instrument separation compared to the X5iii. Transients on the N5ii are also much better than the X5iii.
When it comes to soundstage the N5ii is impressive but the X5iii just comes across as normal.
Yes, there may be some people who appreciate the dark and organic sound of the X5iii but not me.
And from what I have read from numerous sites many reviewers also say that the N5ii is superior to the FiiO X5iii.
I have not tried out the X3ii but I did try out the newer X3iii. The X3iii is relatively more neutral compared to the X5iii and this actually makes it sound cleaner and detailed. However, the soundstage is lacking depth when compared to the above 2 players and simply sounds 2D
Edit: I forgot to add that the N5ii also has a much smoother UI compared to the X5iii. In addition, the N5ii manages to scan all of my 10.8k songs in under a minute but the X5iii only managed to scan 6-7k songs in about 20 minutes(I gave up and opted for folder browser instead)