[Shenook]

  Why does objecting to unnecessary additions classify me as 'smug'?
 
Wi-fi does not contribute to the core purpose of a flagship audiophile DAP. It is tertiary.    It so happens that I was one of the first owners of iBasso's DX100 (2nd batch), and very few people used the Wi-fi function, partly because iBasso added it more as an afterthought than a serious feature, and mostly because it was tertiary to the core purpose of the DAP.
 
Even on a mass-produced cellphone, it is widely known that wi-fi guzzles power, and audiophile DAPs already struggle to achieve high performance with worthwhile battery duration, moderate weight, and moderate size. Just take a look at the Calyx-M, which is reported to be managing only 4hrs, and that's with the Wi-fi feature abandoned! In fact, you might ask yourself why the Wi-fi feature was abandoned on this DAP.
 
And who said anything about DSD? Ironically, I've already said in one of the Fiio X7 threads that I don't consider DSD to be necessary.

I differ in opinion on WiFi. I feel that if implemented correctly WiFi is an asset for a number of reasons. WiFi sync, DLNA playback, ota updates would be nice besides Spotify, mog and other sites. My phone is terrible with battery with wifi agreed but when WiFi is off my phone beats anything in the market or is fairly close. WiFi can be turned off when not in use.
 
well jury is out on DSD but am leaning toward your thoughtful opinion on it. I was just being snarky for the sake of impact.
 
so we can agree to disagree. WiFi in my belief is necessary but WiFi done right not ibasso style.

 

[Mython]

NW-ZX1 could be hooked up to a portable amp (Portaphile 627 or whatever), I suppose, to give you all the functionality you require. Granted, it doesn't offer true line-out, though.
 
Since you are not particularly concerned about size, I genuinely think you'd get more of what you desire by going with a cell phone or NW-ZX1, and hooking these up to a small portable amp or DAC-amp. That way, you get a nice interface, and proper wi-fi (and better software to take advantage of it).
 
OK, so you're not keen on Android, but then I suppose you could even buy a Nokia smartphone and connect that to a dac-amp, if you can find one willing to marry with an appropriate digital protocol.
 
 
Please don't think this post is about fobbing you off, in relation to the X7 discussion - I really think that your requirements point towards a 2-box solution rather than a single DAP.

 

[Shenook]

  Have you considered that the DX100/HDP-R10 might fulfill the majority of your requirements, Shenook? (genuine question)
 
 
 
 
On a different note, there's another high-power (but relatively limited functionality) Chinese DAP just being released here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/708636/qls-qa360-another-dsd-capable-dap

well I was considering the dx100 but after much research decided x5 is a good stop gap while the dx90 rolls out, x7 gets developed and x1. I am really interested in the oppo ha1 as well next though. So I can get another taste of sabre before diving in.
 
now that other one you showed here I will look into. I don't care that it is ugly if it's great with good price performance. I think you may agree ak240 is not a price performance king nor do I consider it "the best". Thanks for the link.

 

[Mython]

Yes, I will very probably get a DX90 soon.
 
BTW, my suggestions, above, were specifically in relation to your previous remarks (many days back) about wanting a DAP with some decent grunt, and your remarks today, about wanting wi-fi. Oh, and the Nokias are about the only widely-available cellphone I can think of, that uses Windows, which you seemed to like as an OS.
 
 
 
 
Yes, AK240 is an abomination, price-wise.

 

[Mimouille]

I find it funny that there is such a focus on high res and dsd. I love music and that means I love almost all kinds of music, follow hundreds of independent groups and sub genres etc. Maybe 1% of all new music is offered in anything but Redbook. So people who listen only to highres limit themselves to the same "audiophile albums". Knowing that many scientists argue there is no benefit of highres to human ears and also given the fact that high res can do nothing for crappy recordings, I find it a bit ridiculous to focus on it. I listen to 99% of Redbook, so that is what I judge a player by and there are strong differences between players already with Redbook. Seeing people buying 5k of gear and then all listening to the same ten jazz / vocal / classical albums because the recording is great is, to me, a bit sad.

 

[Silverprout]

I find it funny that there is such a focus on high res and dsd.

I find it a bit ridiculous to focus on it.

 

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

@Mimouille
 
It is not something Fiio can change... almost all new DAC must be equipped with DSD capabilities nowadays...
 
although frankly, most of my favorite albums are all not in highres format... and probably never will...

 

[Makiah S]

   

+1

 

[Mython]

I myself have many hundreds of CDs, and only a few albums in Hi-res (I never jumped on the SACD or DVDA bandwagon), but it wasn't really all that long ago that I had several cassette walkmans and a trunk-load of cassette tapes. I had quite a bit of vinyl, too...
 
 
But Hi-res will soon become the de-facto standard, as public awareness is increasing, record labels are seeing it as a potential shot-in-the-arm for their flagging back catalogue revenue streams, CDs are becoming redundant in the face of digital downloads (so resolution is no longer limited by the capacity of the optical disc standard upon which it is stamped), and portable electronics hardware is becoming easily capable of handling hi-res content. It's the way the industry is moving.
 
This isn't an argument for the supposed superiority of 'higher-than-redbook' resolution content, on a subjective  psychoacoustic level.  It's simply an acknowledgment that the audio industry is moving inexorably in the direction of hi-res. So although I don't personally give 2 hoots about DSD (or DXD, for that matter), I can understand why someone who's purchased some audiophile recordings in DSD might wish to be able to play them portably (capacity limitations notwithstanding). ...but, on the flipside, unless there is provision for at least 500gb of combined storage (be it soldered on the main board, or mSATA, or 2x fullsize SD), the provision of DSD support does lose credibility, anyway.
As time goes on, I currently anticipate that I'll probably be buying most of my music in 24/96, as it is a compromise in terms of cost and memory capacity, and I don't hear any audible benefit (at least on portable gear) going past that particular resolution.
 
 
 
I see your point about people restricting their listening based upon a narrow few available uber-audiophile recordings, Mim, and there's undoubtedly some truth in that - there's invariably a geek fringe minority in almost every endeavor in life, and it is rather sad (in both senses of the word).
 
But, for the rest of us, Hi-res will become increasingly ubiquitous, whether we approve of that or not, so why not buy hardware which can cater for it (within reason), if it is easily available?

 

 

[MonkeyShots]

I have to agree on the note that fiio should concentrate on the basic things. They are in the audiophile equipment market and thus they should target the needs of this markets target group.
 
From my perspective the intersection of this group and people that primarily listen to their music via streaming services is rather small.
 
Instead of keeping to add to the feature-wish list, I believe it should also be considered that each feature fiio adds to the X7 will:
- extend the research and production time
- add to the production cost of the unit
- add to the complexity of the software and thus introduce new bugs
- restrict time and money fiio can spend on the important features and their implementation in hard- and software.

 

[Silverprout]

If they need to implement DSD to make the 16/44 sounds better let's go to HI-res !

 

 

[Mython]

Anyone else get the feeling these X7 threads have rapidly become ghost ships?
 
Very little input from James, in the discussion.

 

[Makiah S]

I myself have many hundreds of CDs, and only a few albums in Hi-res (I never jumped on the SACD or DVDA bandwagon), but it wasn't really all that long ago that I had several cassette walkmans and a trunk-load of cassette tapes. I had quite a bit of vinyl, too...


But Hi-res will soon become the de-facto standard, as public awareness is increasing, record labels are seeing it as a potential shot-in-the-arm for their flagging back catalogue revenue streams, CDs are becoming redundant in the face of digital downloads (so resolution is no longer limited by the capacity of the optical disc standard upon which it is stamped), and portable electronics hardware is becoming easily capable of handling hi-res content. It's the way the industry is moving.

This isn't an argument for the supposed superiority of 'higher-than-redbook' resolution content, on a subjective  psychoacoustic level.  It's simply an acknowledgment that the audio industry is moving inexorably in the direction of hi-res. So although I don't personally give 2 hoots about DSD (or DXD, for that matter), I can understand why someone who's purchased some audiophile recordings in DSD might wish to be able to play them portably (capacity limitations notwithstanding). ...but, on the flipside, unless there is provision for at least 500gb of combined storage (be it soldered on the main board, or mSATA, or 2x fullsize SD), the provision of DSD support does lose credibility, anyway.
As time goes on, I currently anticipate that I'll probably be buying most of my music in 24/96, as it is a compromise in terms of cost and memory capacity, and I don't hear any audible benefit (at least on portable gear) going past that particular resolution.



I see your point about people restricting their listening based upon a narrow few available uber-audiophile recordings, Mim, and there's undoubtedly some truth in that - there's invariably a geek fringe minority in almost every endeavor in life, and it is rather sad (in both senses of the word).

But, for the rest of us, Hi-res will become increasingly ubiquitous, whether we approve of that or not, so why not buy hardware which can cater for it (within reason), if it is easily available?  

indeed. its the next step forward. As portable media storage capcity increases the industry will push higher res denser files to fill those drives. Hdd manufactors will supply the drives n music industry will generate demand for denser storage capcities. Its a capitilistic win win at the consumers expense

heres to hoping Cds last another decade

 

[Silverprout]

X7 threads have rapidly become ghost ships?  

You are not wrong.
 

indeed. its the next step forward. As portable media storage capcity increases the industry will push higher res denser files to fill those drives. Hdd manufactors will supply the drives n music industry will generate demand for denser storage capcities. Its a capitilistic win win at the consumers expense

heres to hoping Cds last another decade

Hi-res is not the main problem...
I remember my scepticism period...  once upon a time : i go to the hifi luxury store of my city, CD players were at 10000€ and speakers at 25000€.
With a copy of a CD ripped and mastered with nero... no lossy compression at all.
The shop assistant listen 30sec... and stop it, he goes to his shelf and came back with the original CD.
Put it in the drive (with a smile)... the loss of detail on my copy was amazing.
My state of the art lossless ripped CD (gold dye audio CDR)  sounded like crap.

 

[Mython]

heres to hoping Cds last another decade

 
 
I still buy 2nd hand CDs and, if I have a choice between buying a 16/44.1 download or buying the same content on CD, I prefer to buy the CD. I won't deny that, for the new releases, I do have a twinge of guilt, from an environmental perspective, so I may change before CDs stop being produced. In either case, it won't stop me buying 2nd hand CDs of older albums, though.
 
 
I'm losing interest in the X7, simply because I feel it is lacking clarity in its intent, but whether I buy an X5, DX90, or whatever, I will be playing some 24/96 and a whole heap of 16/44.1, simply because I own so much of it, like Mimouille.