[PhilW]

It has been avaliable in the UK since Wednesday!

I was replying to frankraindog 

sorry i should have quoted him.
 
ATB

 

[twister6]

 

Hi guys. Anyone knows if Fiio will sell a leather case to protect the X7?

 
It has been confirmed on several occasions in this thread: YES
Fiio also confirmed it to me by email. When? Now that's another story  

 
And I was told Dignis is working on one too!

 

[twister6]

2015-12-09
X7 firmware version 1.3
Download link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ofzp2yqmibkltwh/X7_v5_20151204-ota-update-FW1.3.zip?dl=0
The following changes and improvements were made to firmware version 1.3:
1. Implemented / fixed pulsar light on/off settings customization
2. Fixed issue where the X7 played music without sound / did not play
3. Implemented Over-the-air push notifications for future updates
4. Implemented idle poweroff option for X7 (not just FiiO Music)
5. Screen rotation set to off by default (please turn off screen rotation when downloading over-the-air updates to prevent interruption)
6. FiiO Music app version: 1.6

.....

 
Joe and @JamesFiiO, thank you for the update.  Appreciate the idle poweroff - comes very handy in extending the battery life!
 
But, here is a problem.  After a few initial fw releases, you finally hit the jackpot with fw1.1 - it had a noticeable sound improvement in every aspect, and restored my faith in FiiO moving into summit-fi direction

  I didn't get to upgrade to fw 1.3 (sounds like 1.2 was some internal intermediate release you guys skipped?) until last night, and... sound quality took a step back again

  The sound is thicker (more in lower mids) and heavier now, affecting transparency and layering which is not as good as it was in fw 1.1, and in some tracks it even gets a bit congested.
 
I know you guys working hard on updates and optimization, but it would have been great if we can get back the magic of fw 1.1 sound signature

  And btw, my opinion on this is shared by a few other X7 reviewers with whom I discussed this update last night.
 
Looking forward to fw 1.4

 

[Blommen]

Got my x7 a couple of days ago from ea audio in the eu. I like it so far.

The sound is excellent but I worry when I read that the sound eq was better with firmware 1.1 than it is now with 1.3. I have skipped 1.1 and only heard the newest but what concers me is, if in the future we will have to evalueate every firmware update before installing it because the eq might be worse?

Also I cant wait to get a better case for it.

 

[jynxed]

Joe and @JamesFiiO
, thank you for the update.  Appreciate the idle poweroff - comes very handy in extending the battery life!

But, here is a problem.  After a few initial fw releases, you finally hit the jackpot with fw1.1 - it had a noticeable sound improvement in every aspect, and restored my faith in FiiO moving into summit-fi direction   I didn't get to upgrade to fw 1.3 (sounds like 1.2 was some internal intermediate release you guys skipped?) until last night, and... sound quality took a step back again   The sound is thicker (more in lower mids) and heavier now, affecting transparency and layering which is not as good as it was in fw 1.1, and in some tracks it even gets a bit congested.

I know you guys working hard on updates and optimization, but it would have been great if we can get back the magic of fw 1.1 sound signature   And btw, my opinion on this is shared by a few other X7 reviewers with whom I discussed this update last night.

Looking forward to fw 1.4

Wow wish I had listened to 1.1 now before updating! If it us a step back it much have been amazingly good. Looking forward to the next update then if the consensus is it was better.

 

[twister6]

Oh, I'm not saying FW 1.3 is bad.  For those who just got or getting their X7 next week - you will be happy with a sound quality.  And for some people, my comment is probably just splitting hairs.  I'm talking about a relative comparison between the last fw1.1 and the recent fw1.3.  Sound improvement is a work in progress, and if you are already impressed with fw1.3, things should only go up from there (one would hope

).
 
It's tough because only a handful of people (and some reviewers) own X7 to be able to keep a track of sound changes, while others on tour only get an impression of fw they had during a week of testing.  The bottom line, FiiO is still working on improvements!

 

[yoyorast10]

Any chance they will improve the battery life in the future? It's pretty huge for me and im leaning towards the onkyo, which has better specs and significantly more battery life. huge downside of the onkyo, I'll have to import it and ill get zero support.

 

[RedJohn456]

  Any chance they will improve the battery life in the future? It's pretty huge for me and im leaning towards the onkyo, which has better specs and significantly more battery life. huge downside of the onkyo, I'll have to import it and ill get zero support.

Yes battery life will improve with optimization. I would suspect that having the amp and dac not drawing power when not used would save a lot of battery. So I would suspect that battery life would be improving with time, hopefully.
 
FWIW, I just turn off my X7 when I am no using it. One time I turned off the X7 at 100% battery and turned it on again after a few days and it was still full. If you plan to not use it in between, turning it off helps preserve battery. In my experience it takes about 10 seconds for the X7 to fully start up after being turned off. Its not that long so I just end up turning it off when not using it. This way I have had to charge WAY less. 
 
Even then the battery isn't that bad, its much better than it was before. Also, installing android apps that keep running background processes even after you quit, will kill the battery.
 
@Joe Bloggs  is there a way to easily monitor apps and processes working in the background? Are there any apps we can use to monitor them and just close them as needed?

 

[RedJohn456]

Got my x7 a couple of days ago from ea audio in the eu. I like it so far.

The sound is excellent but I worry when I read that the sound eq was better with firmware 1.1 than it is now with 1.3. I have skipped 1.1 and only heard the newest but what concers me is, if in the future we will have to evalueate every firmware update before installing it because the eq might be worse?

Also I cant wait to get a better case for it.

I will be honest with you, I have had all the FW updates, and 1.3 seems just as good as 1.1  To my ears I don't really descent a downgrade in the sound, still sounds pretty awesome to me. Although my ears might not be as capable of picking up the minute details, I didn't really notice a downgrade in FW 1.3 
 
So don't worry about it
 
According to others FiiO is making a case and Dignis will be making really nice leather cases for the X7 soon enough.

 

[yoyorast10]

 
Yes battery life will improve with optimization. I would suspect that having the amp and dac not drawing power when not used would save a lot of battery. So I would suspect that battery life would be improving with time, hopefully.
 
FWIW, I just turn off my X7 when I am no using it. One time I turned off the X7 at 100% battery and turned it on again after a few days and it was still full. If you plan to not use it in between, turning it off helps preserve battery. In my experience it takes about 10 seconds for the X7 to fully start up after being turned off. Its not that long so I just end up turning it off when not using it. This way I have had to charge WAY less. 
 
Even then the battery isn't that bad, its much better than it was before. Also, installing android apps that keep running background processes even after you quit, will kill the battery.
 
@Joe Bloggs  is there a way to easily monitor apps and processes working in the background? Are there any apps we can use to monitor them and just close them as needed?

 
Are they really planning to upgrade this to android 5.0? Android 5.0 has reportedly much worse battery life.
 
Android 6 has the best battery life, hopefully they upgrade it to that

 

[TheosMelodia]

Hi guys. Does X7 support 5.1 Hi Res music playback? I would like to connect the X7 to my 5.1 audio system using the Spdif output.

 

[rmsanger]

Ok just purchased the X7 & 200 gig sandisk card now. Can anyone help me with the cables I need to order as well for it to play through my schiit bifrost/lyr? Want to ensure I have everything needed to enjoy over Christmas Holliday .

I assume I can use the x7 dac and plug directly into the lyr or go through bifrost and then lyr.

 

[rmsanger]

Ok just purchased the X7 & 200 gig sandisk card now. Can anyone help me with the cables I need to order as well for it to play through my schiit bifrost/lyr? Want to ensure I have everything needed to enjoy over Christmas Holliday .

I assume I can use the x7 dac and plug directly into the lyr or go through bifrost and then lyr.

Here is a pic of said setup

 

[ClassicGOD]

Ok just purchased the X7 & 200 gig sandisk card now. Can anyone help me with the cables I need to order as well for it to play through my schiit bifrost/lyr? Want to ensure I have everything needed to enjoy over Christmas Holliday .

I assume I can use the x7 dac and plug directly into the lyr or go through bifrost and then lyr.

You'll need an 3.5mm jack to 2xRCA cable if you want to use the X7's DAC and connect it from the line-out to your inputs on Lyr.
Or if you want to go through your Bifrost you'll need 1xRCA-1xRCA cable and use included adapter to connect line-out of the X7 to coax-in on your Bifrost.
 
Just remember you select if the line-out on X7 works as coax or line-out in the settings on the device.

 

[rmsanger]

You'll need an 3.5mm jack to 2xRCA cable if you want to use the X7's DAC and connect it from the line-out to your inputs on Lyr.
Or if you want to go through your Bifrost you'll need 1xRCA-1xRCA cable and use included adapter to connect line-out of the X7 to coax-in on your Bifrost.

Just remember you select if the line-out on X7 works as coax or line-out in the settings on the device.

Thank you!