[piotrekfronc]

I would forget, battery voltage! 8.4 V minimum,especially of if opa627 is used , and its quite obvious iys supposed to b used...

 

[Ripvanlink]

Yes, heavy and rock-solid is a must!
 
I'm worried about $700 b/c that might mean compromise on parts. I'd much rather pay more for a dap of no compromise!

 

[JamesFiiO]

I'm no software engineer but I would suspect that the reason FiiO is going with Android is precisely for these requests that are taking a long time to address, if even possible.

Remember that they jumped in late to the DAP market and their first attempt (2 years before the X3 was released) failed due to software development. They found a new software developer that was able to meet the challenge but I suspect that they are currently close to the limits of their capabilities. With Android the groundwork will already exist for features well beyond the current UI.

James has also hinted that a user would be able to use their own app for music playback so if FiiO doesn't include the requested features I'm sure there would be an app that exists that would (not 100% sure as I've never used Android myself). I have every confidence that FiiO will nail the sound quality and with Android I suspect that the UI will be better than the current X series. The only hiccup I could see is potentially using a CPU that is not fast enough or not enough RAM to buffer UI requests.

 
very close to the true. 

 

[qsk78]

  Yes, heavy and rock-solid is a must!
 
I'm worried about $700 b/c that might mean compromise on parts. I'd much rather pay more for a dap of no compromise!

+1

 

[TheoS53]

  +1

Honestly, 700 would be overkill. Look at what a great device Fiio made for only $99.....surely the X7 wouldn't be 7 x better. $500, I'd still consider it

 

[qsk78]

  Honestly, 700 would be overkill. Look at what a great device Fiio made for only $99.....surely the X7 wouldn't be 7 x better. $500, I'd still consider it

Well,  I would prefer to get a complete good product from the beginning and not a compromise. Look at DX90 on dual sabre for $425 which is close to a level of DX50 with a custom firmware plus minus...

 

[TheoS53]

  Well,  I would prefer to get a complete good product from the beginning and not a compromise. Look at DX90 on dual sabre for $425 - a level of a DX50 with a custom firmware plus minus...

Agreed. But this is my fear of an Android based system. Android is a multitasker, which may mean that there will be manufacturing costs involved for parts that have nothing to do with plain ol' good audio. I love the fact that, at least up until now, all of Fiio's products have been simple and focused on one specific aspect; audio. 

I feel that an android based system would be a bit pointless perhaps. If I want android features, I have my phone for that.

 

[Ripvanlink]

  Well,  I would prefer to get a complete good product from the beginning and not a compromise. Look at DX90 on dual sabre for $425 which is close to a level of DX50 with a custom firmware plus minus...

For the really best parts, maybe one should think logarithmic in price, rather than linear and that would be more realistic. I'm thinking of getting the X1 but only for my podcasts. I need something I can rely on, not those cheap sansas, all of them. They don't know how to make a good headphone joke. Both the Clip+ and the Fuze jacks have malfunctioned on me. I have a lot of confidence in the Fiio ones and I got to have my Coast To Coast AM radio show podcasts! Well, George Noori and the others will sound good, no?

 

[Ripvanlink]

  Agreed. But this is my fear of an Android based system. Android is a multitasker, which may mean that there will be manufacturing costs involved for parts that have nothing to do with plain ol' good audio. I love the fact that, at least up until now, all of Fiio's products have been simple and focused on one specific aspect; audio. 

I feel that an android based system would be a bit pointless perhaps. If I want android features, I have my phone for that.

I sympathize with your reasoning about Android on the X7.

 

[TheoS53]

  I sympathize with your reasoning about Android on the X7.

It's not that I don't have faith in Fiio's abilities. They've made some truly awesome audio products thus far....but I don't have faith in Android. Because of it being open-source, it's always got various bugs. There's nothing wrong with the X5's software (apart from very minor things such as folder to folder playback)..it's plain, it's simple, it works..so why change?

 

[warrior1975]

Open source is the beauty of Android. If they base it on Android, people other than the engineers can work on the firmware. Spend some time at XDA and it being Android, you might see the benefits.
If they have it closed source, mostly engineers at Fiio will only be able to work on it, so the bugs, which will be there whether it's Android or not, will have to be fixed by Fiio for the most part. I'd prefer Android. Other than Android being power hungry, I believe it's a great platform.

 

[TheoS53]

Open source is the beauty of Android. If they base it on Android, people other than the engineers can work on the firmware. Spend some time at XDA and it being Android, you might see the benefits.
If they have it closed source, mostly engineers at Fiio will only be able to work on it, so the bugs, which will be there whether it's Android or not, will have to be fixed by Fiio for the most part. I'd prefer Android. Other than Android being power hungry, I believe it's a great platform.

I see your point. But what I mean about open-source being a problem is that android always feels open-source..like, you can tell you have a gazillion people working on the damn thing...it never quite feels uniform and/or complete.

The other issue that I have with Android is that it's sloooooooow. I've hat the HTC One X+, the M7, Galaxy S4, Xperia. None of them, and I mean none of them, can even come close to the reliability that I've had with my Lumia 925 (which has far "worse" specs)

 

[warrior1975]

Android is resource hungry, in a multimedia device that can be a problem, in a portable music player it shouldn't. As far as bring uniform, it still will be, as it will be based on the Fiio blend. Anything they release will be uniform, and for the average user it will be uniform. For guys that mess around with programming it could be different. IMHO, these are all good things. I do see your pov though, I just don't think it's an issue.

 

[x RELIC x]

Well,  I would prefer to get a complete good product from the beginning and not a compromise. Look at DX90 on dual sabre for $425 which is close to a level of DX50 with a custom firmware plus minus...

The dual Sabre ES 9018K2M (2 channel portable DAC chip) setup in the DX90 is very different than the single Sabre ESS 9018 32 (8 channel full size DAC chip). The ES 9018K2M runs better as a dual setup and only provides 4 channels total for noise reduction. The superior ESS 9018 32 does not require a dual chip setup as it is a far more technically superior chip for noise reduction, and a far more elegant solution overall. Don't always believe the marketing hype from other companies regarding dual chip superiority for sound reproduction.

A very loose analogy would be using the horsepower of two Honda Civics welded together next to the horsepower of one Ferrari. Not as efficient.

Another loose analogy is comparing dual Intel core2duo computer chips next to an 8 core processor. Not as good for performance.

 

[TheoS53]

A very loose analogy would be using the horsepower of two Honda Civics welded together next to the horsepower of one Ferrari. Not as efficient.

 

Hmm, depends....one civic engine to drive the front wheels, and another to drive rear..that Ferrari would seem like its looking for parking :-D
 
Oh my, can't believe I just defended a Honda..

But as you said..loose analogy lol