[JoeDoe]

If the DX50 had a larger screen, more onboard storage, slightly slimmer body, and dual TF slots, I'd be all set!

 

[Silverprout]

Hello all,
I don't buy anything from apple... but their devices are very well designed.
 
Just take an ipod classic and add :
 
No HDD
Dual sd slots
Better DAC
Better battery
A nice anodized or brushed aluminium finish
 
Sell millions of them all over the world.
You cannot go wrong...
Please,There is no need to reinvent the wheel each time.

 

[Duncan]

I would like something that has a 'booster' amp-chip on its headphone out...
 
James, please grab a listen to the HTC One M8, that is the kind of power that would be very beneficial - if that could be reverse engineered, that would then mean that there would be far less likelihood of needing a two box solution to a one box item...
 
If you could have the kind of 'oomph' and clarity / richness to the sound that the One M8 delivers, in the form factor of the E12 (with - as others have said, a full HD screen), something like that - then you'd definitely be onto a winner in my mind...

 

[JamesFiiO]

  Hello all,
I don't buy anything from apple... but their devices are very well designed.
 
Just take an ipod classic and add :
 
No HDD
Dual sd slots
Better DAC
Better battery
A nice anodized or brushed aluminium finish
 
Sell millions of them all over the world.
You cannot go wrong...
Please,There is no need to reinvent the wheel each time.

 
for the detail we will decide step by step. but please vote your decision in here  http://www.head-fi.org/f/180/fiio

 

[JamesFiiO]

In favor of replaceable battery or built-in one?
http://www.head-fi.org/t/714546/in-favor-of-replaceable-battery-or-built-in-one
 
 
 
It is recommended to adopt replaceable battery to solve the issues of battery life, dimension and weight. On the contrary, we can see the built-in lithium battery is more widely used than the replaceable one in most of the current digital electronic products. There are several reasons:

1. With the same dimension, the capacity of replaceable battery design would be smaller than that of the built-in one since replaceable design takes up as large as 30% to 40% of the total capacity. 

2. Owing to its replaceable battery cover and internal battery connecting parts, the replaceable design has higher defective rates.

3. The easy-open cover increases the difficulty to its refinement of manufacture.

4. If the USB is used as the power supply, then mobile charger can easily solve the battery life issue.

5. If is to use the replaceable battery, then more factors need to consider, such as the design, manufacture and marketing of its desktop charger. Moreover, the price will be higher to come with one desktop charger, while the user experience can’t be reached if without.

6. Lastly, it is widely believed that the replaceable battery would be much more convenient for the end-users to exchange in case of faulty. While actually, the result would be the same.
For the built-in battery, it would last for several years with proper usage. After several years of using, it can be returned to factory for replacement in need of further using.
 
For replaceable battery, if it is not a universal one, it would be very hard to find an applicable battery on the market after several years of usage if the customer hadn’t purchased another backup battery with the device. In this case, the customer still needs to contact the manufacturer to buy the replaceable battery with some costs. 

 

[seeteeyou]

.

 

[Baphomet Metal]

3.7V / 3.8V batteries for Samsung Galaxy phones should be available for a fairly long time to come. Most likely the availability should be OK even years after the introduction of a new DAP.

It is ideal for a replacement battery. (Galaxy phone)
The reason
↓
Samsung phone use around the world.
The battery is spread all over the world.
 
It is most suitable for the preliminary battery of digital audio players.

 

[Silverprout]

Pure speculation.
Try to be factual please.

 

[Sefelt103]

Under current technology, a player’s sound quality is proportional to its power consumption.

Absolutely. Unfortunately there is a price to pay for long battery life without very large batteries. Portable hi-fi media players are to some extent self defeating. Hi-fi players end up big, heavy, inconvenient and much of their brilliance is lost in the noise and the lack of open full size headphones. My ideal music player would be:

Form factor of Hifi360HF-PLA (non-portable)
Mains powered
128GB internal storage
Dual mono architecture
Dual Wolfson WM8740 DACs
Headphone amp. LM4562 and THS4222
4" LCD display
Up/down/left/right/select/stop/play controls
USB in, line out, digital out
2 versions one without any amplifier
Plays flac, mp3
Minimal colouration and flat frequency response
High grade electronic components

No equalisation
No 3.5mm jack (only 6.3mm)
No rear connectors for hifi systems
No SD/Microsd storage
No high res playback
No facilities for streaming/wireless headphones

 

[zillagto]

Thanks James for doing this, I have been following this and putting thoughts together.  I don't post much but I own a lot of FiiO products so would love to see something from you fulfill my wishes!
 
I will leave the tech details to others (many folks on here much, much smarter than I) but in terms of my dream player I would like something like the X5 in size (can go slightly bigger if needed).  Pocket size is nice to have, especially in the car, train, plane, etc.  I am thinking that I have a player that I can take with me without a DAC/AMP stack with good enough quality (again, people can argue that all day, but enough to have great sound).  In certain situations (like at home) I might want to "play" around with my other DACs and amps to add to it so take that into consideration.  Sometimes a player only, sometimes it is everything!
 
I would really like it to have WiFi so that apps like Spotify, Pandora, Beats (really good for music discovery I find) could be installed.  I would assume this means an Android based build.  In my mind I want this to be the center of my music universe, I can add songs, stream music, connect it to PC, connect to stereo, stream to a speaker, connect a DAC or another amp.
 
so then it comes to the UI.  It should be easy and intuitive of course.  I like the tactile feedback of buttons but a touch screen has some real nice benefits.  A mix would be ok and maybe preferred.  So, you can still use "buttons" for volume, advancing tracks or ?  Maybe side buttons for volume with a lock and a play/pause, adv/rev track button on opposite side with touch screen in middle.  Search would be important.  As most people have huge song loads, it would be nice to type in a name and get artist or song or album.  Playlist support is a must and I would like to see the ability to create a playlist on the fly.
 
Price for something like this, should be based on quality of HW more than anything I suppose.  500 would be an ideal target I think.  It would be a flagship product so if an X7 is coming then would this be an X9?  If X5 is 400 and X7 is 500 then is this 600?  Again, that will be determined by a lot of factors but I would suggest a real game changer could be a big hit not only with the head-fi crowd but many others as well.
 
Thanks!

 

[Pottsy2]

I think the solution is simple. Build what we end up building, and forever wish that you would build in one unit.
 
The common solution is DAP+AMP. Why can you not build a DAP with an amp as good as the ones we have to buy? It's nearly always the amp that is compromised.
 
I use a DX50 with a Meier Quickstep. The Quickstep is awesome, and makes a fantastic portable rig. Bit big though.
 
So....
 
Size about that of the DX50/90. Could be a bit fatter if needed.
8 hours life.
Dual Sabre DAC.
UI - don't care, so long as it works. DX50 is simple and good.
Twin micro SD would be great.
Proper rotary volume control, and proper "next" and "play/pause" buttons.
An amp as good as the Quickstep, but built in.
3.5mm headphone socket, so you can use IEMs.
Around $600. Maybe $700 if you really get the amp right.
Replaceable battery.
 
Fantastic DAC with fantastic amp, and it will sell. Compromise either, and it will fail. It's all about the sound - if the buyer doesn't care about the sound, he will simply use a smartphone.

 

[JamesFiiO]

In favor of double ES9018M2K or single ES9018?

http://www.head-fi.org/t/715336/in-favor-of-double-es9018m2k-or-single-es9018

 

[JamesFiiO]

  I think the solution is simple. Build what we end up building, and forever wish that you would build in one unit.
 
The common solution is DAP+AMP. Why can you not build a DAP with an amp as good as the ones we have to buy? It's nearly always the amp that is compromised.
 
I use a DX50 with a Meier Quickstep. The Quickstep is awesome, and makes a fantastic portable rig. Bit big though.
 
So....
 
Size about that of the DX50/90. Could be a bit fatter if needed.
8 hours life.
Dual Sabre DAC.
UI - don't care, so long as it works. DX50 is simple and good.
Twin micro SD would be great.
Proper rotary volume control, and proper "next" and "play/pause" buttons.
An amp as good as the Quickstep, but built in.
3.5mm headphone socket, so you can use IEMs.
Around $600. Maybe $700 if you really get the amp right.
Replaceable battery.
 
Fantastic DAC with fantastic amp, and it will sell. Compromise either, and it will fail. It's all about the sound - if the buyer doesn't care about the sound, he will simply use a smartphone.

 
 
Trust me, there are not any audio device which can let more than 50% of audiophiles satisfy with the sound quality.  that is why some people still need portable amp or DAC.
 
so , it is not we don't want to make a prefect amp but there are not such prefect amp in the world.

 

[fp581]

screen (even 2" is good)
best SQ you can get
as small as possible (if possible tera size) 
sd card slot (sd is cheaper then micro sd)
battery for 10+ hours
volume knob would be nice.
physical play/pause next back buttons.
all format support 
and 32bit if you can

 

[Replicant187]

ZX1 with 2 sd card slots would be my ideal DAP.