[olddude]

Man James must be really patient and open-minded opening the design discussion.

Half the people here seem to argue just for the sake of it, see only their end, complain endlessly, threaten not to buy as if they are someone to be reckoned with. Man if I did not respect James and want to know how this turns out I would have unsubbed a long time ago...this thread get so high on the annoyo-self-entitlo-meter.

Many of us did.

 

[Q Mass]

The only benefit I can think of having two screens is better battery life.

Tasks like changing the volume or skipping a track would use the small screen instead of the larger on and save battery.

Now I can't imagine how the whole thing would work, which is both exciting and intriguing.

 
I can't imagine many users needing any screen for those tasks!
Like you, I'm having trouble imagining how the whole thing would work, but the second screen is making me feel more sceptical than excited.
Maybe the uses/advantages that I'm failing to see just haven't surfaced yet?
Anyone got any other ideas that it'd be genuinely useful for? ( not that I'm denying those who need a screen for the above reasons, they're just not for me is all )

 

[514077]

Man James must be really patient and open-minded opening the design discussion.

Half the people here seem to argue just for the sake of it, see only their end, complain endlessly, threaten not to buy as if they are someone to be reckoned with. Man if I did not respect James and want to know how this turns out I would have unsubbed a long time ago...this thread get so high on the annoyo-self-entitlo-meter.

+1   I tried to unsub, but I wanted to keep an eye out for James' posts.  I guess I like massikism.  Seems to be a lot of feelings of entitlement.  We're damn lucky FiiO shows this much interest inour opinions.  Let's not forget Fiio's R&D costs are, of course, on his shoulders.
Sadly, with the loss of hardware controls to the touchscreen, I must go another way.  Thanks for the X5, James.

 

[Silverprout]

  Sadly, with the loss of hardware controls to the touchscreen, I must go another way.  Thanks for the X5, James.

 

...
 

 

[alnilam]

+1   I tried to unsub, but I wanted to keep an eye out for James' posts.  I guess I like massikism. Seems to be a lot of feelings of entitlement.

I would not call 'paying full price for the desired product' any sort of 'entitlement', it is simply not true.

We're damn lucky FiiO shows this much interest in our opinions.

Likewise, FiiO guys are damn lucky to have us as their customers, it kind of works both ways.

Let's not forget Fiio's R&D costs are, of course, on his shoulders.

Ditto profits.

 

[Mimouille]

Likewise, FiiO guys are damn lucky to have us as their customers, it kind of works both ways.

And why is that? What have "we" done? Fiio develops great products at affordable price and their CEO listens to clients all day. Remind me what you have done?

 

[514077]

I would not call 'paying full price for the desired product' any sort of 'entitlement', it is simply not true.
Likewise, FiiO guys are damn lucky to have us as their customers, it kind of works both ways.
Ditto profits.

We put out $699, and (rhetoricly) what are his, especially if for some reason, the X7 doesn't do well? 

 

[514077]

   

...
 

Sorry Silverprout, but could you describe that image to me, please?

 

[FizzlePop]

 
Sadly, with the loss of hardware controls to the touchscreen

 
5, Hardware buttons: power, play/pause, previous/next, volume+/- and one secret bottom. 

 
Would you rather the X7 have the same screen as the X5? Non-touch screens bigger than 2 or 3 inches are not in wide use anymore, so it's difficult for FiiO to get a hold of them. In order to get a better screen than the X5, a touch screen was the only reasonable option. 

 

[alnilam]

And why is that? What have "we" done? Fiio develops great products at affordable price and their CEO listens to clients all day. Remind me what you have done?

Why is that - simply because 'seller' (supply) is only one part of the equation.

The other and equally important is the 'buyer' part of it (demand).

According to this nice, simple and logical scheme of things, FiiO is 'seller' (they work in 'supply' part of the chain) - and we are 'buyers' (we work on 'demand' part of the chain).

Yes, it is true that 'FiiO develops great products at affordable price' and 'their CEO listens to clients all day'.

However, both FiiO and their CEO do it not for altruistic reasons - they do it for profit.

And guess what, where that profit is supposed to come from?

Yes, that's right - from 'selling great products at affordable price' and from 'CEO listening to clients all day'.

 

[Silverprout]

 
Sorry Silverprout, but could you describe that image to me, please?

 
My vision of the overall ergonomy... with a sluggish touch screen and a odd connector layout (jacks on the top)

 

[alnilam]

We put out $699, and (rhetoricly) what are his, especially if for some reason, the X7 doesn't do well?

1 - we pay $699 for X7 (or enough of us) --> FiiO makes good profit
2 - we do not pay $699 for X7 (or not enough of us) --> FiiO makes loss

So, this is not exactly a rhetoric, but rather a simple free market reality.

 

[Mython]

  We're damn lucky FiiO shows this much interest in our opinions.

 

Likewise, FiiO guys are damn lucky to have us as their customers, it kind of works both ways.

 
 
Agreed.
 
It's a 2-way street.
 
James/Fiio is not a charity.
 
They cannot please everyone, but they need to profit from the X7, so James and his team have tried to guess what combination of features will appeal to the widest range of potential customers, whilst knowing that those to whom their combination does not appeal may complain about it, as is their right to free speech.
 
Therefore, I do not feel bad for James/Fiio if some potential customers complain about certain design decisions.   It's nothing personal.   It's just a product.
 
Manufacturers need some of us DAP buyers, but not all of them.
 
and
 
us DAP buyers need some of the manufacturers, but not all of them.
 
 
That's the way the world of commerce goes around, and all of us know this!

 
 
 
 

---

 

[reihead]

   
I can't imagine many users needing any screen for those tasks!
Like you, I'm having trouble imagining how the whole thing would work, but the second screen is making me feel more sceptical than excited.
Maybe the uses/advantages that I'm failing to see just haven't surfaced yet?
Anyone got any other ideas that it'd be genuinely useful for? ( not that I'm denying those who need a screen for the above reasons, they're just not for me is all )

 
And that's were the excitement comes from...
Agree, I wouldn't need two screen for such simple tasks, but coming from the smartphone world and knowing how the screen takes a lot of juice out of the battery, having a smaller one might help in the battery life.
But I don't know how I would feel flipping my player around...

 

[clayman80]

Hmm, I was almost hell-bent to get the X5 ASAP (probably along with E12A since that also helps the SQ a little) but it seems the X7 may not be a too distant future now so I will probably sit back and wait a little while till it arrives.
 
EDIT: OK, according to the post at http://www.head-fi.org/t/713735/x7-the-flagship-dap-from-fiio-updated-on-15-12-2014/900#post_10973066 , it appears the X7 is not so close after all. Unless there is a more exact estimate I don't know about, I guess I'll stick to the previous plan.