[Laird]

Dear James,

My dream player is a X5 with an empty mSATA slot (so that I can add my own 1TB mSATA SSD for $530, 500GB for $300 or 250GB for $170). Or X5 with 4 (four) microSD (TF) slots.

I am sure you have seen the poll result (wish list) for X7's features. Ability to support large storage was the second most wanted feature from over 100 Headfi votes. Maybe you can set up another vote and ask how much storage people would "dream" of. In my humble opinion, if you have lots of (high resolution) music, 256 GB is a must, 512GB is nice, 1024GB is a "dream". One of the selling point of X5/X3/X1 is high resolution playback, correct?

MicroSD / TF cards are still too expensive for too little storage. With that said, if you equip X7 with 
4 microSD slots, I will happily fill them all with 128GB cards now. ~500GB of microSD will cost me over $480 now, while ~500GB of mSATA SSD costs only $300 currently. 

mSATA SSDs are getting even bigger and cheaper because they are commonly used in tablets/laptops. Currently a 480GB (Crucial/Micron) mSATA SSD can run for 8-13 hours in a Rockboxed iPod Video 5.5th generation with 850 mAh battery, so it does NOT need a huge battery or a super thick enclosure:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/566780/official-ipod-video-classic-5g-5-5g-6g-6-5g-7g-ssd-mod-thread/2610#post_10410434

http://www.head-fi.org/t/566780/official-ipod-video-classic-5g-5-5g-6g-6-5g-7g-ssd-mod-thread/2670#post_10430207

I am with you on this one...msata-based storage would be fabulous. I would drop a 1TB drive in a unit like that in a heartbeat. To make this really work, however, we would need the interface to be USB3. Moving 1/2 TB to 1 TB of files over USB2 is like poking yourself in the eye with a stick.
 
That being said, I'd like to see a lot more emphasis on the user experience part of the firmware. I am talking about things like more and better tag-based navigation, not skins. Think: proper handling of genre tags; grouping of compilation albums so your artist list does not get cluttered with 1-song artists; perhaps a way to group by composer and filter by genre in the menus ("Genre-Classical-Composer", for example). An X5 with 256GB of storage in it is already on the edge of unmanageable under the current organization and navigation scheme. Imagine what it will be like with 1TB of storage!!

 

[JaviAl]

Kingston has a 1 TB. USB 3.0 pendrive that can be connected to any Fiio player vía the USB OTG cable/connection.
 
Actually SanDisk has 200 GB. microSD cards.

 

[good sound]

 
Actually SanDisk has 200 GB. microSD cards.

 
Are they actually available for sale?

 

[mshmovie]

 
I am with you on this one...msata-based storage would be fabulous. I would drop a 1TB drive in a unit like that in a heartbeat. To make this really work, however, we would need the interface to be USB3. Moving 1/2 TB to 1 TB of files over USB2 is like poking yourself in the eye with a stick.
 
That being said, I'd like to see a lot more emphasis on the user experience part of the firmware. I am talking about things like more and better tag-based navigation, not skins. Think: proper handling of genre tags; grouping of compilation albums so your artist list does not get cluttered with 1-song artists; perhaps a way to group by composer and filter by genre in the menus ("Genre-Classical-Composer", for example). An X5 with 256GB of storage in it is already on the edge of unmanageable under the current organization and navigation scheme. Imagine what it will be like with 1TB of storage!!

I agree as well; msata would be terrific. Additionally, their price points have come down to about US$190 for 512GB (Crucial), US$400 for a 1TB (Samsung); I upgrade ultrabooks with these frequently (compare to ~US$86 for a samsung 128GB EVO micosdxc). The speed of msata will also be substantially faster than the microsdxc; a different league. If the msata was on a native interface, the re-scanning of the library (as I've grown accustomed to doing on my X5) would be lightning quick.
 
In summary, msata; a big and enthusiastic yes. Microsdxc; yes - adding content in adhoc chunks of 128GB (soon to be 200GB and technically capable of up to 2TB - some year) would be something worth retaining.

 

[mshmovie]

   
Are they actually available for sale?

The Sandisk 200GB cards are not available for sale yet. B&H photo is the only vendor allowing a pre-order/notify when available option (at least as of May 3, 2015).

 

[Dobrescu George]

But the device is decided to have only microsd at best. 
 
I think that i can accept this, even more knowing that most units are being produced right now, and i do not think that this can be changed.
 
I was wondering, is it not possible to use a msata to microsd adapter, to have the best of both worlds?... Like using microsd to SD adapters?

 

[mathi8vadhanan]

m-sata is still not there yet, interms of power consumption/heat dissipation for use on mobile devices. Check ipod SSD mod thread, 1tb SSD was too much of a hassle.

 

[mshmovie]

  But the device is decided to have only microsd at best. 
 
I think that i can accept this, even more knowing that most units are being produced right now, and i do not think that this can be changed.
 
I was wondering, is it not possible to use a msata to microsd adapter, to have the best of both worlds?... Like using microsd to SD adapters?

There are two ways to accomplish the spirit of what you've described with the current X1, X3 and X5 - if not exactly as you described.
 
Option #1 (OTG-> SSD - up to 1TB and fast):
Using the OTG cable, you can access external storage such as an external SSD; it's a bit bulky and cumbersome though.
 
One step to make it more elegant is using the only SSD delivered with an OTG intent as part of its design;  look for this on on Amazon: MyDigitalSSD OTG (On The Go) mSATA Based SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Portable External Solid State Storage Drive SSD (512GB).
 
If the X7 supported USB 3.0, then the speeds could reach the theoretical maximum of USB 3.0; 480 Mbps (much faster than SSD - better suited to loading and reading/scanning lots of media content). If used in the X1, X3 or X5, I think the USB 2.0 would limit the possible speed of an OTG msata drive; I need to try - just haven't had the reason to yet, despite having the hardware.
 
Option #2 (Microsdxc -> Full Size SDXC - up to 512GB per slot):
There's an adapter that let's you use a full size SD card in the microsd slot; search for this on Amazon "KZ-B19-065 (SD to Micro SD FPC Extender)". However, though the SDXC standard theoretically supports up to 2TB per card, Fiio only currently states their devices support 128GB; it's not known if the X1/3/5 will just recognize the 256GB and 512GB options available, or will require a firmware upgrade. I assume it would support it, but it's untested (based on my experience with HTC and Samsung phones - assuming it will transfer to FiiO)
 
What you suggested:
There isn't an msata to microsd solution that exists - I've searched a bunch to no avail. Good thought, just not available.
 
I didn't read the hundreds of pages that are on this thread - so missed the decision to not include msata; my primary preference. It would be a nicer solution as it would be super fast, large, relatively inexpensive (relative is a key word here), more cost effective than microsd, and relatively compact.
 
Unsure if anyone else has more info on options - that's all I can think of to get beyond the current 128GB real capacity limitations of microsd (soon to be 200GB). Anyone?

 

[mshmovie]

m-sata is still not there yet, interms of power consumption/heat dissipation for use on mobile devices. Check ipod SSD mod thread, 1tb SSD was too much of a hassle.

I'll take a look at that thread. On the Samsung Ultrabooks NP740U3E, the msata is installed without a heatsink; albeait with a reasonable amount of void around it. I've had a Plextor 256GB msata powered on in a very small aluminum Sabrent USB 3.0 SSD Enclosure (no venting and 1.5" x 3.0x x 0.5") all day and the SSD is just slightly warn to the touch (the case isn't warm at all). Unsure if any of these are analogous to what might be encountered in a FiiO "X of the future" player, but I can envision the heat being easily dissipated into the aluminum case. Perhaps it can be a hand warmer (in the winter) and play great music from a sizable repository too?
 
As for power consumption - that might be a valid concern, I'd need to do the math (or have my son who's an EE do it). Battery swap or external battery could help, but it's hard to launch a product in need of more power than it contains to get an adequate period of use.

 

[kegler]

so x7 os is confirmed android?
if yes ill wait for it, i still prefer a gd player with some streaming options ....seems like there are not many in the market except for sony

 

[willyvlyminck]

Yeah nice. Since you are already working on a VU Meter, you might also consider a classic spectrum-view like the Oppo HA-1 or the Squeezebox classic have.

 

[willyvlyminck]

Something similiar but this is a music player app

 

[Dobrescu George]

It looks quite nice, for a music app. i have high hopes that Fiio's own will look even better.

 

[willyvlyminck]

It looks quite nice, for a music app. i have high hopes that Fiio's own will look even better.

It is an IOS music player app, but no references yet.

 

[originalsnuffy]

  There are two ways to accomplish the spirit of what you've described with the current X1, X3 and X5 - if not exactly as you described.
 
Option #1 (OTG-> SSD - up to 1TB and fast):
Using the OTG cable, you can access external storage such as an external SSD; it's a bit bulky and cumbersome though.
 
One step to make it more elegant is using the only SSD delivered with an OTG intent as part of its design;  look for this on on Amazon: MyDigitalSSD OTG (On The Go) mSATA Based SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Portable External Solid State Storage Drive SSD (512GB).
 
If the X7 supported USB 3.0, then the speeds could reach the theoretical maximum of USB 3.0; 480 Mbps (much faster than SSD - better suited to loading and reading/scanning lots of media content). If used in the X1, X3 or X5, I think the USB 2.0 would limit the possible speed of an OTG msata drive; I need to try - just haven't had the reason to yet, despite having the hardware.
 
Option #2 (Microsdxc -> Full Size SDXC - up to 512GB per slot):
There's an adapter that let's you use a full size SD card in the microsd slot; search for this on Amazon "KZ-B19-065 (SD to Micro SD FPC Extender)". However, though the SDXC standard theoretically supports up to 2TB per card, Fiio only currently states their devices support 128GB; it's not known if the X1/3/5 will just recognize the 256GB and 512GB options available, or will require a firmware upgrade. I assume it would support it, but it's untested (based on my experience with HTC and Samsung phones - assuming it will transfer to FiiO)
 
What you suggested:
There isn't an msata to microsd solution that exists - I've searched a bunch to no avail. Good thought, just not available.
 
I didn't read the hundreds of pages that are on this thread - so missed the decision to not include msata; my primary preference. It would be a nicer solution as it would be super fast, large, relatively inexpensive (relative is a key word here), more cost effective than microsd, and relatively compact.
 
Unsure if anyone else has more info on options - that's all I can think of to get beyond the current 128GB real capacity limitations of microsd (soon to be 200GB). Anyone?

 
I was able to get a 256GB PNY USB 3.0 stick (FAT formatted)  to work using OTG on the X3 gen II.  Based on that the idea of the mydigitalSD seems plausible though not tested.
 
Please note I had no luck with a 256 or 128GB SD card using a OTG SD adapter.
 
I also had no luck getting a 128gb or 256gb SD card to work using a Micro SD extender.  The model I tried was mentioned on these forums but not the one referenced above so that may be a factor.
 
These results were discussed in my review of the X3 gen II.
 
Your mileage may vary.