[skyline385]

There are some apps but they mostly tend to distort the sound. I have tried tons of them on my V30 (paired to my Andromedas) but most of them even go as far as to disable the ESS DAC on the V30 when enabled and use the default Snapdragon one. Since the only DAC on the X7 is the ESS one it might work out more favorably there i assume. I probably will try it before returning it if i do end up returning. I don't want to be locked to the LG series of phones just for their DAC as they really suck on the updates and i have heard that the X7 is more neutral and musical comparatively with the PRO DAC.

 

[Judge584]

It was set to balanced mode. I changed it to performance and also 176.4 and 192 kHz are not distorted, thank you!
It is interesting though that after switching back to balanced mode... 176.4 and 192 kHz work as well. I'm not sure what is the logic behind that.
This is similar to what I experienced yesterday playing some 96 kHz songs: yesterday it was there, today it is not. I'm happy for this of course, but I prefer knowing the reason why there is a change in the behavior of the device and in this case I have no idea what made the difference.

Does performance mode significantly affect battery life? I don't have audio above 96 kHz, but if the device works better without using too much power, I might just leave it in performance mode.

I don't normally use the EQ, but when I tried it in the past it just modified the frequency response without the amount of distortion I found in the X7ii. I don't think I will use the EQ again in this DAP anyway... I think that the implementation could be improved, there seem to be a big margin to make it usable. I'm not sure if other users of the X7ii had the same problem.

I also found another small issue (just an inconvenience). If I connect the X7ii to my PC as USB DAC without closing the Fiio Music app, after closing the DAC mode the previous/next buttons on the side of the device don't work any more, but just the pause/play button. To solve it I have to close the Music app and open it again, and then all the buttons work.

Glad it helps!

I don't know if performance mode is using a lot more battery, didn't made any test. But there so much difference in sound quality that I don't want to hear anything about this "balanced mode". I bought my X7 for good sound, it was not cheap, so I will certainly not choose to degrade sound for battery saving!

Now that you see "Performance mode" is solving your ringing issue, maybe you should also test if it solves the EQ issue?

And finally, a message to @FiiO:

Dear FIIO, I think that giving choice to consumers by allowing them to choose between "balanced mode" and "performance mode" is very nice : thank you for that, choice is always good and much appreciated.

But at the same time I cannot understant why you did choose "balanced mode" to be the default one : it is a verry bas idea!
When I did test my X7 for the first time, you should be aware I was close to cancel my purchase for another DAP because I thought it was not that better compared to non FIIO DAP, some of them beiing cheaper
Until (lucky you!!!) I found this "performance mode" in the menu, which made a huge difference in sound quality.
That being said, I'm pretty sure you are loosing customers because they are testing your product in "balanced mode", because they do not know a "performance mode" does exist.

In a word : in a future firmware update, "performance mode" should be default preset.

 

[good sound]

Glad it helps!

I don't know if performance mode is using a lot more battery, didn't made any test. But there so much difference in sound quality that I don't want to hear anything about this "balanced mode". I bought my X7 for good sound, it was not cheap, so I will certainly not choose to degrade sound for battery saving!

Now that you see "Performance mode" is solving your ringing issue, maybe you should also test if it solves the EQ issue?

And finally, a message to @FiiO:

Dear FIIO, I think that giving choice to consumers by allowing them to choose between "balanced mode" and "performance mode" is very nice : thank you for that, choice is always good and much appreciated.

But at the same time I cannot understant why you did choose "balanced mode" to be the default one : it is a verry bas idea!
When I did test my X7 for the first time, you should be aware I was close to cancel my purchase for another DAP because I thought it was not that better compared to non FIIO DAP, some of them beiing cheaper
Until (lucky you!!!) I found this "performance mode" in the menu, which made a huge difference in sound quality.
That being said, I'm pretty sure you are loosing customers because they are testing your product in "balanced mode", because they do not know a "performance mode" does exist.

In a word : in a future firmware update, "performance mode" should be default preset.

Why, because of your singular experience? I think it would be wise to consider the possibility that your experience depended on the make and model of headphone used and perhaps other factors. Most here have expressed the opposite experience. They feel that balanced mode offers a significant improvement to single ended operation.

 

[Judge584]

Why, because of your singular experience? I think it would be wise to consider the possibility that your experience depended on the make and model of headphone used and perhaps other factors. Most here have expressed the opposite experience. They feel that balanced mode offers a significant improvement to single ended operation.

No, I wouldn't certainly ask anyone to change something over my personal experience.
But i can't also understand someone saying balanced mode to be better And I did try more than one headphone, and also as a DAC on real speakers so this is why I though everyone was agree on that point!
That being said, if what you are saying is a reality then of course I can understand and accept what you are saying.

@FiiO : Could you please explain exactly what is the difference between balanced mode and performance mode regarding internal sound processing?

 

[Dobrescu George]

The headphone output on my X7-II just stopped working. Line-out still works, but the 3.5mm in the AM3 doesn't make any noise or show up on the screen. Any ideas?

You can call FiiO, that issue is with thew AMP module at worst, and FiiO can help you fix it. While you're at it, I also recommend getting an AMP 5 for even better sonic performance, I simply love its sound!

Well literally just ordered mine and will be here in the next couple of days can't wait to try it out and compare to the original which I previously owned.

I hope you'll have an awesome experience with it, as X7mkii really is much better than the original! (more stable, smoother overall UI, from the time I played with the original)

 

[majo123]

Ok my x7ii is here and first impressions it's definitely better than the original in every way. Audio is definitely up a notch and built better too. I won't list all the improvements I think they have made because I think it's many and probably already mentioned .
I was wondering if anyone has insight into the filter modes and benefit of each?.

 

[koiloco]

Ok my x7ii is here and first impressions it's definitely better than the original in every way. Audio is definitely up a notch and built better too. I won't list all the improvements I think they have made because I think it's many and probably already mentioned .
I was wondering if anyone has insight into the filter modes and benefit of each?.

Here we go.
http://fiio.net:8000/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=42582

 

[majo123]

Here we go.
http://fiio.net:8000/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=42582

Thanks.

 

[SoundSquare]

I was wondering if anyone has insight into the filter modes and benefit of each?.

nothing that your ears would notice.

 

[Judge584]

I have to disagree

 

[Dobrescu George]

nothing that your ears would notice.

I can actually notice the improvements in Mindless Self Indulgence tracks, or music with lots of very textury thingies, like Eletronic music in general, or music full of electric guitars like metal, or even in music with a lot of blowing instruments, where you can hear the differences in the textures / PRaT / ADSR

 

[majo123]

Just been testing the different filters ...i think i can notice slight differences on some but it is subtle and I also think it depends on iems used.on re600v2 I could notice a difference between fast roll off linear phase and fast roll off minimum phase, the fast roll off linear phase seemed to have more attack and highs seemed a little more Sharp but I couldn't pick it out so well with oriveti new primacy but new primacy is a much warmer Iem.

 

[majo123]

I was also wondering if anyone had noticed differences after a burn in period ?

 

[haoyuan]

If anyone is feeling international and adventurous....

https://translate.google.com/transl...mod=viewthread&tid=2092338&edit-text=&act=url

Here is a guy in China doing mods on AM3A module, total cost comes out to be about 60USD not including shipping. According to him (direct google translation):

"To summarize, the features of AM3A-MOD are:
1, more power than the original AM3A, close to the same power as am1.
2. The same sound quality as am1-mod and am2a, everyone said it was good.
3, Single-ended, balanced full-interface advantages of the am3 module, and better anti-interference ability than am3.
4, single-ended thrust and output maximum output amplitude, reach the am2 series power module level.
5, the balance of thrust is significantly higher than the am5, pushing high-resistance HD600 like big headphones better.
AM3A-MOD is simply a combination of the advantages of the Ami amp module.
A piece of AM3A-MOD is in hand, and the other is not seeking!"

If anyone can read his diagrams then maybe someone can shed some light on what he is actually doing to the AM3A?

 

[Dobrescu George]

If anyone is feeling international and adventurous....

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http://www.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2092338&edit-text=&act=url

Here is a guy in China doing mods on AM3A module, total cost comes out to be about 60USD not including shipping. According to him (direct google translation):

"To summarize, the features of AM3A-MOD are:
1, more power than the original AM3A, close to the same power as am1.
2. The same sound quality as am1-mod and am2a, everyone said it was good.
3, Single-ended, balanced full-interface advantages of the am3 module, and better anti-interference ability than am3.
4, single-ended thrust and output maximum output amplitude, reach the am2 series power module level.
5, the balance of thrust is significantly higher than the am5, pushing high-resistance HD600 like big headphones better.
AM3A-MOD is simply a combination of the advantages of the Ami amp module.
A piece of AM3A-MOD is in hand, and the other is not seeking!"

If anyone can read his diagrams then maybe someone can shed some light on what he is actually doing to the AM3A?

Interesting, although I prefer the sonics of AM03A over AM01 or AM02, I think this is a big part why FiiO focuses on AM03A, AM03B and AM05 nowadays (?)