[397324]

The gapless playback worked on the X5iii with the previous firmware, but not on the newest. Does a firmware update also update the default music player?

Whatever it turns out to be, no-one at FiiO could have tested that basic function.

Strains the connections? What about all the DAP/Mojo etc users out there.

 

[enragedlemon]

Because using a smartphone + DAC/AMP is even less stable, strains the connections, is not truly pocketable, the smartphone has not that much battery life, and I really don't want to be interrupted by app updates or calls or such.

About X7, if my understanding is correct, isn't the situation something like... only the music app developed by FiiO is problematic, rigtht? Then why not use powerAMP or Neutron or another app that doesn't have any issue?

I don't believe there are any deep issues with the FiiO Music app and the issues they do have are most likely solvable. I think this issue is that they are trying their best to implement all of the complex requests they get on places like Head-fi. I'd imagine we will see these things settle, especially as they grow their actual beta tester group.

 

[enragedlemon]

The gapless playback worked on the X5iii with the previous firmware, but not on the newest. Does a firmware update also update the default music player?

Whatever it turns out to be, no-one at FiiO could have tested that basic function.

Strains the connections? What about all the DAP/Mojo etc users out there.

It's funny because I didn't notice it was broken until it was brought up here. You're right that it should have been caught in an ideal world but the fact of the matter is that FiiO have opted for rapid/agile development to bring out incremental improvements on a regular basis. Other DAP manufacturers may only release one update a year. I suspect their internal (Chinese) market has a preference for the former rather than the latter.

Simply put, you can have high stability or fast release cycles, not both.

 

[397324]

enragedlemon, they broke a function that was working and no-one spotted it!

 

[enragedlemon]

But they broke a function that was working and no-one spotted it!

Yes, exactly. It wasn't caught during internal or external testing. It's likely not a feature used by many in their testing group. It's not ideal but it does happen. They also released a patch for it almost as soon as it was reported. I'm not sure you can ask for more. More thorough testing? Longer release cycles.

 

[QuadraKev]

Just a quick update to confirm that X7ii really does have thermal throttling issues as a USB DAC. It gets so hot it actually ceases operation for a while after around 4 to 5 hours.

I wonder if the amp module is unnecessarily using power while plugged in/docked?

Does anyone have the AM0 module to test with? The one that doesn't have a headphone output?

 

[397324]

Yes, exactly. It wasn't caught during internal or external testing. It's likely not a feature used by many in their testing group. It's not ideal but it does happen. They also released a patch for it almost as soon as it was reported. I'm not sure you can ask for more. More thorough testing? Longer release cycles.

The latest firmware for the X5iii is 1.1.7, the one that introduced the gapless problem. Where is the patch? The previous version 1.1.6 worked faultlessly with gapless playback.

I'm unsubscribing from this thread, as I'm done with any Android FiiO Daps. Look at the original X7. Owners only got the long promised non beta Android 5 update, a couple of months before the release of the X7ii.

 

[enragedlemon]

The latest firmware for the X5iii is 1.1.7, the one that introduced the gapless problem. Where is the patch? The previous version 1.1.6 worked faultlessly with gapless playback.

They posted it on the X5iii forum almost immediately. There was lots of chatter about it.

 

[Brooko]

They aren't Apple or Samsung Darren. They have limited resources, and things like this can happen. I don't know if you remember, but a few years ago Microsoft released an update (was it Vista era?) where it put a high % of PCs into a constant reboot loop. Microsoft - with its hundreds of thousands of employees.

The bug was discovered a week ago, and they've already fixed it in a private beta release on the X5iii. Which means that it will be fixed very shortly on the X7ii.

Is what is happening with FiiO ideal - no. Is it inconsistent with what's been happening last couple of years with FiiO - no. If you buy their gear, you are going to get inconsistencies along the way. That is their business model ..... listen to the community, implement new features as requested, and squash the bugs as they happen. Ultimately you end up with a pretty functional DAP, which sounds great, at usually less cost than the competition. If that's not acceptable to you - then change companies. They don't look like they're changing their business model.

Gapless is (slightly) broken. The fix will be posted. I can live with the slight wait - but I also value SQ, value, the features they bring, and the service they try to give us. Not everyone will. Their choice is to whether to move on to a different manufacturer.

 

[397324]

Well, they haven't posted it on their official site.

 

[Dobrescu George]

I don't believe there are any deep issues with the FiiO Music app and the issues they do have are most likely solvable. I think this issue is that they are trying their best to implement all of the complex requests they get on places like Head-fi. I'd imagine we will see these things settle, especially as they grow their actual beta tester group.

They aren't Apple or Samsung Darren. They have limited resources, and things like this can happen. I don't know if you remember, but a few years ago Microsoft released an update (was it Vista era?) where it put a high % of PCs into a constant reboot loop. Microsoft - with its hundreds of thousands of employees.

The bug was discovered a week ago, and they've already fixed it in a private beta release on the X5iii. Which means that it will be fixed very shortly on the X7ii.

Is what is happening with FiiO ideal - no. Is it inconsistent with what's been happening last couple of years with FiiO - no. If you buy their gear, you are going to get inconsistencies along the way. That is their business model ..... listen to the community, implement new features as requested, and squash the bugs as they happen. Ultimately you end up with a pretty functional DAP, which sounds great, at usually less cost than the competition. If that's not acceptable to you - then change companies. They don't look like they're changing their business model.

Gapless is (slightly) broken. The fix will be posted. I can live with the slight wait - but I also value SQ, value, the features they bring, and the service they try to give us. Not everyone will. Their choice is to whether to move on to a different manufacturer.

I really really really think that the community has been asking for quite a lot from FiiO and this has strained their software team a lot.

I also don't mind issues this small, I never in the last two years have waited until a song finished, so I really don't mind gapless either. What I would care about is for there to be no pops or such when one changes a song. That is important because I listen at loud volumes sometimes and you know.

Really wish that people who do get an X7mkii will be happy with it, I know that it has a lot going on for it. The more we ask, the more we will get, but sometimes we should just stop for a moment and enjoy what we have already

 

[cecaniah]

I really really really think that the community has been asking for quite a lot from FiiO and this has strained their software team a lot.

I also don't mind issues this small, I never in the last two years have waited until a song finished, so I really don't mind gapless either. What I would care about is for there to be no pops or such when one changes a song. That is important because I listen at loud volumes sometimes and you know.

Really wish that people who do get an X7mkii will be happy with it, I know that it has a lot going on for it. The more we ask, the more we will get, but sometimes we should just stop for a moment and enjoy what we have already

Well, there's only the initial "pop" when you start your first song upon turning on the X7ii, it's really smooth thereafter. I'm still happy with my purchase despite the shortcomings and I'd say it gets me more optimistic about the future of FiiO's DAPs if they keep maintaining this price to quality ratio.

 

[CarstenF]

I see... I hope that there will be a solution for this.



Now that you say it,

@FiiO , is it possible to stop the batteries from charging completely while X7mkii is used as a DAC? I was thinking about something like a setting in the menu? Would be great for many if they could just do this and not worry about their batteries and such.



I thought you are using a DX200, which should have satisfy your needs.

I think that all DAPs will be having less and less issues as time goes by, but I was quite happy with X5ii as well. Right now, I have Opus #3 which is fairly free of problems, I will have DX200 and X7mkii sometime soon and will tell how each does.

@FiiO,
I think that is a good idea - if it is possible, please have a switch in settings to turn usb changing on or off while in dac mode.
Being able to turn it off would in addition to bringing the temperature down have the added benefit of lower usb power requirements, so you could use it - if you wanted - with an iPad or an Android phone via CCK or usb otg as dac (I know not many people would do that).

 

[CarstenF]

I thought it was the RK3188 SoC solution that did not allow for anything above 5.1 to be used. Android 7.1 on RK3188, i guess i need to go read again.

This product is advertised as using the RK3188 with 2 GB RAM and running Android Nougat 7.1: https://www.amazon.com/YINUO-Android-Receiver-Navigation-Transit/dp/B071G2C8GY

 

[CarstenF]

Officially I believe this is the case if you want to build from AOSP as the RK3188 is 32bit with a relatively dated instruction set. That being said there's virtually no business case to go Android 6 or 7 for a DAP anyway. With Android fragmentation the way that it is it's unlikely app developers will drop support for 5.1 in the lifetime of the current range. Architecturally speaking 6+ hasn't changed much as 4.4+ all support ART anyway.

You are probably right but it depends on how long expected lifetime is. Currently, Tidal requires at least Android 4.4 if you want to use Hifi mode. It could well be that due to the better security features in Android 6 that at some point in time say the new Tidal app with "Super HifI" High Res Streaming mode may only work with Android 6 and higher (just speculating). ESS does not release a new generation of dac chips every two years (the previous 9018 was introduced 8 years ago and the 9028 next generation chip in the X7 II only last year), so there is no reason apart from the battery aging why an X7 II may not stay up to date for a few years (ok, I"m sure FiiO will want to sell us a third gen model in two or three years" time).