[McCol]

X7 is now with me after being held up by royal mail.

 

[Dixter]

Group3 X7 unit shipped to Purk for review... PM and tracking number sent yesterday....  should be there this Thursday....
 
Thanks for the opportunity for the review...  having withdrawal after using the X7 for 10 days and then switching back to X5....   you notice the difference and miss the X7 right off the bat...     darn it all...

 

[Vividcard]

hoping to get my review posted tonight. It's been a busy week. Finishing up the typing today. Then have to get home to the photos.

 

[McCol]

I received the loaner X7 today in the UK.

Trying to connect the Chord Mojo via usb, initially get the message asking if I want to use the device with Fiio Music, select yes. After this though it doesn't keep the connection, keeps un-connecting and re-connecting on its own but never for more than a few seconds.
Cable and Mojo works fine with my Blackberry Priv so assuming the USB on the X7 may be loose/faulty. Just thought I'd report that here before I send on next week.

 

[ade_hall]

 
From Fiio‘s official website:
 

The following changes and improvements were made to firmware 1.10 compared to 1.00:
Added function:

1. Added support for M3U playlists and internal playlists
2. Added in-line headphone control function (support the on/off switching of in line headphone control).

3. Optimized detection of in-line remotes on earphones, reducing occurrence of accidental operation of the player by misdetected remote input.
4. Enabled playback of songs with sample rate under 32kHz.

5. Improved compatibility with certain music file formats.

6. Added option to choose between showing filename or title from ID3 tag in the Now Playing screen.
7. Fixed issue with menu "skipping" when moving beyond the first page of System Settings.
8. Numerous fixes to errata in UI text and UI graphics elements.

9. Various other minor bug fixes.

 
For point 1. I can see no difference between 1.0 and 1.1, this is an example structure that works  for me:
 
#EXTM3U8
#EXTINF: xxx, Track1
/mnt/internal_sd/Music/Artist/Album/Track.ext
#EXTINF: xxx, Track2
/mnt/external_sd/Music/Artist/Album/Track2.ext
 
Point 6 - I cannot see this anywhere in the menus
 
I wonder if I've installed 1.1 correctly...

 

[Vividcard]

THE REVIEW IS IN!
http://www.head-fi.org/products/fiio-x7/reviews/14662
 
Side note: I cannot stand that Head-fi doesn't allow a preview post for reviews... After about an hour of back and fourth formatting, it should be good now!

 

[TheoS53]

THE REVIEW IS IN!
http://www.head-fi.org/products/fiio-x7/reviews/14662

Side note: I cannot stand that Head-fi doesn't allow a preview post for reviews... After about an hour of back and fourth formatting, it should be good now!

Great review. I look forward to getting my hands on it in a week or 2.
I particularly liked that you did a comparison with a smartphone. I plan on doing this too, with a G3+E18+E12A combo to be more precise. I suspect that this combo will at least match the sound quality of the X7,perhaps even exceed it, but we'll have to wait and see. Would be nice if a $320 (excluding the cost of the phone) setup could match the $650 X7

 

[Vividcard]

Great review. I look forward to getting my hands on it in a week or 2.
I particularly liked that you did a comparison with a smartphone. I plan on doing this too, with a G3+E18+E12A combo to be more precise. I suspect that this combo will at least match the sound quality of the X7,perhaps even exceed it, but we'll have to wait and see. Would be nice if a $320 (excluding the cost of the phone) setup could match the $650 X7

I think you'll be surprised when you listen to the X7, as other's around have said. It has a practically Holographic sound. Everything is given a bit of a push but still maintains layering with exquisite detail. Do other things have a better sound quality, probably. But the X7 is just downright fun to listen to!

 

[TheoS53]

I think you'll be surprised when you listen to the X7, as other's around have said. It has a practically Holographic sound. Everything is given a bit of a push but still maintains layering with exquisite detail. Do other things have a better sound quality, probably. But the X7 is just downright fun to listen to!

Look, can you just stop hammering on about how awesome it is? I don't have it with me yet... So stop fueling my excitement lol.

 

[Vividcard]

Look, can you just stop hammering on about how awesome it is? I don't have it with me yet... So stop fueling my excitement lol.

But in all seriousness, remember that in the end it is still beta. And I have given more leniency to that fact than other reviewers. It still needs some final touches for me to be all over it. I also want to hear more about additional amp modules and their cost to determine if this would be worth my wallet.

 

[TheoS53]

But in all seriousness, remember that in the end it is still beta. And I have given more leniency to that fact than other reviewers. It still needs some final touches for me to be all over it. I also want to hear more about additional amp modules and their cost to determine if this would be worth my wallet.

Agreed... Heck they might very well release another firmware update before or while I have it, so only time will tell how good it can be.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I received the loaner X7 today in the UK.

Trying to connect the Chord Mojo via usb, initially get the message asking if I want to use the device with Fiio Music, select yes. After this though it doesn't keep the connection, keeps un-connecting and re-connecting on its own but never for more than a few seconds.
Cable and Mojo works fine with my Blackberry Priv so assuming the USB on the X7 may be loose/faulty. Just thought I'd report that here before I send on next week.

Hey McCol,

What about a USB connection to a computer for file transfer?

 

[RedJohn456]

I received the loaner X7 today in the UK.

Trying to connect the Chord Mojo via usb, initially get the message asking if I want to use the device with Fiio Music, select yes. After this though it doesn't keep the connection, keeps un-connecting and re-connecting on its own but never for more than a few seconds.
Cable and Mojo works fine with my Blackberry Priv so assuming the USB on the X7 may be loose/faulty. Just thought I'd report that here before I send on next week.

Just to clarify, are you attempting to use the Mojo with the X7? AFAIK the X7 doesn't have OTG functionality yet. Thats why its not working with the mojo =)  But if you try to connect to a laptop it should run fine *knock on wood*
 
Totally OT, but I have a Z30, was thinking of a Priv. Only amp/dac I got to work with my Z30 is the FiiO E17. Do USB dacs work with the priv? I have yet to see a Priv in person. Can I see how it measures up beside the X7 for reference? TIA  

 

[McCol]

Hey McCol,

What about a USB connection to a computer for file transfer?

 
It's working fine with USB connection to PC, just when trying to use with the Mojo, but didn't realise that DAC support wasn't yet implemented.

 

[McCol]

 
Just to clarify, are you attempting to use the Mojo with the X7? AFAIK the X7 doesn't have OTG functionality yet. Thats why its not working with the mojo =)  But if you try to connect to a laptop it should run fine *knock on wood*
 
Totally OT, but I have a Z30, was thinking of a Priv. Only amp/dac I got to work with my Z30 is the FiiO E17. Do USB dacs work with the priv? I have yet to see a Priv in person. Can I see how it measures up beside the X7 for reference? TIA  

 
The Priv is a really nice handset that works no problem with the Mojo, no need for 3rd party apps.  Size wise it is approx 1 inch taller than the X7 and a little wider.