[AndrewNL]

Hi forum
 
I know there are a whole bunch of these types of posts, but I am struggling to make a decision. Any thoughts or inputs would be most appreciated.

I currently use an iPhone, with mainly 192 or 320Kbps mp3s and similar and I am re-ripping my CD collection bit by bit (what a tiring process!) to lossless. I'm now looking for a player that can handle lossless and HD tracks. So it is quite a big step up - at this stage, I don't want to stack a DAP and amp, so it should be an all in one solution. I listen with Senn HD25-1-ii and Westone W30 which are quite easy to drive. My taste in music is very very broad so I tend to go for all-rounders where I can listen to Public Enemy and Nas one moment, Coldplay the next, some African tunes like Amadou et Mariam, Fleet Foxes, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Daft Punk. Probably a skew to male vocals.
 
I've looked at:
 
- FiiO x1, x3 and x5
- Sony A10 series
- PonoPlayer
 
At the moment, I am thinking of pulling the trigger on the FiiO x3 - it seems to be a good entry player and would probably do me for a few years until the industry churns out a few more DAPs that handle high res audio. Any one want to confirm my thinking or encourage me down a different route?
 
Andrew

 

[bobby12]

X1 if you only need something that plays music
X3 if you also want a USB DAC to use with your computer/laptop

 

[lin0003]

Have a look at the DX90 as well, IMO it is better than the all the Fiios you have listed. If you want to, check out my review in my sig and other reviews on the reviews page. 

 

[AndrewNL]

Haha OK, complicate matters No, seriously, thanks. I hadn't looked at that one.
 
In your review you mentioned some firmware issues- have these gotten better since you posted? One of the reasons I have leaned towards the cheaper Fiio X3 (or X1) is that from my reading a lot of these DAPs need some work on the user experience. That said, SQ is important too and I read that this is here in buckets.
 
 
Quote:

  Have a look at the DX90 as well, IMO it is better than the all the Fiios you have listed. If you want to, check out my review in my sig and other reviews on the reviews page. 

 

[SimpleVD200792]

how about iBasso?

 

[deathdemon]

Fiio X5 find  headphoneguru and modify it for better sound.

 

[AndrewNL]

I did some searching for headphoneguru I gather its a kind of mod by someone in Thailand. Any details on what kind of mod? I couldn't see any details