I would love to hear your thoughts too. Especially coming from an X5II that when operating fine is not that slow an interface once you get used to it. I was between the X5II and the DX80 for two weeks for me. I knew what I would get in the FiiO which made it a hard decision. I went big on the X7 with 3 amps. Man what a pinball machine. Try this firmware, then this one, then this one. Each time functions would be corrected and functions that worked prior were now buggy. It's too bad because that Sabre DAC implementation sounds really good on my systems. When it worked it was fantastic. Once they figure it all out, that is going to be a really nice player. As well as the X5III will certainly be. That X5III will be the most written about DAP on here for many month as . It has already started and not yet available State side. Great starting price too At $399. Can't wait to test that little baby out.
After having firmware whoas with the X7 I read as much as I could on both DAPs. Time and time again I read about the AKjrs lag in getting through a full card of music. Being a single card slot was also a wrench in the Jr for me. Most of my collection on my micro sd cards is 24 bit audio or 16bit FLAC. It takes up space. And the AKjr was known to be very slow in processing those files. Jr as in the little chip they have in there is not up to the challenge to handle a heavy load. I am sure someone here on head-if has figured out what microprocessing chip they are using for this ui. It would be nice if they could revise to a JRII with the right muscle to drive it. Watch some videos with people using the UI on you tube and decide if it is adequate.
This is a portable device and when you are on the go, I don't care how slick your DAP looks, if you are fiddling around with it because it it is slow to operate, that does not look very cool to the people waiting there with you. The DX80 delivered in many ways. The SQ was an added bonus I was not even expecting. You need a DAP that you can turn on quickly, get to your list however you like to search quickly and press play. The front play/pause skip, for and rewind implementation while having he screen off saving you battery life is pretty darn slick and throughout the DX line. Becoming a fanboy, was mostly FiiO prior. Pretty much have tested every FiiO and owner most. Have not owned the X3s but tried them. IBasso is hitting out of the park at good prices too. The DX80s implementation of a dual SD card is the best I have experienced. It combines both cards into one list. Every other DAP I Am aware you access each card individually.
Reviews you read of DAPs being slow to add new music is not the fault of the DAPs and this is good to know. No matter what way you try to get music on these little cards, expect to wait an hour or longer to get any significant amount of music on there. We all have to deal with it. There is no quick way about it no matter what DAP you have. Maybe they ridiculously priced AKs do. I have not wanted to spend big money like that on a portable. The real issue is how quickly your DAP can catalog that media library so you can start accessing your new micro so you switched out. The DX80 had no problems getting through 2 full 200gb cards in less than a few minutes. Not sure how the JR holds up but I have read that you might as well put it in your pocket for a while to wait for your media library list to get done. any Jr users out there, would you agree?
The JR also had an MSRP at one point of $549 I believe not far off from their newest DAP I saw on B&H for around $899, the AK300. I am very curious about that DAPs processor and the implementation of the AK4490. Huge price drops on the JR which is supposed to be in the $500 class of DAPs. It should have been msrp of $299 at its launch even if it was an AK. Just my opinion. An equivalent $300 AK to their other offerings and great UIs is about right. They did not put enough in there IMO.
Really I think in this price bracket you have to be looking at the the X5II, AKJr at current pricing, the DX80 and the Cayin N5. I have heard them all and honestly in terms of SQ, I think most would agree they are all pretty darn good sounding. If you can trust Pioneer at this point to put out firmware even at all, their player would be really nice at current pricing. I have owned enough Pioneer equipment in my life to know they typically only put out 1-2 firmware on any product cycle. Don't expect much more than that.
Anyone that can wait though might want to read up on that X5 gen 3. The X7 is a different beast really with its mod possibility, I tried 3 of the the different A series module amps and it's pretty cool to change it up for different headphone needs. After buying a FiiO A5 amp at about the same price as those modules, the X7 starts to look pricey when at the same price as the X5III and an A5, I have no idea how they are gonna sell the X7. I believe when the firmware is just right, many here on Head-Fi will buy them new at ridiculously low prices. Maybe a 500 unit big Massdrop for the community when they finally get it straight. That would be a really nice contribution for all the beta testing Head-Fi users have done for them over the years. It would fuel some X7 buzz too because it truly is one of the best sounding Portable audio players I have ever heard. Keep in mind the X5III is basically an X7 without the amp module feature.
Consider the DX50, for $200 on Amazon right now too. Has the same DAC as the AKjr and basically a DX80 in a smaller package, one micro ad card slot. Hopefully stable firmware. I could not tell you. No experience with it. 14 hour battery, not bad.
Reading this thread, I am wanting to hear the DX90 now. How is the firmware on the DX90? Is it stable to run it simply as a functional player? Every unit is different. You have to ask
