Ihifi 770 & 770c Thread

[bzfrank]

I already have cowon Plenue D, so I need a step up from that. Some real upgrade.thought 990 would be likely a candidate for my future upgrade, turns out it's not. Wolfson loses to PCM1792. Though it sounds great. I just want something much better than wolfson) glad for you guys!

 
As I listen at the moment to the iHifi990 - which really sounds f...reaking great - please allow me some doubts regarding your statement.

Xuelin know how to drive the Wolfson to best effect and the dual-WM8740 in the 990 is still a contender these days.

 

[Niyologist]

As I listen at the moment to the iHifi990 - which really sounds f...reaking great - please allow me some doubts regarding your statement. Xuelin know how to drive the Wolfson to best effect and the dual-WM8740 in the 990 is still a contender these days.

How's the UI?

 

[bzfrank]

Astonishingly the iHifi 990 UI looks and feels very similar to the Hidizs AP60, UI elements, general experience, even firmware naming scheme.
 
I believe iHifi dropped their own efforts for the UI and purchased/licensed something more elaborated.

 

[bzfrank]

And - its quite usable. The scroll wheel needs some time to get used to but it works well. The CNC aluminim case makes a very nice impression. Display is clear and readable.
 
The only complain I have is the very same I have with the Hidizs AP60 and its 0.04beta firmware - opening very large AAC (5h, ~250 mb in size) files takes ~20-30sec, during this time the UI freezes, playback afterwards is flawless however. I guess the cause is the firmware scanning the file without polling the GUI.
 
Gapless works BTW, EQ and gain too, current firmware is 0.11beta.

 

[Niyologist]

And - its quite usable. The scroll wheel needs some time to get used to but it works well. The CNC aluminim case makes a very nice impression. Display is clear and readable.

The only complain I have is the very same I have with the Hidizs AP60 and its 0.04beta firmware - opening very large AAC (5h, ~250 mb in size) files takes ~20-30sec, during this time the UI freezes, playback afterwards is flawless however. I guess the cause is the firmware scanning the file without polling the GUI.

Gapless works BTW, EQ and gain too, current firmware is 0.11beta.

Good. What does it sound like?

 

[bzfrank]

Still burning in but so far very good. Musical and detailed. More so than the 812v2 while retaining its general sound signature but without the slight high frequency roll off that makes the hallmark of the 812. Another case of great use of the Wolfsons as I expected from them.

 

[waynes world]

  Here is the basic process for rockboxing the 770C; just substitute the files XVortex has linked to for the 770.  Good luck.
 
OK, I have now spent quite a bit of time playing around with the firmware upgrade process to Rockbox the new 770C.  The method is much simpler than I previously realized and works well with both Windows XP and Windows 7 (still does not work with Windows 8 or 10 as far as I know).  In any event, you will still need to download the "ihifiupimg.rar" file from the Xuelin site if you have not already downloaded the drivers onto your computer.  Here is the link to this file:  http://pan.baidu.com/s/1hreOzti?qq-pf-to=pcqq.c2c (click on the box with down arrow 11.3M to download file).  Once you have used the Release_driver assistant to download the drivers onto your computer, then download the rockbox-bootloader file from XVortex onto your computer.  Here is the link:  https://mega.nz/#!Ukk1ybJT!Wl6nKpOQqJsH8Vk64GAThN0A9ZpPos2firfPfmtm_Qc.  After you have downloaded this file, then download the Rockbox-full  file (https://mega.nz/#!wkECnC4b!EPQgezOmSNTYr5ngpKON8AtpiN__p0OA1Vo357jVw7g) to your computer.  When you open the rockbox-full file, you will see a file named .rockbox.  You will need to extract this .rockbox file to a FAT32 formatted microsd card.  Once you have extracted the .rockbox file to your microsd card (make sure to check the card to see if .rockbox is there) then place the microsd card into the slot in the 770C. Now attach your 770C to your computer with its usb cable, the 770c screen should show the usb symbol on the left side of the sceen and a headphone image on the right side. Now open the rockbox-bootloader file and locate the RK27 upgrade image; click on this and the upgrade image will appear on your screen.  The bottom left text box should say something like "Found RK27 MSC Device".  The image path (near the middle of the image) should already contain the text that reads  "Image\770c-rockbox.img".  So next, you will click on the Upgrade button located just above the Image path.  A pop-up will appear that says "Device don't support, upgrade failed".  On this pop-up, click OK and the pop-up will disappear.  Next click on the Switch button (next to the Upgrade button), the text box in the lower left should now say "Found RK27 Loader Device".  Now click on the Upgrade button again and the firmware download should begin.  You should see lines of text appear in the large text box in the middle of the upgrade image.  When the process is complete, there will be 13 lines of text, the final one says "INFO: Upgrade OK".  The 770C will then turn off briefly, but then should automatically reboot.  If it does not reboot, then do a hard reset and then turn the player on with the power button.  When you disconnect the 770C from the usb cable, the screen on the 770c will have the Xuelin firmware still showing in Chinese. There will be 5 lines below the battery icon, move to the bottom line and press select key.  The 770c will then go thru an uploading process and a new screen will appear also in Chinese.  On this screen, there will be 6 lines below the battery icon.  Move down to the 6th line and press select.  This will open a screen that will let you select the language you want to use. Move to the language you want and hit the select button.  You can then use the return button to move back to the main screen.  To get to Rockbox, simply push the power button to turn off the player, then use the power button to turn the 770C back on.  The Rockbox screen will appear when the 770C is restarted.  Remember, you have to have the microsd card with the .rockbox file extracted to it in the microsd slot to access Rockbox on your 770C.  

 
Hi jdog. I am thinking of rockboxing my original 770. Is the above still the way to go (including downloading ihifiupimg.rar etc)? Thanks!

 

[jdog]

   
Hi jdog. I am thinking of rockboxing my original 770. Is the above still the way to go (including downloading ihifiupimg.rar etc)? Thanks!

Yes, these are exactly the steps I used when I rockbox'd my 770C and 770.  The firmware link for the files for the 770 are here:  https://mega.nz/#!A5sSSC5L!JMFWpZn2C6GEgJEa-GO19zAuwS6BLSMoXD4xODAXoJ8.  If you have never changed the firmware on your 770, then you will need to download the ihifiupimg.rar; the link posted in my narrative above is still good, I tested it tonite.  Let me know if you have any problems and I'll see if I can help you out.  For some reason, the display on my rockbox'd 770 is not as clear/bright as on the 770c, but the program otherwise works fine.  I hope you have access to a computer with Windows 7 or XP....  

 

[waynes world]

  Yes, these are exactly the steps I used when I rockbox'd my 770C and 770.  The firmware link for the files for the 770 are here:  https://mega.nz/#!A5sSSC5L!JMFWpZn2C6GEgJEa-GO19zAuwS6BLSMoXD4xODAXoJ8.  If you have never changed the firmware on your 770, then you will need to download the ihifiupimg.rar; the link posted in my narrative above is still good, I tested it tonite.  Let me know if you have any problems and I'll see if I can help you out.  For some reason, the display on my rockbox'd 770 is not as clear/bright as on the 770c, but the program otherwise works fine.  I hope you have access to a computer with Windows 7 or XP....  

 
Thanks! 
 
At this point:

Now attach your 770C to your computer with its usb cable,  the 770c screen should show the usb symbol on the left side of the sceen and a headphone image on the right side. 

 
On the 770 I click on the usb symbol.
Then my windows 7 explorer displays "E:" which is the 770's internal disk, and a message pops up saying that "F: must be reformatted before using". I click cancel (note: that pop up seems to happen often). But after clicking cancel, "F:" doesn't show up in explorer.
 

Now click on the Upgrade button again and the firmware download should begin.  You should see lines of text appear in the large text box in the middle of the upgrade image.  When the process is complete, there will be 13 lines of text, the final one says "INFO: Upgrade OK".  

 
As soon as I click Upgrade, then "E:" disappears from explorer, and I get the following:
 

 
I think the problem is that "F:" (which is the sdcard in the 770) is not showing up in explorer. I will try a few things later...

 

[jdog]

   
Thanks! 
 
At this point:
 
On the 770 I click on the usb symbol.
Then my windows 7 explorer displays "E:" which is the 770's internal disk, and a message pops up saying that "F: must be reformatted before using". I click cancel (note: that pop up seems to happen often). But after clicking cancel, "F:" doesn't show up in explorer.
 
 
As soon as I click Upgrade, then "E:" disappears from explorer, and I get the following:
 

 
I think the problem is that "F:" (which is the sdcard in the 770) is not showing up in explorer. I will try a few things later...

From your description, it looks like you have a microsd card in the slot >32 gb.  I would suggest that you take your microsd card out of the 770 before you do the image upgrade on your 770.  After you do the firmware update, then you will need to put the microsd card with .rockbox extracted to it before you can use rockbox.  I just repeated the process with files I have listed in my post and everything worked well.  I know you have probably done all these things so I assume you have downloaded the drivers to your computer.  If you have never changed the firmware in your 770 before, then you might try to run the ihifiupimg.rar as administrator and see if this works...  Good luck.

 

[waynes world]

  From your description, it looks like you have a microsd card in the slot >32 gb.  I would suggest that you take your microsd card out of the 770 before you do the image upgrade on your 770.  After you do the firmware update, then you will need to put the microsd card with .rockbox extracted to it before you can use rockbox.  I just repeated the process with files I have listed in my post and everything worked well.  I know you have probably done all these things so I assume you have downloaded the drivers to your computer.  If you have never changed the firmware in your 770 before, then you might try to run the ihifiupimg.rar as administrator and see if this works...  Good luck.

 
Hi jdog! I removed the sdcard, re-installed the drivers as administrator and ran RK27Upgrade_Image.exe as administrator, and it worked! Yay!!
 
At "There will be 5 lines below the battery icon, move to the bottom line and press select key", I accidentally turned off the 770. When I turned it back on, rockbox was alive. So maybe it is okay that I didn't do this stuff?:
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

There will be 5 lines below the battery icon, move to the bottom line and press select key. 
The 770c will then go thru an uploading process and a new screen will appear also in Chinese.  On this screen, there will be 6 lines below the battery icon.  Move down to the 6th line and press select.  This will open a screen that will let you select the language you want to use. Move to the language you want and hit the select button.  You can then use the return button to move back to the main screen.  

 

 

 The firmware link for the files for the 770 are here:  https://mega.nz/#!A5sSSC5L!JMFWpZn2C6GEgJEa-GO19zAuwS6BLSMoXD4xODAXoJ8. 

 
Fwiw, I had previously downloaded "rockbox-bootloader-b708dbc-160501" and "rockbox-full-df6898b-160821" from the "Xeulin iHIFI 770 (old)" section of vortex download page and used that.
 
I notice that the link you provided above is "rockbox-full-fa0a231-160506" which seems to be different. Do you think that I should use your version?
 
I also notice that the button on the top of the player no longer pauses play. Do you know if it is possible to get that feature back?
 
Anyway, thanks for all of your help!

 

[jdog]

   
Hi jdog! I removed the sdcard, re-installed the drivers as administrator and ran RK27Upgrade_Image.exe as administrator, and it worked! Yay!!
 
At "There will be 5 lines below the battery icon, move to the bottom line and press select key", I accidentally turned off the 770. When I turned it back on, rockbox was alive. So maybe it is okay that I didn't do this stuff?:
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

There will be 5 lines below the battery icon, move to the bottom line and press select key. 
The 770c will then go thru an uploading process and a new screen will appear also in Chinese.  On this screen, there will be 6 lines below the battery icon.  Move down to the 6th line and press select.  This will open a screen that will let you select the language you want to use. Move to the language you want and hit the select button.  You can then use the return button to move back to the main screen.  

 

 
 
Fwiw, I had previously downloaded "rockbox-bootloader-b708dbc-160501" and "rockbox-full-df6898b-160821" from the "Xeulin iHIFI 770 (old)" section of vortex download page and used that.
 
I notice that the link you provided above is "rockbox-full-fa0a231-160506" which seems to be different. Do you think that I should use your version?
 
I also notice that the button on the top of the player no longer pauses play. Do you know if it is possible to get that feature back?
 
Anyway, thanks for all of your help!

As long as you have rockbox and it is working, you can skip any steps you don't need.  The nice thing about this setup is that you have capacity to use either rockbox or Xuelin firmware.  So only if you want to use the Xuelin firmware, do you have to worry about changing the language.  To get to the Xuelin firmware:  with the player off, you press the "on" button and then immediately press and hold any of the front keys...The screen will go black, and then the Xuelin screen will appear...  Xvortex may have updated the firmware and I think I have the latest version.  With the version I have linked you to here, you can pause play by pushing the "select/play" button.  If you do a short press of the "on" button, you will lock the front keys.  To unlock, short press the "on" button again.  You will see the small lock icon on the screen "lock" or "unlock" when you do this.  To turn off the player, you have to do long press of the "on/off" button, and you will see a message on the screen that says "shutting down"...  I'm glad you were able to rockbox your player, and I hope you enjoy it.

 

[waynes world]

  As long as you have rockbox and it is working, you can skip any steps you don't need.  The nice thing about this setup is that you have capacity to use either rockbox or Xuelin firmware.  So only if you want to use the Xuelin firmware, do you have to worry about changing the language.  To get to the Xuelin firmware:  with the player off, you press the "on" button and then immediately press and hold any of the front keys...The screen will go black, and then the Xuelin screen will appear...  Xvortex may have updated the firmware and I think I have the latest version.  With the version I have linked you to here, you can pause play by pushing the "select/play" button.  If you do a short press of the "on" button, you will lock the front keys.  To unlock, short press the "on" button again.  You will see the small lock icon on the screen "lock" or "unlock" when you do this.  To turn off the player, you have to do long press of the "on/off" button, and you will see a message on the screen that says "shutting down"...  I'm glad you were able to rockbox your player, and I hope you enjoy it.

 
Thanks! Great info - got it.
 
I liked being able to use the top "on/off" button to quickly pause it (when in my pocket etc). But I think I'll be able to survive (I can always just long press to turn off if I really need to).
 
Thanks again for all of your help. And thanks again to @XVortex!

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

 
As I listen at the moment to the iHifi990 - which really sounds f...reaking great - please allow me some doubts regarding your statement.

Xuelin know how to drive the Wolfson to best effect and the dual-WM8740 in the 990 is still a contender these days.

 
Penon says IHIFI990 uses:
 
DAC: 2x WM8740
LPF: 2x AD8610
 
But this pcb pic of IHIFI990 shows: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/X8Uu2Vzu0ZZYLDhMY4XYqRgCX7kXSUxODgkIAaG2mwxdD1uyEquL7_uwBVnizT_KEME7eelKz5c=w2560-h1440-rw-no
 
DAC: PCM1792
LPF: 2x OPA2134
 
So what's up? Either Penon is wrong, or the photo is from a prototype IHIFI990 that has changed drastically since. Hmm.

 

[bzfrank]

Xuelin has done a DAC switcheroo during development. I have not looked inside mine, but it certainly sounds wolfsonical...

(warm, musical)