[slair76116]

Hi Guys,
 
    Quick Question as the subject says, is the X5 the best DAP under $500 ?
 
I will use it with my Senn ie80s, and occasionally with me Senn HD650's. 
 
I mostly listen to 80's, Hiphop and instrumentals
 
I love Mids and vocals --> Bass -- >and highs in that order.
 
amazon has the X5 for $349
 
I currently have a Sansa clip zip with rockbox
 
I've seen a guy asking a similar question but he has the AK100 ii as an option which is not for me
 
Thank you very much for you advise

 

[SilverEars]

I personally think that the X5 is more capable with better resolving phones as the treble has the thinness to it(it can push subtalities) and I can describe the stage as wide but without the bass coloration.  Not sure if it's treble characteristics is of the TI PCM1792.  Clip is pretty well performing for such a little guy with a great price tag, but I think you will notice the limit to it's resolving ability with capable phones.  I'm ok with clip+ as portable.  If you haven't rockboxed it, do it, the interface is loads better.  And it doesn't have the excessively long library scanning time everytime you slide the uSD card in.

 

[slair76116]

So you recon I should stick with the Clip zip (Yes I already tockboxed it) ?
 
I'll not see much gain for the extra$300 spent on the X5 ?

 

[SilverEars]

I would save my money for better headphones(I don't know what you have), and then go for a better DAP.  I personally think priority should be headphones first, than the source.

 

[slair76116]

My headphones are descent
 
I will use it with my Senn  ie80s, and occasionally with me Senn HD650. 

 

[Brooko]

The clip zip should be OK with your IE80s, but won't have the power to fully drive the HD650s.  The Clip Zip max output is around 15 mW into 16 ohms.  Comparatively, the X5 will put 460 mW into 16 ohms, and a healthy 28 mW into a 300 ohm load.
 
I use the X5 with my DT880 (250 ohm) and HD600 (300 ohm) quite often at home.  They perform wonderfully. 

 

[slair76116]

So do you recon I sit with the Rockboxed Clip zip for now till I save up for a $1000 DAP or
 
Should I get the X5 ? is it the best under $500 DAP ? will it be that much better sounding with my ie80 than the clipzip ie80 combination to warrant the $350 im gonna spend on it ?

 

[SilverEars]

  So do you recon I sit with the Rockboxed Clip zip for now till I save up for a $1000 DAP or
 
Should I get the X5 ? is it the best under $500 DAP ? will it be that much better sounding with my ie80 than the clipzip ie80 combination to warrant the $350 im gonna spend on it ?

$1000 DAP?  Hell no, you can get a reference CIEM for that much.  A source will not magically make your ie80 sound that much better.  I would save up for a better iem(since you are looking for top DAP as desktop setup is more suited for cans IMO).  Think in terms of what scales the most.  Headphones scales the most. Headphone's distortion matters the most.  Think of it this way.  $1000 DAP + $100 headphones or $1000 headphones + $100 DAP(I'm not saying price = performance, but some best sounding ones will be at the high price level).  Which do you think will scale better?  But obviously, the context doesn't apply well for cans as the best sounding cans are tied with a good amp.

 

[Brooko]

OP => you need to be careful here - because you are essentially asking two very different questions, and they have different answers.
 
Q1 - I need a DAP to power my IE80's (mostly), and my HD650s (the rest of the time) - what is best?
A - your clip zip won't power the HD650's properly, so if that is a criteria, you need to look at a different DAP, or add an amp.  As far as what is best goes - that would depend on what feature set you wanted from your DAP.
 
However - if your question is more:
Q2 - I want best bang for my buck, what should I upgrade?  Then it becomes a totally different question.  And then I agree with SilverEars - headphones make the most difference.  After that look at feature-set in a DAP, as different people will have different needs.
 
What are you actually asking?
 
If we go back to your original post - then the X5 is a very good DAP at sub $400 (look for deals) that will power both your IE80 and HD650.  There are others you could consider like the iBasso DX90. Don't look for huge improvements with your IE80's though.  The big gains overall will be things like ability to drive full sized headphones, ability to run as a DAC, ability to decode DSD to PCM etc.

 

[slair76116]

So basically what you guys are saying is that my ie80's aren't good enough
 
And that between the clip zip and the upgrade to X5 I wouldn't realize much difference because of the ie80's, which would be the bottleneck.
 
and im better off getting a better iem ?
 
That's sad because I cant afford a new iem along with a new dap , and since the ie80 is new to me I don't want to spend more on an iem at the moment.
 
I guess ill stick with the clip zip + ie80 combo till i can make a better iem+dap purchase together.
 
damn this is not a place for the poor

 

[Brooko]

Actually - I wasn't suggesting the IE80 was bad at all.  If you're enjoying it - stay with it
 
What I suggested is that if you wanted a DAP to run both the IE80 and also the HD650 - then the clip probably isn't it.  You'll need something more powerful.  If you don't need to run your HD650 through them - then stay with the IE80 and clip (it'll be a good combination).

 

[haens]

slair76116:
I`ve had  Sansa Fuze (RB) and vsonic 07be (dynamic driver IEMs, same as your IE80). I havent heard Clip zip but I from what I have read I presume it is on the same/similar level as Fuze. Then I bought DX90 and I have had also X5 borrowed for a few days. All I can say that even with my not-the-top-of-the-line IEMs both DAPs were big step up from my Fuze. I doubt your Clip can use the max of the IE80 so you will get much less from better IEMs then from better DAP.

 
When I listened to my Fuze after month of using only DX90, my Fuze (which I loved before) sounded just dull, like there was no fun and music in my music anymore...

 

[slair76116]

is  the X5 still better than the DX90 ?

 

[headwhacker]

is  the X5 still better than the DX90 ?

 


No better way to find out which sound best for you but to try it for yourself. If you order directly from iBasso, you can try the DX90 for 15 days and return it if you don't like it.

 

[slair76116]

not in the UAE I cant