[vanhiel]

Hey all, I've realized it's time to upgrade my portable setup.  I use it for 8-10 hours a day work and then even when not at work.
 
DAP - I'm looking at the FiiO X5 II.  Price to performance seems quite good and it has a lot of storage space.  What's the point of a high end player if you can't hold all your music on it in a lossless format?  Any other suggestions here?
 
HP - I'm a bit conflicted here.  I'd love to get something like the Mr.Speakers Alpha Dog as I'm a fan of planars.  But their harder to drive than a dynamic can and the Alpha Dogs look somewhat beefy to transport around.  But well, sound is king...
 
Amp - Since I'm looking at somewhat harder to drive cans I took a look at the FiiO E12.  While it lists a higher output and more P-P voltage swing.  They show a 170mA Max output while the X5 II shows as over 250mA.  I'm rather confused here

  And who knows after I try out the setup without an amp I may decide I don't need one.
 
 
So I'm looking to keep things from getting too expensive, maxing out at $1k USD.  I'd of course prefer to be under that, but I also hate upgrading as I go along.
 
So I guess my biggest question is headphones.  I'm not much of an IEM fan as I don't really like the feeling of things jammed in my ears and worst of all... They seem to make the insides of my ears itch!!!  So closed backs are what I'm looking at.  While I'm not looking for a closed back LCD-2, I don't want to go for something that say sounds like a HD800 either.
 
And any thoughts on other players / amps?  The FiiO stuff seems to be pretty high up there on what you get for your cash, but with all the stuff constantly being released who knows what I've missed.
 
Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[cel4145]

Looking at your sig, I see you already have an iPod Classic. You could always get an E12 or a Cayin C5 and combine it with your iPod so as to have more to put toward headphones.

You might look into the Oppo PM-3. Planars that are somewhat easy to drive.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
DAP - I'm looking at the FiiO X5 II.  Price to performance seems quite good and it has a lot of storage space.  What's the point of a high end player if you can't hold all your music on it in a lossless format?  Any other suggestions here?

 
Just be aware that the X5 has a file count limit. It's higher in the new firmware version I think, but don't get your hopes up filling two 256gb cards with FLAC.
 

 
HP - I'm a bit conflicted here.  I'd love to get something like the Mr.Speakers Alpha Dog as I'm a fan of planars.  But their harder to drive than a dynamic can and the Alpha Dogs look somewhat beefy to transport around.  But well, sound is king...

 
Oppo PM3 - planar and easily driven. I've used it with my SGS3 and the sound was enjoyable enough.
 
Alternately, there's the Audezee EL8 closed back.
 

 
Amp - Since I'm looking at somewhat harder to drive cans I took a look at the FiiO E12.  While it lists a higher output and more P-P voltage swing.  They show a 170mA Max output while the X5 II shows as over 250mA.  I'm rather confused here 

  And who knows after I try out the setup without an amp I may decide I don't need one.

 
The X5 is already too much of an amp for the PM3.

 

[vanhiel]

Looking at your sig, I see you already have an iPod Classic. You could always get an E12 or a Cayin C5 and combine it with your iPod so as to have more to put toward headphones.

You might look into the Oppo PM-3. Planars that are somewhat easy to drive.

 
I'm not sure I really want to spend more than $500 - $600 on phones that are going to basically live in my backpack.  And while the iPod isn't horrible, soundcheck is nowhere near as good as replaygain and I imagine newer players have better SQ.
 
I'll have to look into the Oppo since you both talk about them.
 

   
Just be aware that the X5 has a file count limit. It's higher in the new firmware version I think, but don't get your hopes up filling two 256gb cards with FLAC.
 
 
Oppo PM3 - planar and easily driven. I've used it with my SGS3 and the sound was enjoyable enough.
 
Alternately, there's the Audezee EL8 closed back.
 
 
The X5 is already too much of an amp for the PM3.

 
Soooo... They give us a ton of storage but not the ability to use it all.  That's... I don't even know how to express what I'm thinking in a way suitable for a public forum.  It certainly makes me rethink things.  Though I figure it would sound better than my old ipod.  And hopefully they'll be updating the software to fix that.
 
Taking a look at the PM3 since you both mention it.  Interesting, I'll have to read some reviews.
 
EL8 - It's on the high side of my budget, almost as much as my LCD2s, and I just don't know about them... I couldn't find any reviews on the closed backs when last I looked.
 
While the Alpha Dogs are the hardest to drive and likely the least portable of a bunch of not super portable headphones they do have a very good rep for price to performance

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
Soooo... They give us a ton of storage but not the ability to use it all.  That's... I don't even know how to express what I'm thinking in a way suitable for a public forum.  It certainly makes me rethink things.  Though I figure it would sound better than my old ipod.  And hopefully they'll be updating the software to fix that.

 

Actually given that the cards that came out at the time were at most 128gb, the file count limit was reasonable for FLAC loaded into two of them. You will only really hit the limit if you loaded MP3's, since you can cram up to 10X more MP3's compared to the largest FLAC compression.

 

As it is you can't even easily find 256gb microSDXC cards now (and even if you could they could cost as much as the X5), and even full size SD cards are still expensive. I only mentioned the file limit so you expect it for when using MP3's, and so you don't bank on the firmware getting an update to double the file count limit given some of the limitations AFAIK are with the processor. My guess is that what might happen (in case the processor remains a limitation) is that it might be able to treat each 256gb as separate libraries, and they might be able to allow switching without turning off the X5. Still beats fumbling around switching the cards.

 

In any case, that's for the original X5, so check in the X5 MkII thread because they might actually have already addressed this. The reason why I'm not so sure about it is that last I checked I didn't see any note that there was an improvement in this regard.

 

[Happy Camper]

Really consider your lifestyle and the environment you will use them the most. Comfort for long listening sessions is important. I use mine doing yard work, chores, etc. So I need an IEM (Ety 4s) for sound isolation and active movement. I use another on ear portable for when I am stationary (RS-1). Both function well with portables. I do have but seldom use a portable amp. Point is to consider your most extreme use and consider multiple options for your long term portable solution.

 

[vanhiel]

 

 

Actually given that the cards that came out at the time were at most 128gb, the file count limit was reasonable for FLAC loaded into two of them. You will only really hit the limit if you loaded MP3's, since you can cram up to 10X more MP3's compared to the largest FLAC compression.

 
I was looking at 2x 128gb cards as like you said the larger ones are crazy expensive.  And that will give me a while of just adding more FLAC files before I need to start compressing things I listen to less.  I'll poke my head into the rev 2 thread and see what's going on with the limit.
 

Really consider your lifestyle and the environment you will use them the most. Comfort for long listening sessions is important. I use mine doing yard work, chores, etc. So I need an IEM (Ety 4s) for sound isolation and active movement. I use another on ear portable for when I am stationary (RS-1). Both function well with portables. I do have but seldom use a portable amp. Point is to consider your most extreme use and consider multiple options for your long term portable solution.

 
I'll be using it mostly at my work desk or since I'm going back to school the library or lounge between classes.  And on the rare occasion an IEM would be needed I can always grab my RE-400.  Not the best thing out there, but it'll do the job if I want to listen while being less sedentary.
 
RS-1 as in a Grado?  I tried my 225s at work and between nearby people taking and the hvac I'd have had to crank the music way louder than I like to with them being open back.

 

[Happy Camper]

The Grados are RS-1s (sn#1573) and I don't have many creatures that mind a little leakage. Great walking trails so you can hear wildlife and it's blackberry season so music is mandatory. Wine season is approaching.