[vibez]

Hi people
 
So I have a sansa clip since it is one of the respected affordable players in SQ. I use Sennheiser ie80 earphones. I am now looking to upgrade my source. There are quite a few players available now (A&K, FiiO, iBasso, Colorfully, Sony hi-res, etc etc), and I have read individual reviews of many both here and on Amazon, but need advice from you all to make a decision on which one to get. Situation is as follows:
 
1. I like a tight, neutral sound with plenty of detail. So players with bass humps or overly bright highs are not for me. I am okay with the sound being a tad warm.
2. My budget is ideally below $300, but I can go to about $500 if the difference in performance is worth it. The cheaper the better (e.g. FiiO x1 instead of x3 2nd gen..?)
3. My library includes FLAC, wma, mp3, wav mostly, including 192khz flac files..so format support is critical.
4. Rest of the feature set like UI, battery life, etc are not an issue unless there is some serious problem with anything
5. I want to keep things portable, so no option of adding a portable amp.
 
Whatever I buy will be with me for a good 3-5 years, I do not plan on further upgrades.
 
Thoughts? which one should I go for..
 
 
Umar

 

[HiFlight]

Maybe a used iBasso DX50? Lots of positives and well under your budget.

 

[castleofargh]

wrote that as an answer to pretty much the same question in PM, might find something helpful:

for best sound: X1 no question about that. but that doesn't mean you'll really notice any change, as in fact all 3 sound surprisingly the same with the IE80. but on paper the X1 is superior.
 
the clip and X1 have about the same level of background noise, with the IE80 you may notice something in a perfectly silent room(and I mean silent). pretty amazing compared to most DAPs in fact. the A15 has an audible background hiss with the IE80, it's audible only on silent or very calm passages of the music in a quiet place, but it's definitely audible.
 
 
now as a daily use, the sansa rockboxed does everything and more goes anywhere, I only wish the battery could pass 15hours. I have a few of them (mostly clip+) and they hardly pass 10hours. the X1 is about the same I get around 10 to 13hours on mp3. the A15 goes past 35hours!!!
 
 
and of course the UI, sansa can do whatever but you need t get used to it, the sony is totally intuitive and or something with buttons, browsing en changing settings is a breeze.
the X1 like any FIIO has a slightly dumb UI. you will have to sort your music in the µSD and probably edit some metadata to be able to enjoy using it without going mad.
 
so that's about it, how much are you willing to sacrifice to get good sound? ^_^ I have them all and I use mostly the sony and a sansa. you can't lower bass on sony, only boost it, so it can be a little too much with the IE80 at times. if you're into EQ and use some of the options brought by rockbox, then nothing without android can hope to match a sansa. if you don't care for EQ, then they're all fine.
 
for more on X1 and A15 you can find my review of each looking at my profile(then under reviews duh!

). long and boring like anything I write but mostly objective.
 

 obviously I say the X1 is the best within my 3 options.
the DX50 hisses with the IE80 so I would avoid that one. one option to consider is cowon, most of those I tried had a very clean background and that is IMO a major point when using something as sensitive as the IE80. they usually have stupid UI but great battery. and sound isn't the best, but is highly tweakable.
 
whatever choice you make, I really advise to ask on the dedicated topic if people get some background noise with some sensitive IEMs (best candidate being a SE535 that is really crazy sensitive to hiss). because the IE80 is really not far behind.
 
impedance doesn't matter on that IEM so no worry. just like you do not need a powerful output.

 

[vibez]

Hmm, is the X1 going to give me significant increase in SQ over the sansa? How about the X3, worth the upgrade?

 

[Ruben123]

Keep the sansa

 

[vibez]

Keep the sansa

You mean SQ won't be a big upgrade via X1?

 

[Ruben123]

Dont own x1, but technically it's a very good player that rivals audiophile boutique players and sometimes surpasses them

 

[H20Fidelity]

I'll say for your required format support, features and signature, X3II is the closest option, (yes it will sound better than Clip+) It will sound a little warm though and stronger technically than FiiO X1. More refinement, stronger separation, better bass texture and for the price very very nice coherency. It however, doesn't seem to emphasise detail keeping a rather full, thick sound. DX50 is certainly more engaging in that sense of vibrant.  If it wasn't for the hiss mentioned with IE80 I'd take the iBasso over X3II for my personal preferences. You can research for days here and get no-where but more confusion. Just take an X3II imo.

 

[JimmyTryhard]

You can avoid hiss on the DX50 with the Line-Out port; it doesn't require an amp unless your IE80's have a high output impedance. I am able to drive VSonic GR07's(~60-70 ohms) and Fidue A83's(11 ohms) through my DX50's line-out with an absolutely silent background and with plentiful volume levels to spare. You could also purchase a separate amp if you really wanted to. You might even be able to drive full-size headphones as well, although I haven't tried.
 
I would recommend the DX50 for you or the DX90 if you've got a bit more budget. It should be mentioned though that if you do purchase one of these you should also buy a microSD card for sure if you don't already have one.
 
Good luck.

 

[castleofargh]

  You can avoid hiss on the DX50 with the Line-Out port; it doesn't require an amp unless your IE80's have a high output impedance. I am able to drive VSonic GR07's(~60-70 ohms) and Fidue A83's(11 ohms) through my DX50's line-out with an absolutely silent background and with plentiful volume levels to spare. You could also purchase a separate amp if you really wanted to. You might even be able to drive full-size headphones as well, although I haven't tried.
 
I would recommend the DX50 for you or the DX90 if you've got a bit more budget. It should be mentioned though that if you do purchase one of these you should also buy a microSD card for sure if you don't already have one.
 
Good luck.

and I would recommend not listening to your advice ^_^. very logical that it solves the hiss, there is no amp section making noise.
but a line output is usually in the 100/150ohm(many cellphone audio output are considered crap for having a 30ohm output) and designed to supply about 2V and almost no current into a very high impedance amplifier's input. it was never built thinking about a 16ohm IEM. in fact if that was ok with a 16ohm IEM, then why bother adding an amp section to the DAP? more cost for nothing? I don't think so ^_^. 
I would really love to read the distortion values in such a configuration.
 
 in a few situations that might just work ok, but you can't really know in advance as you won't have the necessary specs about the line out(they won't start to measure something nobody should do). and in every other situations, it will go from increased THD, to the source getting hot from being in a situation close to a short. can the dx50's LO provide the almost 20mA that the IE80 may require? I have no idea.
 
IMO there are enough proper ways to feed a headphone not to try and reinvent the wheel.

 

[JimmyTryhard]

and I would recommend not listening to your advice ^_^. very logical that it solves the hiss, there is no amp section making noise.
but a line output is usually in the 100/150ohm(many cellphone audio output are considered crap for having a 30ohm output) and designed to supply about 2V and almost no current into a very high impedance amplifier's input. it was never built thinking about a 16ohm IEM. in fact if that was ok with a 16ohm IEM, then why bother adding an amp section to the DAP? more cost for nothing? I don't think so ^_^. 
I would really love to read the distortion values in such a configuration.

 in a few situations that might just work ok, but you can't really know in advance as you won't have the necessary specs about the line out(they won't start to measure something nobody should do). and in every other situations, it will go from increased THD, to the source getting hot from being in a situation close to a short. can the dx50's LO provide the almost 20mA that the IE80 may require? I have no idea.

IMO there are enough proper ways to feed a headphone not to try and reinvent the wheel.

haha and this is where my lack of technical knowledge shows. All I know is that it sounds good and I'm on my way, but thanks for providing the technical insight.

I haven't noticed any major distortion or audible anomalies from using the LO port as opposed to the HO port; maybe it just happens to work in my case something.