Centurion, one more time. Try the original unaltered file. Period. If you do not want to do that, then return the unit and be done with this forum.
i said something wrong? why are you talking to me like i am an idiot? and (one more time) as i said only one post before your i have done the comparison you suggested but the file are the same so converting flac to alac don't cause any loss.
i'm simply asking for explanation, if that hurt you there's something wrong: is not a forum the place where people can ask and receive answers concerning their products/problems/idea?
don't worry, from your dialog, originalsnuffy obviously has his very own opinion about file types and how the sound would change, I happen not to share that opinion, and all my own ABX tests are my reason for thinking like I do.
now, sound is sound, I'm sorry that forums like headfi led you into expecting unrealistic things. no laser cats in audio, this is the sad truth. your disappointment can only be as big as your unrealistic expectations. when you read most feedbacks, think that it's the guy's birthday, he's 13 and he just unwrapped the toy he wanted. we call that the "new toy effect". the DAP could be the exact replica of the one he already owns, he would still write pages about how much better the new one is, because it's new.
experienced reviewers don't write feedbacks right away to let those unrealistic opinions pass, I know that I usually need about 3 weeks to see things for what they are, good or bad. but in a world of tweeter and instagram, you can't expect everybody to wait and that's why you can't trust most of the overly optimistic feedbacks you read on the web. (not counting when the reviewer got something for free or with a discount and feels obligated to say good stuff).
in your situation, you're using a portable headphone that doesn't need much and isn't overly picky. it's very low impedance, but not low enough to be a problem(usually 16ohm or below) with the amp section, it's sensitive but not to the point where you might get some noises from most sources, the impedance is stable over frequency so you don't really have to worry about the source. all in all you have a good easy to use consumer portable headphone, and it's natural that it would behave roughly the same way on most sources. because it was built to do that.
but here many people have weird headphones, they want to use non portable stuff, or some very picky in ear monitors. and those products simply don't work well with most consumer sources like ipod or cellphones. some need too much power, some need ultra low impedance, some need a lot of current... on headfi sadly when we talk about a good portable source, we tend to talk about a source to drive those weirdo headphones and IEMs. because for average consumer headphones and in ear, something like an ipod is all that you really need and most DAPs will sound the same. so nobody talks about that.
I happen to have both kinds of IEMs, some that are not picky and they indeed sound about the same on almost all my sources even with volume matched and a switch. but I also have some IEMs where I will hear some hissing out of my sony DAPs, where I will feel like the soundstage collapsed on my sansa clip, and where the signature will change widely depending on the impedance of the source(several DB of variation). for those, the X1 is borderline with the 2ohm impedance value, but still usable with most. the hiss is very very low. the power is better than on any other consumer DAP I own, so I can use the X1 without my external amp on a wider range of headphones. some will care for the high res ability, many consumer grade sources cannot play 24/96bit music, or would downsample(I use mp3 for portable stuff...).
all in all for people with problems, the X1 may be the solution for only 100$. and in the audio world, that's a really cheap price to pay for a solution(sometimes you can't even get a cable for 100$).
that's why most of us have been so nice when we talk about this product. but of course the ability to do more, and doing more at all times with all headphones are 2 very different things. just like an usb charger of 2A will not charge faster if the stuff you charge needs only 800mA, the X1 having a little more power will provide it only when your headphone needs that kind of power. else it will most likely sound really close to any other walkman/ipod.
