[Gintaras]

Im incredibly biased towards the CS4398 used in the Colorfly C4 Pro. But im sure the X5 will probably stack up fine.

Now who wants to see
Fiio X3 , FiiO X5, Colorfly C4 Pro, Astell Kern AK 120 shootout?

i would say Fiio X5 vs Colorfly C4 Pro vs iBasso DX50 vs HiFiMan HM-901 vs AK100 Mk2 vs AK120

 

[themad]

 
Isn't it going to be slippery on the shinny side though?

 No, not at all. Have you never tried/seen the Invisible Shield in person? It has an orange peel feel.
 Of course I don't know how the X5 rubber wheel is, but I suppose it should stick to it.
 
 If not, a clear contact paper should do the trick as well, since it has adhesive.

 

[musicheaven]

   No, not at all. Have you never tried/seen the Invisible Shield in person? It has an orange peel feel.
 Of course I don't know how the X5 rubber wheel is, but I suppose it should stick to it.
 
 If not, a clear contact paper should do the trick as well, since it has adhesive.

I have used Zagg shields extensively in the past but always on glass or metal, not on rubber. I don't think this will work unless the rubber paint is off. By the look of it, unless one can take off the paint or whatever is stuck on the wheel, it will be hard to provide a substitute, not that many things stick well on rubber.

 

[themad]

 
I have used Zagg shields extensively in the past but always on glass or metal, not on rubber. I don't think this will work unless the rubber paint is off. By the look of it, unless one can take off the paint or whatever is stuck on the wheel, it will be hard to provide a substitute, not that many things stick well on rubber.

 You're right about that, it really depends on the type of rubber used on the wheel.
 And that's why I am also curious to see what kind of wheel stickers James was thinking about.

 

[lee730]

http://www.head-fi.org/products/fiio-x5-high-res-portable-music-player

 

[cooperpwc]

The X5 is sounding just great as USB DAC amp and I have no intention at this point of taking an amp on the road anymore. (Coming from me, that is a huge statement...)
 
It is nonetheless also a wonderful USB source feeding a good amp through the line out. This below, with the Pico Power, is already asserting itself as a fine home setup with the Flat4 Kaede and the Final Audio 1601SC and 1602SS.
 
And in a shoutout to one of the humblest and friendliest people to post in the this thread (you know who you are 

), yes I get to use my lossless files through Foobar. It doesn't hurt.
 

 

[lee730]

lol are you referring to me? I actually like foobar a lot. I tend to use cPlay though if I am mainly concerned with sound quality. But foobar does the trick and is priceless especially when converting between formats (much faster). Especially with 24 bit material.

 

[cooperpwc]

  lol are you referring to me? I actually like foobar a lot. I tend to use cPlay though if I am mainly concerned with sound quality. But foobar does the trick and is priceless especially when converting between formats (much faster). Especially with 24 bit material.

 
No, not you.

 

[lee730]

Opps. 

 

[doki81]

 has been busy comparing the DAP back to back..gona give some rest to my ear now...(from the left, X3+E12Diy, IBasso DX50, X5, and my sony XZ)

 

[cooperpwc]

 
 has been busy comparing the DAP back to back..gona give some rest to my ear now...(from the left, X3+E12Diy, IBasso DX50, X5, and my sony XZ)

 
Looking forward to this.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

I use my X5 with E12DIY (opamp cannot remember) to drive HD800 at nite..... you audio snobs can crucify me.. LoL
I also got a DHC OCC DIY cable for the HD800 to make them more friendly to move around....
 
The fast and tight bass of X5 did a get a while to get used to... but this X5 really nailed it good...neutral, transparent, good detail, well controlled frequencies, not dark sounding... The serious complaint I have for X5 is that........................ it did not release soon enough otherwise I probably would not buy other DAPs....(Disclaimer: HM901 still can portray thicker and better texture sound than X5)
 
It is really impressive how much mature the X5 product is when comparing to X3. The X5 SQ is much better than my X3 mod (8741 + AD8620)... the price difference between X5 and X3 is really worth it...(I did spend silly amount of money to mod the X3..

)
 
If my on order CIEM has good synergy with X5, I will probably not spend money on portable gear for the rest of the year..

(and use the money to buy a small Class D speaker amp to drive my HE-6 in my room, suggestions are welcome... EF6 is too big for my small room)
 
I have a hard time imagining what X7 will sound like... must be epic considering it will be the statement piece..

 

[viet1357911]

  If my on order CIEM has good synergy with X5, I will probably not spend money on portable gear for the rest of the year..

 

Don't say that, X7 will come ))

 

[musicheaven]

I use my X5 with E12DIY (opamp cannot remember) to drive HD800 at nite..... you audio snobs can crucify me.. LoL
I also got a DHC OCC DIY cable for the HD800 to make them more friendly to move around....

The fast and tight bass of X5 did a get a while to get used to... but this X5 really nailed it good...neutral, transparent, good detail, well controlled frequencies, not dark sounding... The serious complaint I have for X5 is that........................ it did not release soon enough otherwise I probably would not buy other DAPs....(Disclaimer: HM901 still can portray thicker and better texture sound than X5)

It is really impressive how much mature the X5 product is when comparing to X3. The X5 SQ is much better than my X3 mod (8741 + AD8620)... the price difference between X5 and X3 is really worth it...(I did spend silly amount of money to mod the X3.. )

If my on order CIEM has good synergy with X5, I will probably not spend money on portable gear for the rest of the year..
(and use the money to buy a small Class D speaker amp to drive my HE-6 in my room, suggestions are welcome... EF6 is too big for my small room)

I have a hard time imagining what X7 will sound like... must be epic considering it will be the statement piece..

To be honest Sennheiser headphones are having a blast with the X5, mine just can't take its plug out of the X5, it wants to marry it.
The HD800 for me will definitively be my next purchase, that is when I'll be able to deal with the price. Transporting the dap without an amp is a huge plus, that is one quality it has that is hard to beat.

X7 is the dap I had in mind when I notice the FiiO posts, I can confidently say it will be spectacular and talked about when released, the specs are going to be too great to pass and now with the magic from the engineering team at FiiO and let's not forget a price point that will be very attractive, you'll feel the need to add it to your listening arsenal.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Don't say that, X7 will come ))

I dont think X7 will be released this year considering its still concept phase. Also, X1 needs to be released before that too...
I am truly happy with my X5.