[goldendarko]

Should be plenty of power.

 

[Canaudio]

Gapless play back, but at what cost?
 
I'm using beta firmware 1.23 and I can confirm that it handles the transition from one track to the next without a hiccup, but when I open or start a new song, there is zero "lead-in" and it sounds like the opening notes of the song are truncated.  There needs to be some work done to preserve some lead-in on new tracks while also providing gapless playback between tracks.

 

[Age8E]

  Gapless play back, but at what cost?
 
I'm using beta firmware 1.23 and I can confirm that it handles the transition from one track to the next without a hiccup, but when I open or start a new song, there is zero "lead-in" and it sounds like the opening notes of the song are truncated.  There needs to be some work done to preserve some lead-in on new tracks while also providing gapless playback between tracks.

 
That bug is already filed under Bugzilla, I believe, and it exists in version 1.22 as well.

 

[lee730]

 

 
I actually found the X5 to have a hint of bass emphasis (warmer). I wonder if the new firmware changed that or you could just be use to elevated bass levels.

 

[x RELIC x]

As for playback of music I would prefer the gapless and track switching/selecting to be seamless and the album art to take less priority. What I mean is that if there is a slight delay for the album art to display in order for the listening experience to run smoothly I'd be ok with it. This is how my old iPod Classic handles things with lossless tracks and it's fine. There are finite resources in these devices at this price and I'd put the priority towards a fast interface and quality of music over anything else. Fiio has been working hard to satisfy all the requests, but I'd hate to see something minor like instant displaying of album art interfere with the playback speed.

I believe that FW 1.22 beta behaved well in this regard and seemed very smooth to me. FW 1.23 beta seems to display the album art faster, but there is more of a delay when switching/selecting songs. Not terrible, but it's there. Can't wait for official FW 2.0.

 

[Chris J]

  Is the Fiio X5/E12 combo good enough for driving the Beyerdynamic DT 880, 600 ohm phones?  

 
E12 has NO problem driving 600 Ohm DT880s!
I used to own both.
It's a good sounding combo.
Can't say I've heard the X5 though. I'm getting one in May, BTW.

 

[subver]

   
I actually found the X5 to have a hint of bass emphasis (warmer). I wonder if the new firmware changed that or you could just be use to elevated bass levels.

Yup that could very well be it! I said in another post I am so used to using my E12 with the Bass Boost on, I really have no frame of reference for baseline, so take my opinion with large amounts of salt

 

[Age8E]

I believe that FW 1.22 beta behaved well in this regard and seemed very smooth to me. FW 1.23 beta seems to display the album art faster, but there is more of a delay when switching/selecting songs. Not terrible, but it's there. Can't wait for official FW 2.0.

 
In FW 1.22, the gapless play works great, but neither first-track selection nor album art loading are smooth. Both experience about a 2-3 second delay. I'd definitely prefer the former a higher priority than the latter, though I'm guessing they will both be fixed at some point.
 
I still haven't installed 1.23, mainly because of suggestions that 2.0 is close behind it.

 

[Michalmk6]

Should be plenty of power.

 
 

   
E12 has NO problem driving 600 Ohm DT880s!
I used to own both.
It's a good sounding combo.
Can't say I've heard the X5 though. I'm getting one in May, BTW.

Thanks.  I'm waiting for a Decware CSP3 OTL amp but I need also something more portable.

model C​

 

[irablumberg]

  This is so funny cuz I feel the exact opposite:
 
I feel like the bass is borderline too much (from neutral). I think there is still a hint of the bass bloom from the Fiio "house sound" left over. It's almost neutral and it's a pretty good attempt, but Fiio needs to just get rid of the bloom altogether, there seems to be a tiny bit left over and the treble still sounds a little shelved down, not by much (again very close to neutral), but it can still sound more airy and open (e.g. DX90).
 
For those of you guys who love the bass, have you guys heard the X3? OMG that thing has thumping bass, typical Fiio house sound and is dark like the night during a moon eclipse. Almost all other Fiio products have more bass than the X5. I think they're moving away from that cuz it gets annoying on every song every time. The coloration gets old fast.

 
 

   
I actually found the X5 to have a hint of bass emphasis (warmer). I wonder if the new firmware changed that or you could just be use to elevated bass levels.

 
Let me start off by saying that I love the X5 and nothing that follows is a criticism.
 
Before we decide whether the bass straight to the phones is thin, normal, or emphasized, let's examine the difference between listening directly through the X5 and listening to the X5 through an external amp.
 
I own a JDS O2 and an iFi Nano iCan, both of which I believe are regarded as adding no color or emphasis to the signal. I have used the following cans / IEMs with my X5, Sony 7520, Shure 840, AT W1000, and Sony EX800. In all cases, I notice more powerful and deeper bass when listening to the X5 through an external amp than when connected directly. The bass also sounds better defined and better controlled through the amp than direct.
 
Thus, there is clearly a difference with and without an external amp. Given the ease of driving at least some of these phones, it would be surprising to think the increase in bass is due to the X5 internal amp being a bit weak. Another explanation is that there is some difference in the signal being presented to the X5's internal amp versus the signal provided to the line-out connector on the X5. This also would be quite unexpected. I don't know the cause of this difference, but I do know it exists.
 
Now, as to which is more "accurate", my reference system at home is my home theater audio system which includes a calibrated and level matched sub-woofer. Based on comparisons with that system, my feeling is that the X5 alone is a bit thin and that the X5 with an external amp sounds much more like my home theater system. Of course others may feel differently, but my preference based on all of this is for the X5 with external amp.
 
Cheers

 

[BeBop Lives]

  Is the Fiio X5/E12 combo good enough for driving the Beyerdynamic DT 880, 600 ohm phones?  

Understand that the X5 in combo with E12, X5 works only as player.  The E12 handles amplification and volume.  Works wonderful and will add bass if you so desire.

 

[M-13]

 

Well this line of thinking only work if O2 is your reference for neutrality. It's certainly not mine.

 

[irablumberg]

  Well this line of thinking only work if O2 is your reference for neutrality. It's certainly not mine.

You may have issues with the O2, but given the obviously flat frequency response I don't see how you can suggest that the O2 in any way boosts bass. So yes, I think for purposes of frequency response the O2 does indeed represent neutrality.

 

[lee730]

I dont consider the O2 amp to be dead neutral. If anything the O2 is colored itself. Overly sterile and very foward/aggressive. Yet its sound staging is stretched very wide making for an unnatural sound. Due to this the sound lacks depth.

 

[zilch0md]

  Gapless play back, but at what cost?
 
I'm using beta firmware 1.23 and I can confirm that it handles the transition from one track to the next without a hiccup, but when I open or start a new song, there is zero "lead-in" and it sounds like the opening notes of the song are truncated.  There needs to be some work done to preserve some lead-in on new tracks while also providing gapless playback between tracks.

 
Thanks for this.  ^  
 
Looks like I'll be waiting a bit longer...