[EthanHarte]

The day has finally arrived! IT HAS SHIPPED!
I ordered on the 22nd from MP4Nation and was in the second batch.

 

[cooperpwc]

  No votes!  You buy the product or not.........You advise them of said problem and if they get enough reaction from others with the same issue, maybe they take action.  Who knows for sure.  However, for now,  take the unit out of your pocket.

 
 

Smaller font, maybe?

 
That and perhaps be less of a jerk. Who are these people? Where do they come from?  

 

[rfox]

So now I had my first listening experience with the X5 - and I would like to share my initial thoughts moving away from a Cowon S9 - The main reason I wanted a new player it that the S9 can not be expanded memory wise - I'm stuck with 32GB.  I've been searching for some time looking for a replacement - and think I have found it with the X5!
 
For starters: I have UE Triple.FI 10 IEMS and Bose QuietComfort 15 as headsets.
 
Initial impressions:  Out of the box, the X5 has a very clear, clean sound - very true and detailed.  I have been comparing it with my Cowon S9 with the same songs.  Somehow I do miss the BBE sound settings (there are a bunch of them on the S9) - but the X5 holds it's own so far, just a different signature.
 
Maybe it needs more time (burn in?) - but I do find the X5 is lacking in bass (I'm an admitted basshead) - the bass is there, and quite clean and tight - but on the same IEMS - I get more bass from the Cowon - I guess due to the many sound settings on the Cowon (I use Headphones 3 mainly) - but even in Neutral or standard BBE - there appears to be more bass on the same pieces using the same headphones.
 
Don't get me wrong here - the X5 so far (just 30 minutes of listening) is already making a strong (positive) first impression - I need to spend more time with it and maybe after the burn-in period (as many have pointed out) - it will get better.  Just a matter of adjusting. 
 
I have the E17 together with the E09K as a desktop solution - and I do like the Treble and Bass boost capability on the E17.  Just wish the X5 had that.  I tried the EQ but it doesn't seem to bring the missing bass - the X5 sounds great without the EQ in my humble opinion.
 
That's it for now - I might report back once I've used the X5 in the next couple weeks.
 
Cheers,
R.Fox

 

[Chris J]

Sorry about that. We have 2 pin adapters in North America.

 


The 2 pin plug may be polarized, so you may not be able swap Line and Neutral around.

 

[Cannikin]

I have the E17 together with the E09K as a desktop solution - and I do like the Treble and Bass boost capability on the E17.  Just wish the X5 had that.  I tried the EQ but it doesn't seem to bring the missing bass - the X5 sounds great without the EQ in my humble opinion.

That's it for now - I might report back once I've used the X5 in the next couple weeks.

Cheers,
R.Fox

R,
I think that if you wanted more impact from the bass, the X5 will benefit from amplification. Although the FiiO E11 (which I have) can do this nicely, it also adds some hiss, so may not be appropriate for any and all musics. I also have the ALO National and it provides a much cleaner amplification, but not as much of a bass boost.

 

[jbr1971]

  I have the E17 together with the E09K as a desktop solution - and I do like the Treble and Bass boost capability on the E17.  Just wish the X5 had that.  I tried the EQ but it doesn't seem to bring the missing bass - the X5 sounds great without the EQ in my humble opinion.
 
That's it for now - I might report back once I've used the X5 in the next couple weeks.
 
Cheers,
R.Fox

 
I found a support doc from April 10th on Fiio's support page that says if your files are higher than 48Khz the EQ functionality is turned off because of instability issues. I looked through the Bugzilla pages & haven't been able to find any bug associated with that issue as of yet.
 
With my Cardas EM5813s the X5 sounds really good, I just need to be able to make minor adjustments to get it to that sweet spot.
 
@Joe Bloggs have you seen anything in the firmware roadmap that re-enables the EQ for high rate files? Or should I create a new bug in Bugzilla?
 
Jody

 

[HarryHardcase]

I'm looking at the X5 as a direct replacement for my current iPod Classic/Nokia N8/ALAC/iTunes setup, but a comprehensive search over a couple of days has still left me with a few doubts.  By the way, I apologise if my use of bold text is frowned upon on the forums.  I saw someone else use it here as a way of highlighting the question portions of their posts, and decided to adopt it.
 
@rfox: You said:

I have the E17 together with the E09K as a desktop solution - and I do like the Treble and Bass boost capability on the E17.  Just wish the X5 had that.  I tried the EQ but it doesn't seem to bring the missing bass - the X5 sounds great without the EQ in my humble opinion.

Is the X5 the equal of (or better than) the E17 as a DAC?  If so I could sell my E17 to fund the price of the X5.  A review on Headmania mentions if briefly, but I thought I'd get another opinion too. 
 
Also, I searched this thread but no-one seems to have asked this question: when browsing by Album tag (not in Folder mode), does the X5 respect the CD No. ID3 tag (officially I believe it is the TPOS - Part Of A Set frame)?  I've experienced some players which ignore it and you end up with equally numbered tracks listed together, which isn't desirable.  Also, does the X5 support and display the Grouping tag? I'm guessing not, as it appears to be a custom tag created for iTunes, but worth a punt.
 
Regarding gapless playback, which I read is fixed in the latest beta: when enabled, does gapless playback only apply to those tracks with the "Part of a gapless album" tag applied, or universally?
 
A potential deal-breaker for me at the moment is how the X5 handles the swapping in and out of the SD storage cards.  I currently have my whole 3700-song collection stored on 32GB µSDHC cards for use with another player (not the iPod), and I don't much fancy forking out for larger cards until the price drops significantly.  This means I'd have to swap-in cards from time to time, perhaps frequently.  I have a dedicated carry-case for them so that's not an issue, but I watched a video review of the X5 by a Chinese guy, and when he demonstrated adding tracks manually to the device the time taken to add only 180-odd tracks made me fear for the length of time it would take to add 1000+!  So, what I need to know is, when I insert an SD card for the first time, how long does the X5 take to make the tracks available?  And, what does the X5 do when you remove an SD card - does it remove the tracks it contained from the database?  If so, that means I'll have to re-scan 1000+ files every time I swap-in a card, which sounds horrible.  OTOH, if it does keep them in the database, and you attempt to play a track that's on an SD card that's been removed, will the X5 prompt you to insert the appropriate card?
 
BTW, I love the "Search thread" feature here on Head-Fi.  Don't think I've seen such a thing on other forums I've used. Awesome.

 

[krayziehustler]

  Initial impressions:  Out of the box, the X5 has a very clear, clean sound - very true and detailed.  I have been comparing it with my Cowon S9 with the same songs.  Somehow I do miss the BBE sound settings (there are a bunch of them on the S9) - but the X5 holds it's own so far, just a different signature.
 
Maybe it needs more time (burn in?) - but I do find the X5 is lacking in bass (I'm an admitted basshead) - the bass is there, and quite clean and tight - but on the same IEMS - I get more bass from the Cowon - I guess due to the many sound settings on the Cowon (I use Headphones 3 mainly) - but even in Neutral or standard BBE - there appears to be more bass on the same pieces using the same headphones.
 
  R.Fox

 
Man I still miss those BBE settings from my J3!

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I found a support doc from April 10th on Fiio's support page that says if your files are higher than 48Khz the EQ functionality is turned off because of instability issues. I looked through the Bugzilla pages & haven't been able to find any bug associated with that issue as of yet.

With my Cardas EM5813s the X5 sounds really good, I just need to be able to make minor adjustments to get it to that sweet spot.

@Joe Bloggs
 have you seen anything in the firmware roadmap that re-enables the EQ for high rate files? Or should I create a new bug in Bugzilla?

Jody

Honestly I don't know if it would help for you to write this bug. We all know that enabling EQ for all sample rates would be desirable, we just don't know whether it will be possible, what with all the other added features proposed and all the other plates both the X5 itself and the X5 development team have to spin :eek:

 

[Solrighal]

I'm thinking of buying the X5 but I wonder if I could ask a couple of questions of you guys first.

For my portable rig I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 > Fiio E18 > V-Moda M-100's. It's a lot of hassle carrying all that and I'd like to free my phone.

How does the X5 compare sonically?

Does it play well with OSX?

Is the X5 powerful enough to drive my other headphones (specifically my HD 650's & Q701's)?

Would my E18 be of use any more?

Does the X5 allow navigation via folder structure?

Thanks for taking the time.

 

[Nicolas2305]

  The 2 pin plug may be polarized, so you may not be able swap Line and Neutral around.

 
When the 2 pin plug is polarized, one of the pin will be larger than the other. Wall outlets are designed with this in mind so that polarized plugs without a ground pin are plugged in the right way.
 
From memory, all of my USB wall adapters have two identical pins and I personnally never experienced the "vibrating" feeling with any of those. However, all of the devices I charged with those have plastic/polymer casings. The only time I have experienced the "vibrating" feeling is with the zenbook laptop which is a full metal body. The "vibrating" feeling I have with the laptop can be removed completely by rotating the laptop wall adapter 180 degrees.

 

[jbr1971]

  A potential deal-breaker for me at the moment is how the X5 handles the swapping in and out of the SD storage cards.  I currently have my whole 3700-song collection stored on 32GB µSDHC cards for use with another player (not the iPod), and I don't much fancy forking out for larger cards until the price drops significantly.  This means I'd have to swap-in cards from time to time, perhaps frequently.  I have a dedicated carry-case for them so that's not an issue, but I watched a video review of the X5 by a Chinese guy, and when he demonstrated adding tracks manually to the device the time taken to add only 180-odd tracks made me fear for the length of time it would take to add 1000+!  So, what I need to know is, when I insert an SD card for the first time, how long does the X5 take to make the tracks available?  And, what does the X5 do when you remove an SD card - does it remove the tracks it contained from the database?  If so, that means I'll have to re-scan 1000+ files every time I swap-in a card, which sounds horrible.  OTOH, if it does keep them in the database, and you attempt to play a track that's on an SD card that's been removed, will the X5 prompt you to insert the appropriate card?
 

 
The only part I can speak to is performing a manual library update. I have 64GB cards full of ALAC files & it takes less than 30 seconds to perform the update. If you have a lot of smaller files that need to be scanned I am guessing it may take a bit longer, but it shouldn't take more than a minute or 2.

 

[chengsta]

 I tried the EQ but it doesn't seem to bring the missing bass -

oh noez, I ordered it because i heard it was really good, and I saw the 10 band eq and figured I could just pump it up.  will get it on the 28th apr.  I hope it is at least comparable to the x3 bass?

 

[Chris J]

   
When the 2 pin plug is polarized, one of the pin will be larger than the other. Wall outlets are designed with this in mind so that polarized plugs without a ground pin are plugged in the right way.
 
From memory, all of my USB wall adapters have two identical pins and I personnally never experienced the "vibrating" feeling with any of those. However, all of the devices I charged with those have plastic/polymer casings. The only time I have experienced the "vibrating" feeling is with the zenbook laptop which is a full metal body. The "vibrating" feeling I have with the laptop can be removed completely by rotating the laptop wall adapter 180 degrees.

 
Why would the laptop vibrate if the power cord is inserted into the receptacle "the wrong way"?
I don't see any logic in that.

 

[hansonsc56]

I am using Exact Audio Copy to rip FLAC files from CD's. I create artist folders with album subfolders. The folders include the album image file. When played on the X5, the album art doesn't appear all the time. Any suggestions?