The Fiio X5 Thread

[CH23]

German Amazon(.de) always has..... Just credit card I'm afraid. If you haven't got one or don't one, you could try prepaid Visa - 3Vcash.nl

I think 3V might be my only option, however, Cachicamo suggested that i'd email them first, and i will try that. If this won't help, i'll sign up for 3V, thanks

 

[Jobbing]

I think 3V might be my only option, however, Cachicamo suggested that i'd email them first, and i will try that. If this won't help, i'll sign up for 3V, thanks

FYI They used to sell prepaid 3V at local bookstores/kiosks like they do with pp cell phones, that way there is no need to sign up online if you prefer anonymity and privacy

 

[CH23]

FYI They used to sell prepaid 3V at local bookstores/kiosks like they do with pp cell phones, that way there is no need to sign up online if you prefer anonymity and privacy

It's not the privacy that concerns me with this, it's mostly the effort it takes, unlike bank transfer or paypal. And the fact that it's yet another thing you use for paying.

http://xkcd.com/927/

 

[Barra]

  I have  been using the X5 for about a month and a half and in general, I am very happy with the sound quality, and I find the ui to be pretty good and confident that any faults, and there are some, although minor, will be corrected. I am very confident in the attitude of James and Co. Their response to fans requests and reports are some of the best in this...or any business, I'm not kidding! For this I am extremely grateful.
The thing is though, I really would like to experience  clearer high frequencies and much clearer louder passages. I listen to a lot of large orchestra performances in the classical medium and when the orchestra plays loud passages with the whole or nearly the whole orchestra involved, the sound invariably becomes muddy, unclear, somewhat fuzzy. Although, the X5 is better than any personal player I've owned or heard, still, the orchestral tuttis become somewhat "clashy" and instrument separation gets broken up.
Maybe it's the fault of the recording itself, maybe digital recording is not sampled high enough. I rarely hear those loud passages really done right. Even when I had very fancy tube equipment in the past with expensive turntable and speakers, I was not quite satisfied with the loud passages.
I have not fiddled with or tried to use the supplied equalizer b/c I would like to keep it all normal. to be honest, I'm not comfortable fooling around with it, but I could be convinced to do so as long as it's not too complicated, so if anyone has an idea.....
If someone here thinks I could solve this problem with the AK240 or the Wave or the upcoming X7, I'd love to hear from you, otherwise I will consider the problem as presently unsolvable. I'd like to report though, that after 40 hours of burn-in, it did sound much improved. I don't expect it do get any better, now that the electronics has had a chance to settle.
I don't wish, however, to give you the impression that I don't like the X5. I actually love it and aim to keep it for a while. It is really a superior personal player and really makes my music come alive. Just those loud passages.... damn.

Loud passages can sound really bad, congested, and confused live at the theater as well. Even the HD800 which is the best I have heard for orchestra can sound off during loud passages. Sitting further back in the theater makes more sense of it, but I feel that I miss out on textures, reverb, and emotion that I only get sitting close.
 
You have the same tradeoff with DAPs and headphones as some of them put you in the front row vs. the nose bleed section. The X5 puts me in the front row which is my preference for 95 percent of my music so that I can feel it as well as hear it. That being said, IMO the HP/IEM/CIEM makes a much bigger difference than the DAP in adjusting SQ to your liking. That is why I am looking to add the HD800 to my collection to contrast with my LCD2 - to allow me to listen to a wider musical variety. BTW, even though they are not overly portable - the LCD2 and the HD800 sound surprisingly good straight out of my X5.

 

[dharan]

It is a great combination. I use high gain at about 70 on volume. Which ohm version of t51p's do you have?

I don't have t51p's yet. Planning on getting them soon. The beyers have such great reviews, which is why I've got my mind set on them. One thing I've read by a few reviewers is that the mids are ever so slightly recessed. Do you find this is true with the X5 still? 

 

[emklap]

For the European X5 users:
http://www.amazon.de/SanDisk-microSDXC-Speicherkarte-SD-Adapter-Android/dp/B00IIJ6W4S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1405495021&sr=8-3&keywords=sandisk+sdxc+128gb

Only € 88,00 (Bought one last week for € 105 )

many thanks, immediately ordered one

 

[krayziehustler]

Anyone using the X5 with beyerdynamic tp51's? That's my proposed portable setup come the end of the year.

That is my exact setup and I have yet to find a better pairing and I've tried around 10+

 

[krayziehustler]

O

I don't have t51p's yet. Planning on getting them soon. The beyers have such great reviews, which is why I've got my mind set on them. One thing I've read by a few reviewers is that the mids are ever so slightly recessed. Do you find this is true with the X5 still? 

on the contrary I find the mids present and very lush.

 

[subguy812]

O
on the contrary I find the mids present and very lush.

I agree....

 

[spatzi]

I have x3. I am debating trading it in for an x5 as seller still allows me to do this. Can you attach an external hard drive to x5, and if so, does it need to be a powered drive? I heard they were working on this for an update but can't confirm from retailer if it has been implemented yet.

 

[Ripvanlink]

  Loud passages can sound really bad, congested, and confused live at the theater as well. Even the HD800 which is the best I have heard for orchestra can sound off during loud passages. Sitting further back in the theater makes more sense of it, but I feel that I miss out on textures, reverb, and emotion that I only get sitting close.
 
You have the same tradeoff with DAPs and headphones as some of them put you in the front row vs. the nose bleed section. The X5 puts me in the front row which is my preference for 95 percent of my music so that I can feel it as well as hear it. That being said, IMO the HP/IEM/CIEM makes a much bigger difference than the DAP in adjusting SQ to your liking. That is why I am looking to add the HD800 to my collection to contrast with my LCD2 - to allow me to listen to a wider musical variety. BTW, even though they are not overly portable - the LCD2 and the HD800 sound surprisingly good straight out of my X5.

Yes, Barra, you are right about that. I have experienced loudness muddying myself at live concerts and I think it's part the problem of too much echo, which seems to me to muddy the sound. I am beginning to doubt that my criticism of my equipment is always the case. I put special attention on listening to see if it's true and found that at least today, it wasn't true at all!!! Maybe the X5, which I have now used for more than 50-60 hours has finally settled in its electronics. It seems what I have with the UMmodTF10s, the UM silver cable and X5 is better than I thought. Actually I'm beginning to think it's quite good. Hmm, maybe my ubgradatitis condition is healing, lol.

 

[SilverEars]

  Loud passages can sound really bad, congested, and confused live at the theater as well. Even the HD800 which is the best I have heard for orchestra can sound off during loud passages. Sitting further back in the theater makes more sense of it, but I feel that I miss out on textures, reverb, and emotion that I only get sitting close.
 
You have the same tradeoff with DAPs and headphones as some of them put you in the front row vs. the nose bleed section. The X5 puts me in the front row which is my preference for 95 percent of my music so that I can feel it as well as hear it. That being said, IMO the HP/IEM/CIEM makes a much bigger difference than the DAP in adjusting SQ to your liking. That is why I am looking to add the HD800 to my collection to contrast with my LCD2 - to allow me to listen to a wider musical variety. BTW, even though they are not overly portable - the LCD2 and the HD800 sound surprisingly good straight out of my X5.

HD800 is not very good with compressed music. It cannot handle clipped music very well. 

  I think it's because it picks up the most faintest details, it has to output more forward, and it shows the loud compressed music as it is, clipped.  The reason why some headphones sound good with most recording is probably because it's not as forward in the heavy treble region.  Notice these compressed tracks have a pretty bold treble, and some headphones softens it.  I would think the X5 as a source softens the treble to make it more bearable I would think.  This could be why Mike likes the X5 for HD800. I would think a Wolfson would be a good match for the HD800.
 

 

[Flomet]

Anyone in the UK interested

SanDisk 128GB Ultra Micro SD (SDXC) Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s

You can get it here for £69.99 delivered

http://www.mymemory.co.uk/Micro-SDXC/SanDisk/SanDisk-128GB-Ultra-Android-Micro-SD-%28SDXC%29-Class-10-UHS-1-30MB_s

Amazon UK price at the moment is £77.12

 

[thericochet]

I have x3. I am debating trading it in for an x5 as seller still allows me to do this. Can you attach an external hard drive to x5, and if so, does it need to be a powered drive? I heard they were working on this for an update but can't confirm from retailer if it has been implemented yet.

The OTG/external drive support is only for USB sticks/memory cards (and apparently some low-powered solid state drives).
I think FiiO have said it's not possible to support actual external hard drives.
I have tried connecting several anyway, hoping they would somehow work, but with no success.

 

[spatzi]

I have x3. One thing that really annoys me is that when I listen to an album from an artist with multiple albums (under 'browse') and want to go back to album section of that artist to choose another album, it takes me all the way back to main menu. I need to click 8 times to get back to the album section! Really poor menu system. I am considering returning the x3 to the store for this reason alone. Does the x5 have this problem with the menu system?