[FlatListener]

Thank you aangen, the X3 certainly sounds interesting, same price as a new iPod 160. I may go for it.
 
One question still left unanswered in my mind:
I read the X3 has the E17 amp built in. This means I may be able to drive the Beyer 1350s without the E12 Mont Blanc, and get approx.  the same SQ? Or would X3+E12 be significantly better than a bare X3?

 

[good sound]

The soon to be released X1 may be an option as well.

 

[nmatheis]

The soon to be released X1 may be an option as well.

+1 LINK to X1 thread

 

[Saoshyant]

Utterly off topic, but I really like the look of that headphone plug on the Momentum on the first picture of the X1 thread

 

[aangen]

  Thank you aangen, the X3 certainly sounds interesting, same price as a new iPod 160. I may go for it.
 
One question still left unanswered in my mind:
I read the X3 has the E17 amp built in. This means I may be able to drive the Beyer 1350s without the E12 Mont Blanc, and get approx.  the same SQ? Or would X3+E12 be significantly better than a bare X3?

Grab the X3 and see if it does the job. The E12 always costs the same amount anyway. The X3 is not weak and some suggest it has a more powerful amp than the X5. As I mentioned I have both the X3 and the X5 and I approve strongly of both. (I also have an E12 DIY on order but only because I have money burning a hole in my pocket)

 

[White Lotus]

Crisis averted! Stacking kit has been flipped into it's correct position. 
 
Fiio X5 + FiiO HS6 + FiiO E18 + UM Merlin:
 

 

 

 

 

 
128gb card comes in next week!

 

[Chris J]

Thanks for that as well.  What I'm also wondering is what bit and sample rate were the initial digital masters recorded at?  The Night Fly was an example of an earlier all digital recording I believe.

Apparently the 3M system that "Bop Till You Drop" was recorded on was 50 kHz, 16 bits and was a magnetic tape system, tape speed was 45 IPS!

 

[oldmate]

   
Connect your USB drive to your computer, then go to the Command Prompt & enter the following command:
 
format /FS:FAT32 X:
 
Make sure you replace the X with whatever drive letter Windows assigns to your USB drive.
 
For some reason newer Windows versions don't allow for FAT32 in the format options of the GUI which the Fiio requires. This workaround should get you going.
 
Jody

I'd recommend formatting the card in the X5 itself. That seems to be the consensus around here and I've experienced no issues with the player when doing this.

 

[oldmate]

Apparently the 3M system that "Bop Till You Drop" was recorded on was 50 kHz, 16 bits and was a magnetic tape system, tape speed was 45 IPS!

I've attempted to clarify what was actually the 1st full digital album and there seems to be no definitive answer. The fact that "Bop Till You Drop" was released on Vinyl suggest that the last stage of production was analogue. Digital mixing desks were not around till the early 80's. I always thought it was Dire straits but no one seems to know.
 
I would love a definitive answer on this. The 1st full digital release with digital equipment throughout the entire recording, mixing, production and release process.

 

[goldendarko]

I've attempted to clarify what was actually the 1st full digital album and there seems to be no definitive answer. The fact that "Bop Till You Drop" was released on Vinyl suggest that the last stage of production was analogue. Digital mixing desks were not around till the early 80's. I always thought it was Dire straits but no one seems to know.
 
I would love a definitive answer on this. The 1st full digital release with digital equipment throughout the entire recording, mixing, production and release process.

 


It was Bop Til You Drop.

http://web.archive.org/web/20021020102042/http://rogernichols.com/EQ/EQ_2001_08.html

Dire Straits did help popularize the digital format by helping to sell CD's for Philips.

http://gizmodo.com/dire-straits-sold-tons-of-cds-because-they-were-picked-1613028689

 

[oldmate]

 

  I've attempted to clarify what was actually the 1st full digital album and there seems to be no definitive answer. The fact that "Bop Till You Drop" was released on Vinyl suggest that the last stage of production was analogue. Digital mixing desks were not around till the early 80's. I always thought it was Dire straits but no one seems to know.
 
I would love a definitive answer on this. The 1st full digital release with digital equipment throughout the entire recording, mixing, production and release process.

 


It was Bop Til You Drop.

http://web.archive.org/web/20021020102042/http://rogernichols.com/EQ/EQ_2001_08.html

Dire Straits did help popularize the digital format by helping to sell CD's for Philips.

http://gizmodo.com/dire-straits-sold-tons-of-cds-because-they-were-picked-1613028689

Let me clarify. I'm interested in knowing which were the first full digital recordings, that is, tracked to multi-track digital, mixed on the digital domain using a digital mixing desk and down to a stereo digital master recorder. No cycles of digital-to analog-to digital involved.
 
​Sure, Ry Cooder's was the 1st recorded digitally but that's not what I'm asking here. ie Digital Desks were not around when this was recorded.
 
I'm thinking that the reality is, a combination of analogue and digital are still used every single day by every studio in the world and there is no such thing as the above.
 

 

[goldendarko]

Well good luck with your search then, either way this is not the right place to post looking for an answer anyway since this is the X5 thread

 

[TonyVier]

So, expecting to enter transcendental ascendance into the heavens of classical music, where instruments are not longer played by little puppets on the side of my head and somewhere in between, but in a holographic image in front of me, where all symphony orchestra instruments can be clearly identified each and individually instead of being blurred into blobs of "sound", but also the actual smell of a concerthall would pop into memory after pressing play, I connected the freshly arrived E12DIY today to my X5, with the standard installed AD8620 and BUF634. Did some ABing, and found a slightly better imaging, but violins a bit on the harsh side. A bit more dynamic.

Difficult to choose between high and low gain, finally continued on low gain with my TDK BA200, soon, (well, 6 weeks or so) to be replaced with UM Miracles.

Then, after reading all pages in the relevant threads, the LME49600 and AD8620 seemed the right combination, (knowing I will need to get muses eventually and do a careful logo study.)

This combination sounds better to me, violins less harsh with more detail, a nicer total image, but needs the high gain.

Now, is it worth it to add the E12DIY to the X5? The X5 on its own does a good job, but the E12DIY does add something.

Still have to try my Grado 325, but until now the TDK BA200 has been my favorite over the Grado and Sony XBA 40. But I have high hopes for a Miracle.

So, the E12DIY stays, and the HS6 will be used.

Now get me some Muses, I guess.

 

[White Lotus]

So, expecting to enter transcendental ascendance into the heavens of classical music, where instruments are not longer played by little puppets on the side of my head and somewhere in between, but in a holographic image in front of me, where all symphony orchestra instruments can be clearly identified each and individually instead of being blurred into blobs of "sound", but also the actual smell of a concerthall would pop into memory after pressing play, I connected the freshly arrived E12DIY today to my X5, with the standard installed AD8620 and BUF634. Did some ABing, and found a slightly better imaging, but violins a bit on the harsh side. A bit more dynamic.

Difficult to choose between high and low gain, finally continued on low gain with my TDK BA200, soon, (well, 6 weeks or so) to be replaced with UM Miracles.

Then, after reading all pages in the relevant threads, the LME49600 and AD8620 seemed the right combination, (knowing I will need to get muses eventually and do a careful logo study.)

This combination sounds better to me, violins less harsh with more detail, a nicer total image, but needs the high gain.

Now, is it worth it to add the E12DIY to the X5? The X5 on its own does a good job, but the E12DIY does add something.

Still have to try my Grado 325, but until now the TDK BA200 has been my favorite over the Grado and Sony XBA 40. But I have high hopes for a Miracle.

So, the E12DIY stays, and the HS6 will be used.

Now get me some Muses, I guess.

 
I think @Loquah is using an X5 + E12DIY, but I'm not sure which internal components he is using. 

 

[nmatheis]

I think several of us are using X5 + E12 DIY