[jazzman7]

Has anyone done a listening comparison between the X5 with LOD to an E12 against an iPod Video 5.5 gen with LOD to an E12?  This is what I'm curious about.  I've got a 5.5 gen Rockboxed iPod and am pretty happy with the sound with an external amp.  I'm always looking for more refinement, but I'm not sure if I want to take the chance on the X5 unless there is a significant sonic improvement. 

 

[goldendarko]

Has anyone done a listening comparison between the X5 with LOD to an E12 against an iPod Video 5.5 gen with LOD to an E12?  This is what I'm curious about.  I've got a 5.5 gen Rockboxed iPod and am pretty happy with the sound with an external amp.  I'm always looking for more refinement, but I'm not sure if I want to take the chance on the X5 unless there is a significant sonic improvement. 

 


I haven't thought to do a comparison between the X5 & my iPod with the E12, may just have to give that a try and can report my findings.

In my opinion though the E12 really takes the X5 to another level, at least with my LCD-2's. Even with my SE846 IEM's the performance is noticeably better, though the X5 by itself is quite impressive, when paired with the E12 it actually competes with my desktop rig (Burson Conductor) which is amazing for the price.

 

[Shenook]

  That would be cool as the Windows mobile OS is brilliant despite being under-utilised by app developers etc. (i.e. not as many apps as other platforms) Having used Apple, Android and Windows mobile OSs I choose Windows every time now.

Exactly. It would make fiio x7 to be very unique for a while rather than the "me too" android daps. I believe there are a few now and Calyx soon.

 

[kdub]

Just in case anybody was wondering...   The X5 really opens up when paired with the E12 for when you are using headphones....   So far this DAP is great...

Just curious why you're using the E12 instead of the amp in X5? Isn't the X5 amp better and using their new neutral sound signature.

 

[CH23]

There's no internal storage as such, just some form of RAM and some operational storage for the system software (like a bios I suppose)

I know, and that's what i want to look into

 

[goldendarko]

Just curious why you're using the E12 instead of the amp in X5? Isn't the X5 amp better and using their new neutral sound signature.

 


The E12 gives you more power, which is good for harder to drive headphones like orthoplanars.

 

[jazzman7]

 

  Has anyone done a listening comparison between the X5 with LOD to an E12 against an iPod Video 5.5 gen with LOD to an E12?  This is what I'm curious about.  I've got a 5.5 gen Rockboxed iPod and am pretty happy with the sound with an external amp.  I'm always looking for more refinement, but I'm not sure if I want to take the chance on the X5 unless there is a significant sonic improvement. 

 


I haven't thought to do a comparison between the X5 & my iPod with the E12, may just have to give that a try and can report my findings.

In my opinion though the E12 really takes the X5 to another level, at least with my LCD-2's. Even with my SE846 IEM's the performance is noticeably better, though the X5 by itself is quite impressive, when paired with the E12 it actually competes with my desktop rig (Burson Conductor) which is amazing for the price.

I think the E12 is underrated as a portable amp.   The E12 puts out more power than the CEntrance HiFi-M8 and with less distortion (according to Tyll's tests).  I was just listening to the iPod LOD -> E12 -> LCD-2 yesterday and thought things sounded pretty darn great.  

 

[Loquah]

I know, and that's what i want to look into

 
Oh, OK 

 Are you thinking about how to Rockbox it by any chance??? (Hint: please say yes!) 

 

[goldendarko]

I think the E12 is underrated as a portable amp.   The E12 puts out more power than the CEntrance HiFi-M8 and with less distortion (according to Tyll's tests).  I was just listening to the iPod LOD -> E12 -> LCD-2 yesterday and thought things sounded pretty darn great.  

 


+1, I didn't really know much about it myself before purchasing it, but color me impressed, especially at the price I paid for it from MP4Nation ($109).

Things really seem to improve in all areas with the E12, the soundstage being the biggest improvement I've noticed.

 

[CH23]

Oh, OK   Are you thinking about how to Rockbox it by any chance??? (Hint: please say yes!) 

I have a natural curiosity for software

i'm no programmer though; editing is one thing. Reverse engineering and rebuilding is something else...

 

[SilverEars]

  I think the E12 is underrated as a portable amp.   The E12 puts out more power than the CEntrance HiFi-M8 and with less distortion (according to Tyll's tests).  I was just listening to the iPod LOD -> E12 -> LCD-2 yesterday and thought things sounded pretty darn great.  

What is output power of E12@ 1% THD?

 

[goldendarko]

What is output power of E12@ 1% THD?

 


Well it's 880 mW @ 32Ω, so should be plenty of power for most headphones.

 

[SilverEars]

 

  What is output power of E12@ 1% THD?

 


Well it's 880 mW @ 32Ω, so should be plenty of power for most headphones.

Notice, Tyll measures Max out at 1% THD for Centrance.  The max of out of Centrance is 1400mW on paper. 

 

[jazzman7]

  Notice, Tyll measures Max out at 1% THD for Centrance.  The max of out of Centrance is 1400mW on paper. 

True -- Tyll doesn't show amp distortion curves above 1%.   So the statement I made assumes less than 1% distortion.    The other thing he says is that the M8's distortion is dominated by the second harmonic, which might make a high value less of an issue.  I haven't done tests, so I can't claim number confidence.

 

[BrokenStevie]

  While I believe in and have experienced burn-in with headphones, I always thought the people who discussed burn-in of cables and solid state electronic players were crazy.
 
HOWEVER,  I swear that my X5 sounds markedly smoother, fuller, and with more forwards mids now than it did when I recieved it a week ago.  Maybe I just have gotten used to the sound, however, this is also doing back to back comparisons with my iPhone 4s.
 
Does anyone else think they have experienced a noticable change in sound with burn in with the X5 ?

This was posted 3 days ago, but I'm a bit behind in checking all the posts in this thread. I just wanted to comment because I'd wondered the same thing about some of the slightly negative comments posted by people immediately after receiving the X5. I'd wondered if the X5 simply needed burn-in time. IMO, the answer is yes. The player sounded quite ordinary when I played it & checked in on the sound over the first few hours. So I put the player on a loop of the music I use for burn-in and just let the X5 run for at least 24 hours. I'd check in every once in awhile & to my ears the sound definitely improved after about 10 hours or so. Not sure of the exact time & not sure if it continued improving after that.  But to my ears the music sounded fuller and detailed after a good burn-in period. I have a few songs that I know the sound of & I always test any new audio device using these tracks that I know to evaluate the overall sound.
 
And I am loving the X5's sound. It is really, really good. It is almost as good as my desktop setup with an audiophile-grade DAC. And I've been using Westone 4 IEMs with them because they're the best sounding IEMs I have & the X5 sounds great with them. I haven't bothered with an external amp yet because the X5 is plenty loud for me and the quality of the opamps in the X5 is good enough that I don't expect any noticeable improvement with the use of my latest favorite amp, the FIIO E12DIY. It really sounds like FIIO learned from the X3, as well as their amp experience, and used that knowledge to their advantage in creating a gorgeous sounding DAP.
 
BTW, I'd asked in an earlier post about the X5's OTG function, but I've answered my question myself since I received it. The OTG function works really well with the X5. I'm impressed with how securely the included OTG cable fits in the USB slot. It can be a real pain with the DX50, for example, if the OTG cable gets jostled because it easily loses its connection & it's like the drive has been disconnected & then reconnected. No such problem with the X5. I've hooked up various flash drives using FIIO's cable, using drives all the way up to 256gb. So that's a LOT of easily portable storage for the X5. (It also makes it easy to swap my music around to different DAP's). The only drawbacks to using an OTG drive is that I can't charge the X5 while using OTG, and since the OTG drive draws power form the X5, the play time is somewhat decreased. That's where it would be nice if the player had a separate AC adapter... but I know I'm in the minority with this... I'm just thrilled to have the OTG function added to the already superior storage of 2 micro SD cards.
 
Great job, FIIO. What an awesome DAP for $350.