[Flomet]

You can stop crossing your fingers before they go numb. Fiio responded me that they won't fix that in any future firmware update. They didn't say if it's because they can't or because they don't want to, but they won't.
What a perfect portable audio combination would an X5+E12 with balance control would have been...

Thanks for the info, I'm glad that I have an E17 so that can take care of the balance. The only problem is it does not drive my HD650's to there fullest.

 

[Muenchener]

Thanks for the info, I'm glad that I have an E17 so that can take care of the balance. The only problem is it does not drive my HD650's to there fullest.

I am almost sure that the SQ of the E17 is below the X5's. I tried that combo and didn't like it. In fact, because the E17 has balance control, I made the mistake of assuming that the E12 would also allow me to use the X5's. Counting you, I now know of 5 people that returned the E12 for the very same reason. James@Fiio: please see the problem/opportunity you have here.

 

[Flomet]

I am almost sure that the SQ of the E17 is below the X5's. I tried that combo and didn't like it. In fact, because the E17 has balance control, I made the mistake of assuming that the E12 would also allow me to use the X5's. Counting you, I now know of 5 people that returned the E12 for the very same reason. James@Fiio: please see the problem/opportunity you have here.

It would be nice to know the total amount of people that returned there E12 because of no balance control.

To be honest the X5 and E17 combo doesn't sound too bad as I no longer listen to very loud music and I use the coax out.

 

[Muenchener]

It would be nice to know the total amount of people that returned there E12 because of no balance control.

To be honest the X5 and E17 combo doesn't sound too bad as I no longer listen to very loud music and I use the coax out.

I don't think many people have returned the E12 because of the lack of balance control, but I'm pretty sure that there are thousands that will not buy it because of that.

I only noticed a lower SQ using the E17 on my Senns HD800, that are very revealing. With other HPs, perhaps the E17 would be good enough, I'm gonna give it another try.

 

[Flomet]

I don't think many people have returned the E12 because of the lack of balance control, but I'm pretty sure that there are thousands that will not buy it because of that.


I only noticed a lower SQ using the E17 on my Senns HD800, that are very revealing. With other HPs, perhaps the E17 would be good enough, I'm gonna give it another try.

The X5 using coax out to the E17 sounds good with my Shure E500's, I would like to listen to HD800's with this combo but I am happy with my HD650's and they sound great when plugged into my Little Dot.

 

[pe3ucTop]

  I don't think many people have returned the E12 because of the lack of balance control, but I'm pretty sure that there are thousands that will not buy it because of that.
 

As ClieOS has explained earlier adding balance control is not nearly as simple as you might think and the change in price is probably not going to be marginal(50 bucks) as you assume. I am not sure about this but if I had to guess the price jump would probably put such a product in a completely different price range, where it would be competing with a completely different line of products which would require even better set of parts, engineering and execution in order to be able to be competitive. And this completely defeats the purpose of the E12 which is now marketed as a good quality budget portable amp which can run power-hungry headphones.
 
So the question is not how many people are not buying E12 because it doesn't have balance control. The question is how many people are not buying it for lack of balance control versus how many wouldn't buy it if it had balance control and was priced at 200-250-300 dollars(or whatever price the new product would need to have to justify its production and engineering)?
 
The answer to this question, to me it seems is - you need a completely different product to satisfy those needs. I am curious if there is another product that would suit those 3 criteria I highlighted above plus being able to do balance adjustments? In other words is there a good quality portable amp under 200 bucks that provides balance control and can power power-hungry headphones? If not, at what price range is the next viable solution. I haven't needed balance control, so I have not researched the marked about this(but on the fly I can't think of a single one that supports balance control). If you find a solution, I'd be curious to hear what price-tag it comes with. Good luck with your search

 

[Scorpion667]

I haven't been posting much here because, well, I have not had any issues whatsoever once I fixed my track id3 tags.
 
I was wondering, what's the fattest storage someone managed to hook up to the USB OTG cable? I might have a 1TB 2.5" SSD coming my way and I could test it but just curious if anyone experimented with this.
 
At first I was going to get that tiny MicroUSB to MicroSD adapter but I realized that the X5 would be resting on top of it in my pocket, most likely straining the MicroUSB connector when I go to sit with the device in my front jeans pocket.

 

[Muenchener]

  As ClieOS has explained earlier adding balance control is not nearly as simple as you might think and the change in price is probably not going to be marginal(50 bucks) as you assume. I am not sure about this but if I had to guess the price jump would probably put such a product in a completely different price range, where it would be competing with a completely different line of products which would require even better set of parts, engineering and execution in order to be able to be competitive. And this completely defeats the purpose of the E12 which is now marketed as a good quality budget portable amp which can run power-hungry headphones.
 
So the question is not how many people are not buying E12 because it doesn't have balance control. The question is how many people are not buying it for lack of balance control versus how many wouldn't buy it if it had balance control and was priced at 200-250-300 dollars(or whatever price the new product would need to have to justify its production and engineering)?
 
The answer to this question, to me it seems is - you need a completely different product to satisfy those needs. I am curious if there is another product that would suit those 3 criteria I highlighted above plus being able to do balance adjustments? In other words is there a good quality portable amp under 200 bucks that provides balance control and can power power-hungry headphones? If not, at what price range is the next viable solution. I haven't needed balance control, so I have not researched the marked about this(but on the fly I can't think of a single one that supports balance control). If you find a solution, I'd be curious to hear what price-tag it comes with. Good luck with your search

I said 50 dollars as an example. The E12 retails for 129, so 50 extra dollars should go a long way in manufacturing costs, but you may be right about it. I thought the use of a good quality varistor is all it takes to control the balance of an audio signal, but I'm out of my depth here. However Fiio managed to include balance control on the $139 E17, they did not (and perhaps could have) repeat their home run on the E12. Heck, they even have a DIY E12 that retails for about the double of the regular E12.
I read a lot about this issue, and believe me, the market for this simple functionality is huge at this level of DAPs/amplifiers. There's a reason behind the balance control on the X5 and the E17, or Fiio wouldn't have added that in the first place.

Perhaps there's another DIY E12 on the pipeline, or a new model, with pan/balance control. I sure hope so.

 

[nmatheis]

It would be nice to know the total amount of people that returned there E12 because of no balance control.

To be honest the X5 and E17 combo doesn't sound too bad as I no longer listen to very loud music and I use the coax out.

Start a poll thread...

 

[ptravel]

I have an X5 and an E12.  I have a hearing loss in one ear and would LOVE to have had a balance control, but this is something I've been dealing with for years with my other DAPs which, too, did not have a balance control.  My solution so far has been the Shure split in-line volume control mentioned earlier -- I simply opened it up, removed the uber-long cable and replaced it with a shorter one.  I've also just ordered the Australian in-line balance control mentioned up-thread.  Shipping to the US was high, but it looks like an elegant solution to the problem.  When I get some time, I'm going to do some listening tests to see if pairing the E12 with output from the X5 headphone jack results in any SQ loss -- if not, that's clearly the easiest solution.
 
I'm rather surprised that people would return E12s because they don't have balance controls.  Yeah, it would be nice to have, but there are other solutions and the sound quality of the X5/E12 combination is worth a little inconvenience, at least in my view.

 

[musicheaven]

I have an X5 and an E12.  I have a hearing loss in one ear and would LOVE to have had a balance control, but this is something I've been dealing with for years with my other DAPs which, too, did not have a balance control.  My solution so far has been the Shure split in-line volume control mentioned earlier -- I simply opened it up, removed the uber-long cable and replaced it with a shorter one.  I've also just ordered the Australian in-line balance control mentioned up-thread.  Shipping to the US was high, but it looks like an elegant solution to the problem.  When I get some time, I'm going to do some listening tests to see if pairing the E12 with output from the X5 headphone jack results in any SQ loss -- if not, that's clearly the easiest solution.

I'm rather surprised that people would return E12s because they don't have balance controls.  Yeah, it would be nice to have, but there are other solutions and the sound quality of the X5/E12 combination is worth a little inconvenience, at least in my view.

The RSA intruder balance out can be knob screw adjusted and gain adjusted on separate ear, so you could get it and solve your year long hearing issues. Think about it, you can talk to Ray to get it adjusted or at least get the instructions from him how to do it yourself or I can PM you the instructions if you want.

Good luck my man!

 

[ptravel]

The RSA intruder balance out can be knob screw adjusted and gain adjusted on separate ear, so you could get it and solve your year long hearing issues. Think about it, you can talk to Ray to get it adjusted or at least get the instructions from him how to do it yourself or I can PM you the instructions if you want.

Good luck my man!

Whoa!  $700 for a headphone amp is a little too steep for my blood, though I appreciate the suggestion.  I've survived with this since I was a teenager (got a firecracker too close to my right ear ), so I'll continue to manage.  I think the in-line balance controller will do the trick.

 

[Solude]

Anyone been able to use the usb dac function to confirm that it does not run out of sync with the video?  My AK100 has this problem and I've looking for a replacement that well... works

 

[musicheaven]

Anyone been able to use the usb dac function to confirm that it does not run out of sync with the video?  My AK100 has this problem and I've looking for a replacement that well... works

Video? :eek:

The player does not show the standard cover images (unless the latest software has replaced that) when set on USB DAC and it works great for both, the PC and Mac, what else do you need?

Whoa!  $700 for a headphone amp is a little too steep for my blood, though I appreciate the suggestion.  I've survived with this since I was a teenager (got a firecracker too close to my right ear ), so I'll continue to manage.  I think the in-line balance controller will do the trick.

Keep it for 7 years and it's 100$ a year, it's ok but I gotta tell you'll only need one .:wink_face:

 

[Solude]

Video?

 
Crazy I know.  My PC can play among other things... video :O  And that the audio and video are out of sync when I use the usb dac on the AK100... not fun.  The optical output works perfect but my office pc does not have an optical out  Hoping to find something, anything, that isn't the AK240... if I can.