[CriticalTodd]

  Four buttons, not counting the two volume and the power.  Took me five minutes to figure out and learn them (and I'm real old, mind is going... have you seen my car keys?).  Upper right is for menu, lower left and right are for back and forward, upper left I never use (shortcuts).  Oh, and center is to select.  

 
I think part of my problem is the "back" button is on the right side while my expectation for a "back" button is on the left. There's also some overlap between the top right and left buttons as both of them can take you to the main menu-- pressing different buttons but getting the same result can be a bit confusing. I'm sure I'll figure it out shortly-- as you said, it's only four buttons but it could easily have been made simpler and more self-explanatory than it is.

 

[Gnawbert]

   
I think part of my problem is the "back" button is on the right side while my expectation for a "back" button is on the left. There's also some overlap between the top right and left buttons as both of them can take you to the main menu-- pressing different buttons but getting the same result can be a bit confusing. I'm sure I'll figure it out shortly-- as you said, it's only four buttons but it could easily have been made simpler and more self-explanatory than it is.

That has been my sentiment as well.  After 15 years of using MP3 players my thumb expects the upper right button to be the SKIP AHEAD button.  But with the X5 the upper right is BACK and the upper left is MENU (I think?).  Regardless, after a week my fingers are getting it right on instinct most of the time, but I agree, it was an odd configuration to learn.

 

[olddude]

The X5 is head and shoulders above the X1 in build quality (feel) and sound quality (and bigger, too).  More bass thump and more mids and more upper end.  And of course it will play more file formats as well.  I like the X1, it's my "carry in my shirt pocket with my Alones when I'm traveling" player.  But if I'm going for my walk, or wanting to listen critically, it's the X5/Fidue.   
 
I have no issue with the controls or the scroll wheel.  Took a few minutes and then I had it.  Coming from the DX50, I still find myself occasionally trying to use the "touch screen," always an oops moment.  Note that there are, for the X5, a number of mods available for the current firmware (including one of my own) that alter menus a bit or scroll direction or color/font.  http://www.head-fi.org/t/717947/fiio-x5-custom-modded-firmwares
 
As to button placement, buttons are where they are because the designer put them there.  If they aren't where other companies put THEIR buttons, that's hardly a Fiio issue.  TVs, Cars, Computers, etc, all have buttons and controls in different places.  There is no RIGHT placement.  That could be a consumer expectation but that's all it is.  

 

[CriticalTodd]

  ...As to button placement, buttons are where they are because the designer put them there.  If they aren't where other companies put THEIR buttons, that's hardly a Fiio issue.  TVs, Cars, Computers, etc, all have buttons and controls in different places.  There is no RIGHT placement.  That could be a consumer expectation but that's all it is.  

 
Sorry but I cannot disagree more strongly about this-- as someone who deals with UI (albeit on the web), there is definitely a RIGHT placement for things unless and until someone comes up with a better or more RIGHT placement. It's about conventions and a user's expectation that the device will follow the established conventions. The onus is on the designer if they wish to break convention to do so to (at least arguably) better the experience. If the change doesn't better the experience, there's no reason to break the convention and it would be a poor decision to break the convention.

 

[Kerouac]

Originally Posted by olddude /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I have no issue with the controls or the scroll wheel.  Took a few minutes and then I had it.  Coming from the DX50, I still find myself occasionally trying to use the "touch screen," always an oops moment.

Hahaha, so recognizable...always wondering for a millisecond why it doesn't respond.
Because I use my X5 much more than my DX90, I also put my headphones in the coax output on top of the DX90 too many times

 
And for UI & controls: I have no problem with either of them and think they both work great. Ofcourse there's always room for improvement, but no frustration for me when I use them. I just count my blessings with both players...

 

[uzi2]

   
Sorry but I cannot disagree more strongly about this-- as someone who deals with UI (albeit on the web), there is definitely a RIGHT placement for things unless and until someone comes up with a better or more RIGHT placement. It's about conventions and a user's expectation that the device will follow the established conventions. The onus is on the designer if they wish to break convention to do so to (at least arguably) better the experience. If the change doesn't better the experience, there's no reason to break the convention and it would be a poor decision to break the convention.

...so which one of us is driving on the correct side of the road?

 

[olddude]

I put plugs in my unused outputs to avoid the sudden OUCH of plugging my iems into something running at full volume.  
 
As to the RIGHT placement, I'm LEFT handed, so nothing is where it should be (except for camera controls) for me.  I've spent a lifetime adapting to scissors and can openers and the like, so four buttons on a music player is child's play.

 

[Loquah]

   
...until someone comes up with a better or more RIGHT placement.

 
The only way to do this is to try it and see. If the majority of people used the X5 the way the designers expected then this would be considered a hit. The fact that some / many people aren't comfortable with it shows that it is an attempted innovation or just a design choice that maybe didn't work as intended, but we shouldn't bash the designer for trying something different. If we criticised anyone who went against convention we'd never have had CDs, iPods, slam dunks, alley oops and many other wondrous things that were (and some still are) criticised by traditionalists.
 
PS I'm not saying you're a traditionalist, but I am suggesting that we should all allow some leeway for designers to try stuff (and sometimes fail) because that's where the next "gold" will come from.

 

[Flomet]

Olddude, I'm in the same boat. Nobody thinks of us left handers

 

[olddude]

 

[Ripvanlink]

Olddude, I'm in the same boat. Nobody thinks of us left handers

That's why left-handers (like you and me) think for themselves. Who would be "out-in-left field" if it weren't for us, lol.

 

[Kerouac]

Olddude, I'm in the same boat. Nobody thinks of us left handers

Whatever happened to the last boat full of left handers?
 

 
Well, as long as you're not ''drowning'' in the X5's UI, you'll all be fine...
Just follow the instructions in the manual:

 

[Flomet]

Lol ☺

 

[olddude]

Which is all well and good, except that we have shorter life spans than righties.  And when the Church controlled the world, we were killed because we used our left hands (sinister).  Oh, and in countries where you eat with your hand, it is very rude indeed to reach in with your left hand.  
 
Of course, we are governed by our right brains, the "good"  (arty) side.  When I was in art school, I looked up one day in a class and noticed that 90% of us were using our left hands.  Ahhh, I thought, I'm home.

 

[olddude]

For those of you using Macs, XLD has just released an update and now it handles DSD files.  Enjoy.