[BrianovichIV]

I spent a portion of the holiday weekend trying out different firmwares, and I thought I'd share my thoughts. BTW I use all FLACs, some are single-files with cue sheets, some are individual files.
 
1. Sound Unlocked 1.3.3 (with Coil's hidden menu suggestions) sounds the best. But the lack of gapless just kills me. It's a deal-breaker.
2. Stock 1.9.2 works just fine, but sounds kind of narrow and boring. I feel the same way with all stock firmwares. It's just fine and nothing more. I can't complain about them, but I know there's better.
3. Rockbox has a sound signature I like, and the dual-boot is awesome. Customization features are nice. But it doesn't support 24bit, and I don't feel like downscaling stuff I bought from HDTracks or my vinyl rips. So that's a no-go for me.
4. DOC'S Favorite Firmware Final sounds closest to SU1.3.3 (not as good but really close), supports high-res, flawless gapless playback. I tried Doc's Favorite 1, 2, 3, Final, and Black, and Final was the best. A little trebly, but I like that. I didn't try his Surround firmware.
 
So, if you're like me and you're looking for the best combo of sound and features, I recommend Doc's Favorite Firmware Final.

 

[dragonsan16]

errr sorry, where i can get the Doc's Favorite Firmware Final?

 

[BrianovichIV]

Search this thread for it, it'll pop right up. It's around page 1030ish.

 

[dragonsan16]

oops sorry just got the link thanks.. i'll try it.. did you try the surround version? which one the best?

 

[BrianovichIV]

I didn't try the surround because it just didn't interest me. But of the rest, they all sounded better than stock in some manner. I just thought the Favorite Final version sounded closest to Sound Unlocked 1.3.3 and maintained the features I wanted. It's a nice compromise for me.

 

[polyrhythm]

oops sorry just got the link thanks.. i'll try it.. did you try the surround version? which one the best?

 
 
Hi
 
All the firmwares are here on the original Russian Forum (translated via Microsoft Translator to English) Link:
 
http://bit.ly/1J2qV4X
 
 
The best is:  NEW The NEW DX50 Doc's FAVORITE FIRMWARE ULTIMATE FINAL (Lossless only)
 
Although I also enjoy the Dx50 NEW Docs FAVORITE FIRMWARE MEGABASS EDITION V2 (all supported files) Title is a bit misleading because implying it is bass heavy although this is not at all the case.
 
Try them both.
 
The Surround Editions are not good IMHO

 

[dragonsan16]

Oh my goodness, what is the Ultimate Final? okay i'm confused..
 
Which one do you prefer, NDFFF or NDFFUF ?
 
And do you think NDFFUF close to SU 1.3.3 ?

 

[BrianovichIV]

I did try Ultimate Final, but I thought the instrument separation and soundstage was better on the regular Favorite Final.

 

[dragonsan16]

Well, tried the NDFFUF.. sounds like more smooth to me, nice midrange but less dynamic (& detail maybe) than the SU 1.3.3, but i enjoyed it tho.
 
I'll compare with the NDFFF later..

 

[CoiL]

Yeah, I totally agree with BrianovichIV observations and conclusions. Despite there are newer FWs from DOC, I still think NDFFF is his best to date and sounds closest to SU 1.3.3. Just the treble is sometimes littlebit harsh but it`s nothing big dealbreaker.
Personally I do not care about gapless, so, SU 1.3.3 still best SQ FW for me.

 

[7S Cameron]

My favorite firmware from Doc is his ultimate final because on his favorite final the treble is very fatiguing.

 

[7S Cameron]

I just noticed that I haven't played around with firmwares since I got my Cayin C5.i have just been using Rockbox. I don't think I can give up replaygain though...

 

[Callaghan]

My favorite firmware from Doc is his ultimate final because on his favorite final the treble is very fatiguing.

 

I think Ultimate is significantly better all round than NDFFF. Shame it's FLAC only! If any one knows how to access settings for this, if it's possible, I'd be grateful. I have my fav albums in FLAC and the other 2/3rds of my storage split between high bitrate vbr MP3 and Ogg.

I haven't tried the Surround or Bass versions of Doc's firmwares but will do soon or are they FLAC only too?
 
NDFFF was far too shrill for me, I found the highs artificial, really distracting and unpleasant -- on material I'm very familiar with.

 

[ggibby]

I've searched as much as I can in the DX50 threads
to no avail.
 
I use my DX50 primarily outdoors,
and the small-print-on-black theme is pretty hard to read.
 
Rockbox has a number of themes,
but lacks most of the UI functionality I like in stock.
 
All I really want is text-only (no cover art),
white background, large Helvetica font info display:
 
Title
Artist
Album
 
Time remaining, shuffle/repeat status, battery.
 
Similar to the iLike theme for Rockbox:
http://themes.rockbox.org/index.php?themeid=1260&target=cowond2
 
My guess is that there is no discussion of this because either:
It's not possible
Stock users don't care about the UI aesthetic, so nobody has tried.
 
I like the player overall, no question,
but this seems pretty basic , especially for an Android-based device.
 
Apologies in advance if I've missed the "How to customize your DX50 UI" thread
 
-G

 

[dragonsan16]

You were right CoiL after listening to NDFFF the treble little bit harsh but no problem, it has dynamic feel like the SU 1.3.3.

Then the NDFFUF is nice, i can enjoyed with my slow songs but not with my fast songs.

So for me NDFFF & SU 1.3.3 is more all around genre. Tho the NDFFF can solved the cutoff issue in the begining of tracks because the gapless is work perfect, but probably i'll switch back to SU 1.3.3