[rockbottom]

has anyone compared these in terms of sound quality? More specifically how's the SQ of the Zen Xtra's line-out compared to the X5L's headphone out?

I'm really hard-pressed to find any kind of info on the zen xtra.

 

[mwallace573]

The Zen Xtra doesn't have a line out. The headphone out is very clean though. Running an amp out of it yielded positive results if I remember right. The Zen also has a slightly stronger output than the X5L, but the X5L does sound a bit better to my ears, especially in the lows. The X5L headphone out does have a bit of static to it though, but you can only hear it on really sensitive IEMs such as the UM2 and Livewire, and that's only when there no music playing.

For the price they're at now, the Zen Xtra is a very good deal, not to mention it's built like a tank and you can pretty much replace anything on it with a small screwdriver. A bad firmware install is what bricked mine. If that hadn't happened I would still be using it.

I can easily recommend both. The Xtra for it's ruggedness and reliability, and the X5L for it's features, slightly superior SQ, and it's ability to be Rockboxed. It's all about what you want in your DAP.

 

[rockbottom]

Guess that takes the Xtra out of the picture. I'm just looking for a good source to drive my amp now.

Any recommendations?

Hard drive-based player with a clean line-out, hopefully superior to the X5L's headphone out. Or do you guys think I should just start looking at dedicated CD players now.

 

[filipelli]

You probably wont even need an amp for the x5...the headphone is out its topnotch. At least that is the consensus here..

 

[rockbottom]

Oh, I should have mentioned that it will be more for home use.

 

[mwallace573]

Sounds like you want an iMod then. You can't get a much cleaner HDD based source than that. Being you want this for a home based rig though you might want to check into some CDPs as you've said before. As to which ones though I couldn't tell ya, as I've never owned one. Both the Oppo 981HD and Sony CE595 sounded pretty good to my ears when I gave them a test drive though. The Sony did have a few modifications done to it so YMMV on that one.

 

[jayinhk]

I'm listening to my 160gb (upgraded) Zen Xtra connected to my PA2V2 and it sounds pretty good to me. Nothing missing in the lows, although I am using some pretty bassy headphones (AKG K412P).

 

[Albinoni]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayinhk /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm listening to my 160gb (upgraded) Zen Xtra connected to my PA2V2 and it sounds pretty good to me. Nothing missing in the lows, although I am using some pretty bassy headphones (AKG K412P).

How the hell did you manage to place a 160GB HDD in a Zen Xtra, I thought the max it could take was 130 even with the latest firmware loaded. I've also seen 120GB ones on Ebay.

So whats the secret of a 160GB HDD in a Zen Xtra?