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Review of Cayin N6 Hi-res digital audio player w/lots of pics!!!

This is a Review of Cayin N6 Hi-Res digital audio player (DAP). http://penonaudio.com/Cayin-N6
A lot of people think that upgrading headphones to a more expensive/multi-driver version can improve a sound quality without realizing how much impact a hardware source "plays" in order to take their sound experience to the next level. As some make a leap from using their smartphones or budget audio players to a dedicated quality DAP (digital audio player), you re-discover your headphones all over again and realize what you have been missing. Things can get quickly out of control when we are in search of perfection, don't have access to audition and to compare audio gear, and make assumptions that high quality audio hardware has to come at a premium price. Today I would like to share with you about a new flagship N6 DAP from Cayin that shatters these typical stereotypes while delivering a true high definition audio which sets itself above all mid-fi contenders and aims to challenge a more expensive hi-fi competition. Here is what I found.
I have reviewed Cayin C5 portable amplifier in the past and stayed in touch with Cayin team to quickly realize how much they are obsessed with sound quality and design details as well as customer support. Even when N6 was ready for prime time closer to the end of the last year, they still took their time to perfect everything, including a first test run limited to a small group of local pro-audio users just to get more feedback. All this hard work really paid off, and when N6 was ready for an official release and I finally received my production quality review sample - it already felt like a mature product with a polished hardware and a stable firmware. But everything starts with unboxing.
There is definitely a WOW! factor once you hold N6 box in your hands. They made it very clear you are dealing with a premium product in a premium box. You are not going to find any high res pictures on the outer sleeve, only a hand sketch of the product with some hints of its sexy curves. There is also a very minimum description of main functions and features, mostly referencing types of devices and supported formats with no further description, I guess trying to keep user in suspense. With outer sleeve off and the main box out and open, you are presented with premium "jewelry" box display setting of N6. Out of the box underneath a form fitted tray with N6, you'll find all the included accessories in another partitioned tray.
To be honest, for such a fancy box and premium flagship product, I expected to see more accessories. Don’t get me wrong, it’s on par with other DAPs I have reviewed in the past, but would have been nice to see something like a leather holster or a travel case or maybe to include 2A wall adapter. Still, there were plenty of goodies to go around. You have a quality usb to micro-usb cable, coax adapter, micro-usb to usb card reader, and two sets of round screen protectors with one already being applied to N6. One bonus that I actually found impressive was a keychain with the same carbon fiber finish as featured on the back of N6 – fancy! Also included was a silicone protection skin, but it wasn’t in the box but rather in the packaging envelope. I know it’s a shame to hide N6 curves under the “skin”, but it’s a smart way to protect it from scratches.
Unboxing and Accessories pictures.
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Looking at N6 DAP, the first thing you notice is a rather unique round display - a centerpiece of the design. Just like with their C5 portable amp that stood out from a crowd, N6 makes a very bold statement even before you turn it on and plug in your headphones. Even though display looks round, the active part of it is 2.4" IPS square screen with a high contrast and excellent visibility under any condition. With display off, it's hard even to distinguish the square part of the screen, thus you have an illusion of a round display. On the left side of the display like a watch crown you have a thumb control navigation wheel to assist in scrolling and also with a spring-loaded push action to click/select/enter. I found this scrolling wheel to have an excellent tactile response and to be of a great assistance when scrolling through either a long playlist or adjusting volume or just going through menus. It's not really necessary for navigation of N6 since all these functionalities could be done with other buttons, but still comes in very handy and blends in well with a round screen display.
Below the display, you have 4 control buttons in a very unique shape. When it comes to N6 DAP, it looks like Cayin wasn't just creating a functional audio player with a great sound, but also making a piece of art. In theory, these are your typical multifunctional 4 directional buttons with up and down list scrolling or track skip or fast forward/back, and left and right buttons for going back in navigation or selection or play/pause. It takes a little bit to get used to controls, but after a while using these becomes a second nature. I also think a custom shape of these buttons plays a very important role in a flow of navigation and controls as your finger slides across them.
You will also find a more traditional buttons, such as volume up/down in the upper right corner on the side, and a power button on the top. With a screen off, volume buttons do control volume with a single click and skip track with a long press. Also, scrolling wheel controls play/pause with a push when screen is off - a very intuitive control you can access without even looking at the player. At the top, you also have three 3.5mm ports for Line Out (LO), Headphone Out (HO), and Coaxial cable Out (CO). To eliminate confusion, I did cut off HO cover flap in silicone case so I knew right away where to plug in headphones. At the bottom you have micro SD card slot, a reset pinhole, a tiny led light pinhole, and micro-usb port. The body of the case is made out of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy and feels very solid in your hand. The back of N6 has a real carbon fiber finish.
Design detail pictures.
As impressive as it looks outside, inside of N6 you will find a true audio powerhouse. Everything from dual core processor, powerful enough to support native DSD hardware decoding as well as other formats up to 24bit/192kHz resolution with MP3/WAV/FLAC/OGG/APE/ALAC/AAC/WMA/M4A and even CUE, to 8GB of internal memory and microSD card supporting up to 128GB size. You also have a very impressive array of internal chips with top performance dual PCM1792A DACs arranged to process left and right channel separately to control high definition of a sound and a width of soundstage separation. There is also a dedicated high performance PGA2311 volume control chip, and even 3 different TCXO crystal oscillators to meet low jitter clock requirements. Power is provided by a high capacity 5600 mAh lithium battery which does a great job of supplying enough juice for up to 7-8 hours of continuous playback. For a piece of audio equipment with so many power hungry ICs, this is actually not a bad performance. Also, Cayin is constantly working on battery life optimization, especially in standby mode, so perhaps with some future firmware upgrades they might even be able to improve a total playback time.
Another important spec worth mentioning is the HO and LO output performance where HO is rated at 220mW+220mW w/32ohm load and super low output impedance of 0.26ohm, and LO rated at 1.7V of output power. I had no issues driving any of my IEMs or open/closed back full size headphones, and even in low gain setting had a volume at only 30%. Even with low sensitivity headphones I never exceeded 50% of volume level. With high sensitivity headphones, I didn't hear any hissing and found background to be solid black. But in general, if you need to drive power hungry high impedance full size headphones, you can always pair up N6 with another member of Cayin family - C5 portable amp.
Furthermore, besides being a standalone digital audio player, N6 also functions as an asynchronous USB DAC which you can connect to your laptop or computer to turn N6 into an external sound card. One thing you need to know, the internal memory of N6 has a zip file with all the necessary drivers to setup the connection. Once installation is complete, moving forward it’s a simple plug'n'play operation as long as you have DAC mode enabled in your System setting of N6.
Even with so much electronics and a large battery, N6 still feels pocket friendly and not that heavy. For a comparison, I put N6 next to X5, both wearing a silicone case, and found N6 to be 248g with 128mm x 70mm x 20mm dimensions, and X5 to be 218g with 118mm x 70mm x 16mm dimensions.
Pictures of N6 next to C5 and X5.
It is a little bit taller and thicker in comparison to X5, but overall weight felt the same and inside of the pocket N6 was actually a lot easier to operate "blind" with fast access to play/pause, skip, and volume controls.
Before I get into a sound of Cayin N6, the next topic I would like to discuss is GUI interface. Of course the sound characteristic is the most important factor, but a poorly designed controls and user interface can ruin your experience of enjoying the music even if it sounds great. I already mentioned about how much I like buttons/wheel controls of N6, and the same positive experience extended to graphic user interface as well. When you hold the power button to turn it on, you are greeted with a round vinyl-disc main interface resembling a turn table. In there, you have 5 main menu choices of Playing Now (which goes to your current playing song), Music Library (where you have an option to update the library, to view Local memory content, and removable card content), Music Category (were everything is sorted by My Favorite, Recent Played Songs, Albums, Artists, Genre, and a list of All Songs), System Setting, and Music Setting. Playing Now and Music Library is self explanatory, while in Music Category you have My Favorite based on a quick playlist you can create by tagging songs as Favorite, and the rest of the menu choices with songs sorted based on the ID tags of your music files.
Music setting has an extensive selection of options with Gain setting (low and high), Digital Filter (added in fw1.1 where you have SHARP and SLOW with a subtle change of sound attack, my personal preference being SHARP), DSD gain compensation, EQ setting (10 band EQ with 8 presets and a separate Customizable option). Play mode (to cover different repeat modes), Breakpoint resume, Gapless playback (after fw1.1 it's nearly perfect!!!), Max Volume limit setting, Startup Volume, Startup volume value, Balance control (L/R), Album art (display on/off), and Lyrics (display on/off). In a System setting you have Language selection, USB Mode (usb connection to read and to transfer files or USB DAC setting as external soundcard), Backlight time, Brightness setting, Schedule Power off (enable/disable), Schedule Power off time (this will turn off N6 after a preset time; Sleep time option is coming in the next firmware update), Reset (to factory setting), About the Player (which has model and firmware number, as well as local and microSD card total and remaining free memory capacity). Also, within "About the Player", you can skip pages from the main screen to see a very comprehensive electronic manual of the N6 with all the controls and functionality description.
GUI and Setting pictures.
Uh, so here comes a sound, and the first word out of my mouth was: WOW!!! To be honest, I personally don’t care about what DAC or volume IC or processor is being used in the design. It’s irrelevant because you can pick’n’choose the best available audio components and still mess up the signal flow, the circuit design, the layout of the board, etc. I look at every DAP as a black box, evaluating it on a sound quality, control usability, and GUI. In my opinion, Cayin N6 delivered a nearly perfect score in every single of these categories.
Reviewing sound quality of a DAP is not an easy task. What you hearing is not a direct “sound” of the audio player but rather a sound delivered by headphones according to their sound signature. So a better evaluation of a DAP is by referencing it to other sources for comparison. I have a number of DAPs in my collection, such as FiiO X1 and X5, HiFiMAN HM700, Hidizs AP100, and more budget oriented audio players from xDuoo, Sandisk, Ruizu, and also my Galaxy Note 4. If I pick the best source out of this bunch, which happens to be X5, and even after pairing it up with either of my favorite portable amps, C5 and E12A, I still can’t get anything closer to a near perfection reference sound I get from HO of N6. Yes, that good!!!
N6 sound is very detailed, transparent, and musical, with an organic tonality, close to reference quality without being cold or analytical. It has an excellent separation and layering of instruments with a wide and deep airy soundstage. Relative to headphones in my collection, there is no hissing or background noise (though I don’t have SE846 to confirm which always comes up as being over-sensitive), and I found it to have a black background. In comparison, the level of detail retrieval from N6 is on a much higher scale than X5, and the soundstage presentation is significantly better as well. As a matter of fact, the soundstage directly from N6 will remind you a lot of C5 paired up with X5. And that is a beauty of N6 where you don’t need to pair it up with any external portable amps to improve the sound quality or staging unless you want to experiment with coloring of your sound by introducing other amps. I paired up N6 with E12A, but found it handicapping the soundstage width and depth. Pair up of N6 with C5 is great if you really need to drive a demanding high impedance cans, but comparing N6 HO in low gain to N6+C5 (in low gain as well) – sound tonality was almost identical to my ears, and the only benefit was a slight improvement in width and depth of soundstage.
This brings me to how well N6 pairs up with different headphones. In this analysis, I found it more beneficial to compare every pair of headphones to see how it sounds on N6 vs X5. Also, please keep in mind, X5 is one fantastic DAP and it costs $270 less than N6. This is like a relative comparison. But my point is that value of N6 is highly justifiable considering sound quality improvement without a need to use external amps and special LO cables.
UM Pro 50:
N6 - richer bass texture, better 3D positioning/imaging, better dynamics, sound is more organic/analog, a little smoother/musical.
X5 - sound is flatter, a little more digital in comparison.
CRK10:
N6 - sound is more airy, staging a bit deeper, improved bass texture, sound has more body.
X5 – sound has less sparkle, a bit narrower staging.
A83:
N6 - amazing bass texture, super wide/airy sound, smoother upper mids/treble.
X5 - reduced soundstage, less sparkle in upper frequencies.
DITA Answer:
N6 - higher level of detail retrieval, sound is more airy, improved soundstage.
X5 - sound is a bit flatter and not as organic.
IM03
N6 - sound has richer texture, more natural, smoother, improved staging.
X5 - sound is a bit flatter, not as dynamic.
Titan 1
N6 - sound has more sparkle, wider soundstage.
X5 - sound is smoother and warmer, a bit narrower.
VSD3
N6 - bass texture is richer and more detailed, wider staging, more airy sound.
X5 - sound is flatter, less dynamic, and a bit harsher.
In conclusion, next to my other audio players and amps Cayin N6 DAP is without a doubt TOTL audio equipment. Of course a question begs to be asked how it compares to AK120 II or AK240 II, and perhaps in a near future I might be able to answer this. But N6 is still 1/2 the price of the cheaper AK120 II, and that needs to be factored in. Do I think N6 represents an absolute perfection? Well, it has a sound signature which is near a sound perfection to my ears, and I got used to and enjoying its controls very much. But based on the size and the weight, it’s not exactly super portable or a pocket friendly for everyone’s taste. Plus, I wish battery life would be a few more hours longer. I know Cayin is working hard on firmware optimization, and they have done an amazing job delivering a very stable FW1.0 followed by FW1.1 only a month later with a lot of improvements. So I hope they can do some magic to squeeze even more out of their battery life. But even as it stands, this digital audio player represents an amazing value with a true hi-def sound performance. I never really listened to DSD audio files until I got N6 where it plays these without skipping a beat with a sound quality that took my breath away. I no longer need an external amp to improve my soundstage presentation or to add that extra juice to make my bass sizzle with layers of texture – N6 internal DAC/amp is top class! I no longer have to reach out for a dedicated USB DAC to enjoy listening to hi-def audio from my laptop – flexibility of N6 design covers that. There are too many benefits to list and I can go on, but the bottom line is that Cayin delivered a remarkable hi-def audio player and set a new price bar which is quite affordable considering spending the same amount of money on mid-fi DAPs, LO cables, and external amps without even reaching 100% level of N6. Very impressive considering this is Cayin’s very first portable DAP release! Can’t wait to see what they’re going to come up with next!

Nice review ! ??

Excellent review, thanks

Hello everybody,
Where can I find Tools for the subj for Win 7? I'd like to change the fonts for 4.3 FW.

Hi there,
Does anybody know how to delete all the songs on Favorites with one click but not one by one?

alex5908 said:
Hi there,
Does anybody know how to delete all the songs on Favorites with one click but not one by one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better post this queston on head-fi in corresponding thread. I used to mirror my audio reviews here on XDA and also AF, but eventually moved to HF where audio gear reviews belong And since I haven't used N6 in a long time, it will take me awhile just to charge it up before I can answer it, but I'm sure - if it's not obvious, it can't be done, probably.
Btw, their N8 flagship is just around the corner, using Korg nano-tubes
Plus, they released N5iiS stainless steel limited edition, which I just reviewed on my blog.
Cayin been doing pretty good with all these DAP release and desktop gear (their tube amplifiers are top notch), and actually today (on August 8th) is their 25th anniversary as a company.

I did that awhile ago. The thread is dead and nobody posts anything.

alex5908 said:
I did that awhile ago. The thread is dead and nobody posts anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe send a PM to "'AndyKong" in there. He will be able to help you, man.

Hi vecton, would you like to review our product?

avatarcontrols said:
Hi vecton, would you like to review our product?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please, PM me.

Review of Astell & Kern AK120 II High-res Dual DAC Music player w/lots of pics!!!

This is a Review of Astell & Kern AK120ii Digital Audio Player (DAP). http://www.astellnkern.com/eng/htm/ak120/ak120_2_feature01.asp , also available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Astell-Kern-AK120II-Resolution-Player/dp/B00L3NAW42/
Either if you are a novice audio enthusiast or a seasoned audiophile, you are probably familiar with a name of "Astell & Kern". It’s like a fashion brand name or a luxury vehicle known for their stylish looks, durable design, and top of the line performance. Nevertheless, for a number of people A&K products are still an intimidating mystery because of their premium price and somewhat exclusive review coverage. I've read some of those reviews and still had a few unanswered questions, especially what makes this DAP so special at a premium price? As you can see, I've already mentioned “premium price” twice, and I'm only a few sentences into my review. Unfortunately, premium price quite often clouds are judgment since we have high expectations when in reality we are looking at diminishing returns. In the last few years I covered close to a dozen of DAPs priced between $50 -$700, and as a reviewer when you focus on a performance and features it makes it easier to judge a product without a biased opinion clouded by its price, though you still have to consider it. So let me proceed with my review, to share with you what I found, and to let you be the judge if this amazing piece of electronics (oops, a biased slip!) is worth your hard earned money.
People, who appreciate the art of sound or just educated enough to understand that free earbuds supplied with your smartphone or endorsed by celebrities just don’t cut it, are usually in constant search of new headphones to get closer to their ideal sound signature. Unfortunately, a lot of the times we neglect an important variable in this sound signature equation - the audio source. No matter how good you think your iDevice or Android phone sounds, it’s not an ideal source even if you manage to load it with lossless audio files. It will not substitute a dedicated DAP designed with one specific functionality in mind - playing audio without compromises or interferences from 3G/4G radios, noisy power supplies, social media updates, and a ton of apps running in the background. I always looked at DAP as anti-smartphone, and perhaps that’s why I was happy with small screens, hardware buttons, and other mechanical scrolling options. Now, I made a full circle and came back to a product which you can almost call a smartphone without a “phone”.
Arrived in a formally dressed silver carton sleeve, A&K wanted to keep an element of surprise without any revealing glossy pictures or too much of an artwork beside a stamped logo and a company name with a sticker of DUAL DAC on the front. AK120ii is their dual CS4398 DAC version, very similar in looks to AK100ii - a single CS4398 DAC version with a slightly shorter body and a few other cut down specs. On a back side of the packaging you will find a very comprehensive device specification that resembles a typical compact smartphone spec. We are talking about 3.31” AMOLED touch screen display with WVGA 480x800 resolution, 3,250 mAh li-polymer battery, 128GB of internal NAND memory with microSD expansion supporting up to 128GB flash card, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, MTP media device connection, micro USB input, and OTA (over-the-air) firmware upgrade. Yes, we are still talking about DAP, and to reassure that – I removed the sleeve and opened an impressive black gift-box to reveal AK120ii inside of it.
Unboxing.
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I have seen pictures of AK100ii/120ii before, but the first hand experience of opening the box and taking a glance at this DAP is priceless. Out of the box I found AK120ii to be surprisingly compact with dimensions of approximate 118mm x 55mm x 15mm and very lightweight at only 177g. Along with AK120ii, included accessories were a high quality usb to micro-usb charging/data cable, clear screen protectors for the front display and the back, a comprehensive quick start guide (printed on a quality paper like it was a wedding invitation), a warranty card, and a fancy leather case. And by fancy, I mean a designer quality "Made in Italy" case with perfect cutouts to reveal all the hardware controls and ports, and to provide a full access to touch screen where only a microSD port was covered. Btw, once fitted, the case is not easy to slide out, but I found a little trick by pushing it out with an eraser tip of a pencil through micro-usb port opening at the bottom. Could A&K have included additional accessories? I certainly would be happy to see more considering the asking price, but optional color leather cases, cradles, and some cables are available for purchase directly from Astell & Kern website.
Accessories.
As I already mentioned, the unit itself felt very compact and rather lightweight despite its solid build and alloy metal housing with a front touch screen. If this would have been a smartphone, I would have already proceeded to power it up, but I was still hesitant holding it in my hand while examining design details. I think the experience of testing and reviewing other DAPs made me appreciate this design even more, including how thoughtfully it was crafted. The ergonomics was perfect for use with one hand, and it felt very comfortable to reach hardware transport controls and volume knob as well as touch screen - not bad considering I have just an average size hands. The transport control buttons are located on the top left side, and you have Play/Pause in the middle between Skip Next/Prev where single click skips a track and a long press fast forwards/backwards. Buttons felt solid, no rattling or shaking, with a very nice tactile response. At the bottom of the same left side you will find microSD slot with a card sitting flush once fully inserted. The bottom of AK120ii has micro-usb connector for charging (impressive battery life of up to 12hrs) and connection to a computer (for a file transfer and use as USB DAC). The top has 3.5mm TRS headphone output (HO which also doubles as electrical/optical Line Out) and 2.5mm balanced output with a 4-pole TRRS connector (for a balanced wired output).
The upper right corner of AK120ii is protruded with a small power button at the top and a dedicated volume knob facing to the right. There is no denial it looks and feels like a real authentic scaled down hardware volume knob you can find in high end desktop systems. The rotation of the knob felt well controlled with a nice feedback, and I was able to adjust it even with a roll of a thumb. I was kind of wishing this volume knob would also function as a push-button control, but it didn’t. I mean, the whole look of the knob design with a cap just screams to be pushed, maybe with some hidden functionality like a quick mute. At the same time, I can understand it would be too easy to accidentally trigger it in your pocket, so this volume knob can only rotate.
Design.
Finally, I was able to tear myself away from pushing the buttons and turning the knob, and went ahead to power it up. Greeted by a glowing “A” logo, it took a little while for the player to boot up. From what I understand, previous AK versions were Unix/Linux based, and the new AK100ii/120ii/240 are Android based for a better support of wireless connection with OTA updates. As a matter of fact, as soon as I booted up and connected to Wi-Fi, within a minute I had a message in notification bar informing me about downloading a system update. It felt like at home with familiar smartphone functionality, especially with touch controls and notification bar. Touch screen was very responsive with every move/slide/touch registering without a lag or a delay, thus suggesting a well optimized custom OS on top of Android. The main screen was well laid out with tiles for Songs, Albums, Artists, Genres, Playlist, and Folder – all corresponding to a specific sorting method of accessing your song library. On top of that there were also tiles for MQS Streaming and Setting. Also, there was an “invisible” Home touch button at the bottom in the middle which took you back to a playback screen. From playback screen, where you have access to touch transport controls and song/album artwork, you can also create a Playlist by clicking on the screen and selecting "+".
The Setting menu was my first stop where you have toggle switches for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EQ, Gapless playback, Line Out and Balanced Out selection, L/R Balance, Brightness control, and Theme selection. There was also system settings related to Date/Time, Language, Power management, USB Connection, and Downloads folder. Further in System Info you can keep a track of model and firmware, internal storage management, and SD card management. But I think the greatest feature of A&K OS is how you can access most of these settings from one place in pull down notification bar. It was simply brilliant how you get a bird eye view of all the important settings where you enable/disable it with a simple touch and get into a detailed setting menu by touch’n’hold of the corresponding control. With notification bar accessible from any screen, this was the best and the easiest way to change settings on the fly.
One of the settings I found quite interesting was EQ where you can create a numerous custom presets. Also, you can draw EQ curve on the screen with a finger, and every EQ-band slider will self-adjust in animated fashion following a drawn curve. It was great to see a complete set of 10-band EQ (30Hz/60/120/250/500/1k/2k/4k/8k/16k), but I found it a bit frustrating to adjust individual bands since they were too close to each other to zero in with a finger touch. I would suggest for A&K to implement a zoom-in feature to expand EQ screen for a more precise selection of the EQ band.
In general, it was a pleasure to be able to see song names and artwork, and effortlessly control the playback and selection from a large and clear touch screen without straining my eyes. But it's not only the size of the screen, but how logical everything is laid out and utilized, from pull-down notification bar with access to all the settings, to a "home" button to get back to the playback and the rest of the controls and settings. I also liked how cool it was to adjust the volume once you turn the volume knob and get on-screen volume-arc graphics to slide your finger up/down and also to quickly enable/disable Balanced output. It takes a little bit of time to figure out controls, but afterwards it becomes a second nature to navigate. Going back to my other DAPs after using AK120ii was a painful experience using small screens and clicking buttons to navigate around.
GUI/Interface.
Having an ample storage is very important when you are dealing with high resolution audio and lossless formats, where AK120ii supports everything under the sun. And despite the fact that AK100ii/120ii doesn’t support native DSD decoding (only 240 does it natively while 100/120 converts it internally to PCM), you still will be tempted to load this DAP with your DSD files. Depending on the size of your lossless library, even 128GB of internal storage and another 128GB of external one might not be enough. Or perhaps when you are at home you want to listen to a few other songs/albums without going through a hassle of copying them to a DAP. To expand your storage capacity while you are at home connected to your local Wi-Fi, AK120ii supports MQS Streaming from your local computer. All you have to do is to download a small lightweight MQS Server program to run on your laptop or PC/MAC, select your shared directory, and within seconds it will be mirrored and ready to be accessed from your AK DAP. It’s insanely easy and efficient, and there is no delay or buffering stutter as you streaming the music – sounds just like you are playing it from internal NAND memory. Of course, with a full Android based OS on my smartphone I can also stream anything from the cloud (Pandora, Spotify, Tidal, etc.), but unfortunately you can’t run any 3rd party or even native Android apps with AK120ii. Furthermore, you can also play music directly from your laptop/PC/MAC through AK120ii by utilizing its USB DAC functionality like an external soundcard.
MQS Streaming.
Obviously, AK120ii has an excellent design and one amazing GUI with hardware buttons to complement touch controls, but how does it sounds? Here, I found a few surprises. Keep in mind, the intent of my review was to test AK120ii as a standalone portable DAP rather than a puzzle piece of the equation that requires another $2.5k DAC/amp and $2.5k pair of IEMs to complete a picture in order to make it sound good. I found that it was absolutely not necessary to stack up AK120ii with other portable Amps or to use it exclusively with TOTL multi-driver IEMs in order to enjoy the sound. To my surprise, it paired up quite well with a lot of my headphones straight out of HO, but you have to be VERY selective which headphones to use - everything comes down to finding headphones with a perfect synergy to work with sound signature of AK120ii.
I had a bit of a rough start when I began testing AK120ii only to realize that warm, bassy, and generally v-shaped headphones are not a perfect match for this DAP. I found sound signature of this DAP to be neutral-smooth with a slight touch of warmth. It made my bright and revealing IEMs and Headphones to sound lush and organic while retaining clarity and high level of details. I would even go as far as saying this DAP shapes a sound to be more smooth analog rather than cold-analytical. The background was perfectly black, and I didn't experience any hissing or high level of noise, though my headphones are not that sensitive either. With a help of it's Dual DAC architecture, soundstage had a great level of width/depth, though it wasn't too airy in my opinion. I wasn't able to quite reach that precise level of detailed analytical layering and separation. Don't take this as a negative comment, actually AK120ii was able to breath in a new life into some of my brighter tuned headphones, adding more body and texture making them sound more natural and less fatigue.
As expected, once you switch to 2.5mm Balanced Output and if your headphones can support wide imaging, balanced output did improve soundstage width/depth by further expansion and even some treble enhancement. The difference wasn't exactly night'n'day, but after closer listening it was definitely noticeable, especially with my UM Pro 50 (advantage of replacement cable to go between 3.5mm and 2.5mm was priceless). To get the most out of the balanced output you really need to look into aftermarket quality replacement cables for your headphones. Just a stock OFC or cheap silver plated wires won't be enough. For example, I noticed a better margin of improvement once I switched to low impedance Linum Balanced BaX cable. A balanced wired Whiplash Pure Silver cable (part of modular system) did introduce an improvement as well, but hearing my UM Pro 50 or W40 or A83 with Linum Balanced BaX took it a notch higher, which I attribute to lower impedance of Linum Litz cable.
Speaking of headphones I used for testing, I picked Pro 50 since it has a darker/warmer signature, while W40 is smoother and brighter, and A83 hybrid delivers revealing bright upper mids/treble thanks to BA drivers balanced out by dynamic driver covering low end. I also used ATH-MSR7 since these full size cans deliver a high-res extended and detailed sound and not as forgiving when it comes to bright recording. With AK120ii a performance of all these headphones was very consistent and sound became very smooth and organic in upper mids and treble while still preserving high level of detail retrieval. It's very interesting how with the same CS4398 DAC used in Hidizs AP100 DAP and FiiO X3 2nd gen as well as AK100ii/120ii, due to variations in low path filter and voltage/current amplification there is a difference between colder analytical bright sound of AP100 vs smother warmer sound of X3ii vs analog-smooth detailed sound of 120ii. Of course, you do need to try different pairs of headphones to find a match with a better synergy. When it comes to low end (bass), AK120ii favors headphones with more quality than quantity. A sound with headphones that have a typical v-shaped signature and exaggerated bass spilling into lower mids will become muddy. Even a more controlled low end of UM Pro 50 with stock cables (or Pure Silver cables) wasn't shining until I went through cable-rolling to find a better match which turned out to be Linum Balanced BaX. In there I found Linum to be a better match to open up the sound with even more details and soundstage expansion, while their new prototype of Super Balanced BaX impressed me a lot with a smoother balance of low end.
Even so I'm not a fan of EQ tweaking and hate how other DAPs usually have one custom preset option, being able to have numerous custom presets you can name according to your pair of headphones was very convenient with 120ii. I was actually pleased with sound shaping after EQ adjustment where frequency boosting didn't introduce any unnatural harsh artifacts. YMMV since its a matter of a person taste, but I just wanted to make a point that you can sound-shape any pair of headphones to make them work with AK120ii.
Another great way of sound shaping is to pair up AK120ii with your favorite portable amp while bypassing the internal one. I really felt like a mad scientist playing with all these combinations of headphones, cables, and amps - but it turned out to be quite a rewarding experience. I know I already mentioned that my review intent was to see how it performs standalone without any external stack up, but I was actually able to shape a sound other than with EQ by pairing it up with two of my favorite amp (FiiO E12A and Cayin C5). These both amps did take a bit of an edge off analog warmth in comparison to 120ii internal amp, but they also introduced more byte to the sound with a different texture at low end and brighter crispiness at top end. Especially C5 added more analytical clarity to upper mids and a touch more details while brightening the treble, though I personally liked the "looks" of 120ii stack-up with E12A.
I'm sure a lot of you will be curious how does $1.7k DAP compares to other cheaper DAPs I tested in the past. I know the sound quality is very important, but when it comes to A&K DAPs you have to look at the whole picture where overall experience plays a significant factor. It probably sounds very cliché and some of you might think I got spoiled by having access to test and to compare different DAPs, but it's an important point where you can forget for a minute a price tag and just focus on the product's sound, ergonomics, flexibility, and control interface. All I have to say is that experience of testing and reviewing AK120ii ruined the enjoyment of my other favorite DAPs. Maybe it's a temporary infatuation since I spent the last few weeks mostly using this A&K DAP, but I felt that a touch screen interface made such a perfect sense in song browsing, playback control, and overall settings - I actually became a bit frustrated with a button clicking or a wheel scrolling to get to where I wanted in other DAPs. And this touch screen interface was not a reminder of a "smartphone", absolutely not! It enabled me to be in full control of how I wanted to listen to my music, and I found that to be quite liberating.
Nevertheless, if you compare it to other DAPs like for example Cayin N6, those who are after a lush organic sound will prefer A&K sound signature, while if you want a more analytical detailed sound - N6 is a better candidate. In my opinion, they both are relatively neutral, but AK leans more toward neutral-smooth with a touch of warmth, while N6 leans more toward neutral-bright with a slightly better retrieval of details. With something like FiiO X5, I hear X5 being thinner, more neutral, less dynamic (sound is a bit flatter), and soundstage being narrower. Especially with X5 (single DAC architecture), you can hear an advantage of dual dac design of AK120ii and N6 where the width/depth of soundstage along with airiness and improved separation/layering becomes more apparent.
Next to N6, X5, and X3ii
Conclusion.
I mentioned early that I took a pricing out of the equation, just focusing on design and performance. I guess in a conclusion with my traditional "Overall" statement, I should put this variable back in and look from a perspective of the overall AK120ii value. I have reviewed a lot of DAPs and various stack up combos of my Note 4 with portable Amps or usb otg DACs, thus I tend to believe I have a good base for comparison. With that in mind, I still feel that Astell & Kern delivered a product that took the best out of all that audio equipment and encapsulated it in a very compact Digital Audio Player with the most logical touch and hardware controls I have experienced to date. It looks solid, it feels solid, and with a right pair of headphones it sounds solid! I know some people expect $1.7k DAP to sound 2x as good as $800-$900 DAP, but you have to keep in mind that with TOTL audio equipment (just like with multi-driver IEMs) you are in a territory of diminishing returns. Can Astell & Kern keep this crown forever? Only time will tell since we are facing a number of new TOTL DAPs from other manufacturers planned for this summer, and I know that competition will heat up! But I can tell you with certainly, A&K set a very high bar (and not just in pricing) where all my upcoming reviews will be measured against this little masterpiece!

Review of FiiO X5 2nd gen (X5ii) Digital Audio Player (DAP) w/lots of pics!!!

This is a Review of FiiO X5 2nd gen (X5ii) Digital Audio Player (DAP). http://www.fiio.net/en/products/41.
With a consistent flow of new releases, I feel like we have been spoiled by FiiO and their quality audio products. I didn’t even realize it has been year and a half since the release of their original X5, and now I’m looking at their new X5ii flagship DAP released a few months after another impressive X3ii DAP update. What strikes me the most, FiiO continues to update a number of their previously released models (DAPs and amps) while keeping price in the same ballpark. And I’m not talking about a cosmetic refresh or a firmware update but actually a complete redesign. Perhaps it’s the way how they challenge themselves, trying to come up with a creative update without raising the cost. In my opinion, they do succeed every single time, with their latest X5ii being another perfect example of it!
At the same time this high pace of new releases sometime feels like smartphone industry where every six months to a year we are faced with choices to either stay with a current phone or to upgrade, and if you decide to upgrade - either going with a smaller or bigger screen model. I think a lot of FiiO fans will be facing a similar choice, either keeping their original X5 or upgrading to a “smaller” X3ii or a “bigger” X5ii, figuratively speaking. If you want the latest and the greatest new release, a decision is simple - go with X5ii without looking back. But for other loyal FiiO fans or new customers who are looking into different DAPs, I hope my review will provide some useful guidance to make your decision easier. FiiO is very active and generous in various audiophile communities, such as Head-fi, where a lot of reviews and impressions have been posted already. With my write up I hope to fill in some gaps and to offer a different perspective to compliment other available info.
Though the unit I received is pre-production review sample, the content of the packaging should be close to the final product which I'm sure will include a colorful outer sleeve on top of the box my unit came in. Keeping up with a tradition, X5ii arrived in a formally dressed black gift box setting with a nicely padded interior to ensure a secure transport of its content. I personally like such gift-box detail, actually adapted by a number of manufacturers, since it makes unboxing experience a little more special and a sturdy carton box is also a great storage.
Unboxing.
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Already dressed in silicone skin and ready for action, after removing X5ii from a cutout of the foam insert tray, I accessed the accessories box and was able to explore the rest of the included goodies. No surprises were found here, just a familiar set of accessories consistent with their other models. You get a quick start guide and a separate flash card with a layout and explanation of hardware controls, extra 2 sets of screen protector in addition to the one which comes already pre-installed, a cover stickers for the front/back/sides if you decide to personalize your DAP further (includes US flag, wood, and carbon fiber themes), usb to micro-usb power/data cable, and a short Coax patch cable. I think a final production unit will also feature a flash card reader.
While a carbon fiber sticker doesn't look too bad, I’m not so sure about other two themes and would suggest in a future to include something alternative for the ladies. Brushed aluminum and carbon fiber finish is great for guys, but I would like to see FiiO making an effort to widen their sex appeal. Actually in my personal opinion, the brushed aluminum body finish is too cool to cover with anything permanent, except with an included silicone case. Screen protector is always a good idea to protect X5's gorgeous 2.4" HD IPS screen from scratches and smudges. As for usb cable, FiiO usually includes a quality one which also guarantees a fast 2A charging with an appropriate supply. The micro-usb connector is slim and has a nice lock grip, just another detail I want to bring up since with a few of my other usb charging cables I had to take silicone skin off in order to get a proper fit/connection. Coax cable is different from the original X5 since in X5ii LO and Coax 3.5mm ports are shared, thus you will find extra ring-contacts (TRRS style) on 3.5mm connector side.
Accessories.
I usually don't spend too much time talking about silicone case, but still wanted to bring up a few important points. There is no surprise, silicone case gets static and becomes a lint magnet, but I still prefer it over any slippery plastic case because I like a secure grip. Another benefit, it protects your DAP from scratches and minor drops, creates extra friction when placed on a smooth surface, protects outside surface itself from scratches, and protects the shell from scratches when stacked with external amp rubber-banded together. The case has a perfect cutout for screen and navigation wheel, micro-usb port, a flap over LO/Coax port, and open HO port.
HO port opening is very useful in this case because FiiO flipped HO and LO ports in comparison to their other DAPs where left-most port used to be always for Headphone Output. We are creates of habit, and without a case and both ports exposed there is a very good chance that you will make an attempt to plug in your headphones into LO port to get a very unpleasant ear-full surprise, especially if you are a/b it with original X5 or X3ii. So even if you prefer to go naked without a case, use it for the first few weeks as training wheels until you get used to HO port being on the right side at the top.
Another interesting discovery I made even before turning the power on was a hole right in the middle of the power button cover. In this new X5ii model FiiO integrated a status multi-color LED right inside of the power button thus an explanation for a small opening in the case to view the light. Volume up button on a silicone case, just like with an actual DAP button, has a little id bump so you can identify volume+ control blindly in your pocket with a brush of a finger. Power button itself is flush mounted to avoid accidental pressing. The other 4 control buttons around navigation wheel are flush mounted as well and also nearly flat on the silicone case. It's useful if you have selected Lockscreen option that enables their control for track switching, and you no longer have to worry about accidentally pressing buttons in your pocket the way how it was with raised buttons in original X5. But at the same time, I would prefer buttons to be raised just a little bit like it was in X3ii which is the most ideal in my opinion.
Silicone case.
When it comes to the actual design, in my opinion X5ii is definitely a step forward in terms of a more compact footprint in comparison to the original X5. While keeping the thickness nearly the same, the length and the width got trimmed down and weight got reduced by nearly 30g. Similar to X3ii design, top of the unit has 3.5mm Headphone Output (HO) and a shared Line Out (LO) and Coax outputs. There is nothing on the right side, and left side is consistent with a top Power button (already discussed with a built-in status led) and volume up/down buttons. No longer will you find a reset pinhole, just need to press and hold power button for the same functionality. Consistent with the original X5 design, the bottom has 2 micro-SD card slots and micro-usb connector. You are also going to find 2 screws at the bottom if you dare to take X5ii apart, though be aware of voided warranty.
You will no longer find a dust cover rubber flaps over micro-SD slots similar to the original X5. If you carry your X5ii in a silicone case, it really doesn't matter since it will be covered and protected from dust already. I also believe it's not a big deal without a case with a card inside, like it is with any other DAP. But considering dual card slot and if you are not using a case and only have one card populated - it's not ideal for the other slot to be open while collecting the dust. Perhaps, get some dummy or super cheap micro-sd card from ebay just to use for the purpose of keeping a dust away.
The front of X5ii has 2.4" HD IPS screen at the top and a scrolling wheel with 4 control buttons around it and one button in the middle, a familiar layout carried over through all of the X-models (after the original X3). I know a lot of people will be curious about a scrolling wheel "evolution" since FiiO has been consistent with improvements from X5 to X1 and X3ii. Unfortunately, my review unit came from a first pre-production batch where FiiO made it clear this is not a final wheel version. It wasn't as wobbly as X5 wheel, but still had a loose movement without a click-feedback like implemented in X3ii. FiiO mentioned that final production units will have a scrolling wheel similar to X3ii which has been already confirmed by some users who got their hands on final production units. When it comes to my actual review unit, I wasn't as pleased with a wheel due to a light-touch turning by simply brushing against it. Unfortunately that happened a lot because control buttons were flushed with a surface and I had to hover over a surface with my finger to locate them. Even with a scrolling wheel mechanism such as the one used in X3ii, I personally think the layout of these buttons pushed away a little more from the wheel and the flush mounted design is a step back from X3ii where it was just perfect for one handed operation. X5ii is still feasible to use with one hand, but I just wish the beveled area and buttons around the wheel were similar to X3ii. Either way, if I get a chance to play with final production unit, I will come back and update my scrolling wheel impression.
Design details.
Though exterior changes are the most obvious differences when you first look at the new X5ii, the 2nd gen update included a lot of substantial internal design changes and improvement as well. Probably the first and the most noteworthy change come from a new redesigned amplification stage and analog volume control. To my ears the improvement was noticeable enough and I will talk more about it in sound test section of the review. Another change had to do with all new digital audio architecture with a dedicated dual crystal oscillator covering all major rates. Using multiples of common clock rates to derive other rates ensures a reduced jitter performance. I was also glad to see implementation of hardware DSD decoding with a native DSD support without a need for internal PCM conversion - another noticeable improvement when playing hi-res lossless files. Of course, X5ii still supports almost every available lossy and lossless format under the sun, everything from DSD64/128 to 24bit/192kHz in FLAC, APE, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, WMA, and other formats such as MP3, AAC, OGG, etc.
Native DSD support was introduced in X3ii already, the same way how the introduction of in-line remote control support got carried over from X3ii to X5ii. Don't expect volume control on in-line remote to work, but a single click Play/Pause and multi-click track skip worked flawlessly with a lot of my headphones. It's true that a lot of audiophiles prefer audio-only cable, but when you are on the go and want a simple remote control without reaching for your DAP or fumbling in your pocket - support of in-line control is extremely valuable. Another improvement carried over from X3ii was a new power management with a deep-sleep standby and instant-on resume - an absolute life safer when you take periodic breaks from listening and don't want to restart your DAP if it shuts down after time out.
Btw, this deep sleep is not a gimmick. I tested it on a number of occasions and was always amazed by how little battery was drained while in this standby mode. Even when you are playing the music, battery life was still impressive with playback of about 10-11 hrs depending on the gain level and the volume level. FiiO also mentioned about implementation of Coulomb meter for precise battery level readout. I just hope that at some point they will implement the actual % of battery display in notification bar as well. This 10-11 hrs battery endurance was accumulated across various tests where most of the time screen ended up being off - a typical real life usage. With a screen on the time will be reduced a little, though it's hard to quantify it since it all depends on your usage. And speaking of a screen, the rich color saturated display of X5ii is among the best out of the entire FiiO lineup, and it was an absolute pleasure to use it indoors and outdoors with a clear and crisp visibility of menus and full album cover art, actually a big step up from X3ii display.
Since I mentioned about a display, I think now it's a good time to dive more into FiiO’s updated GUI. Actually those who are intimately familiar with X1 and X3ii, X5ii GUI layout will be seen more like a dot update. With a clear semi-circle left to right menu layout, it was updated with an improved graphics details and more features added under setting and playback menus.
The main screen presents you with 5 selections of Now Playing (defaults to a currently playing track), Play by Category (with a choice of All songs, Album, Artist, Genre, Collection of Favorites - tagged from song playback, and Playlists selection), Browse Files (my favorite selection to view files by folders in Card 1, Card 2, and OTG connection - as long as you have FAT32 formatted device, you can expand your storage capacity by connecting external memory through usb OTG adapter), Play Setting, and System Setting. As you can see, there are plenty of choices for music browsing and playback, and navigation is super easy with a scrolling wheel. Once you select a song and it starts playing, the playback screen will display song/album art, if available, and you will see a current time marker for the song and the total time, the title of the song and the artist, and briefly a display with info about the file type.
In the notification bar you can always see a volume level with corresponding value, Gain setting (L or H), EQ selection, a number of populated micro-sd cards, Playback status (plays/pause), and a battery status. During the playback you can skip a song using two control buttons at the bottom or just by scrolling a wheel which brings you to a folder list where you click Play to select another song. Pressing and holding skip song buttons will fast fwd/rev through a song, while a middle button works as Play/Pause, unless you press'n'hold it to get into volume control using a scrolling wheel. Upper right button works as "go back" and upper left button brings up an icon menu where you can add a song to a favorite list or to a specific playlist, to delete a song, or to select different playback modes (loop, through, crossfade, and repeat one). All this is extremely convenient for one handed operation.
Going back to Play settings, you have a very comprehensive list of options related to playback. You can change Play mode (similar to accessing playback modes), enable Resume mode, Gapless playback, cap the max volume level, set power-on volume and associated fixed volume setting, select between Low and High gain, enter EQ screen (10-band EQ with a custom setting and a lot of genre specific presets), L/R Balance setting, and a new option of Play through Folders setting.
System settings gives you an option of language selection, Media Library update, Key-lock settings (with different options for lockscreen controls when display is off), Screen timeout, Brightness setting, Idle standby and corresponding timer, Sleep on/off and corresponding timer, Selection of shared output as either Line Out of Coax, File name display (as either Title or the actual file name), USB mode (DAC or Storage), enabling support of in-line headphone controls, display theme selection (5 unique choices), About X5 inf (which gives you both cards total capacity and available capacity, total number of songs, firmware version and serial number, and entire digital copy of detailed Quick Start Guide), Format (important if you are having problem with FAT32 format of your flash card), and last but not least - Reset to factory defaults.
I already mentioned about in-line remote control, and just want to talk briefly about USB mode. Storage selection enables you to connect X5ii to your computer where you can update the content of the flash cards by a simple drag’n’drop. But with USD DAC selection you turn X5ii into an external usb soundcard. After installation of proper drivers, X5ii is recognized as usb audio output to stream audio from your computer. Though I personally prefer a dedicated USB DAC and feel like using DAP for this functionality is overkill, it was still nice to be able to improve sound quality (more detailed clean sound) of my ThinkPad laptop with a help of X5ii. In this configuration while using DAP as usb DAC you are also charging it in parallel through usb port so you don't have to worry about drain a battery. Furthermore, you can use Play/Pause and change volume right from X5ii remotely - very convenient for an external audio interface. Just remember, you are not changing volume level on your computer, just relative to X5ii playback.
GUI details.
I'm sure the most important question on everyone's mind is how X5ii sounds, especially in comparison to the original X5 and X3ii DAPs. Evaluation of a source sound quality is not an easy task because it's a function of your headphones sound signature, and sometimes it’s easier to describe in a relative comparative analysis to other DAPs. Still, it was clear as a day to hear sound improvement of X5ii which shifted more toward the neutral sound signature with a decent extension at both ends of the spectrum and a detailed airy sound with an above average soundstage. Background was perfectly black with no audible noise floor even in high gain.
While going through a round of checking various headphones, I found a lot of solid pair ups with an impressive synergy. Driving full size ATH-R70x (470 ohms) was with ease and authority at both low gain (vol at 105) and high gain (vol at 90) - at high gain bass had a bit more textured rumble and treble had a touch more sparkle, where in comparison X5 sound was looser and not as dynamic. With UE600 iem, my “hiss” test case, there was literally zero hissing with X5ii while original X5 had a noticeable hissing when idle. ATH-MSR7 had a nice wide soundstage, excellent retrieval of details, no sibilance, and well controlled low end punch. With Havi's B3 Pro I the volume was raised by 10 notches (to 77), soundstage was still wide, and it still had a great extension at both ends of the spectrum with a warm neutral sound. ATH-CKR10 had a nice tight bass and detailed and crispy treble - both complimented by a clear smooth mids which bring the best of AT house style. It was also driving A83 low end with an authority, keeping bass tight and punchy with a great sub-bass extension, mids being clear and detailed, not harsh or grainy, and treble with a nice extension, soundstage width/depth was excellent as well. With Westone W60 sound was warm, smooth, detailed, wide/deep soundstage, punchy bass, mids pushed a little back, and treble detailed but not overly crisp/bright.
Next to the original X5, X3ii, and X1 (for a size comparison).
Stack up with X5ii/E12A/UM Pro 50.
I’m sure a question on many people’s mind will be how X5ii compares in sound to the original X5 and recently released X3ii.
While comparing X5ii to X5, I found original X5 sound to be warmer, flatter (less dynamic), loudness to be on the same level but not driving headphones with the same level of authority, with difference more noticeable at low end where I’m hearing some additional sub-bass rumble/texture in X5ii. I’m not discounting and actually quite certain that different people will hear these changes on a different level. Furthermore, since most of the sound changes could be attributed to a newly redesigned amp section, I wanted to find out how these compare from LO using a few of my favorite portable amps. To my big surprise, I found pair up with Cayin C5 (connected to LO of X5 and then X5ii) to yield nearly an identical sound. With FiiO’s E12A amp, sound was very close but X5ii still had a little more sub-bass texture with an overall perception of a fuller body. This observation brings up a very important point where if you are happy with a current gen X5 interface and control ergonomics and you prefer to use an external amp – perhaps there is not much advantage for you to upgrade to X5ii.
What about those who recently upgraded from X5 to X3ii, is it worth taking a step further with X5ii upgrade? With a volume level matched for a more accurate comparison between X5ii and X3ii, I found X3ii to be a little warmer and with a little less treble extension, all of which results in X5ii having an edge in detail retrieval across entire frequency range. Pairing it up from LO with C5 and E12A yielded the same test results where sound was nearly identical with C5 and had a little more sub-bass rumble and top end sparkle with E12A. I tested it numerous times, going back’n’forth between X5, X5ii, and X3ii, and my results were consistent despite different DAC being used in X5/X5ii and X3ii. This reinforces my previous point where if you are a fan of aforementioned portable external amps, perhaps sticking with an original X5 or X3ii would make sense if you only care about a sound and happy with a footprint and storage capacity of your current DAP.
Since both X3ii and X5ii support native DSD decoding versus X5 processing it through PCM conversion, I was also pleased to hear a noticeable difference when playing hi-res files on X5 and X5ii/X3ii. Without a doubt during DSD (2.82MHz test files) playback in comparison to X5, X5ii sound was noticeably wider and deeper, more dynamic, more layered, and with a higher level of detail retrieval. When comparing X5ii to X3ii, I found DSD playback to have a very similar level of width and depth, with a sound being equally layered and dynamic, though X5ii stayed consistent with its brighter and more detailed signature while X3ii was warmer and less detailed.
For those who are considering X5ii along with other non-FiiO DAPs, here is a brief comparison notes with some of my other favorite DAPs, such as N6, AK120ii, AP100, and LP5.
X5ii vs N6: N6 has a little wider soundstage, tighter bass, slightly brighter sound signature (based on fw2.0) with a little better retrieval of details. N6 sub-bass extend a little deeper and sound is a little more layered/dynamic. There used to be a bigger gap between X5 and N6, but now X5ii is a lot closer to N6 in comparison. Also keep in mind, N6 is bigger in size and almost 60g heavier in weight, thus X5ii is more portable and pocketable. With a sound quality getting closer, size getting smaller, and price still at almost a half, X5ii is a better value. But if you want to squeeze every drop of sound performance without adding an external amp and only care about sound quality – in my opinion N6 still has a slight edge (which recently got even more ahead with N6 fw3.0 update).
X5ii vs AK120ii: AK sound is warmer and with a fuller body, a little wider in soundstage (similar to N6), with a little more sub-bass rumble, a very similar retrieval of details, and with a bit less treble extension. When it comes to a sound quality, I would probably choose X5ii due to my own personal taste, but in terms of a sexy compact design with touch screen and hardware controls and volume knob and balanced output – I still haven’t found any contender to dethrone AK120ii. Also, keep in mind that X5ii cost quarter of AK120ii. Furthermore, X7 is just around the corner with touch screen and modular amp design; though I believe it will have a bigger footprint.
X5ii vs LP5: Luxury & Precision has a wider soundstage, tighter more detailed bass, overall more layered sound with a much better retrieval of details, better dynamics, etc. In terms of sound quality, LP5 is very hard to beat thanks to its AKM DAC and cherry-picked component (I have Gold model), and yes LP5 stands out in looks with a rather boutique style. But in terms of the usability, display, GUI, controls, and features, it falls far behind X5ii which cost 1/3 of the price.
X5ii vs AP100 (with 24b/192k enabled oversampling): Now we are getting to a more interesting competition since I mentioned in the past that AP100 sound quality was better than X5 (by a noticeable margin). In this new comparison, sound is very similar in quality to X5ii, but AP100 has just a little wider soundstage. I believe X5ii really closed a gap on this one, though AP100 is still smaller and more compact.

Conclusion.
I’m going to make this short and simple. If you are still using your smartphone as a main source to listen to music because you mostly stream your media - wait for X7. I know that expectations are high, but I will give FiiO the benefit of the doubt regarding this upcoming Android-based touchscreen DAP which I think going to set a new bar. If you want to leave the world of push notifications and social media updates behind, and ready to make your first audiophile step into the exciting world of hi-res audio without breaking the bank - X5ii should definitely be at the top of your list. At the current moment it will not be easy to find another DAP in this price range with similar solid hardware build and slick design, unique hardware controls, mature firmware, high quality audio, and a ton of configuration options. The decision gets a little harder if you already own the original X5. If sound quality is at the top of your priority list and you are using your first gen X5 with an external portable amp, I'm not sure if you will benefit switching to X5ii while continuing using external amp. But if you are like me who wants improved sound quality and values portability of a slick pocketable design without the hassle of bulky add-ons - X5ii is one great option. As an alternative, if you don't mind a slightly warmer sound, especially if you have brighter headphones, and ok with 128GB micro-sd card storage - X3ii offers the best value in FiiO DAP line up. It will give you the most flexibility of a small footprint with a powerful sound, support of all hi-res audio formats including native DSD decoding, using it everywhere even during exercising while carrying it in armband, and also ability to pair up with an external portable amp to step up in sound quality. As a matter of fact, I think X3ii release made X1 a bit obsolete to the point where I would suggest to FiiO in the next X1ii update to get rid off scrolling wheel and make it more compact on a scale of Clip+. Overall, DAP market is on the rise with a lot of choices in sub $600 category, but you can rest assured that FiiO offers some of the best price/performance ratio products in corresponding price categories.

does the folder browser function list ALL the files in the folder or just the ones the device knows how to play?

Son of Kalas said:
does the folder browser function list ALL the files in the folder or just the ones the device knows how to play?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
only shows the supported audio format files.

can i use a heapdone with a balanced cable or i need an adapter?

obi1301 said:
can i use a heapdone with a balanced cable or i need an adapter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean like 2.5mm TRRS (A&K) balanced cable? X5ii only accepts 3.5mm single ended TRS, so you will need an adapter. The same if you are talking about HiFiMAN 3.5mm balanced, will need 3.5mm adapter like they use in RE600.

vectron said:
support of all hi-res audio formats
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well no. It does support more than some other players but it does not support all bitrates of APE (Monkeys Audio), it does not support Wavepak (IIRC) and it does not support MPC. Unfortunately I have a lot of rips from the old days that my X5ii won't play.
I realize FLAC now has the lion's share of the market and I appreciate FiiO supports APE at all when many others don't. I don't know how their firmware is designed but they should have had a pluggable codec setup and they should really support all the mainstream and not so mainstream but still popular formats and they would be unbeatable. It can't be that hard, PowerAmp Android seems to decode a lot more than FiiO.
Other than that I do agree it is quite good and am happy with it.
vectron said:
including native DSD decoding
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all bitrates and not compressed DSDs. I have had like 25% luck getting a DSD to play on my X5ii.

Nitpicking This is an old DAP
Here is what is support Lossless:
DSD: DSD64, DSD128 (.iso&.dsf & .dff);
APE (Fast): 192 kHz/24 bit;
APE (Normal): 96 kHz/24 bit;
APE (High): 96 kHz/24 bit;
AIFF: 192 kHz/24 bit;
FLAC: 192 kHz/24 bit;
WAV: 192 kHz/64 bit;
WMA9.1 Lossless: 96 kHz/24 bit;
Apple Lossless: 192 kHz/24 bit;
and Lossy:
MP2、MP3、AAC、WMA、OGG.
as far as the current "industry" standard, many listen to FLAC as high res since it's the best compromise between the sound quality, compression, and the file size. DSD is a true jewel, but files are huge, and not too many popular recordings you can find in DSD (mostly classic music, etc). So, to be fair, it supports all the POPULAR lossless and lossy formats.
For a full format coverage, you need to step up to full Android based X5 3rd gen or X7 2nd gen. This will allow you to run audio apps that decode and support all the formats. Not sure, maybe Neutron will support everything under the sun?
midnightrider said:
Well no. It does support more than some other players but it does not support all bitrates of APE (Monkeys Audio), it does not support Wavepak (IIRC) and it does not support MPC. Unfortunately I have a lot of rips from the old days that my X5ii won't play.
I realize FLAC now has the lion's share of the market and I appreciate FiiO supports APE at all when many others don't. I don't know how their firmware is designed but they should have had a pluggable codec setup and they should really support all the mainstream and not so mainstream but still popular formats and they would be unbeatable. It can't be that hard, PowerAmp Android seems to decode a lot more than FiiO.
Other than that I do agree it is quite good and am happy with it.
Not all bitrates and not compressed DSDs. I have had like 25% luck getting a DSD to play on my X5ii.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

vectron said:
Nitpicking This is an old DAP
as far as the current "industry" standard, many listen to FLAC as high res since it's the best compromise between the sound quality, compression, and the file size. DSD is a true jewel, but files are huge, and not too many popular recordings you can find in DSD (mostly classic music, etc). So, to be fair, it supports all the POPULAR lossless and lossy formats.
For a full format coverage, you need to step up to full Android based X5 3rd gen or X7 2nd gen. This will allow you to run audio apps that decode and support all the formats. Not sure, maybe Neutron will support everything under the sun?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah like I said I am very happy with mine and I think it's a good value. The problem is for people who have a lot of old rips in APE or MPC or WV etc. Which I do...
It kinda sucks to have to play them on a phone since they're not supported on the x5ii. And I really don't want to buy an Android-based portable music player. I can just use my phone and PowerAmp.
Edit: another point I should make is what's old in America is new or unavailable in ROW. So.. everything is relative.

DAC
midnightrider said:
Yeah like I said I am very happy with mine and I think it's a good value. The problem is for people who have a lot of old rips in APE or MPC or WV etc. Which I do...
It kinda sucks to have to play them on a phone since they're not supported on the x5ii. And I really don't want to buy an Android-based portable music player. I can just use my phone and PowerAmp.
Edit: another point I should make is what's old in America is new or unavailable in ROW. So.. everything is relative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi.
You can use FiiO X5II as a DAC with your phone as I do (but I can not find any good short cable USB-C --> microUSB to bundle them together as compact multidevice). Because I am missing OTG and CopyPaste support or any possibility to move files, you can only delete them. Another thing is why it is not support .txt and .jpge/.png as viewer (I know it is not necessary).
Regards

Review of FiiO X7 Android Digital Audio Player (DAP) w/SRC bypass with lots of pics!

This is a review of Android based FiiO X7 Digital Audio Player (DAP). http://www.fiio.net/en/products/45.
Looking back at the last few years and the amount of audio players I have reviewed and compared, ranging from $20 to $2k, I still hold the original X5 in high regard because it was my stepping stone into the world of DAPs. Though I skipped their original X3, there was no turning back afterwards with X5, X1, X3ii, and X5ii - all of which I had a privilege to test and to review. While DAP market got saturated with a lot of new releases, I still consider FiiO to be one of the trendsetters pushing the envelope of price/performance ratio, regardless if they are outperforming the competition or being outperformed by the competition.
Going back to the original X5, in my review I compared its performance to a smartphone stack w/E18, and in conclusion mentioned that "... when you are relaxing and enjoying the music, you don't want to be interrupted by email or text message or social media update... smartphone is a jack of all trades, while X5 is a master of one - the music..." The touch screen interface of a smartphone offered a great convenience, but the baggage of everything else it comes with loaded and running in the background was a turn off, not to mention a sub-par sound quality (back when I had my Note 2).
Realizing challenges and benefits of Android based audio player, and considering that FiiO was overdue for flagship summit-fi level DAP, they shifted their design focus to a touchscreen based DAP supercharged with special audio enhancement features to set it apart from a typical smartphone and/or other android based DAPs. The discussion about this DAP has been circulating for a year, with a lot of people waiting in anticipation the release. Now with X7 out in the open, the big question is if it lived up to expectations? Let’s find out!
Unboxing and Accessories.
The unboxing experience of X7 is nothing short of a typical smartphone. You start with a cover picture of the DAP on the packaging sleeve which looks exactly like a smartphone without even a hint of being a dedicated audio player and a display shot of a typical Android screen with audio widget of FiiO Music app. On the back of the box you will find a spec which could also be easily mistaken for a smartphone, except when you come across a support of 384kHz/32bit decoding. Not everybody aware of this, but in Android OS you are facing a Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) limitation which keeps audio downsampled to a common denominator in order to ensure compatibility with different apps. FiiO was able to overcome this limitation which I'm going to discuss later in my review.
With a sleeve cover off, you will be greeted with a sturdy gift box construction and X7 sitting securely inside of a form fitted foam cutout. If you find the cover sleeve picture to be deceiving, looking at X7 in person and holding this 220g touch screen gadget in your hand still won't convince you this is not a smartphone.
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With my X7 being a review unit, I'm not sure if I received all the accessories that going to be bundled with a retail version. Included were 2 sets of screen protectors where the 3rd one was already applied to the display. Keep in mind, screen protector will give you just a minimum protection from scratches. Considering X7 design has a display which is not flush mounted, until you get a proper "smartphone" case with a corner protection and the front lip to keep the screen off the surface - you have to exercise extreme caution handling this DAP.
Also included is a short coaxial cable with 3.5mm TRRS style connector due to a shared LO/Coax port. Furthermore, you will find a quality usb to micro-usb cable for charging/power and data transfer, a quick start guide, and a torx screwdriver w/4 extra torx screws. If you paid close attention to the spec on the back of the packaging box, screwdriver will explain a reference to a swappable headphone amplifier module which is located right below the glowing led light underneath of the display.
Design.
X7 design is camouflaged to look exactly like a smartphone, with only a few DAP hints when you take a closer look. Just like with any smartphone, the focal point of the design is a touchscreen display, 3.97" IPS (178deg viewing angle) TFT supporting 16.7mil colors with resolution of 480x800 and pixel density of 233 PPI. Is this the highest resolution or the best pixel density or the most accurate color reproduction? Absolutely not, which is quite ok considering the intent of X7 is not for playing video games or watching hi-res movies and videos. 4" touch screen is convenient for one handed operation, the experience I forgot all about after 3+ years of using various Galaxy Note smartphones. I found touchscreen to be adequate for audio application, use of other audio apps, and some occasional browsing. The screen is responsive, though not exactly on the same level as I'm used to with my Galaxy phones.
With dimensions of 130mm (H) x 64mm (W) x 16mm (D), the screen occupies close to edge-to-edge space and about 105mm in height, which leaves 25mm below it for removable amp module. There are 2 torx screws on each side of the module, holding it securely in place with absolutely no wiggle once properly connected. One unique feature of this DAP is a glowing soft blue light, radiating from led in the middle under the screen through a light pipe which dims the glow toward the edges. The light is always on, can't be disabled. I personally like it because it gives me a visual indicator of power being on, but I think it would have been a good idea to provide an option to disable it in order to save battery or if you don’t want a “nightlight”. Also, I would have loved to see it being customized to change colors to indicate low power or when charging.
The bottom of the DAP, where amp module is located, has HO 3.5mm port and a standard micro-usb connector – by default X7 comes with IEM low power module. These ports will vary between different amp modules, depending on functionality. For example, one of the upcoming replacement amp modules should have 2.5mm TRRS balanced port and 4-pin kobiconn balanced connector. With Line Out being common to X7 main frame as part of DAC output, this 3.5mm port (shared with Coax) is accessible from the top of the unit. Left side at the bottom of the frame also hosts micro-SD card slot which supports 128GB card and most likely the latest 200GB. The only other controls you will find on X7 are 6 buttons, placed symmetrically in groups of three on each side.
By default, on the right side you have transport control with a separate Play/Pause button and double buttons for Skip/Next/Fwd and Skip/Prev/Rev functionality. In the opposite spot symmetrically on the left side with an exactly the same look and feel, you have Power on/off button and double buttons for Volume up/down. The whole idea of such design was to be able to accommodate left/right handed operation where you can map Power/Volume and Play/Skip functionality to either side. I do appreciate the thought behind it and find it quite clever, but personally after a month of playing with X7 I still find it a bit inconvenient. Perhaps I got spoiled by DAPs with dedicated analog volume knob, or used to other DAPs where volume/power is on one side and transport controls are part of multi-function front/side buttons, but I'm not too crazy about this symmetrical button arrangement. Part of the problem is that X7 is a bit on a heavy side, and without a protective case I feel like its slick body, CNC machined out of a solid block of 6061 aluminum (polished, sandblasted, brushed, and color anodized), will slip out of my hand. As a result, my grip usually tighter around the sides, and when pushing the volume sometime I press a track skip button on the opposite side of X7, or turning the screen on with a power button sometime triggers me pressing play/pause on the opposite side. Is this a showstopper? Not really if you get a quality case with buttons that take a little more effort to press (even recessed cutout for buttons should work).
Overall, exterior design is smartphone vanilla-plain which I find polarizing. Without any extra knobs and a uniform bar shape this is a very slick and comfortable unit to handle, to pocket, and to operate with one hand. But it loses personality of a flagship status by looking plain and "boring". I don't mind a bulge on the back (extra space for the battery), and the resulting slimmer part toward the top which makes a nice resting spot for my index finger. It also enhances the grip and helps to id front/back of X7 when in my pocket. But the screen sitting on top of the X7 body exposes the edges of the glass, making it vulnerable to break/chip if you drop it. The protective case is definitely a must for X7, and creating one could be a challenge to keep the design slim while still providing an adequate protection.
Under the hood.
If this would have been a smartphone, a processor would be the crown of the design to go against the competition. But since we are dealing with an audio DAP, all eyes are on the DAC selection. Here FiiO decided to pull out all the stops and go for a knock out with TOTL desktop quality ESS 9018 8-channel DAC with channels bridged 4-a-side for the highest dynamic range. Also, a "classic" OPA1612 buffer was used. I don't know exactly the guts of IEM amp module, but it's speced at >100mW (32 ohm load) with output impedance of less than 0.5 ohm. Don't jump into conclusion about the power and max headphone impedance it can drive until you read my sound analysis further in the review.
When it comes to the actual processor, FiiO selected Rockchip RK3188T SoC with quad-core Cortex A9 and 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM (w/1.4GHz clock speed, reduced from the original RK3188 w/1.6GHz), and also 32GB of internal memory in addition to microSD expansion. This SoC is not sufficient enough for playing cpu intense games or watching high def videos (as a matter of fact, I noticed on YT sometime colors get messed up). It’s typically used in a budget tablets and Android TV boxes where you don't need to support integrated cellular radio basebands. It ensures a low power consumption to maximize battery life. And speaking of that, the battery is non-replaceable and with a capacity of 3500 mAh, which I have tested to provide about 8-8.5hrs of playback time with screen off. For a standby time, it all depends on which mode you are in. In a regular Android mode you can last a day due to all system processes running in the background. When booting up X7 in a Pure Music mode, I found X7 to idle for over 2 days.
Also, typical for Android based system, you have a support of 802.11 b/g/n wireless connection and Bluetooth v4.0. WiFi support is a huge plus enabling wireless internet connection so you can stream audio from on-line services in addition to being able to access the internet. But I'm not too happy that aptX codec support is not available. With some of the advanced wireless speakers that utilize its own decoding and DSP/DAC processing this is irrelevant, like in case of B&W Zeppelin Wireless I recently tested. But with a number of other wireless headphones supporting aptX codec, there was a level of improvement comparing my Note 4 (BT4.0 w/aptX) vs X7 (BT4.0 w/o aptX). But nevertheless, I was more than happy to use X7 as a source to drive my BT wireless devices without a need to drain my smartphone battery. Also, X7 BT wireless performance is much better than AK120ii where signal strength is rather poor.
With so much electronics under the hood and a support of WiFi/BT, naturally you might be wondering if X7 is prone to EMI or any other related interference. I tested it sandwiched between our smartphones and next to the tablet - no interference causing problems with audio was detected.
Amp modules.
To wrap up hardware overview, next I would like to talk about replaceable amp modules. The design architecture of X7 allows you to replace the amp module based on your power requirements and wiring needs. By default it comes with IEM module, a single 3.5mm TRS connection with low power output designed to drive efficient headphones and sensitive IEMs, though in my pair up test I found X7 to be capable of driving some higher impedance and planar magnetic headphones without a problem. Amp module plugs into the main frame of the DAP and gets secured by two torx screws on the sides. Attached together it feels like one solid unit. Also, apparently this module should be plug'n'play where I was able to power up X7 without amp module being attached. I wouldn't recommend doing that because it will expose the connector and you can short contacts.
Other optional amp modules will be available to buy separately, and FiiO promises they will be reasonably priced. In addition to IEM module, FiiO going to make available Standard, High-Power, and Balanced (2.5mm TRRS and 4-pin kobiccon) modules. There is also a talk about releasing connector spec and making housing available for 3rd party amp modules. In my opinion, this is a much better idea than the one implemented in HiFiMAN HM901 with replacement amp cards. At the same time, it becomes inconvenient where you have to physically swap modules when you are switching between different headphones. It makes sense with efficient vs demanding (high impedance, low sensitivity) headphones, but for many who use IEMs/CIEMs with either standard or balanced cables - this will be a headache. Personally, I would have loved to see a universal amp module based on the currently planned balanced module with an addition of 3.5mm TRS connection and maybe a hardware high/low gain switch.

Dual-mode operation.
I already mentioned that FiiO found a way to overcome Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) enforced by Android OS. As a result, their Music app utilizes its own driver to communicate with ESS9018 DAC without SRC handicap. But you still have to deal with a burden of Android OS system running in the background and all the corresponding processes and apps, some of which are not easy to disable manually. This will contribute to excessive battery drain and taking away CPU resources, especially when dealing with decoding of hi-res lossless audio formats.
To mitigate this problem, FiiO came up with a dual mode operation where you can boot up X7 into a regular Android Mode with everything loaded at the startup or a Pure Music mode where FiiO Music app is loaded as a default Launcher and you can't exit into a regular Android interface. This Pure Music mode is highly optimized to load only specific drivers/processes required to run their native music app and nothing else besides it. This dual boot switch could be accessed from notification bar or in a setting menu, just keep in mind after making a selection - you will need to reboot X7. Also, if you want to upgrade firmware, you need to boot up into Android Mode. In summary, Pure Music mode turns X7 into a touch screen DAP running one specific FiiO Music app without access to internet, streaming, or anything else associated with it, though you can still enable BT for wireless listening.
Android mode is you typical full mode where you can install and run different apps and widgets. But, there is a limitation to that as well. X7 doesn't support Google Play store and as a result you will have to side load apps (apk files) except for those which do require Google Play for registration. To make things a little easier, FiiO included a folder with "whitelisted" apps to download directly to X7. The list is limited, so you better off Googling for some of your favorite apk install files. One thing to keep in mind, the performance of X7 is optimized in Pure Music mode with their native Music app. In Android mode this optimization is out of the window. It's convenient to run your streaming apps, like Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, etc., but battery drain is rather noticeable. One thing for sure, I wouldn't recommend putting FiiO Music audio widget on the screen because it drains battery like crazy.
I think implementation of Pure Music mode was a great idea, though FiiO music app is still work in progress. In Android mode – you’re faced with a typical Android "smartphone" performance where battery drain will be a quick reminder that you are no longer dealing with a dedicated DAP. But now you can run streaming services or load another audio player app. Luckily, you can gain back the performance by switching to Pure Music mode where I was able to keep X7 in idle for 2 days and 3 hours.
With Spotify / HibyMusic
FiiO Music app.
I'm sure by now you realized the importance of FiiO Music player app - it's your gateway to an optimized X7 performance and to get the best of ESS9018 DAC. Yes, you can boot up in Android mode and use any of your favorite music app and I guarantee it will sound great with your 320kbps mp3 or FLACs, but for a true audio purist who demands the best - FiiO native Music player app is the way to go.
Unlike a number of other people, I don't have a huge library of hi-res music with numerous albums collected over the years. I'm still a certified EDM-head who listens to a lot of separate tracks. Also, I have a collection of carefully selected tracks from various genres I use to analyze performance of audio equipment I review. That is a reason I usually don't lose my sleep over improperly tagged files which is a must for those who rely on a proper sorting of the songs/albums. As a result of my listening habit, I have a lot of loose songs and often organize them by partitioning into folders. Thus, I usually focus on the usability of the app in terms of a general song/folder navigation and playback.
With all that in mind, my personal opinion about FiiO Music app is actually not that bad, though it's not as intuitive and requires some learning curve. Upon start up you have the first screen with a last played track in the upper 1/3rd of the partitioned screen - you can flicker to skip the song or use hardware transport control to hit play button to start playback. Underneath, you have a selection to access Favorite playlist, Folders, or DLNA streaming. Right below it you can access either Recently Played or Most Played songs. Clicking on artwork of the track thumbnail at the top will bring up the main Playback screen.
Going into Folders link brings up another screen with Local Music list where you have more choices to scroll through All the songs, sort by Artist, sort by Album, sort by Genre, and access Local folders. While making a selection through these choices, you have a narrow playback bar at the bottom with a thumbnail artwork of the currently playing song, scrolling name, and Play/Pause and Skip buttons. Clicking on that playback bar opens up the main Playback screen as well. I found going through All the songs and Folders to be more useful for my style of song browsing. But it gets a little confusing now between the first start up screen and this second navigation screen, where in my opinion they have to be combined - list of Favorite songs should be part of the sorting choices. Also, in the Folder view, I don't want to see every single Android OS folder, but would prefer to select and to display only the folder where I store my music locally and on micro-SD card.
The main Playback screen is where things start to shape up to my liking! In top half of the screen you have area to view artwork of the song or a default image if artwork is not available. Tapping it once shows embedded lyrics (if available, and a new setup icon where you can scroll or change the font size), tapping second time brings up info about the song. This part of the screen also has in the upper left corner an icon to bring you back to the first original screen of the app (why?) and in the upper right corner a search icon. In the middle you have a playback progress bar with a scrolling song name and at the left edge of it index number of a song and a total number of songs in the current playback folder. Swiping screen left-to-right brings out a list of all the songs in the currently playing folder, and swiping playback progress bar will fast forward through the song.
Lower part of the screen has Playback and other Control buttons. In the middle you have Play/Pause with a current playback time above it. To the left of it you have icon to access Graphic EQ, turn BT on/off, change playback loop mode, and Skip back. To the right of it you have Heart icon to tag song as Favorite, an icon to access more option to provide a detailed info about the song or to delete the song, icon to add the song to your Playlist, and Skip forward button. By holding a finger along the right edge of the screen brings up a volume slider menu to adjust the volume. In EQ screen, you have access to 10-band equalizer, actually with a very nice graphic representation in the upper part of the screen. Lower part of the screen has access to 5 band sliders with +/- 12dB adjustment, but there is no frequency label to indicate which band you are adjusting - this has to be fixed because it gets confusing when you flip to the next 5-bands and don't know which band you are adjusting. You can see the graphical representation of the adjustment, but you doing it blindly because sliders don't have a frequency indicator. Sliding finger up brings up 8 EQ presents (genre related) and 1 custom preset. All 8 pre-defined presets could be adjusted further. Also, on the main playback screen there is no indicator of EQ selection, something I would like to see being implemented in future updates.
In my opinion, FiiO Music app has a lot of potentials and considering it's still a work in progress - I will continue to look forward to more updates. Flexibility of Android interface opens up a door to shape this music app to perfection where sky is the limit. Yes, it is still work in progress, but I have a hope that progress will pick up soon, the way how I have seen it with sound tuning improvement.
Sound Analysis.
Often people get a dedicated DAP because they are not happy with audio performance of their smartphones, and then they realize they miss streaming capability and touch control of their phone and decide to look for usb DAC stack. With X7 you have a chance for a dedicated DAP with touch controls and streaming capability and different amp modules – all integrated in one compact design. FiiO is known for their budget oriented products where their DAPs usually considered having mid-fi performance. X7 is a big step up, nearly doubling the price of their previous X5ii flagship with high expectations to determine if FiiO was able to finally cross the threshold of summit-fi performance.
When I received X7 with its initial beta FW release, I was a little bit disappointed. Not necessary because it sounded so bad, but rather because I set my expectations very high. I didn't feel that sound was on a level of summit-fi performance. I quickly attributed that to a beta firmware and a default IEM module, assuming that fw is still work in progress and amp module will be updated with different versions. Following that, a few more fw updates were released and I started to notice an improvement. But not until the last FW 1.1 update I realized that FiiO means serious business and finally started to unlock a true potential of the ESS9018 DAC paired up with their IEM amp module.
Based on the latest FW 1.1, I'm hearing X7 to have a neutral and slightly warmish signature with a very clear and detailed sound. It doesn't necessary strike you with analytical micro-detailing, but it definitely leans more toward a more revealing sound signature. The layering and separation is pretty good (improvement over the initial fw release), sound never gets congested, but the transparency is not at the highest reference level and I actually hear a little thickness in a sound, thus my reference to a slightly warmish signature contributed by a fuller body of lower mids and some noticeable impact of lower end. Soundstage width/depth/height is slightly above the average where sound has a more intimate feeling, yet placement of instruments is still very convincing.
Based on what I hear across different headphones, I find X7 to have an excellent impact and speed at the lower end and a decent extension. Bass is well controlled and that is one of the reasons why I hear such a high level of clarity and details because bass is confined without spilling into mids. Lower mids give some nice thickness to a body of the sound, but they are not too thick. Upper mids are full of details, but not too analytical, treble is clear and has a nice definition without contributing to sibilance.
Describing a DAP by itself is not always helpful, thus I prefer to include a relative comparison to some of my other DAPs to give an idea how it stacks up against the competition.
X7 vs PAW Gold - LPG is more neutral, soundstage wider/deeper, I hear more transparency in the sound, while layering and separation is similar.
X7 vs L5Pro - similar neutral-warmish sig, L5P soundstage is a little wider, other than that sound is very similar in layering/separation, even matching the dynamics. But overall L5P sound is tighter and a little faster.
X7 vs AK120ii – AK has a very similar neutral-warmish sig, soundstage is a little wider, bass has a touch more impact, but everything else is very close in performance.
X7 vs QA360 - 360 is slightly brighter (leaner lower mids), soundstage is wider/deeper, mid-bass has slightly more impact; overall sound of 360 is a little smoother.
X7 vs LP5 Gold – similar sound signature, LP5G has a little wider/deeper soundstage, more transparency and faster speed, and slightly better layering and separation, but the gap is not that wide.
X7 vs N6 - N6 is a little brighter (neutral-bright), soundstage is a little wider, very similar dynamic sound and separation/layering. The bigger difference is that N6 sounds a little leaner in comparison. X7 has more body and sounds more musical.
X7 vs X5ii - X7 has a fuller sound with more body, also more natural tonality. Soundstage is rather similar. X7 sound is a little more dynamic, and has a slightly better separation/layering of a sound.
To test the DAC output of X7, I connected LO to different external amps.
w/E12A - a great pair up where the sound is very close to HO of X7, but w/E12A you get a little more transparency. Makes me wish FiiO would have used MUSE02 amp in their IEM module.
w/VE Runabout - excellent pair up, improves dynamics, improves width/depth, sound becomes more transparent, layering/separation is also improved.
w/HA-2 - nice pair up, improves soundstage depth, also makes sound a little bit warmer (adds more body to lower mids).
w/C5 - nice pair up, improves soundstage width/depth, also makes sound a little bit warmer.
For those who are wondering if they should get X7 or external USB DAC to pair up with their smartphone, I tested N4 with HA-2 to find:
X7 vs Note 4 w/HA-2 - X7 sound has a little more transparency and sounds a little tighter, otherwise a very similar performance.
Pair up with different headphones.
Though you have option to select high/low gain, I found the sound in high gain to have more energy and to be more dynamic. Thus all my headphone testing was done with X7 set in high gain, and I also indicated a volume level for each. Not every pair up turned out as I expected.
ES60 (35/120) - some hissing, nice clean detailed sound, good low end expansion, good transparency.
ZEN (83/120) - high gain is the way to go with these 320 ohm earbuds, though X7 doesn't drive them to a full potential, especially when it comes to bass which lost a little bit of weight/body and sound is a little mellow (not as fast or tight).
Savant (49/120) - very clear detailed smooth sound, modest sub-bass quantity (sub-bass rumble is there), excellent soundstage expansion, nice transparency.
W60 (45/120) - smooth warm detailed sound, a bit more on a laidback side, missing a little bit of speed.
UM Pro 50 (42/120) - deep bass impact, nice smooth detailed sound, good dynamics, missing a bit of sparkle at the top.
DN2kJ (52/120) – not the best pair up with these 8 ohm IEMs; bass missing some sub-bass texture and upper mids/treble a bit too revealing/harsh.
MSR7 (56/120) - excellent pair up, clear detailed sound, good soundstage expansion, nice transparency and great retrieval of details.
PM-3 (70/120) – excellent pair up, drives them with authority! nice punchy bass, good soundstage depth, clear detailed sound.
EL-8C (80/120) - doesn't drive it to full potential, bass is not as tight and missing sub-bass texture and treble has a little bit of metallic sheen, sound is a bit thin.
R70x (95/120) - excellent pair up with these open back 470 ohm cans, clear detailed sound, excellent transparency, but pushing it closer to X7 max driving limit.
Conclusion.
It’s hard to evaluate X7 as a finished product because I didn’t get a chance to test different amp modules and the firmware is still work in progress, but so far it shows a lot of potential. As a matter of fact I was very impressed with the progress of sound improvement from the day I received X7 to the latest FW1.1 update. At $650 it still represents a great value considering high performance desktop quality DAC, wireless connection with access to streaming services, modular amp design, and touch screen interface. More work needs to be done to finish their Music app and probably to optimize DAC performance with new amp modules, as well as a desperate need for a good case. But if you take into consideration this is their first Android-based release, I think it turned out pretty good! Just like with a classic X5 and their mechanical wheel introduced and later improved throughout X1/X3ii/X5ii releases, FiiO is breaking their own new grounds with X7 release which I’m sure will get only better moving forward toward their ultimate goal of setting the World on FiiO-R!

Bravo! Wonderful review. Know FiiO, actually owend E5 sound amplifier myself. Couple'd it with Grado SR-80, and had a catholic wedding
May I ask where did you get your's?

Rampage14 said:
Bravo! Wonderful review. Know FiiO, actually owend E5 sound amplifier myself. Couple'd it with Grado SR-80, and had a catholic wedding
May I ask where did you get your's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different companies send me their products for review, this one came directly from FiiO. It's already available for pre-order in US and for sale outside of US.

vectron said:
Different companies send me their products for review, this one came directly from FiiO. It's already available for pre-order in US and for sale outside of US.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where can i pre-order it in the US?

RMXO said:
Where can i pre-order it in the US?
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Click to collapse
I know B&H Photo/video has it listed on pre-order, but as soon as it available in US you will see it on Amazon as well. I think they are putting finishing touches on the next firmware update before making release available worldwide. Right now updates are manual by downloading zip file and running it from within. The next fw update will enable a true OTA support. I will definitely post an update in this thread as soon as it officially released in US. But for now it looks like B&H is the only place where you can pre-order it.

vectron said:
I know B&H Photo/video has it listed on pre-order, but as soon as it available in US you will see it on Amazon as well. I think they are putting finishing touches on the next firmware update before making release available worldwide. Right now updates are manual by downloading zip file and running it from within. The next fw update will enable a true OTA support. I will definitely post an update in this thread as soon as it officially released in US. But for now it looks like B&H is the only place where you can pre-order it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
B&H Photo has it on "notify once its in" and not pre-order since I'm on the notification list, unless there is another link I don't know about.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1192104-REG/fiio_fx7121_x7_portable_high_resolution_audio.html
Sweet, please do keep us in the loop.

RMXO said:
B&H Photo has it on "notify once its in" and not pre-order since I'm on the notification list, unless there is another link I don't know about.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1192104-REG/fiio_fx7121_x7_portable_high_resolution_audio.html
Sweet, please do keep us in the loop.
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Click to collapse
Ready, Set, Go!!! $650 w/free shipping, limited available stock: http://www.miccastore.com/fiio-andr...s-music-player-early-release-units-p-148.html

vectron said:
Ready, Set, Go!!! $650 w/free shipping, limited available stock: http://www.miccastore.com/fiio-andr...s-music-player-early-release-units-p-148.html
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Click to collapse
Thanks but reading their rep has me scared. I just recently lost an ipod classic i bought for $170ish to mod due to package not being where USPS said it was delivered. Not going to risk with their poor rep.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Micca_Store

RMXO said:
Thanks but reading their rep has me scared. I just recently lost an ipod classic i bought for $170ish to mod due to package not being where USPS said it was delivered. Not going to risk with their poor rep.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Micca_Store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MICCA Store is a front end of TekFX - the Official FiiO US distributor. MICCA Store is where BH Photo/Video and every other US retailer gets their FiiO products, that is a reason why they got it first. If any of your FiiO product break and you buy them from BH or other places, they send it to MICCA/TekFX to get replaced, repaired, returned. This is the most legit place to buy because they are FiiO distributor
Regarding resellerrating - it's a paid service, which is very misleading. They charge retailers a fee to be a part of their program and actively solicit reviews from customer after they make a purchase, and also hide/discourage some of the bad reviews. As long as you pay them, they will "manage" your rating. I talk to TekFX about it, and MICCA store had almost a perfect rating when they were paying their dues, as soon as they stop that nonsense, their rating dropped to force them to continue paying.
Amazon is cracking down on 5-star one-line reviews as well; there are companies specializing in boosting star rating when you pay them. Now, amazon checks to make sure its a detailed/comprehensive review or if it's a short one - to make sure it was from a verified buyer. A lot of shady business, hard to determine whom to trust...

Finally, available on Amazon.

vectron said:
Finally, available on Amazon.
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No seller when I checked and had to come back a few times before a seller showed up. I initially placed an order but cancelled it. Probably going to stick with my iPod Classic I plan to mod soon.

Since this device running on Android, can it be rooted or its already pre-rooted? So you can install V4A..

darkmantra said:
Since this device running on Android, can it be rooted or its already pre-rooted? So you can install V4A..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure you can root it, but it will defeat the purpose of custom drivers FiiO implemented to bypass Sample Rate Conversion (SRC), used by android to downsample the audio files. Thus, you won't be using ESS DAC to its full potential.

This is a review of FiiO X7 accessories. http://fiio.net/en/products/49, leatherette and leather cases available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B2D1336/?tag=vectron00-20 and http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B2DHQIM/?tag=vectron00-20
Just like with smartphones, many people enjoy personalizing their DAPs and search for accessories to make their gadget stand out from the crowd. Some accessories are not just about the visual enhancement, but also the improvement of usability and safety. Here are a few essential ones released by FiiO for their latest X7 flagship.
FiiO X7 Stickers (ST-X7) – available from FiiO Aliexpress store http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Sticker-for-FiiO-X7/1473108_32563966868.html for $6.90
Here you will find 5 sticker kits, each one with 10 self-adhesive textured pieces that feel like a vinyl sticker to the touch. Each of these kits correspond to a specific theme with Carbon fiber, Light wood, Dark wood, Shield (resembling Captain America), and Spider (resembling Spider-man). With a material being textured, they actually enhance the grip, making X7 slick metal body not as slippery, and can also enhance the fitment into the case. I personally didn’t apply one yet and not sure if I will since I prefer using the case, but I can probably see myself using a set with carbon fiber finish. One thing to keep in mind, X7 amp modules are removable/replaceable and different modules will have different port opening at the bottom (between 3.5mm and additional balanced port). Thus, if you want to keep your X7 covered head-to-toe in stickers, take your time to decide which amp modules going to get it!
FiiO X7 Tempered glass screen protector (PF-X7) – Available from FiiO Aliexpress store http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...ass-screen-protector/1473108_32566963466.html for $10
While using a sticker is a matter of personal preference, I highly recommend the tempered glass as a must have accessory. X7 comes with a regular film screen protector which only protects display glass from scratches. If you drop your X7 face down or drop something on top of it – the glass can easily crack or chip. Tempered glass absorbs some of the impact and if/when it breaks – your display glass stays intact. This is Japanese brand Asahi glass with a typical 9H hardness rating and anti-scratch finish. I also have a feeling it has an oleophobic coating since it kept fingerprints off.
Application of this tempered glass screen protector was very easy, just have to remember to remove default film screen protector from X7 first, clean the glass with a provided alcohol wipe, remove the sticker off the glass, align and press it down squeezing all the bubbles from the center outwards. Right after application there was a few “wet” spots but they disappear within hours. Also, this screen protector works great with FiiO protective case. I did test sliding X7 in and out at least a dozen of times and glass stayed securely attached.
FiiO X7 leatherette (LC-X7A) and full leather (LC-X7B) cases. Both cases are available from FiiO Aliexpress store: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/leatherette-case-for-FiiO-X7-LC-X7A/1473108_32584272247.html (leatherette for $14.99) and http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...e-for-FiiO-X7-LC-X7B/1473108_32584288008.html (real leather for $18.99). If you don’t have account on Aliexpress, you can try Penon (http://penonaudio.com/FiiO-X7-Slide-in-Case) or on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B2D1336/?tag=vectron00-20 and http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B2DHQIM/?tag=vectron00-20), though you will end up paying a slight premium.
I only received leatherette case which is a synthetic leather case (PU material), but found it to have a very convincing leather finish with a fake stitching and overall nice build quality. While having synthetic leather outside, inside it has a soft felt material protecting X7 shell from scratches and extra padding at the top to even out the battery hump. At the top of the case you have a generous cutout around LO port, and Left/Right sides have a symmetrical oval opening/cutout for the control buttons. For me personally that was the biggest advantage of using this case since now I was able to get a good grip around X7 without worrying of pushing buttons on the opposite side of X7 shell. As a matter of fact, the cutout made these buttons recessed, protecting from accidental pressing – perfect to carry in your pocket.
The bottom of the case was completely open to allow X7 slide in and out with ease. For a basic everyday use X7 stays securely in, but if I throw my arm down with some force – X7 did slide out by about an inch. It didn’t fly out, which is good, and was convenient for removing the DAP. The same with connected headphones, if I pull on the cable at the bottom – I was able to slide X7 out. I’m sure if I would have applied stickers, the fitment would be tighter. Overall it stays secure inside of the case, but it’s not 100% secure as if you would have with a fully enclosed case.
I also really liked the fact that now my display was recessed and I was able to place X7 face down on the surface. As I mentioned before, there was no interference with tempered glass screen protector. The only thing I wasn’t too happy about was the case covering the glowing blue light underneath of the display. Coincidentally, I read another impression where this wasn’t a problem and light was exposed. This suggests a marginal variation between builds. I know that some people don’t even care about this light and permanently turn it off. But for those who find it useful, just be aware that you might end up with a case covering it, unless if you can get a piece of sandpaper and expand the screen opening at the bottom.
Overall, in conjunction with a tempered glass this case does a great job protecting X7 DAP and enhancing its functionality. For under $30 (case and glass), this is a smart way to protect your $650 investment.

This is a Review of FiiO K5 Docking Amp. http://fiio.net/en/products/46, available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BBX1NNM/?tag=vectron00-20
Can you refer to a docking desktop amp as “jack of all trades”? You certainly can when you start playing with FiiO’s latest K5. Prior to receiving it, I was expecting K5 to be a desktop accessory for X7 only. But was I wrong! In addition to being compatible with FiiO’s latest X-series DAPs (X1/X3ii/X5ii/X7) and their E17k DAC/amp, it can also work with other audio sources connected to RCA Input, and even take advantage of DAC processing inside of a docked DAP while feeding audio from your laptop. After spending over a month with it, here is what I found.
Unboxing & Accessories.
Arrived in a sturdy cardboard packaging box, I like how FiiO choose to have an all black background with a glossy image of K5 and a docked X7 popping out in “3D” from the front cover. All the promotional pictures of K5 I’ve seen featured X7, but make no mistake – it’s intended to work with other FiiO X-series DAPs. The back of the box has a detailed spec, including a very impressive output power rating for such a compact desktop amp.
Before opening the box, I did take a notice of the weight since we are dealing with an amp, though later turned out that part of it was contributed by external power converter. Once taken out, you can feel that the actual amp is not that heavy at 450g, packed into 120mm x 130mm x 55mm compact enclosure. The power supply converter is external, a typical AC/DC supply with 15V/1.5A output you can find with a number of laptops. As a matter of fact, my review unit arrived with non-US plug and FiiO kindly included an adapter which got temporary misplaced, so I ended up using power converter from my old Thinkpad.
Other included accessories were 4 rubber bumps/feet, 2 insert adapters for different DAPs, usb cable (full size usb-B to usb), 1/4” headphone adapter, and a user guide. Considering a number of all the inputs and outputs, it would have been nice to see other cables included with accessories, for example a pair of RCA to 3.5mm cables or 11pin micro usb connector, and maybe balanced 3.5mm cables. Of course, these extra cables are not a showstopper to get you going, but still would have been great to see at least FiiO’s proprietary 11pin micro-usb interconnect cable. The docking can only accommodate X-series DAPs without a case/skin, and you need to use this extension cable connected to “dock in” micro-usb port on the back of K5 if you want to keep your DAP dressed.
Accessories.
Design.
Since I’m into portable audio gear, I rely mostly on standalone DAP use, though have one desktop amp and a handful of portable amps. In my opinion, K5 design fits somewhere in the middle. It’s obviously a docking amp designed for a desktop use, but it doesn’t weight a ton especially since power supply is external to the case. It’s lightweight, but still has a solid build with a nice titanium color aluminum shell. It has a relatively small footprint that not going to occupy too much space, and yet it is sturdy enough on a flat surface. As a matter of fact, I dragged it next to me on a couch and had no problem using it even so the surface wasn’t perfectly flat. Ergonomics of the design and tight fitment and placement of the micro-usb connector contributes to a nice weight distribution without anything tipping over, even with X7 docked.
With K5 being a “docking” amp, the key feature of this amp is micro-usb docking port on the top under the flip panel. When not in use or using external ports, the panel is flush with a top surface with an exception of a small tab to open it up. The flip panel mechanism is smooth and the panel turns into a solid back support of a docked device when flipped open. Inside you can see a pocket to cover micro-usb connector when it’s closed and another elongated pocket for a rubber adapter to accommodate different DAPs, depending on thickness variation.
The main focus of the front panel is a large rotary volume knob that also functions as a power switch once you turn it clockwise, greeting you with a brief red backlight glow while it initializing and then turning blue. I absolutely love this detail which matches X7 blue light for a visual feedback when power is on. Turning the power on will also turn the power on X1, X3ii, X5ii, X7, and E17k, and the same when you turn it off, though you can dismiss power-off from the DAP screen. And with power on, your DAPs will also be charging. The knob is big, yet easy to grip, has a perfect potentiometer resistance for a better control of the adjustment, and a clear white marker indicating rotary position which goes from -90 dB to 0 dB.
The front panel (the same as a back panel) is slightly recessed with a nice bezel trim design, and you can find to the left of the knob Input switch for Dock vs Line selection and Gain switch for Low (0 dB), Mid (6 dB), and High (12 dB) gain setting. Input switch will correspond to a source selection of either DAP from the dock (or micro-usb “dock in” port) or the Line input. In High Gain you can drive your HO output with a VERY impressive 1.5W (32 ohm load) power which scales down to 150mW (300 ohm load), and most likely with enough juice to drive your 600 ohm cans. I found these flip switches have a nice click action. To the right of the knob you will find 1/4" headphone output, keeping in mind that 3.5mm adapter was included with accessories. I was happy to see FiiO didn’t clutter the area around HO with switches, keeping it clean.
The back panel of K5 reveals a Power in connector jack for 15V supply, all the way to the right, and a number of additional connection ports. You have usb-B USB IN connector for digital input from your computer while processing a signal through X3ii, X5ii, X7, or E17K internal DAC, DOCK In input for 11pin usb interconnect cable if you can’t dock your DAP (due to case/skin), a pair of RCA Line In and Line Out connectors for external input connection from any audio source and to other audio source inputs, and Balanced Line Output. This dual 3.5mm Balanced Line Out output can be used only in conjunction with X5ii or X7 to connect to another external amplifier stage.
Sound Analysis.
While testing K5, I focused on 3 main pair up scenarios with docked DAPs, external connection from LO of the DAP, and digital input from my laptop. In every case I found K5 as an amp to be rather neutral, transparent, and contributing to a noticeable soundstage expansion (especially in width).
Of course, pair up with X7 was at the top of my list. By default, this flagship DAP from FiiO comes with IEM amp module which does a good job with in-ears and other efficient headphones, though I have to keep it in high gain. K5 pair up really stepped up X7 performance with a deeper sub-bass, more organic mids, and additional sparkle in treble - a very consistent improvement I found across R70x (470 ohm) and both planar magnetic PM-3 and EL-8C. Another change was in soundstage expansion, in all three dimensions of width/depth/height where width was the most noticeable. I can't judge yet how other X7 amp modules going to compare, so keep in mind this is relative to IEM module.
Docked with FiiO other DAPs, I found X3ii + K5 pair up to make sound more transparent, with a slightly improved dynamics and expanded soundstage, and with X5ii + K5 a found more body in lower mids giving sound a little smoother organic tone, and also the improvement in soundstage expansion.
Docked with X5ii
Docked with X3ii
The docking convenience of FiiO DAPs is great, but K5 is not limited to only that and can be paired up with other DAPs. Using a common RCA to 3.5mm cable you can feed Line Out of any DAP into Line In of K5. I went straight to the top using PAW Gold as my guinea pig for this test, as well as AudioQuest Evergreen RCA to 3.5mm cable, and ended up with a big surprise. Using Beyer's T5p 2nd gen, I found PAW Gold HO to sound nearly identical to PAW Gold LO + K5. Sure, there could be a few subtle differences, but overall it sounded very close where K5 combo even had a slightly wider soundstage.
Last but not least, I put to the test my ThinkPad T430s driving USB In through DACs of the docked X3ii and X7 while monitoring through T5p 2nd gen. This was really a proof of concept just to verify that both of the DAPs will be recognized by my laptop while docked, function as expected in USB DAC mode, and able to play FLAC files from Foobar2k on my computer. Everything worked flawlessly, with a loud and clear sound improvement. Pretty much anything would be a sound improvement over my laptop's HO from integrated motherboard sound chip. But it also fared very well against a number of my other USB DACs, especially in conjunction with X7 DAC where sound became more dynamic, more detailed, and with a consistent improvement in soundstage width.
Conclusion.
For sure you can call K5 a docking "jack of all trades" and "master of expanded dynamic sound". This latest FiiO docking amp is quite versatile in boosting the performance of portable FiiO DAPs as well as any other DAP, and you can also use it connected to a computer/laptop as USB DAC powerhouse. But among all of this it really shines with X7, replacing its IEM amp module with a more powerful alternative to take full advantage of ES9018S DAC performance. In my opinion, K5 bridges the gap between X7 portable and desktop use where on the go you can enjoy your IEMs and efficient headphones, while at home you can supercharge X7 not only by "charging" it up when docked but also by giving it an extra jolt of output power.

Any hack for this device? Can we install vipermod?

ranjitotski said:
Any hack for this device? Can we install vipermod?
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Click to collapse
Probably better ask on Head-fi Btw, FiiO X5iii is just around the corner (already released in Asia). I got a review ample and it's full android with Playstore and apparently has V4A too. Also, X7ii should be released soon.

Holy crap, that's insane!
And now I'm thinking what am I doing with cheap xiaomi headphones. Someday I will have the money to buy some of this stuff.

applesauceChris said:
Holy crap, that's insane!
And now I'm thinking what am I doing with cheap xiaomi headphones. Someday I will have the money to buy some of this stuff.
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X7 is old news, now they have X5iii, full Android, even comes with VIPER effects I should have review soon!

Review of iBasso touch-screen DX80 digital audio player (DAP) w/lots of pics!!!

This is a Review of iBasso DX80 Digital Audio Player (DAP) with touch screen. http://www.ibasso.com/cp_xq_dy.php?id=304.
Apparently I have been living under a rock since this is my first encounter with iBasso DAP. In the past I have heard of their DX50, DX90, and DX100 audio players and quite often been asked to compare iBasso and FiiO DAPs, but I never had a hands-on experience with any of their products until now. It’s hard to judge where DX80 fits in their models lineup because it’s indexed below DX90 yet has an updated design. One thing for sure – DX80 offers a very impressive amount of features at an affordable price which elevates it close to the top of price/performance ratio in mid-fi DAP category, even challenging some summit-fi models. I don’t want to give away too much ahead of the review, so let’s just proceed to read what I’ve found.
Unboxing.
After awhile of reviewing multiple products from the same manufacturers, you get used to their packaging style and unboxing experience becomes rather predictable. Upon discovery of a new product brand, you get a hope for something different, and iBasso doesn't disappoint. Once you remove the outer sleeve, the main box opens up along the diagonal split on a side, in a setting reminiscent of a designer watch display. I know some people don’t care as much about unboxing, but I always appreciate it because of the time and the effort spent by manufacturer to make their product enjoyable from the moment you get that box into your hands. In my personal opinion, iBasso created a very elegant box setting with a practical storage and display functionality.
Once you remove the top portion where DX80 resides in a secure foam cutout, you get an accessories box in a shape of a wedge and the rest of the goodies inside of it.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Accessories.
The included accessories cover the basic essentials and then some surprises. Since we are dealing with a large 3.2” touch screen surface, screen protector is a must-have to keep scratches away, especially when in your pocket, and 2x film protectors are included. With such large display I wouldn’t mind a tempered glass for extra protection, so hopefully some aftermarket company will offer it one day. Also included is a high quality usb to micro-usb charging/data cable, and I really mean – high quality! The same with included coaxial short interconnect cable, a high quality thick shielding cable with a durable build. Optical cable would have been nice, but I know that not too many people have an external DAC to support it, thus probably a reason why it wasn’t included.
You will also find a soft silicone skin case which enhances the grip, adds scratch protection, and offers a minimum bump/drop protection by cushioning the DAP. Plus, all the physical buttons (playback control and power/volume) are covered to prevent dust accumulation, the same with Coax/Optical port. Overall, the case is OK, but due to static it becomes a lint magnet which is very noticeable on a black silicone finish. Personally, I’m waiting for Dignis leather case since I'm aware they are working on one to be available soon. I wouldn’t say DX80 is slippery in your hand, but the grip enhancement never hurts as long as it complements the style of the product. And speaking of style, I also liked how warranty card and manual was printed “in style” on a quality black paper with silver letters – almost like a fancy event invitation.
Now, here comes a surprise. Prior to receiving DX80, I read through a list of accessories and stumbled across “burn in cable”. I have reviewed a lot of audio gear, but never heard of such thing. Due to the nature of analog electrical components, DAPs need to have a burn in before evaluating a sound. Turning it on and hitting play button only exercises the screen/display, not the internal circuit driving headphones. Thus, you typically need a headphone connected to HO for a full burn in – a load for a current to start “circulating” through internal circuit. You also would want to drive it at different gains and higher volume, all of which going to be limited by your headphone driver and convenience of where you can burn in without disturbing others with sound leakage. Here, iBasso came up with a brilliant solution of a short cable with a passive load in a small box to simulate a speaker driver. There is no sound, but it loads the output of HO to get the juices going. And just like that you can have it running anywhere for days, going through a quiet burn in of internal circuit.
Silicone case.
Design.
Though I’m not a fan of using my smartphone as a dedicated DAP, touch screen interface is the most intuitive way to navigate through music files and to control the playback. I don’t have hands-on experience with DX50/DX90 models, but have seen a resemblance to the original AK100/AK120 DAPs with a similar compact footprint and a small touch screen, except iBasso took it to a whole different level with their 3 playback buttons. DX80 evolved into something brand new and original with a large touch screen, solid all metal body and elongated “smartphone” bar shape, while still keeping their unique front panel hardware playback buttons.
When you look at the top panel of the DX80, approximately 3/4 of the space is occupied by a smooth 3.2" screen. Below it you have 3 identical size/shape large hardware buttons with Play/Pause in the middle and Prev/Next on the left/right sides of it. Personally, I would have loved to see their functionality symbols etched into the buttons. The combination of a large touch screen and physical playback buttons is not uncommon, but iBasso front panel placement is unique. The dimensions of the player are 4.7" x 2.5" x 0.66" with 178g of weight, making it very comfortable to hold in one hand. As long as it's not too wide, in my opinion the extra length is not as critical. The narrow width, tapered corners, and 3.2" screen is a perfect combination for a slide navigation with a thumb, even if your hand is not that big. Power button is easily accessible on the left side and volume +/- buttons are on the right side. But once the screen is off or in your pocket, you have a convenient access to three large control buttons with a nice tactile response. I have a number of touch screen DAPs with hardware playback controls, and those buttons are always on the side, small, and often not as easy to locate. Here you have the best of both worlds, like in the past when we used to have touch screen phones with a slide-out physical keyboard
The bottom of the DAP has 3.5mm metal reinforced Headphone Output (HO) and 3.5mm reinforced Line Out (LO) ports. I know they’re within a close proximity, but having HO closer to the corner makes it easy to ID so you don’t stick your headphone in LO. Both of these ports have a rather tight fit, and I actually I had to apply some force removing headphone plugs, in one case (w/UE600) I had to apply an excessive force since the plug almost got stuck. I assume the connector will loosen up after some use. I already mentioned the volume +/- buttons are on the right size, made from plastic with a clear marking on top, and nicely spaced for easy access. The left side has a power button which also turns the screen on/off with a short press.
The top of the unit has multi-function micro-usb port for charging, data transfer, and usb/usb-otg dac operation. You can set the port as Charge only when connected to your laptop, or normal charging with data transfer. You can also use DX80 as USB DAC connected to your computer. No drivers required for MAC/Linux, and Windows driver available for download. For some reason the provided driver didn’t work with my Win7 laptop. Since I read others had a success, I need to figure out what’s going on with my machine. But USB OTG works without a problem. I was able to use DX80 with my usb-otg thumb drive, and also connected it as USB DAC to my Note 4 – works flawless!
Next to micro-usb port there is a dual microSD card slot, which can accommodate 2x 128GB cards and most likely the latest 200GB cards for a combined storage space of up to 400GB. I like how the card slots are stacked in parallel which saves room, and there is also a protective dust cover which tightly seals the opening. Last, but not least, is SPDIF Coax port which also has an Optical out – enabling output of up to 24b/192k signal.
In my personal opinion, exterior design and ergonomics of controls in DX80 is top notch! Ideally you want to be able to use your DAP with one hand, thus a reason why so many manufacturers shrink their design so you can reach all the controls. But shrinking the design means less room for inside circuits (analog components, especially power/filter caps) and compromise of features. Plus, small size results in hard to see screen, and the lack of touch controls. Making screen bigger pushes hardware controls off the top panel to the side/top, making them smaller and hard to reach. With DX80, iBasso struck a good balance between touch screen size, large easy to use hardware control buttons, and a lot of ports, except for the balanced wired one (perhaps they are saving this one for their next flagship model).
Under the hood.
In the heart of DX80 you will find a dual Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC, just like in AK120ii. I know, some might question why bother using this DAC since it's no longer a flavor of the month or the last 6 months. Based on a dozen of DAPs which I have recently reviewed, I can tell you with certainty that it’s not just about the building blocks of the design but also how you implement them. At the end of the day, any DAP is like a black box which should be judged primarily by its sound, and from my sound analysis later in the review you will get an idea of how it compares to other DAPs with different chipsets.
The amplifier section is powerful enough to provide 260mW, though iBasso didn’t specify at what impedance. The headphone amp used in the design runs off 10V rail-to-rail supply, yielding an impressive 2.9Vrms (32ohm load). Also, it’s great to see output impedance of less than 0.1 ohm which should make a lot of multi-driver IEM/CIEM users happy. Even in low gain it performed very well driving all of my sensitive and some other demanding headphones with authority.
I already mentioned about 3.2” IPS screen with an excellent viewing angle and resolution of 480x800. Not the highest resolution, but albums/songs cover art was crisp and detailed. Although it supports 2 external micro-SD cards, the Android based OS is stored on internal eMMC memory - an embedded flash memory/controller for a faster access and more efficient operation.
Also, it worth mentioning about 3600 mAh non-replaceable 3.8V LiPo battery, tested to provide about 12+ hrs of playtime with display off. The benefit of playback hardware buttons is that you don’t need to constantly keep your display on to navigate through the songs. That helps a lot with a battery life.
Overall, it looks like DX80 component selection has a perfect balance between performance and power saving to give you a decent battery life even with a large touch screen. And the hardware is powerful enough to support playback of up to 24bit/192kHz and native DSD decoding up to 128x, including every lossy and lossless audio format from APE, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, OGG, MP3, DFF, DSF, and DXD. I was also able to read and play CUE files, skipping within from track to track without a problem. It takes a lot of processing power to support native decoding and touch scrolling without stuttering or glitch. Plus, I was also impressed with gapless playback which typically requires buffering for a smooth uninterrupted transition – it was executed flawless in DX80.
GUI/Interface.
When you are dealing with a touch screen, GUI becomes a very important aspect of DAP operation and everyday use. Even so with a screen off you have full control of the playback with physical buttons, I don't think too many people would turn down an experience of a smooth gliding glass with a responsive touch control similar to a smartphone.
Once you power up DX80 you are greeted with a main Playback screen where more than half of it at the top is occupied with a song/album art or a default image. Above that you have a notification bar where in the upper left corner you will see EQ preset name (if enabled), in the middle - volume level, and in the right corner - battery % and corresponding icon. Below artwork window, you can read Song and Artist name, Album name, and see the Play Mode.
Next is a playback bar with a current song position, total time, and bit/sample rate in the middle. Playback bar is touch swipeable to fast forward through the song, and while you're doing that a little popup window in the middle of the song art window will show you the position of a time marker as you swipe it left/right - great idea so you know exactly where you are within a song. At the bottom of the screen you have Play/Pause button and Skip next/previous next to it. Tapping on the artwork brings up a choice of adding a song to an existing playlist or a new playlist, and also you get a Song Info icon with details about the track.
When you swipe a screen down from notification bar, you are greeted with a quick access to all the essential settings such as Gapless on/off, USB Mode (reader/DAC, charge only), Digital Filter (sharp/slow roll off), Gain (high/low), and Play mode (order, loop, shuffle, and repeat). For those familiar with A&K DAPs, you will quickly realize similarity, and yet again - iBasso made it clearer and easier to read and to tap switches. All these settings could be also accessed from a dedicated Settings pages, but having access from within Notification bar is a lot more convenient.
Swiping the screen to the Right brings up My Music menu screen with a selection of Now Playing (the list of the songs in the current directory/sub-directory/root), All Music (with every single song), Directory (where you can access micro SD1 and SD2 and view all the directories in the root to navigate from there), and then display by Artist, Genre, and Album. I have to be honest that I don't have a large and properly tagged library of music, so these sorting results are not always consistent with my files. Typically I use Directory view. Last on this screen is Playlist generated from songs tagged during playback where you can find links to your different playlists.
Swiping the screen to the Left brings up Settings Menu. In there you have access to 10-band graphic Equalizer with 5 editable presets and one Custom preset, L/R Balance (which is reversed, unless if you interpret sliding left/right with "-" value as reduction instead of direction of sound balance), Gapless (on/off), Gain (high/low), Music Info, USB Setting (reader, DAC, charger only), Play Mode (order, loop, shuffle, repeat), Digital Filter (slow and sharp roll-off), and Advanced setting. In Advance setting you have selection of Language, Display brightness and selection of wallpapers (3 choices), Power Management (backlight off, auto power off, and sleep timer), Rescan library (choice of individual card or both micro sd cards), System Info, and Factory reset.
Though swiping Left/Right brings up these two menu pages, when you click within it to get to other pages, you have to touch an arrow in the upper left corner of notification bar to go back. My proposal in here is that it would be nice to have a shortcut to get back to Playback screen, for example holding Play/Pause physical button for a few seconds like a home key would work quite well in this case.
Sound Analysis.
In the past it was really easy to tell apart DAPs in mid-fi and summit-fi category. Now, the gap of separation between mid and high level sources is not always clear while the price difference is significant, suggesting diminishing returns. DX80 positioned itself with a solid audio performance closer to that separation threshold, while being priced well below it.
I found this new iBasso DAP to have a spacious, neutral-smooth, musical sound signature. The sound is dynamic with a nice layering and separation, average transparency and retrieval of details. Basically, sound is very clear and well defined without going into analytical details, not too much airiness between layers, and a little hint of warmth. Low end is tight, articulate, well controlled, even though I hear a slight boost in mid-bass region. Lower mids have a nice body, not too thick, adding slight warmth which is not contributed from mid-bass, and upper mids/vocals are clear, smooth, a little neutral-brightish but not pushing it too far. Treble is extended and smooth and has some hints of brightness. Soundstage is big with a nice holographic effect, definitely having an above the average width and a nice spacious depth and height.
In comparison to my other DAPs, here is what I found:
DX80 vs X5ii: X soundstage is narrower while depth/height are similar, X sound is a little warmer, thicker, and a bit less transparent in comparison, low end is not as tight and a little slower, lower mids and upper mids are similar, and treble is similar as well. X background is darker during playback.
DX80 vs N5: very similar soundstage expansion except N5 is a touch narrower, but they have a similar level of transparency and similar layering and separation of a sound, DX might be a touch smoother, but other than that - a lot of similarities. N low end is a little tighter, a bit faster, and has slightly more sub-bass, while lower/upper mids are nearly identical, and the same with a treble. Same background noise level when paused, and slight hissing when playing (relative to my sensitive iems/ciems).
DX80 vs PAW5k: PW soundstage is scaled down in width/depth/height, sound is flatter, definitely doesn't have the same level of dynamics and layering/separation as DX, and also PW sounds a bit more congested and warmer in comparison to DX. PW has a little more sub-bass and low end is a bit less articulate and slower, PW lower mids are thicker and upper mids are not as detailed, treble not as bright and has less airiness.
DX80 vs AP100: AP has more hissing (due to higher power, and relative to sensitive iems/ciems), similar soundstage (though DX is a little wider), DX sound is a little tighter, more controlled. Sound sig is similar, bass is similar, lower mids in DX have a little more body, upper mids in DX are smoother and not as splashy. Treble extension is similar. DX sound is a little more dynamic.
DX80 vs N6: N has a little more transparency and slightly better layering/separation, similar height but N soundstage width is narrower while depth is deeper. N low end is tighter and faster, with sub-bass going a little deeper, and overall being a little more articulate; lower mids in N are a bit leaner and upper mids have a little better retrieval of details. Also, N treble is brighter and has more airiness. In comparison DX is smoother and more organic.
DX80 vs X7: X7 soundstage is wider, sound is more transparent with a better layering/separation, overall X7 sounds more neutral, tighter and more detailed. Considering both utilize a full touch screen, I prefer DX current interface better and find touch screen to be more responsive. But in terms of sound quality, X7 definitely stands above it.
DX80 vs L5Pro: very similar soundstage and neutral-smooth with a touch of warmth tonality. L5Pro sound has more transparency and better layering/separation, with a little better retrieval of details.
DX80 vs AK120ii: AK has nearly the same soundstage (maybe a touch wider), same neutral-smooth with a touch of warmth tonality. AK has a little more transparency and a slightly better layering/separation, and a little more airiness in treble, but DX has a higher quantity and more articulate low end, definitely prefer DX for the bass.
As mentioned before, I couldn't get it to work as USB DAC with my Win7 laptop, but it worked perfectly as USB-OTG DAC with my Galaxy Note 4 - where I found sound to be a little warmer/darker, not as transparent, with more lower mids body and slightly less details in upper mids/lower treble. It wasn't a good pair up.
External Amp pair-up (from DX80 LO).
w/E12A - a touch brighter in lower treble, and slightly narrower soundstage
w/C5 - adds more transparency and a little more depth to a sound
w/RunAbout - adds more transparency and slightly better retrieval of details
w/HA-2 - not as smooth, and slightly narrower staging
Pair up with different headphones.
On low-gain with Sharp roll-off (volume setting noted below):
ES60 (63/150) - detailed smooth sound, great soundstage expansion, tight articulate low end, detailed balanced mids, well defined treble with a moderate level of airiness - excellent bass texture.
W60 (85/150) - very smooth balanced sound, surprisingly I hear better control of low end in comparison to other DAPs, lower mids are not as thick (makes sound less congested), very detailed organic upper mids, treble is smooth but lacking airiness. Nice expanded sound.
Savant (84/150) - very transparent detailed sound with an excellent layering/separation, tight articulate low end with a nice sub-bass texture (not elevated but brings up a nice flavor), lower mids are a little on a leaner side but still contribute with a nice body to the sound, upper mids are very detailed, bright, but not sibilant or harsh, treble is airy, with a great definition and excellent extension - perfect combination if you want analytical quality sound which is still smooth.
ZEN (111/150) - very spacious sound with an excellent transparency, great retrieval of details, bass is tight but lost a bit of rumble - switching to high gain gets some of it back, mids are more on a leaner side and very detailed, airy well defined treble. Overall sound is a little leaner (surprisingly).
UE600 (74/150) - absolutely NO hissing, totally black background, clear transparent detailed sound, a little more on a leaner side, tight low end, detailed mids, extended treble - never crossed threshold of sibilance or harshness.
DN2kJ (81/150) - excellent soundstage depth, lean detailed sound, never crosses threshold of sibilance or harshness like I found it with other DAPs, low end is tight, nice punchy mid-bass while sub-bass is a little rolled off, mids are lean and very detailed on analytical level, but not grainy or harsh, treble is airy, well defined, extended, but not sibilant. Sound does misses some body.
EL-8C (111/150) - not the best pair up, upper mids/treble have a bit of metallic sheen, sound is thinner than I expected; in high gain you get more body and even some sub-bass texture, but this metallic sheen is still noticeable.
PM-3 (104/150) - excellent pair with an expanded soundstage, tight articulate low end, textured sub-bass, fast mid-bass punch, perfectly balanced lower mids (not too lean or too thick), detailed organic upper mids, and crisp well defined treble.
R70x (123/150) - amazing pair up - super expanded sound, high level of transparency, layering/separation, smooth retrieval of details, tight textured bass, detailed organic mids, airy extended treble. Very impressive!
Conclusion.
Even so I didn’t have any previous experience with iBasso DAPs, I have read some of the comments referring to their initial introduction and was a bit anxious how the firmware/interface will turn out in this new model. To my pleasant surprise, it was a lot better than I’ve expected. And within first couple weeks of its introduction, a few updates were already released, demonstrating active development and support of the product. I absolutely love slick design of DX80 and combination of large hw buttons and touch screen interface with a smooth response I’m used to from my Galaxy smartphones. The sound tuning is excellent, pushing it closer to a bracket of summit-fi category, and as a matter of fact I was getting a bit frustrated thinking to myself “oh, wish there would be a little more transparency, a little more airiness, a slightly better layering”, until I realized that I’m holding a $359 DAP, not $1k-$2k flagship design. It almost feels like iBasso intentionally held it a little back to be able to introduce soon a true flagship TOTL DAP which I have no doubt is a work in progress. But looking at what they offer now and based on its sound performance, audio quality, build quality, and a very impressive list of features – DX80 punches above a lot of the mid-fi DAPs and challenges some summit-fi players. I can definitely recommend it as one of the top price/performance ratio contenders.

Thank you for the review! Based, in part, on this review I'm purchasing a DX80. Looking at the latest firmware the iBasso uses a stripped down version of Android 5.1.1. Like some other DAPs the iBasso uses a Rockchip SOC.