Fiio X5 3rd gen Annouced |Android|Dual AK4490|Balanced Out

http://www.fiio.net/en/products/65

Specs

• DAC : 2 x AK4490
• Processor : Quad-core RK3188 processor
• ROM : 32GB built-in storage +
• RAM : 1GB
• Storage : Up to 512GB(2 x micro SD)
• Headphone Out : 3.5mm + 2.5mm TRRS balanced output +
• OS: Android 5.1
• Connectivity : Bluetooth 4.0 (aptX) + 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
• Usability: 4.0 in. touchscreen
• Charging : 2 Fast charging modes(Qualcom QC and MTK PE)

 

Kind of surprised they are going with Android with this device. Hopefully they are learning with the X7.

 

Side scrolling volume wheel, at least not an ergonomic disaster like the AKs.

 

Some potentially encouraging aspects to this thing, most notably (for me), the decision to completely rebuild the Android audio-stack (such that even standard third-party applications will benefit from it) and not stick with the default audio-subsystem nastiness and the retention of two card slots.

At the same time, my general experience with anything that has a heavy software bias, especially user-facing software, coming out of China has been less than impressive and has killed more than one player as an option for me (even on the high-end). Guess we'll see in about a month ... but probably wouldn't be thinking about this at all had Sony not decided to play silly-buggers with storage options for their two new flagship DAPs.

 

There's the DX200 as well if you're considering the chinese DAPs. I know a few friends still swearing by their DX100 despite sampling newer players.

 

Gross. Fiio's Chi-fi op-amp rolled corn starch and high fructose corn syrup gloop on top of AKM's Jap-fi "Velvet Sound" bloom garbage. If high-fidelity sound is a delicious bowl of soup, then the Fiio X5 version 3.0's stock is made from bones jutting out of some mass grave from World War II.

"Born for Music and Happy" ? More like born to take Newegg bargain hunter, PC gamer who only plays Battlefield and LOL money.

 

I'm not.

I'm making a possible exception to look at the 3rd gen X5 to see if they manage to do a proper job replacing the Android audio sub-system without totally screwing everything else up (so it can work as a transport, and then a DAP in a pinch). If I could put half-a-terabyte of data on my phone, I'd not bother at all. And if Sony had made 256 GB internal storage an option on the NW-WM1A (or given it two card slots), I'd just buy that and be done with it. As it is, it's only the lurid gold and nonsense pricing that's making me not just get the Z.

And in general I agree with @Psalmanazar, particularly on how AK4490s tend to get implemented ...

iBasso can piss up a flagpole - they're damn near the poster child for half-assed software on these things. My entire experience with their stuff has been swearing AT it. Can't even index card storage reliably.

 

Other than the first firmware being juddery, my DX50 was preeetty smooth software wise. I know the DX100 was a disaster in software though.

Doesn't the WM1A come with 128GB built in + 1 mSD slot? You'd get 128+256 = 384GB, which is quite a sizeable storage space.

 

When they can't index my library reliably, they cease to be useful. And they can't claim it was down to problems with the tagging, as it'd fail at different points continually. Songs that would blow it up on one pass, would index, without being changed at all, on the next, only to have it fail again somewhere else. When the fundamentals don't work, what's the point?

It does. And that's not enough. I don't want to be constantly managing what's on the player. I don't want to keep swapping cards - and doing so means using folder-browsing mode or spending time re-indexing and fiddling around. I don't have the time or inclination to screw around like that. I have a pared-down library I use when I travel (and streaming options when not actually in-transit) and that's already over 500 GB, so that's a minimum requirement right now.

 

Having watched the X7 threads at The Other Place from a safe distance, I hope they have their shit together. A lot of angst about software updates and Android woes was the main impression that I formed.

 

My experience with Fiio is its amazign on paper specs and mild question marks when listening to them. Seems like the house signature is elevated treble and some tightest bass I've heard. Great to amazing for new pop songs but not what I'm looking for when it comes to slow vocals.This X5 MKIII looks very promising on paper, hopefully it shows me something they've never achieved.

 

I tried to go and have a closer look at the product page, and just got a bunch of nginx errors. It really instils confidence, leaving a broken company website online.

Yeah, that'd be my use case, too. I'd rather not be limited to what I can carry around on my current phone, or any of the viable upgrades. I'm really not looking for Fiio's digital to analogue conversion, "enhancements" or "premium features".

 

As long as Fiio cannot build a DAP with properly functioning firmware/software settings for 50 Dollars in 2016/2017 f**k them.

Here is why. The current Fiio M3 still has file tagging issues whereas my ancient iRivers and Sansa Fuze do not. If they cannot get the basics right they are not worth my money.

 

I still don't understand why none of these manufacturers just use rockbox as the official OS. (It's not like people buy your DAPs for your software anyway, it's not a USP it's a APP (avoid product point) for most of them) Would solve a lot of issues.

 

Open source does not grant a monopoly thus no monopolistic revenues.

Yet they brag about progress and bling bling because their technology is so advanced.

We as nerds and users want devices that work as specified, not marketing gimmicks for idiots. For marketing gimmicks go to Apple...

 

The same applies in spades to phones. Experiencing the horror of Samsung OEM software made me appreciate the clean no-nonsense usability of Nexus devices all the more. I hate inept "enhancements".

That said, some people do have a use for a general-purpose OS like Android on a DAP, for running streaming clients and the like. You may not want to depend on device manufacturers for those, especially if you're using a niche service.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

Ditched my old iPhone for a Samsung. I have to turn off most Samsung crap as it eats too much RAM.

 

Ah, but (most) phones work. (Granted some explode.)

Chinese manufacturers half ass the hardware, half ass the software, and all you get as the product is a quarter ass... thing.

 

I like this device... On paper. Definitely skeptical of the OS and Fiio's ability to deliver with Android. It comes with V4A, which for me is a great thing.

 

If you half-arse your half-arse what you actually get is shit all over the floor.

Witness things like the "Calyx M", which has decent sound (even out of low-impedance/high-sensitivity IEMs), and an excellent storage arrangement. Then rendered almost completely unusable by pretty-but-completely-retarded software/UX and battery life that will struggle to get you through back-to-back sessions of "Tommy" and "The Wall".

Or the Fiio X5ii, which can mount half a terabyte of storage, but good luck trying to do anything with it if you actually fill it.

I could go on ... but I think I'll save it for a general rant on the state of the DAP market at some point.