new_media Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 FiiO X5 Player Larger capacity. Supports more formats including DSD. Functions as a standalone DAC. $50 cheaper. Not shaped like a Toblerone. I guess it all comes down to which one sounds better, but that is very tempting. Link to comment
Jawaburger Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Apple may sue FiiO because it kind of looks like the iPod Classic with the wheel shape thing on the bottom half so all bets are off. I work someplace that sells stuff. Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Not a Pono killer... But a Pono alternative! Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
burnspbesq Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 FiiO X5 Player Larger capacity. Supports more formats including DSD. Functions as a standalone DAC. $50 cheaper. Not shaped like a Toblerone. I guess it all comes down to which one sounds better, but that is very tempting. Pono killer? Not a chance. There were several of them on display at the Head-Fi meet in Costa Mesa in March. It was hilarious to watch people struggle in vain to figure out the interface. And it sounds worse than an iPod Nano. Office: MacBook Pro - Audirvana Plus - Resonessence Concero - Cavailli Liquid Carbon - Sennheiser HD 800. Travel/Portable: iPhone 7 or iPad Pro - AudioQuest Dragonfly Red - Audeze SINE or Noble Savant Link to comment
jtwrace Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 I might need to buy one. W10 NUC i7 (Gen 10) > Roon (Audiolense FIR) > Motu UltraLite mk5 > (4) Hypex NCore NC502MP > JBL M2 Master Reference +4 subs Watch my Podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMw_bZWBMtRWNJQfTJ38kA/videos Link to comment
Moosbrugger Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I don't mean this to be a snarky question, but is there a non-snarky reason that the Pono got so much play here (and elsehwere) and the FiiO X5 got so little? Other than Burnspbesq's post above, everything I read about the X5 is very positive. A Hudson Valley Home: Kichels -- A Recipe from the Old Country Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I don't mean this to be a snarky question, but is there a non-snarky reason that the Pono got so much play here (and elsehwere) and the FiiO X5 got so little? I don't mean this to be a snarky reply so hopefully it isn't... But the main reason is force of personality behind Pono. That and the Pono music store is offering the possibility of better downloads of mainstream music. Eloise Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
Moosbrugger Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Is there any sound quality concern using Micro SD cards to store the files? Seems like a lot of data on a little card. What file management system does this use? A Hudson Valley Home: Kichels -- A Recipe from the Old Country Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Is there any sound quality concern using Micro SD cards to store the files? Seems like a lot of data on a little card.What file management system does this use? There shouldn't be any issue with Micro SD cards - Pono uses one to supplement internal memory and Alex has been suggesting sound quality improvements using SD cards with a MacMini. Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 FiiO X5 Player Larger capacity. Supports more formats including DSD. Functions as a standalone DAC. $50 cheaper. Not shaped like a Toblerone. I guess it all comes down to which one sounds better, but that is very tempting. If all portable players sound the same and have the same interface I could see purchasing based on spec only :~) Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
new_media Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 If all portable players sound the same and have the same interface I could see purchasing based on spec only :~) In that case, Chris, I would say that I am trusting your ears. The Pono is on order and I am holding out on anything else until October. Link to comment
Keyser Söze Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 It looks like the X5 will fit in your pocket a lot easier than the Pono. The price, I'm sure, is a bit more competitive than what the Pono will likely cost. Isn't it supposed to be something around $400? Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Eloise - Why haven't you been pedantic with this one? From the link: "The X5 even decodes Apple’s proprietary ALAC format seamlessly" Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
TubeLover Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I don't mean this to be a snarky question, but is there a non-snarky reason that the Pono got so much play here (and elsehwere) and the FiiO X5 got so little? Other than Burnspbesq's post above, everything I read about the X5 is very positive. Because no one has even heard of FiiO before, doubtless......... JC Link to comment
XP9433 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Pono killer? Not a chance. There were several of them on display at the Head-Fi meet in Costa Mesa in March. It was hilarious to watch people struggle in vain to figure out the interface. And it sounds worse than an iPod Nano. You obviously haven't spent any real time with the X5. It is far more transparent, detailed, and dynamic than listening direct from any Ipod or Iphone. I also have a Galaxy Note3 and it is not in the same league as the X5 for direct listening. The X5 is better than the Galaxy Note3 > Fiio E18 or the Galaxy Note3 > X5. The X5 sounded slightly better when fed from jRiver19 on PC (Fidelizer activated) @ 24/192 to the X5. It is a highly competitive well manufactured product with good SQ - within its price range! Frank Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Sorry to disappoint you Chris (I hadn't noticed the comment)... Eloise - Why haven't you been pedantic with this one? From the link: "The X5 even decodes Apple’s proprietary ALAC format seamlessly" ALAC is of course now (since 2011) open source :-) Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
burnspbesq Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 You obviously haven't spent any real time with the X5. It is far more transparent, detailed, and dynamic than listening direct from any Ipod or Iphone. I also have a Galaxy Note3 and it is not in the same league as the X5 for direct listening. The X5 is better than the Galaxy Note3 > Fiio E18 or the Galaxy Note3 > X5. The X5 sounded slightly better when fed from jRiver19 on PC (Fidelizer activated) @ 24/192 to the X5. It is a highly competitive well manufactured product with good SQ - within its price range! Frank Well, that's nice, and I'm glad you like it. But you didn't address my concerns about the interface. I have no idea what it sounds like, because in five minutes of fiddling with it I couldn't make it play. That's simply unacceptable from any reasonable interface-design perspective. So I'll stick with my iPad and Herus (or iPod Touch and Fostex HP-P1) until my Geek Stream shows up. Office: MacBook Pro - Audirvana Plus - Resonessence Concero - Cavailli Liquid Carbon - Sennheiser HD 800. Travel/Portable: iPhone 7 or iPad Pro - AudioQuest Dragonfly Red - Audeze SINE or Noble Savant Link to comment
RealAudio Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 You can't kill what isn't alive. Once Pono ships and it's past the true believer preorders, then you can evaluate its success and the impact of competitors. Link to comment
hogger_129 Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I signed up to have a test unit shipped to me over on head-fi. I liked the X5 a lot. I currently have the X3. One thing the X5 does that the X3 doesn't is DSD playback. It can also accept two microSD cards. So if you get two of those 128gb ones that SanDisk just came out with = 256gb of storage onboard. Sound quality-wise, I didn't really get to push it to its limits. It sounded great with my ALAC CD rips. The amp is definitely more powerful than the one in the X3. I like the design more than the X3, though I don't think I'd spend >$300 for one given that I already have the X3. I'd go straight for the X5 instead of a Pono. Just my 2 cents though. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 FiiO X5 Player Larger capacity. Supports more formats including DSD. Functions as a standalone DAC. $50 cheaper. Not shaped like a Toblerone. I guess it all comes down to which one sounds better, but that is very tempting. This looks ideal. I just had my iPod classic forcibly extracted from my car, so to replace that is $275 (vs. $350 for this). This has SSD storage instead of a spinning disc that skips every time I take a turn too hard, and I think more space. Thanks for posting. I think I might get this for my car. Do you have to buy the memory cards separately? If so, that really ought to be added into the cost. Link to comment
new_media Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Let me know what you think of the X5 if you get one. According to a reviewer on Amazon, it does not come with any memory cards. 64 GB cards run about $40 now and the new 128 GB cards are over $100. Bill, I can't help but wonder if something wasn't wrong with the memory buffer on your iPod. I have owned four hard drive based iPods over the past 12 years and I can't recall any of them ever skipping in the car. I just picked up my daughter from swim practice earlier this evening. I drove through the high school parking lot with the windows and the sunroof open, blasting "Ramble On." I drove over about ten speed bumps and my iPod Classic didn't miss a beat. Link to comment
Moosbrugger Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 My current iPod classic is from summer 2010. I've never had a problem with it, and it gets knocked around quite a bit. I with I liked the design of the X5 more -- it's not as sleek as the X3. And as much as I like the idea of 256gb storage, that's an extra $300 or so (from what I can tell about the 128 gb cards) on top of the player. Significant. A Hudson Valley Home: Kichels -- A Recipe from the Old Country Link to comment
realhifi Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I just picked up my daughter from swim practice earlier this evening. I drove through the high school parking lot with the windows and the sunroof open, blasting "Ramble On." I drove over about ten speed bumps and my iPod Classic didn't miss a beat. She must have been embarrassed to death! *lol*. My son would kill me if I did that. David Link to comment
new_media Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 She must have been embarrassed to death! *lol*. My son would kill me if I did that. Yeah, well, I sort of did it on purpose. She did correctly identify Led Zeppelin, so it seems I am having a positive influence on her. Link to comment
Moosbrugger Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 And I guess switching hardware, I would need to find adapters to plug a FIIO or Pono into, say, my B&W Zeppelin or my car's iPod connector. PITA. A Hudson Valley Home: Kichels -- A Recipe from the Old Country Link to comment
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