We’ve certainly been spoilt by Fiio’s offerings of recent years; it’s a situation that’s all too easy to get used to. First it was amps which got insanely cheap, then DACs. Now we have to get used to the idea of great quality digital audio players for under £100. What’s the world coming to?
Based on the design of bigger brother the X5, the X1 sports a control wheel on the front and buttons for an alternative means of control. Options and tracks can be scrolled through quite easily, and information is displayed clearly on the generously-sized screen. EQ status and battery can be checked at a glance, and other improvements have been made to the player’s software when compared to Fiio’s other players, such as the X3. For instance when moving around the menu system whilst listening to a track, it is now possible to see on the file list which track is playing; but you will need to find your own way to the exact folder where the file is.
Output options are reduced when compared to the X3 and X5; the X1 has one audio output socket only, but is good for both headphones and line-level output. This needs to be selected within the player options menu while no music plays, so don’t worry about the possibility of damaged equipment!
Another very nice feature is the capacity to detect button presses from a headset. When used with headsets on the newer CTIA wiring standard, the X1 should be able to pause, skip track forward and skip track back. This was tried with the new Sennheiser Momentum in-ear model, and the SoundMAGIC E10S.
The sound is amazing for a player under £100. Compared to the X3, the X1 comes across as slightly cooler-sounding and the quality is what we have come to expect from Fiio. The sound gives a slightly brittle impression when compared to more expensive players such as the AK100; but at a fifth of the price the Fiio X1 is a very credible alternative for the cash-strapped music fan!
FiiO X5 Lossless Portable Digital Audio Player & DAC
Summary
The FiiO X5 is the new contribution from this great brand; the company which is making a huge name for itself by bringing high quality budget-priced items to the market. Almost a year ago we were all taken aback by the arrival of the X3 which has certainly shaken up the digital audio player (DAP) market, but now FiiO has X-ceeded itself with the X5.
After coming to know the FiiO X3‘s sound quality, it was a little difficult to imagine how it could be bettered; both in terms of sound quality and power. The X5 creates a certain expectation as it’s larger. It is still pocket-sized, but it certainly makes for a pocket which is full.
Unlike the X3, the X5 has no internal storage so a micro SD card is required to get started. However it has 2 slots for these cards, so there’s a potential 128Gb storage capacity with current firmware/size limits.
Appearance takes priority over usability for perhaps the first 30 minutes of use; the buttons are not marked and the user can feel a little helpless initially. This soon passes, but the wheel remains a point of contention; its build does not appear to sit well with the rest of the device. It’s very light and wobbly, with a rubber touch wheel to select options or tracks on the screen. Notches or slight clicks are encountered as the wheel goes round, but these tend not to be linked so much with what is happening on the screen. A ‘two click’ turn of the wheel may not necessarily move you along by two options so watch the screen. It can be frustrating if the required option is just one ‘click’ away; it seems that a gentle turn of the wheel can turn into a few gentle turns, as the selected option doesn’t change, or changes too far. Fortunately the lower two buttons on the front of the X5 can be used to scroll through these items, so it’s not something we’re stuck with using.
Sticking with the wheel, the centre acts as a ‘select’ button for the X5; however it is machined and is uncomfortable to touch with the thick skin on my thumb. It’s worth it though. Also I was a little concerned that there appears not to be a space where I can throw a band over and have it strapped to my FiiO E12 – the X5 is full of buttons, screen and wheel, but I have found that a band can be placed over the wheel area and operation is not affected. Maybe the addition of an E12 is overkill however; having tried the X5 now, my demanding 600 Ohm AKG K240 DF headphones sound fantastic straight out of the headphone socket.
There is no ‘hold’ button on the X5, there is a simple timer function (from 30s to 120s, or off) which renders the screen blank and most of the buttons inoperable, until the power button is pressed. I noticed that the volume buttons turn into ‘track skip’ buttons in this state.
The screen shows a little more of the track titles than the X3 when browsing, for example I am able to read the full title of Duran Duran’s ‘Is There Something I Should Know’ but no band name is present in the filename. Compilations may still require guesswork as to the track title, or you might want to encode your files with the ‘Track Artist’ after the ‘Track Title’ so song names can be read with no problem. Also the screen is less square than that of the X3; it’s wider, but only the top half of any cover art is visible when tracks are playing as it gets stretched to fit across the screen. Not a real issue, but Sweet’s ‘Desolation Boulevard’ cover isn’t the same!
Sound Quality
I tried the X5 against the X3 with the HiFiMAN HE-400; despite their 35 ohm impedance, these are thirsty headphones and can really take some power to get them up to their full potential. The X5 felt a little more relaxed, more analoguish, more controlled. It appeared to go a little louder as well, although the two models are evenly matched. Both the X3 and X5 powered the HE-400 adequately, although a little more headroom (on both players) might be nice with quieter tracks.
Next, a high quality dynamic headphone was tried – the Beyerdynamic T1. With this headphone the differences were harder to spot between the two Fiio players but the X5 appeared to give a slightly wider and more spacious presentation; the X3 had a little more bass impact or ‘slam’ to it.
FiiO has beefed up the bass/treble setting of the X3 with a full equaliser in the X5 model; there are now 10 bands between 31Hz and 16kHz, the frequency bands roughly double in breadth as they move up through the frequency spectrum; ie. 31Hz, 62Hz, 125Hz, etc. The steps in terms of EQ volume are very fine indeed, so this is a useful tool to anyone wanting fuller control.
Verdict
In all, the X5 is a winner if you have headphones which can reveal its audio quality. If you plan to stick with sub-£100 headphones or only have portable uses, you may as well save your money and get the X3. If you’re confident that your equipment can get the best out of the X5, then that is what I recommend – it is a clear improvement over the X3 and the extra money spent will not be in vain.
The Hifiheadphones team is pleased to announce the new Digital Audio Player & DAC from FiiO, the X5 is now available to be purchased on our website.
This is not your ordinary music player. With impressive processing power the portable FiiO X5 digital audio player supports DSD, APE, FLAC, ALAC, WMA and WAV lossless music formats up to 192kHz/24-bit. This is the most complete set of supported formats to date among Hi-Fi DAPs. With the X5, music lovers need not worry about lack of format support or format conversion.
As well as being a high resolution portable music player, FiiO X5 also doubles up as a dedicated digital-to-analogue converter with line or digital output from PC or MAC. The asynchronous USB DAC also supports 192kHz/24bit. Users can adjust the X5’s equalizer according to their preferences, tailoring the X5’s sound output to different headphones and music genres to produce their ideal sound.
Inside the casing the X5 is packing a lot of punch with four Texas Instruments opamps and Burr Brown DAC as well as dual TI Flagship DAC Chip for headphone output. The X5 comes with three output ports: headphone out, line out and coaxial digital output. Apart from connecting directly to headphones, you can also connect it to other DACs and amps. Dual TF card slots offer a storage capacity up to 128GB, with future firmware upgrades supporting up to 1024GB.
TI Flagship DAC Chip
High resolution music playback
WAV, APE, AAC, WMA, ALAC, FLAC lossless music format supported
DSD playback (DSD playback function will be added and optimised in pending firmware upgrade)
USB OTG support (OTG support will be added and optimised in pending firmware upgrade)
Dual TF card slots (up to 1024GB storage capacity with future firmware upgrades)
Asynchronous DAC
Aviation aluminium CNC unibody technology
Headphone out, Line out, coaxial output socket
Japan original imported high resolution IPS screen
3700mAh lithium polymer battery with 12 hours playtime
The Hifiheadphones team is pleased to announce the new DAC & Portable Headphone Amplifier from FiiO, the E18 Kunlun is now available to be purchased on our website.
Enter the world of the professional audio decoder FiiO E18 with the convenience of listening to music from Smartphones, and the pleasure of high fidelity audio.
Reference quality digital-to-analogue audio conversion for music played via compatible Android smartphones. FiiO E18 is compatible with Samsung Galaxy S3/S4/Note2, HTC One, and other Android devices with USB OTG and USB digital audio output capabilities.
FiiO E18 can be used USB DAC and amp as replacement of the on-board soundcard on computers and laptops. FiiO E18 serves as a dedicated headphone amplifier when connected to portable audio players.
The user-friendly volume knob design with symmetrical volume roller is resistant to accidental bumps, yet easy to adjust. When used as power source, the automatic cut-off and self-recovery function of charging current limiter IC on the E18 protects the phone. The 3500mAh Li-polymer battery achieves 25 hours playtime when used as amplifier only, and 12 hours utilising the DAC and amp combination.
Performs reference quality digital-to-analogue audio conversion for Android smartphones
Compatible with Samsung Galaxy S3/S4/Note2, HTC One and Android devices
USB DAC functionality for computers and laptops
Works with laptop and desktop computers at up to 24-Bit / 96kHz high definition audio
High-end op-amp audio output circuitry with ultra low distortion and noise
3500mAh battery for up to 25 hours of use as an amp-only, or up to 12 hours as DAC+amp
