The released of the new FiiO Hi-Res Music Player has been very popular. We are offering FiiO fans the opportunity to purchase the FiiO X1 Hi-Res Music Player along with the FiiO E12 Headphone Amp for $232. Saving of 10% . Stocks are limited. Offer ends once first batch of FiiO X1 are all sold.
24bit @ 192KHz sampling rate. For reference, CD quality is 16bit @ 44.1KHz.
It isn't clear whether the X1 has a 24/192 DAC or whether it simply decodes 24/192. The specs are unclear: http://www.fiio.com.cn/products/index.aspx?ID=10000006043734…
Also worth noting that one guy prominent in the area of audio encoding thinks that playing back 24/192 will probably make the music sound worse in normal use cases.
http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
Nice work 2BE8. I thought I'd jump in and give you a greenie before others negged you. There are many people who believe that 24/192 offers superior sound quality but IMHO purely because the numbers are bigger and the price is higher ;) It's amazing what you can convince yourself to believe.
Cheers.
I've looked further and the DAC is capable of 24/192 (it is a TI PCM5142, apparently) http://www.ti.com/product/PCM5142/description
Decent review here of the player here: http://www.headfonia.com/fiio-x1-99-dap/
The summary: The sound is pretty good; better than an iPod, but the line-out is much better than the headphone output.
The X1 headphone output is powerful enough to drive basically any headphones, but with this headphone amp you could probably use the line-out which (apparently) sounds better - if you don't mind carrying around both devices.
Using 24/192 is probably not going to do anyone any good, but having a decent-quality DAC will do wonders with 16/44.1 music.
The summary: The sound is pretty good; better than an iPod, but the line-out is much better than the headphone output.
Being better than an iPod in terms of sound quality isn't a Herculean task. Ipods as an arbiter or yardstick of aural fidelity is also a flawed premise; partly because everyone's perception of sound has become coloured due to the omnipresence of very cheap, iPod-level DACs and partly because iPods are total sh*t to begin with.
The fundamental problem with these FiiOs is what I outlined here. They do one thing very well and everything else, incredibly poorly. For what you pay for them, you should be getting a well-rounded media player.
These are borderline, beta-stage products for a very niche market by a very green start-up. FiiO Electronics does not have the pedigree of Carl Zeiss or Marshall; where everything they touch turns to gold.
It's just another Guangzhou-based, sweatshop-centric enterprise that's decided to adopt the Monster Cable School of Marketing approach; which is something most Chinese manufacturers, by virtue of being Chinese manufacturers, can't often do.
Buyer beware.
@Amar89:
The thing is, they're cheap. You can't expect Sony level performance at a quarter of the price. Yes the ZX1 (and F880 series?) would be better, but they're also a good deal more expensive.
Yeah, I didn't want to go into anything about actual perceptible sound quality, just the hard numbers of what HD audio is.
@TheContact:
Very diplomatic of you :) Best to stay away from subjective reviews & perceptions, especially here on OzBargain.
@Amar89: I have an X5 and it sounds superb. It has been able to drive my UE TF10 far better than any other player or phone I have came across, and I have have had a quite a variety the last few years. I have had no issues with firmware and I am fine with the interface as it is serviceable for something that just plays music.
I don't see the X5 as overpriced, as it is well made, has 2 SD slots which will support larger SD cards when available and functions great as a DAC. Meaning I can connect it to my Surface and watch concert videos on the train with decent sound. Battery life has been decent enough, I can go a week on one charge.
Most people who have X3 & X5 seem to be happy with them as they have bought them knowing what they are getting.
Using something like this even for your FLAC or ALAC collection will sound much better than a something like an iPod.
If you have an iPod you can probably get a similar experience with just the E12 amplifier via dock line-out. It's not like the X1 has a digital line-out.
I think 'LOL' is a good response Marchi :) Your ears will provide the truth, it's just a shame they need to pass that information through the corruptible middle-man, the Brain :(
I remember the early days of mp3 before ABX became mainstream there was always someone claiming "this sounds better" without any proof, they can just hear it, the brain can trick you into anything :-P
Has anyone bought from A1 before? How are their services and warranty compare to Noisymotel? Cheers…
I have bought from them before. Emailed them to check if they have stocks of the DUNU DN-2000 and a guy named Kelvin promptly responded. Item was sent via express shipping and got it the next day.
Noisy motel is pretty good as well. Bought a couple of headphones and I got the item within three business days.
Was it that this Rep tried several days before with the same or similar thing but got pulled down?
I remembered commenting on the "Hi-Res" description for an MP3 player with tiny screen for "covers"
LOL. What exactly is "Hi-Res" music? Recording + Format = Quality