xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP) Review

[Brian Hall]

Yes, of course, but I wonder how many "audiophiles" assume that they must have a dedicated DAP because a smartphone is "just" a general purpose device? After all, we have seen many overpriced dedicated devices favoured by the audiophile community do badly in objective tests.

Most newer phones don't allow for expanded storage. My phone only has 256GB.

I put a 1TB micro sd card in my Hiby R6 III DAP. That allows me to have my complete ripped CD collection on it. It fits easily in a pocket. I use it when I'm walking or working outside, or in my barn and when doing things that have me moving around a lot. I also use it when I'm driving. I prefer not running down my phone's battery.

It runs android so all the music streaming apps work great on it when wifi is available.

It works with wired headphones and IEMs and also with bluetooth.

 

[EJ3]

This is a review and measurements of the xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP). It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $209.
View attachment 464893
touchscreen music player with built-in battery, DAC and headphone amplifier. This way you don't have to drain the battery in your phone to play content. Usually they are big and bulky devices but here, X5 is fair bit smaller than a mobile phone and brings elegance to touch and feel.
Conclusions
As a rule, DAPs bring disappointment when it comes to performance and the X5 is not an exception. We can't even clear CD quality audio or match the noise and distortion of some of the cheapest USB dongles you could buy.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Dang it! Typical: Hopes crushed once again! What are those that make these thinking?

 

[EJ3]

Yes, of course, but I wonder how many "audiophiles" assume that they must have a dedicated DAP because a smartphone is "just" a general purpose device? After all, we have seen many overpriced dedicated devices favoured by the audiophile community do badly in objective tests.

How 'bout because we have no need for the phone when we are in a place that we listen to music.
It is rare for me to have the phone on my person, many times I am where there is no phone signal anyway, and when I am in places there is a phone signal, I am usually within hearing distance of the phone but do not want it's bulk on my person. As it is, I use an old iPhone 4 and find that to be too big.
Maybe I am niche, but I would like a GOOD DAP in a compact size.

 

[Roland68]

Dang it! Typical: Hopes crushed once again! What are those that make these thinking?

Hopefully no one tests it?

How 'bout because we have no need for the phone when we are in a place that we listen to music.
It is rare for me to have the phone on my person, many times I am where there is no phone signal anyway, and when I am in places there is a phone signal, I am usually within hearing distance of the phone but do not want it's bulk on my person. As it is, I use an old iPhone 4 and find that to be too big.
Maybe I am niche, but I would like a GOOD DAP in a compact size.

Then I guess I'm a niche type too. How many niche types does it take to keep an entire industry alive for so long and to keep developing new devices?

 

[Peib]

That is sad

Thanks for sharing this

 

[phoenixdogfan]

So if you're OTG, don't you still need the phone's 5G internet to use things like Tidal, and doesn't that still drain the phone's battery? Or does this have it's own 5G capability? Or are you just supposed to play files from whatever is stored in memory? I remember a while back the Mojo came with a companion file device which was huge for its time, does this have anything like that? And the performance is poor. My Hidizs S9 Pro Plus Martha runs circles around it.

Bottom line: Just seems like an extra piece of expensive junk to keep in the pockets where it will surely fall out when fishing for the wallet or car keys.

 

[xanalog]

If you live in a country with reasonably good consumer protection laws, returning the device shouldn't be a problem, whether new or used.

I took your advice:
By reaching out to xDuoo; requested a replacement or a refund for a 'defective' X5.
Yes, I did a name-drop (ASR/@amirm results versus xDuoo specs).
I'll try to remember to post the results, (when/if) xDuoo Customer Support contacts me back.

 

[staticV3]

So if you're OTG, don't you still need the phone's 5G internet to use things like Tidal, and doesn't that still drain the phone's battery? Or does this have it's own 5G capability? Or are you just supposed to play files from whatever is stored in memory? I remember a while back the Mojo came with a companion file device which was huge for its time, does this have anything like that? And the performance is poor. My Hidizs S9 Pro Plus Martha runs circles around it.

Bottom line: Just seems like an extra piece of expensive junk to keep in the pockets where it will surely fall out when fishing for the wallet or car keys.

The X5 can play local files, or receive streamed audio from a phone via Bluetooth.

It does not have cellular connectivity, nor can you stream music directly on it.

It does have WiFi, but that seems reserved for a voice search function (and perhaps system updates?), which is bizarre.

 

[CedarX]

I’ll bite my tongue about that guy…

Btw, I’ve heard that HiBy rewrote the Android audio pipeline for their (higher end only?) DAPs, so they should have better performance (as stock Android isn’t very audio-performant).

Pretty much every Android DAP does this to bypass the standard 16/48 Android resampling. It’s also one of the reasons they tend to be on the latest Android version: hard to keep up when it’s customized… for no or little benefit (DAPs are not smartphones, so the latest OS features and security is less critical).

 

[JSmith]

xDuoo Customer Support

Maybe @Xduoo Audio can chime in about the conflict between their specs and the measured test results posted here.


JSmith

 

[tomtoo]

I dont get it?

 

[xanalog]

Maybe @Xduoo Audio can chime in about the conflict between their specs and the measured test results posted here.
JSmith

I don't expect it... they are probably too busy designing the next-gen tube doodat!

Back around 2018, Suger Wei was the design-engineer for the xDuoo X20. I bought the X5 only with the hope that he had left a good design legacy behind.

 

[Rja4000]

Thanks for reviewing this.

As @staticV3 noticed, performance remains reasonable until 3V (30mW / -2.5dB), it seems.
Then distortion kicks in, and one channel starts to saturate.

 

[Chr1]

I'd love to see one of the more minimalist DAPs tested. I have several DAPs and the one I think sounds best has a simple 1" OLED screen. My theory is that DAPs with large displays and the electronics required to power them, adversely effects the signal quality. Obviously I may be completely wrong, but I definitely haven't heard a better sounding one than my wee daily driver, an Xduoo X2S. Cheap, with decent EQ options, and it has plenty of power too.

Specifications below:

Power supply: Built-in 3.7V/800mAH battery
Charging specification: 5V/1A
Card support: Supports TF/Micro SD cards up to 128G
Output power: 250mW (32ohm load)
Supported audio formats:
DSD: DSD64-DSD128 (DFF, DSF)
APE: 16- 24Bit/44.1-96kHz
FLAC: 16-24Bit/44.1-192kHz
WAV: 16-24Bit/44.1-192kHz
AlFF: 16-24Bit/44.1-192kHz
WMA, MP3, AAC, OGG
Frequency response: 20Hz- 20kHz(±0.5dB)
Gain: +6dB
THD+N: 0.003% (1kHz)
S/N: 108dB
Impedance of connected headphones: 16 ohm-300 ohm
Battery life: > 10H
Charging time: <2H
Size: 6.3×4.0x1.5cm
Weight: 50g

 

[AudioSceptic]

How 'bout because we have no need for the phone when we are in a place that we listen to music.
It is rare for me to have the phone on my person, many times I am where there is no phone signal anyway, and when I am in places there is a phone signal, I am usually within hearing distance of the phone but do not want it's bulk on my person. As it is, I use an old iPhone 4 and find that to be too big.
Maybe I am niche, but I would like a GOOD DAP in a compact size.

Yes, that works for some but many of us have a phone with us most of the time, and it makes sense for it to play music instead of using an extra specialised device.

 

[Pinkynator]

First, my mind is too filthy to think of "DAP" in this context

Second, would be really great to see how the iPod and Zune measure.

 

[srkbear]

It’s bizarre to me that they’re releasing this thing with these poor measurements, a cap at FLAC 192 and Bluetooth 4.2 at this price in 2025. IFi is not my favorite company by any stretch, but they just released a dongle with dual mono ESS chips and full 786/512 encoding with almost as much power for $79, and the latest Bluetooth units are coming out with 5.4 and lossless audio. XDuoo makes some decent gear, and this thing is like a relic from 2018. What were they thinking?

 

[EJ3]

Yes, that works for some but many of us have a phone with us most of the time, and it makes sense for it to play music instead of using an extra specialised device.

Then why blast a whole category of items that you have no use case for?
Just because you have no use case for it.
There is a lot of things that I have no use case for, as soon as I understand that I have no use case for that, I accept that others may & don't attack it because I don't.
I personally have no use case for a cell phone. A land line & an answer machine would be just fine.
But, I have a 91 year old mother that may need to contact me quickly, a wife that works overseas & a son that works overseas (both of whom need to contact me at odd hours, [which we have predetermined times to do so that I will be in cell phone range]. The cell phone is not for my convenience but theirs.
If it is not one of them on the other end of the call, I may or (probably) may not answer it, making it at my convenience.
If no one had a use case for this type of item, no one would be making them because they wouldn't be profitable.

What is truly a shame is that some companies that make DAP's just try to rip-off those who do have a use case for them (by building inferior products) and passing them off as 'fine'.
Of course, companies do that with other categories of gear.
And that should be discouraged whether one personally has a use case for it or not.

 

[JPA]

Even ignoring the poor performance (and how could they get it so wrong?), I really can't see any use for these things when my iPhone + Apple adaptor sounds great with IEMs, has lots of storage, and is always with me.

I've got an ancient iPhone SE, so don't know the answer: Does Apple support FLAC now? All my music is in FLAC format.

 

[AndreaT]

There must be better choices out there. I own a few AP80 players made by Hidizs, and I wonder how they would measure…