xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP) Review

[HalSF]

Absolutely! You just have to send one to Amir.

That's how ASR works, all reviewed products are sent in by ASR members or manufacturers.

As grateful as I am for the guidance and recommendations of the thorough reviews posted at ASR, this one and the track record of DAP reviews in general at ASR point out for me one of the drawbacks of the ad hoc and somewhat scattershot approach to choosing candidates in certain categories of components to review here.

“As a rule, DAPs bring disappointment,” Amir writes, but it’s not clear to me from the relatively thin roster of ASR DAP reviews that this negative generalization can be justified. I say this as someone who has been on the lookout for a reasonably priced DAP that measures well. Maybe it’s simply a fact that no such critter exists, but if there’s a bargain gem out there I’m mildly bummed that ASR has not helped me find it, the way it has for DACs and other stuff.

 

[staticV3]

As grateful as I am for the guidance and recommendations of the thorough reviews posted at ASR, this one and the track record of DAP reviews in general at ASR point out for me the drawbacks of the ad hoc and somewhat scattershot approach to choosing candidates in certain categories of components to review here.

“As a rule, DAPs bring disappointment,” Amir writes, but it’s not clear to me from the relatively thin roster of ASR DAP reviews that this negative generalization can be justified. I say this as someone who has been on the lookout for a reasonably priced DAP that measures well. Maybe it’s simply a fact that no such critter exists, but if there’s a bargain gem out there ASR has not helped me find it.

FiiO have a solid track record for DAP performance, so perhaps their budget offerings could finally break the curse.

Namely the M21, JM21, and M11s

Edit:
The M11s has been measured and performs great: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/fiio-m11s/

@amirm if you come across one of these three someday, they may finally bring DAP salvation

 

[Somafunk]

FiiO have a solid track record for DAP performance, so perhaps their budget offerings could finally break the curse.

Namely the M21, JM21, and M11s

Nice looking daps but currently plagued with software isssues.

HiBy ftw , they started out as a software development company providing their HiBy os/software to clients (often disguised as proprietary) then decided to develop their own players/daps.

 

[Roland68]

As grateful as I am for the guidance and recommendations of the thorough reviews posted at ASR, this one and the track record of DAP reviews in general at ASR point out for me one of the drawbacks of the ad hoc and somewhat scattershot approach to choosing candidates in certain categories of components to review here.

“As a rule, DAPs bring disappointment,” Amir writes, but it’s not clear to me from the relatively thin roster of ASR DAP reviews that this negative generalization can be justified. I say this as someone who has been on the lookout for a reasonably priced DAP that measures well. Maybe it’s simply a fact that no such critter exists, but if there’s a bargain gem out there I’m mildly bummed that ASR has not helped me find it, the way it has for DACs and other stuff.

ASR/Amir can't be blamed if manufacturers don't achieve the stated measurement values, or lie so drastically about the information.
And we're not just talking about a few percent.
The selection of tested devices is based on Amir receiving devices for testing, either from users or from manufacturers.
Since you live in the USA, this is much cheaper and easier for you than, for example, for me.

Furthermore, like most people, you're very spoiled by ASR (neither meant to be malicious nor negative), as there's a large selection of well-tested devices with excellent measurement values in most categories.
On the other hand, there are many, even well-known and expensive devices, with poor and absolutely abysmal measurement values, and there are many times more of those out there, regardless of the price.

I'm sure there are more than one interesting and well-measured DAP.
DAPs in the xDuoo X5's price range would certainly be interesting; the FIIO M21 and JM21 are the first to come to mind.
Hidizs and Shanling would certainly be interesting as well.
So feel free to send one to Amir .

 

[staticV3]

HiBy ftw , they started out as a software development company providing their HiBy os/software to clients (often disguised as proprietary) then decided to develop their own players/daps.

Strong meh for technical performance:
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-rs2/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-r3-pro-saber/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-the-new-r6/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-r5s/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/measurements-of-hiby-r3pro/

The R3Pro is the best of the bunch, only let down by a mediocre Amp

 

[Somafunk]

but if there’s a bargain gem out there I’m mildly bummed that ASR has not helped me find it, the way it has for DACs and other stuff.

List what you want/need as there’s a number of excellent daps all under £400, I chose my dap for the headphone out on the bottom, the volume wheel and peq

HiBy R4

HiBy R6 iii 2025 model

HiBy R3 ii

HiBy R3 Pro ii

iBasso DX180 (available in sales for around £400)

Fiio M21

Fiio JM21

Shanling M1 plus

Shanling M3 plus

Shanling M3 ultra

Shanling M5 ultra

 

[Somafunk]

Strong meh for technical performance:
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-rs2/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-r3-pro-saber/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-the-new-r6/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/hiby-r5s/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/measurements-of-hiby-r3pro/

The R3Pro is the best of the bunch, only let down by a mediocre Amp

They are all discontinued, is there up to date measurements?

 

[AudioSceptic]

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.

Hey, steady on. It's just an opinion.

 

[AudioSceptic]

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.

No, but the storage is limited so wouldn't you use a lossy format such as AAC? I convert mine from ALAC to AAC 256 as I sync it.

 

[HalSF]

ASR/Amir can't be blamed if manufacturers don't achieve the stated measurement values, or lie so drastically about the information.
And we're not just talking about a few percent.
The selection of tested devices is based on Amir receiving devices for testing, either from users or from manufacturers.
Since you live in the USA, this is much cheaper and easier for you than, for example, for me.

Furthermore, like most people, you're very spoiled by ASR (neither meant to be malicious nor negative), as there's a large selection of well-tested devices with excellent measurement values in most categories.
On the other hand, there are many, even well-known and expensive devices, with poor and absolutely abysmal measurement values, and there are many times more of those out there, regardless of the price.

I'm sure there are more than one interesting and well-measured DAP.
DAPs in the xDuoo X5's price range would certainly be interesting; the FIIO M21 and JM21 are the first to come to mind.
Hidizs and Shanling would certainly be interesting as well.
So feel free to send one to Amir .

No blame — just a bit wistful (and spoiled, it’s true).

Although I’m still at bit leery about Amir’s “DAPs bring disappointment” rule. Maybe he’s evaluated a bunch more than he’s actually reviewed, but based on the number of DAP reviews the sample base doesn’t seem extensive enough to nail down that pronouncement.

 

[yo!]

The player is not ASR territory proof, but like Qudelix it has a usable EQ, so it's not terrible and more useful as some higher end players without EQ function to correct shouty headphones.

 

[xanalog]

...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.

I had a few other xDuoo DAPs. Namely, the Nano and the X20. Reason for the purchase of the X5 (as tested by @amirm) was in the belief in the xDuoo's...

...Specifications...

... were they a direct result of actual DAP testing and accurate/verified?

...this dufus and hope you don't become like me and buy such a POS, going strictly with its published specs!

Unfortunately, when my new X5 was shipped to be ASR tested; I had also provided my 6 year-old, reliable X20, for comparison testing.
Due to scheduling conflicts and time crunch, testing of the X20 was unrealized, simply because I could no longer do without tunes in my travels and asked for their return.

 

[amirm]

Due to scheduling conflicts and time crunch, testing of the X20 was unrealized, simply because I could no longer do without tunes in my travels and asked for their return.

Which was totally my fault as they had been sitting here for months.

 

[Jimster480]

Wow this thing is just trash. Get a dongle DAC like the HiBY tested last year and its overall better... of Fiio KA13.
Sure you drain some of your phone battery, but you have actual SOTA performance... not trash performance.

 

[M.C. Logan]

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.

And costs, if it has plenty of storage, in excess of £1000, the dongle gets in the way using the phone and prevents charging and drains the underpowered battery which Apple fit. Not sure how you fit 2+ TB of dsd files inside a phone either, and Apple would want the best part of £1k for £200 worth of storage. 1.5TB sd cards can be had for under £100.

 

[kemmler3D]

Btw, had Amir turned down the DAP volume by 2-3dB, he'd have gotten a 1kHz dashboard with 3.1Vrms and 95dB SINAD in both channels:
View attachment 465046 View attachment 465047

It's only in the last 15% of the volume where the Xduoo clips and loses some SINAD, so perhaps not as bad as some may think from the dashboard as it is now.

Thanks, I was wondering about that.

 

[Nathan Raymond]

Who is this for?

I regularly use a HiBy R3 Pro with a 1TB MicroSD card with most of my lossless albums on it. It's very handy when travelling or on plane flights when I can't easily or reliably stream my music via Plexamp on my iPhone, and it gives me the choice of balanced out, unbalanced out, or Bluetooth. I quite like the R3 Pro and having my music on a dedicated offline device. Before that I used a TempoTec V1, which has no analog stage so I'd plug in whatever USB dongle I wanted for the headphone out. The V1 has two MicroSD card slots, was a smaller form factor, but battery life wasn't as good. And before that I had an Onkyo DAP. I'm a big fan of dedicated music players.

 

[Bob101]

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.

Disclaimer: no disrespect intention whatsoever. I understand your attachment to your phone. If you own an Iphone (no matter which one) you are confronted with limited/laughably expensive storage capacity. Any Android phone from 250$ on up supports SD cards up to an umpf of a lot Gb, and LDAC BT. If it does not fit on 256Gb it shouldn't be on your phone
A good music player app might cost a few dollars in the app-store. I'm very fine with my free SamsungMusic app. I'm also not that demanding.
Android supports a all but the most obscure audio formats. Apple does NOT. iPhones are very god devices. I personally wouldn't want one for free.

 

[yo!]

I too use a older iPhone 6s plus, the last one with 3.5 jack out, and will keep it as long as possible (still 100% battery!). For some apps (banking) I have to use a newer iPhone model, but only if I really need to.
My favorite player is the cyberfort KaiserTone as it has wonderful sophisticated EQ part for fetishistic users. It's not free but not expensive anyway.
KaiserTone offers highres, I just use plain MP3 synced via Apple Music playlists.
Great and simple to use setup, sound is brillant with corrected IEMs. (Correction via measurement up to 3 kHz, the last 2 octaves tuned by ear compared to calibrated loudspeakers. Measurements often don't work for individual ears for higher frequencies IMHO)

 

[AudioSceptic]

And costs, if it has plenty of storage, in excess of £1000, the dongle gets in the way using the phone and prevents charging and drains the underpowered battery which Apple fit. Not sure how you fit 2+ TB of dsd files inside a phone either, and Apple would want the best part of £1k for £200 worth of storage. 1.5TB sd cards can be had for under £100.

I'll go through these.
1. The Apple adaptor is just a short extension to the HP cable so doesn't get in the way. I would, however, like the adaptor cable to be a little more robust.
2. The only iPhone I bought new was the first one, and all later ones have been used, about ½ the new price, and only when I could double the storage at reasonable cost.
3. I recharge my phones overnight and the batteries have lasted OK each day.
4. The current max storage is 1 TB. This is not enough for all our music in ALAC (we use Apple Music as our library manager) so I convert to AAC 256 when syncing. This uses about 600 GB for ~69k tracks. OK, it's lossy, but I doubt that the difference is audible on the move. A µSD slot would be nice, however!
5. I fitted a Pioneer receiver with CarPlay to our car and the iPhone connects with USB. This gives us all the phone's functions, including music, while charging the phone.
Apologies to other members if this is drifting too far OT!