xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP) Review

[AudioSceptic]

I appreciate all the responses to my question. My music library (about 1000 CDs) used to be in ALAC format. I converted it all to FLAC and turned my back on Apple (other than my iPhone) because
1) I hated iTunes with a passion
2) I was tired of being locked into Apple's ecosystem
3) Apple refuses to support add-on memory on their phones

I'm quite satisfied with my current setup and don't see any reason to go back to the Apple world.

iTunes/Music has worked well for me. What was it that you didn't like (I don't buy any music from Apple)?

 

[M.C. Logan]

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!

Or, you can just buy a DAP and bypass all the problems and have no need of Apple's diabolical proprietary software or ecosystem. Each to their own.

 

[Brian Hall]

Dunno why they run class A either, I have the option on my R6 iii to choose Class A, utterly feckin pointless imho

Since it heats up a lot with class A selected (without any audio benefit), it could be useful as a handwarmer in the winter months.

In addition to heating up, the class A option also runs the battery down very efficiently. Class A is dumb overall, but especially in a battery powered DAP.

 

[JPA]

iTunes/Music has worked well for me. What was it that you didn't like (I don't buy any music from Apple)?

It's been so long since I used it I really can't remember. Generally, just a huge PITA. Maybe it has improved since then, but I don't care anymore.

 

[Bob101]

Or, you can just buy a DAP and bypass all the problems and have no need of Apple's diabolical proprietary software or ecosystem. Each to their own.

Nowadays Apple = extortion, especially when it comes to storage. MS or android are evolving in the same direction, and while still less diabolical, that won't last. Enoy the present.

 

[Bob101]

Since it heats up a lot with class A selected (without any audio benefit), it could be useful as a handwarmer in the winter months.

In addition to heating up, the class A option also runs the battery down very efficiently. Class A is dumb overall, but especially in a battery powered DAP.

I understand, and mostly share, your opinion on class A. It is not dumb in itself, but it's advantages are now equalled by far more efficient and powerful (but more complicated) topologies. The 'absence' of distortion with minimal components is undisputed (caveat: components need to be SOTA), but equalled audibly and measurably by any well engineered class A/B, D or H nowadays. To sincerely implement it in a portable device is a gimmick, and indeed a dumb one. There will always be a market for class A amps, but it will only become more niche. I am in camp D (Purifi and others) as the topology of choice for the future of hi-fi. And 2 channel hi-fi is a shrinking market in itself. Kids don't dream of owning a big component based system with massive speakers. Some of their BT speakers easily go loud enough to do permanent damage to their hearing.
Can I hurt my ears and anger my neighbours or anyone in a wide enough radius in public? That is the new definition of 'fidelity'. High fidelity is just louder.

 

[lewdish]

I feel like we should start a new chart thats DAP exclusive hierarchy for benchmarks

 

[M.C. Logan]

iTunes/Music has worked well for me. What was it that you didn't like (I don't buy any music from Apple)?

iTunes/Music has worked well for me. What was it that you didn't like (I don't buy any music from Apple

iTunes/Music has worked well for me. What was it that you didn't like (I don't buy any music from Apple)?

We could give a list.
It's awful in just about every respect, especially compared to something like jRiver or Roon. And, of course, it only runs in passable fashion on MucOS, diabolically on Windows and not at all on Linux.

 

[Nathan Raymond]

We could give a list.
It's awful in just about every respect, especially compared to something like jRiver or Roon. And, of course, it only runs in passable fashion on MucOS, diabolically on Windows and not at all on Linux.

I really liked SoundJam MP, which was the app that Apple bought in 2001 and renamed/changed to iTunes. I preferred SoundJam MP to iTunes, and continued to use it as long as I could. SoundJam MP was able to sync music to one of the first DAPs, the Diamond Multimedia Rio, which earned them a lawsuit in 1998 from the RIAA. I'm curious how a Rio would test today, would be great to see it in a DAP group benchmark. EETimes looked back on the PMP300 in 2007, as did ArsTechnica in 2016.

 

[EJ3]

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.

I'm gonna' play files. I do not connect to the internet unless absolutely necessary.
Bottom line: You mean, like the phone (except WAY more important than the phone)?

 

[surjray]

Hiby R4 has the same PEQ as the more expensive R6, so I’d get the R4, unless you prefer paying an extra £180 for a volume knob, and no carrying leash.

There are 3 distinct models of R4, the new model below seems to be a good compromise

HiBy - Official Online Store - Music players, Earphones, Headphone amp

Explore everything about HiFi! Choose from entry-level DAPs to hi-end Android DAPs from HiBy online shop, and earphones, headphone amplifiers and more.

store.hiby.com

Thanks! This is nice advice. By any chance, does any of the Hiby DAPs support Wavelet (I saw in some posts that the headphone detection in Wavelet does not work in some DAPs)

 

[Subob]

Can I just chuck this question in here please?, since this seems to be the latest of the very few DAPs Amir has tested.

Are there any UK based testers doing similar work to Amir that we could send our devices to for testing?

 

[gofishus]

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.

Why a DAP over a dongle:

-it doesnt use up your phone battery
-microSD storage
-you don't lose them like you do a dongle
-analog volume dials or just better feeling volume buttons
-physical media controls
-a higher sound quality ceiling than dongles because DAPs are bigger and have more space to optimize the circuit
-power delivery optimization as well, many DAP makers can optimize how power is fed into each circuit
-aesthetically it looks better than carrying around a phone with a dongle. Having something dangling from your phone and carrying that around is just annoying. This is why a lot of people won't deal with the Onix XM10 for example because although it's a DAP, you still need a dongle for balanced out, and that's just annoying.

 

[Jimster480]

Why a DAP over a dongle:

-it doesnt use up your phone battery
-microSD storage
-you don't lose them like you do a dongle
-analog volume dials or just better feeling volume buttons
-physical media controls
-a higher sound quality ceiling than dongles because DAPs are bigger and have more space to optimize the circuit
-power delivery optimization as well, many DAP makers can optimize how power is fed into each circuit
-aesthetically it looks better than carrying around a phone with a dongle. Having something dangling from your phone and carrying that around is just annoying. This is why a lot of people won't deal with the Onix XM10 for example because although it's a DAP, you still need a dongle for balanced out, and that's just annoying.

None of that matters... Especially with the cost of a DAP VS a phone and 2tb SD cards existing. Worst case is you can buy an older phone and use it as a DAP. Most DAP have horrible real world performance.

 

[Roland68]

None of that matters... Especially with the cost of a DAP VS a phone and 2tb SD cards existing. Worst case is you can buy an older phone and use it as a DAP. Most DAP have horrible real world performance.

You are of course right, nothing of what was said plays a role in real life, regardless of whether it is my arguments, those of @gofishus, or anyone else.
Because it's the buyer/user who decides what's practical and useful for them personally, and no one else.

Besides, this market regulates itself; if there are no more buyers, these devices will disappear, all by themselves.

So it doesn't matter how often this topic is discussed in this or any other thread, because it will have zero impact on the real world.

And of course, none of you are right in your opinion, and of course, each of you is right in your opinion...

Do you know the joke about the rabbi and the two neighbors?
A man came to the rabbi and complained about his neighbor. The rabbi listened and said, "You're right." Satisfied, the man went home. Shortly afterward, the neighbor came and complained about the injustice the other neighbor had done to him. The rabbi listened and said, "You're right." The neighbor went home satisfied. The rabbi's wife, who had heard everything, said to her husband, "That's not possible. You can't agree with both of them." The rabbi replied, "You're right, but everyone is right from their own point of view."

That would be appropriate for many discussions in the forum, and by that, I don't mean discussions about sound or related topics.

 

[gofishus]

None of that matters... Especially with the cost of a DAP VS a phone and 2tb SD cards existing. Worst case is you can buy an older phone and use it as a DAP. Most DAP have horrible real world performance.

Have you ever owned a DAP or are you just making assumptions?

 

[gofishus]

You are of course right, nothing of what was said plays a role in real life, regardless of whether it is my arguments, those of @gofishus, or anyone else.
Because it's the buyer/user who decides what's practical and useful for them personally, and no one else.

Besides, this market regulates itself; if there are no more buyers, these devices will disappear, all by themselves.

So it doesn't matter how often this topic is discussed in this or any other thread, because it will have zero impact on the real world.

And of course, none of you are right in your opinion, and of course, each of you is right in your opinion...

Do you know the joke about the rabbi and the two neighbors?
A man came to the rabbi and complained about his neighbor. The rabbi listened and said, "You're right." Satisfied, the man went home. Shortly afterward, the neighbor came and complained about the injustice the other neighbor had done to him. The rabbi listened and said, "You're right." The neighbor went home satisfied. The rabbi's wife, who had heard everything, said to her husband, "That's not possible. You can't agree with both of them." The rabbi replied, "You're right, but everyone is right from their own point of view."

That would be appropriate for many discussions in the forum, and by that, I don't mean discussions about sound or related topics.

Exactly. Fact of the matter is the DAP market exists, and it doesn't have any signs of slowing down. Cayin, FiiO, Hiby, AK, Shanling etc are continually releasing new DAPs which means the demand and the market exists. It's not like DAP buyers aren't aware that phones and dongles exist. The benefits that I mentioned stand, regardless if you think 'none of that matters' or not. It might not matter to YOU. It doesn't mean that it doesn't matter to other people.

 

[Roland68]

Have you ever owned a DAP or are you just making assumptions?

I have to agree with @Jimster480; many DAPs are outrageously bad, especially for the price, and I can say that from experience, having used these devices since they came out and switching from a portable MD player.

There were/are good players under €100, even for €250 and even for €1500. I've often compared my Pioneer DAP, which is now over seven years old, with devices that are 3x, 5x, 10x, and even more expensive, and they were noticeably worse. But there were also devices that were at least as good.
Amir's tests and measurements have confirmed this in various places.

 

[gofishus]

I have to agree with @Jimster480; many DAPs are outrageously bad, especially for the price, and I can say that from experience, having used these devices since they came out and switching from a portable MD player.

There were/are good players under €100, even for €250 and even for €1500. I've often compared my Pioneer DAP, which is now over seven years old, with devices that are 3x, 5x, 10x, and even more expensive, and they were noticeably worse. But there were also devices that were at least as good.
Amir's tests and measurements have confirmed this in various places.

To each their own. I owned the XDP-100R which I'm guessing is the Pioneer DAP you are referring to, and would not go back to that over my SP3000M or N7.

 

[Roland68]

To each their own. I owned the XDP-100R which I'm guessing is the Pioneer DAP you are referring to, and would not go back to that over my SP3000M or N7.

I owned the Pioneer XDP-100R and XDP-300R, but I stuck with the XDP-30R because it was smaller, lighter, cheaper, and there was no difference in sound. Plus, no contact with the Android system.
Last year, I added a Fiio M15 because I wanted another DAP with a sleek aluminum case, a large display, and more performance.