xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP) Review

[Jimster480]

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

I did own one before. In fact I had a couple. One of them I sent here for testing. A high end FiiO DAP.
Overall it wasn't really better than an LG G8 and today with a dongle, it's not better than any phone.
I have a Sony Xperia 1 IV and a Moto G Stylus 5G 2022, both are perfectly fine for most IEMs (Sony makes trash output power though) through their headphone Jack's... And both are great for a variety of headphones when using a cheap Hiby FC4.
I also have a FiiO KA13 and it's better Than most any DAP output (unless you are spending several thousand). Yet it's $75-90 (depending on region) and goes on sale for $59 sometimes.

With the number of great android phones available for nearly free... If you don't want to use your primary device as a music player; just buy an android phone with a good output or a dongle + a second phone.
It will be smaller and more versatile.
If you want all the power in a bigger size; you can do a phone + topping G5... Being somewhat bigger than most DAP but having better performance than basically any one I have ever seen... And again more versatile.

 

[gofishus]

I did own one before. In fact I had a couple. One of them I sent here for testing. A high end FiiO DAP.
Overall it wasn't really better than an LG G8 and today with a dongle, it's not better than any phone.
I have a Sony Xperia 1 IV and a Moto G Stylus 5G 2022, both are perfectly fine for most IEMs (Sony makes trash output power though) through their headphone Jack's... And both are great for a variety of headphones when using a cheap Hiby FC4.
I also have a FiiO KA13 and it's better Than most any DAP output (unless you are spending several thousand). Yet it's $75-90 (depending on region) and goes on sale for $59 sometimes.

With the number of great android phones available for nearly free... If you don't want to use your primary device as a music player; just buy an android phone with a good output or a dongle + a second phone.
It will be smaller and more versatile.
If you want all the power in a bigger size; you can do a phone + topping G5... Being somewhat bigger than most DAP but having better performance than basically any one I have ever seen... And again more versatile.

Well you can believe what you want to believe. Power wise, any modern phone can drive an IEM. As to whether or not it sounds the same as a DAP is another matter. I personally hear a noticeable sound quality difference between my Sony Xperia 5 V headphone jack and my AK SP3000M but if you want to say that's all in my head and placebo go head, I just personally hear a noticeable difference that's all.

 

[EJ3]

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.

Then you have to carry 2 phones.
In a place where there is no phone signal without your own phone antenna system.
A large part of the point for me is to carry precisely ZERO phones.
I just want to carry my music (it is not likely to be listened to through headphones or ear buds, anyway.
It's a lot harder to realize that there is a gator, couger or rattlesnake near you when you can't hear anything because of music blasting in your ears. Loud speakers tent to keep them away (although not always).
On my lawn (on different days [fences are not something that bothers them, either]):

The lawn mower noise did not seem to bother it:

You would be surprised how close you can get to these with a rider mower before they indicate annoyance (I tend to keep about 30 feet away, anyway, as for short distance the can outrun lawnmowers and humans):

And, while these are relatively quiet (except for the ones that rattle), unless they are 6 feet long or something, the riding lawn mower can help you. But I am on foot a lot more than I am on a lawnmower:
Oh, damn, it's behind me:

You see my foot print.
But, there are bennefits here (privacy):

 

[EJ3]

Well you can believe what you want to believe. Power wise, any modern phone can drive an IEM. As to whether or not it sounds the same as a DAP is another matter. I personally hear a noticeable sound quality difference between my Sony Xperia 5 V headphone jack and my AK SP3000M but if you want to say that's all in my head and placebo go head, I just personally hear a noticeable difference that's all.

Goin' to use speakers. An IEM will get you killed here.

 

[Subob]

I did own one before. In fact I had a couple. One of them I sent here for testing. A high end FiiO DAP.
Overall it wasn't really better than an LG G8 and today with a dongle, it's not better than any phone.
I have a Sony Xperia 1 IV and a Moto G Stylus 5G 2022, both are perfectly fine for most IEMs (Sony makes trash output power though) through their headphone Jack's... And both are great for a variety of headphones when using a cheap Hiby FC4.
I also have a FiiO KA13 and it's better Than most any DAP output (unless you are spending several thousand). Yet it's $75-90 (depending on region) and goes on sale for $59 sometimes.

With the number of great android phones available for nearly free... If you don't want to use your primary device as a music player; just buy an android phone with a good output or a dongle + a second phone.
It will be smaller and more versatile.
If you want all the power in a bigger size; you can do a phone + topping G5... Being somewhat bigger than most DAP but having better performance than basically any one I have ever seen... And again more versatile.

But you're just describing your particular use case preference, nothing more.

I can't understand this almost evangelical approach towards DAP users that a lot of phone + dongle users have. It's simply a case of to each their own, and for many of us, DAP's suit us very nicely.

 

[EJ3]

But you're just describing your particular use case preference, nothing more.

I can't understand this almost evangelical approach towards DAP users that a lot of phone + dongle users have. It's simply a case of to each their own, and for many of us, DAP's suit us very nicely.

Evangelical is a great description but I will go a step further and say CULT LIKE.

Because all must do it their way, I guess (treating us as if we were not aware that their way existed).

They are just describing some peoples empirical use case, too. A lot like the cast iron stove calling the cast iron kettle black.

Many people just have their preferances and they were not asking how to do it the phone + dongle way, as far as I could tell

The only reason I posted this is because of their ignorant insistance that people need to do it their way.

 

[xanalog]

None of that matters...

To some; it DOES matter much:
Few 1TB microSD cards and a DAP will make any digital music library OTG, in addition to the benefit of a back-up for a library on a NAS, a computer and/or cloud storage.

To others; it matters but not enough:
How many of you have volunteered your DAP for a shake-down by @amirm? [tsk, tsk!]

The Hidizs AP80 PRO-X and the iBasso DX series of DAPs look inviting!

 

[Jimster480]

Well you can believe what you want to believe. Power wise, any modern phone can drive an IEM. As to whether or not it sounds the same as a DAP is another matter. I personally hear a noticeable sound quality difference between my Sony Xperia 5 V headphone jack and my AK SP3000M but if you want to say that's all in my head and placebo go head, I just personally hear a noticeable difference that's all.

That would be due to the anemic power output of the Xperia 5 V which only outputs 1.3mw...

Then you have to carry 2 phones.
In a place where there is no phone signal without your own phone antenna system.
A large part of the point for me is to carry precisely ZERO phones.
I just want to carry my music (it is not likely to be listened to through headphones or ear buds, anyway.
It's a lot harder to realize that there is a gator, couger or rattlesnake near you when you can't hear anything because of music blasting in your ears. Loud speakers tent to keep them away (although not always).
On my lawn (on different days [fences are not something that bothers them, either]):
View attachment 484338
View attachment 484339
The lawn mower noise did not seem to bother it:
View attachment 484341
You would be surprised how close you can get to these with a rider mower before they indicate annoyance (I tend to keep about 30 feet away, anyway, as for short distance the can outrun lawnmowers and humans):
View attachment 484344
And, while these are relatively quiet (except for the ones that rattle), unless they are 6 feet long or something, the riding lawn mower can help you. But I am on foot a lot more than I am on a lawnmower:
Oh, damn, it's behind me:
View attachment 484347

View attachment 484346View attachment 484345
You see my foot print.
But, there are bennefits here (privacy):
View attachment 484349

You do realize you can buy a phone, put it on airplane mode and never connect it to any phone network right? I personally have 3 old smartphones which are used as media controllers / hosts around my house and none have phone service.
A DAP is larger than almost any phone, so 2 phones (with just 1 being actually connected to network) is likely smaller than any DAP and gives more options.
If you are specifically needing some offline media player for working around your yard, then you can still use a headphone from a LG G8 for example...
Otherwise you are creating a scenario for yourself to use this device. I also have acreage and a riding mower.When I work around my yard; I wear IEMs that are Bluetooth.

The sound quality is "OK" considering the scenario and the ANC is a bonus you don't get with a DAP or any wired headphones.
I have 50 hrs of music synced to my phone from Spotify and that works fine for me, but again you can do whatever you like

But you're just describing your particular use case preference, nothing more.

I can't understand this almost evangelical approach towards DAP users that a lot of phone + dongle users have. It's simply a case of to each their own, and for many of us, DAP's suit us very nicely.

I don't even use a dongle most of the Time. I use wireless headphones or wired IEMs normally with my phones. But with the price on ebay of phones that have good headphone jack outputs... It makes most every DAP a laughably bad value for almost every scenario.

To some; it DOES matter much:
Few 1TB microSD cards and a DAP will make any digital music library OTG, in addition to the benefit of a back-up for a library on a NAS, a computer and/or cloud storage.

To others; it matters but not enough:
How many of you have volunteered your DAP for a shake-down by @amirm? [tsk, tsk!]

The Hidizs AP80 PRO-X and the iBasso DX series of DAPs look inviting!

I think that everyone who has a DAP and thinks it's good should send it into Amir for testing.
You shouldnt need a few 1TB microSD cards for music.... 384kbps OGG VBR q9 is just as good as Flac and so much smaller, you would need to have spent 100k on music to fill it up.
To me, I use Spotify because I wouldn't pay for music if I had to purchase it. I would probably only have 2-3 albums to support a specific artist or something... So my Spotify gives me unlimited access to so much music (and I use it, as I am a top 1% Spotify user) that I would need to have my subscription for 3+ lifetimes to make up for the cost.
How that is commercially viable for Spotify? It's not my problem at this point and time will tell if streaming is able to stay around in the long term.

 

[EJ3]

That would be due to the anemic power output of the Xperia 5 V which only outputs 1.3mw...

You do realize you can buy a phone, put it on airplane mode and never connect it to any phone network right? I personally have 3 old smartphones which are used as media controllers / hosts around my house and none have phone service.
A DAP is larger than almost any phone, so 2 phones (with just 1 being actually connected to network) is likely smaller than any DAP and gives more options.
If you are specifically needing some offline media player for working around your yard, then you can still use a headphone from a LG G8 for example...
Otherwise you are creating a scenario for yourself to use this device. I also have acreage and a riding mower.When I work around my yard; I wear IEMs that are Bluetooth.

The sound quality is "OK" considering the scenario and the ANC is a bonus you don't get with a DAP or any wired headphones.
I have 50 hrs of music synced to my phone from Spotify and that works fine for me, but again you can do whatever you like


I don't even use a dongle most of the Time. I use wireless headphones or wired IEMs normally with my phones. But with the price on ebay of phones that have good headphone jack outputs... It makes most every DAP a laughably bad value for almost every scenario.


I think that everyone who has a DAP and thinks it's good should send it into Amir for testing.
You shouldnt need a few 1TB microSD cards for music.... 384kbps OGG VBR q9 is just as good as Flac and so much smaller, you would need to have spent 100k on music to fill it up.
To me, I use Spotify because I wouldn't pay for music if I had to purchase it. I would probably only have 2-3 albums to support a specific artist or something... So my Spotify gives me unlimited access to so much music (and I use it, as I am a top 1% Spotify user) that I would need to have my subscription for 3+ lifetimes to make up for the cost.
How that is commercially viable for Spotify? It's not my problem at this point and time will tell if streaming is able to stay around in the long term.

The object is to not carry a phone of ANY type. Nor the DAP, actually. The object is to have something other than a phone to play my music into whatever I wish that is not computerized in any significant way.
I do not speak in riddles. What part of I am uninterested in having a phone with IEM's or hedphones because I like my life & would certainly lose it using those.
Did you skip over the picture and the text and come in late.
Or are you just DAFT?
I've been anting to buy a boat engine down your way (and visit some friends down there that actually pay attention to what is said.
Perhaps you are another phone + dongle CULT member.
There is definitely something amiss (&, in an unusual event, it's not me).

 

[Jimster480]

The object is to not carry a phone of ANY type. Nor the DAP, actually. The object is to have something other than a phone to play my music into whatever I wish that is not computerized in any significant way.
I do not speak in riddles. What part of I am uninterested in having a phone with IEM's or hedphones because I like my life & would certainly lose it using those.
Did you skip over the picture and the text and come in late.
Or are you just DAFT?
I've been anting to buy a boat engine down your way (and visit some friends down there that actually pay attention to what is said.
Perhaps you are another phone + dongle CULT member.
There is definitely something amiss (&, in an unusual event, it's not me).

I don't really understand what you're talking about in any way, shape or form, because you are on a forum, speaking about audio science, and you're talking about non-digitized music, not carrying anything, and not using any headphones.
So, set up a record player on your porch with some tower speakers. I don't know why you would be talking about anything else, because that's the only thing that fits any of the words that you're writing.
Otherwise use a desktop or laptop computer to play your music... A DAP is literally a phone without the modem setup. There are very few "MP3 players" today which don't use modern OS or Internet or apps.

 

[AudioSceptic]

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.

Yes, those are all possible factors, but as I said, the SQ *might* actually be worse with some DAPs, and I don't want to carry 2 gadgets when one will do everything. The Apple adapter looks like nothing more than a short cable extension, of course.

 

[EJ3]

Yes, those are all possible factors, but as I said, the SQ *might* actually be worse with some DAPs, and I don't want to carry 2 gadgets when one will do everything. The Apple adapter looks like nothing more than a short cable extension, of course.

Well that is you. You obviously do not think that we know what we want.
So, just to inform you formely & properly: it is NOT a phone and a dongle.
If you cannot suggest a good DAP, then why are you posting on this thread?
Just to be clear: this is not a thread about DAP alternatives.
It is a thread about DAPs.
Oh, that's right! You must be DAFT!
Thanks for proving that you are DAFT.
It's good information to know.

 

[Somafunk]

To some; it DOES matter much:
Few 1TB microSD cards and a DAP will make any digital music library OTG, in addition to the benefit of a back-up for a library on a NAS, a computer and/or cloud storage.

To others; it matters but not enough:
How many of you have volunteered your DAP for a shake-down by @amirm? [tsk, tsk!]

The Hidizs AP80 PRO-X and the iBasso DX series of DAPs look inviting!

I have to admit I backed the kickstarter for the Hidiz AP80 Pro-X so we’ll see what I think of it in December, it was cheap enough but not as cheap as the Tempotec V1 I received a few months ago, it’s still working fine and with the latest firmware update it’s not missed a beat.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Well that is you. You obviously do not think that we know what we want.
So, just to inform you formely & properly: it is NOT a phone and a dongle.
If you cannot suggest a good DAP, then why are you posting on this thread?
Just to be clear: this is not a thread about DAP alternatives.
It is a thread about DAPs.
Oh, that's right! You must be DAFT!
Thanks for proving that you are DAFT.
It's good information to know.

I'm sorry, it's JMO so please ignore. (I could report you but will not.)

 

[EJ3]

Well that is you. You obviously do not think that we know what we want.
So, just to inform you formely & properly: it is NOT a phone and a dongle.
If you cannot suggest a good DAP, then why are you posting on this thread?
Just to be clear: this is not a thread about DAP alternatives.
It is a thread about DAPs.
Oh, that's right! You must be DAFT!
Thanks for proving that you are DAFT.
It's good information to know.

Truce is good.
Reporting can work both ways when things go off topic.
I didn't because I realize that we are both JMO on this.
And I am still hoping for some good (maybe even great) DAP suggestions.
You know, optomism, in spite of the lack of good evidence for a reason to be that way.

 

[Jimster480]

Truce is good.
Reporting can work both ways when things go off topic.
I didn't because I realize that we are both JMO on this.
And I am still hoping for some good (maybe even great) DAP suggestions.
You know, optomism, in spite of the lack of good evidence for a reason to be that way.

What price range for a DAP? Overall there are very few DAPs here which are measured...
DAPs come in all sizes and feature sets? What file type does your music library mostly use? How large is it?
How portable does it need to be? What about battery life?
You are asking for things without really providing much information.
I gave you my suggestion of buying a used phone which would be better, and you shot that down.
The DAP this thread is actually about has worse audio quality and output then most mobile phones with 3.5mm audio jacks.

So since you are asking for suggestions; maybe provide us some information first on what YOU are looking for.

 

[EJ3]

What price range for a DAP? Overall there are very few DAPs here which are measured...
DAPs come in all sizes and feature sets? What file type does your music library mostly use? How large is it?
How portable does it need to be? What about battery life?
You are asking for things without really providing much information.
I gave you my suggestion of buying a used phone which would be better, and you shot that down.
The DAP this thread is actually about has worse audio quality and output then most mobile phones with 3.5mm audio jacks.

So since you are asking for suggestions; maybe provide us some information first on what YOU are looking for.

I have not yet started any music file system & will likely start making one by the second quarter of next year. I'm thinking FLAC copies of my vinyl & CD collections.
I do not (and likely will not) stream, although I have, on occasion, downloaded a HD file of some sort on a laptop that can play CD's, DVDs & Blu Rays.
But my windows 10 (nope,nut going to 11 & Linux doesn't seem to have a good Blu Ray/4K player, so not sure what I will do about that. It's actually why I want to digitize my stuff.
Battery life: mayby I'll use it mowing the lawn (riding mower) with headphones (keeping debris away from my ears) one of the few times that I will not be listening through speakers. so for 3 hours, maybe. Most other times a power source will be available.
Size: smaller is nicer frovided that it is cometant & easily functional but I am not limited in size much.
And feeding my vehicles stereo's through blutooth, I think.
It's function mainly as a portable NAS.
Price: competency, funtionality & longevity is way more important than price (but buying things because of showing off a name brand, that are usually high priced incompetency is out).
So, basically, many of the things that you mention are quit flexible to me (which is why I have not mentioned them).
Even used gear is fine, as long as I can manage to replace the battery or have it replaced (I am not beyond disassembling it to do so, if it can be done).
My ancient Apple phone has had it's "unreplaceable" battery replaced many times over the years.
It is highly likely that I do not yet know enough about what is the best way to go with these things, so far ther seems to be not much info available.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Truce is good.
Reporting can work both ways when things go off topic.
I didn't because I realize that we are both JMO on this.
And I am still hoping for some good (maybe even great) DAP suggestions.
You know, optomism, in spite of the lack of good evidence for a reason to be that way.

Actually the thread title refers to a review of just one DAP, but I'll let that pass. ;-)

 

[AudioSceptic]

What price range for a DAP? Overall there are very few DAPs here which are measured...
DAPs come in all sizes and feature sets? What file type does your music library mostly use? How large is it?
How portable does it need to be? What about battery life?
You are asking for things without really providing much information.
I gave you my suggestion of buying a used phone which would be better, and you shot that down.
The DAP this thread is actually about has worse audio quality and output then most mobile phones with 3.5mm audio jacks.

So since you are asking for suggestions; maybe provide us some information first on what YOU are looking for.

Watch out: you might get accused of going OT! ;-)

 

[AudioSceptic]

I have not yet started any music file system & will likely start making one by the second quarter of next year. I'm thinking FLAC copies of my vinyl & CD collections.
I do not (and likely will not) stream, although I have, on occasion, downloaded a HD file of some sort on a laptop that can play CD's, DVDs & Blu Rays.
But my windows 10 (nope,nut going to 11 & Linux doesn't seem to have a good Blu Ray/4K player, so not sure what I will do about that. It's actually why I want to digitize my stuff.
Battery life: mayby I'll use it mowing the lawn (riding mower) with headphones (keeping debris away from my ears) one of the few times that I will not be listening through speakers. so for 3 hours, maybe. Most other times a power source will be available.
Size: smaller is nicer frovided that it is cometant & easily functional but I am not limited in size much.
And feeding my vehicles stereo's through blutooth, I think.
It's function mainly as a portable NAS.
Price: competency, funtionality & longevity is way more important than price (but buying things because of showing off a name brand, that are usually high priced incompetency is out).
So, basically, many of the things that you mention are quit flexible to me (which is why I have not mentioned them).
Even used gear is fine, as long as I can manage to replace the battery or have it replaced (I am not beyond disassembling it to do so, if it can be done).
My ancient Apple phone has had it's "unreplaceable" battery replaced many times over the years.
It is highly likely that I do not yet know enough about what is the best way to go with these things, so far ther seems to be not much info available.

Just to answer one point: I tried recording LPs to digital a long time ago and very quickly gave up. It takes far too long because it has to be real time, and then you have to divide it all into tracks, etc. And then you notice the faults with vinyl even more (yes, I do have a decent TT). Roughly how many LPs and CDs do you have?