xDuoo X5 Digital Audio Player (DAP) Review

[Subob]

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?

As we're fully OT now...

You are exactly right. I have nearly a thousand pieces of vinyl, mostly LPs, and ripping them is taking forever! That's using a cd recorder, then into my old laptop with Asunder, then Kid3 for album art tagging. Also, when you listen to them on a DAP via headphones or iems, you again realise why you like CDs so much, lol.

Tbf, vinyl still sounds nice on the hifi set up, but with headphones or iems you hear every single flaw going.

 

[EJ3]

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?

Roughly 600 LPs here, probably another 100 at a different location (which is where most of my CD's are).
As to how many CD's, I am clueless but likely to be 1.2 to 3/4 the amount of LP's.
Ther are 78's from 1927 up throu whenever they became "not a thing" anymore.
And some Reel to Reels of things like the audio of the Houston Space Center talking to the guys that landed on the moon.
And cassettes of family events, etc.
I just had all our home movies from 1931 (my mother's parents snow skiing wedding in the Austrian Alps around Salzburg)-1965 digitized, so I understand about real time aspect of these projects.
With any luck, next year, I'll have that time available after the first quarter.

 

[EJ3]

As we're fully OT now...

You are exactly right. I have nearly a thousand pieces of vinyl, mostly LPs, and ripping them is taking forever! That's using a cd recorder, then into my old laptop with Asunder, then Kid3 for album art tagging. Also, when you listen to them on a DAP via headphones or iems, you again realise why you like CDs so much, lol.

Tbf, vinyl still sounds nice on the hifi set up, but with headphones or iems you hear every single flaw going.

I can re-rip the CD's into 20 bit CD's with a Sony RCD-W500C (I don't know about putting it into the phono processor loop yet, I haven't tried that yet).
Really, my schedule is too busy to mess with it until at least January.
But, I will find out between then & the end of the 1st quarter.

 

[M.C. Logan]

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.

Most phones don't take SD cards any more, strike one.
Most people use their 'old' phone until it is broken or unusable, it is then recycled, strike two.
All of that matters, a fragile lump stuck in the USB socket of a phone is *highly* likely to cause damage in the long, if not short, term unless it's only used on a desk, not in your pocket. The fragile lump itself is also liable to damage. A cable hanging off of your phone is *highly* inconvenient/awkward. Strike 3.
Dismissing other people's use cases isn't productive or clever.

 

[AudioSceptic]

As we're fully OT now...

You are exactly right. I have nearly a thousand pieces of vinyl, mostly LPs, and ripping them is taking forever! That's using a cd recorder, then into my old laptop with Asunder, then Kid3 for album art tagging. Also, when you listen to them on a DAP via headphones or iems, you again realise why you like CDs so much, lol.

Tbf, vinyl still sounds nice on the hifi set up, but with headphones or iems you hear every single flaw going.

I instead have been buying used CDs, mostly cheap from ebay, and ripping those. These are often remasters or special editions with extra tracks, and so are better than the LPs ever were. The CDs are also an extra level of backup, of course. I can still play the LPs as a "I wonder what that sounds like now" reminder but rarely bother.

 

[xanalog]

Just to answer one point: I tried recording LPs to digital a long time ago and very quickly gave up.

Just one point: What even convinced you to try, in the first place?

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Just one point: What even convinced you to try, in the first place?

I ripped a bunch of LPs to Flac with no problem at all. I had to record in real time, naturally from the tape out on my receiver. I used DCart audio restoration software (great stuff, if you need it) to record and take care of surface noise when required. It took a while but I did it as a hobby rather than a task. I was happy with the results. The LPs were almost all in good condition with no obvious defects.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

As we're fully OT now...

You are exactly right. I have nearly a thousand pieces of vinyl, mostly LPs, and ripping them is taking forever! That's using a cd recorder, then into my old laptop with Asunder, then Kid3 for album art tagging. Also, when you listen to them on a DAP via headphones or iems, you again realise why you like CDs so much, lol.

Tbf, vinyl still sounds nice on the hifi set up, but with headphones or iems you hear every single flaw going.

I recommend DCart software or something similar. You have to record in real time. If you have an audio interface you can go directly into your computer. DCart has a nice little utility for splitting into tracks by detecting periods of silence greater than an amount of time you can control. you still have to name the files and tag them. It's also very capable semi-pro audio restoration software developed as a byproduct of a project a couple of audio engineers did digitizing discs and cylinders for the Edison Museum. There are other products like it. It has several de-noising utilities that do a pretty good job. It also has some mastering tools like reverb, compression/decompression, filters, etc.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Just one point: What even convinced you to try, in the first place?

Not sure now. Didn't want to buy another version of something I already had? Wanted to see if the "vinyl sound" (full Linn LP12 setup of the time if you're interested) would be captured? It's become increasingly weird to even consider it since then.

 

[xanalog]

(full Linn LP12 setup of the time if you're interested)

I'll cut you some slack, because you put the attempt in its proper context.
Nice TT but still a simple attempt at frustration.

I had a pristine LP library of 600+, some rare, some collectors, some direct-to-disk, (etc.)...
In 2001, I took the path of least resistance by selling the whole LP lot for $6k.
By that time, I already had a CD library that was well-over one thousand...
In 2011, I sold that whole CD lot for $3k, after ripping them onto HDDs, later into a NAS and also to microSD cards.

This xDuoo X5 DAP (tested herein) is used along with those 1TB microSD cards.
It is a truly 'mobile' device, which gets used in our vehicles and when we are away.
... no updates, no trackers, no ads, no connectivity required!

But I am hunting for a replacement...

 

[AdrianusG]

Most phones don't take SD cards any more, strike one.
Most people use their 'old' phone until it is broken or unusable, it is then recycled, strike two.
All of that matters, a fragile lump stuck in the USB socket of a phone is *highly* likely to cause damage in the long, if not short, term unless it's only used on a desk, not in your pocket. The fragile lump itself is also liable to damage. A cable hanging off of your phone is *highly* inconvenient/awkward. Strike 3.
Dismissing other people's use cases isn't productive or clever.

Hi ,

You could be right, lately my phone has problems with charging (USB-C) dropping in and out with various cables, the likely cause, i quite often use it with a dongle DAC > IEM's ,
so yes it's sticking out of the USB socket, mostly while i'm cycling, so. in the long run it will probably ruin the phones USB connector.

As to differences in sound, i perceive nothing remarkable, i have an older model DAP as well, which sounds pretty good, but so does my phone with the dongle DAC.