Author Topic: Suggestions for a Portable Device  (Read 6039 times)

phred

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My iPod Classic 160gb has served me well - even letting me sync it with MB. But as my music collection has expanded, I find that if I want to carry my entire collection around, 160gb isn't enough. Also, the battery on the Classic is starting to not hold its charge as long as it used to. I could get the battery replaced for a small amount of money, but then I still have the storage issue. So I'm looking for a new device.

I'm am not an audiophile so I don't need a lot of audio bells and whistles. My requirements are simple:
- Good battery life, ideally with a replaceable battery.
- Storage either internal or with a card of 200-256 gb.
- Works nicely with MB and -especially- with playlists.
- I sync in one direction only (MB to the device) so I don't need playlist management, or tagging, on the device.
- My files are mostly (+/- 90%) MP3 with the balance FLAC. No need for video, but I wouldn't reject it.

I mostly use the device when in the car - connecting from the headphone jack to the car's aux input. I don't need bluetooth as I have no BT headphones and don't wish to buy them. The device is also used when walking around, so it should fit in a shirt or jacket pocket. Less often it's used in the house when I don't want to hear anything else that's going on.

At this point I'm homing in on either the FiiO X3-II or X1-II with the X3 at the top of the list.

I'd like to get some input from other portable users on the FiiOs or anything else that one is extremely happy with, but that also meets my requirements.

Thanks.
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Mobbsypom

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Hi,

as no-one else has responded, and you have provided shedloads of help on these forums..here is my twopennyworth...

the other consideration is ease of use...and that for me has been the deciding factor

I have all of the devices you mentioned (and a couple of others I will gloss over!)....

In terms of sound the FiiO's are very very good but as I enter my twilight years (:)) this is off-set by the font which is quite quite small and therefore quite fiddly(as is the interface)..battery life is not what it could be..I have the fiio3..fiddly buttons..the new onehas the scroll wheel..not sure how that goes

the newer Sony's (not the stupid priced ones but the NWA 17 or similar are very good, relatively simple to use and the blue tooth connects painlessly..battery life is very good..60 hours they claim...never got that far as I connect to pc to move music and this charges at the same time (there is the typical issue with Sony and that is that you need a Sony cable..)

Interestingly, I currently using an old (as being defined as 1 year!) android phone (Moto style) ..heaps of memory (currently 128Gb, but supports 256), touch screen..and allows other media (radio and podcasts)..sound quality (with reasonable in-ear) is very good (although as previously noted..the approach of twilight means that maybe my fine tuned hearing is going off!)

the best sounding device ever was a Cowon S9 ..brilliant, bright, full eq, great battery life, fitted in your pocket..but small memory (32Gb) and discontinued

Anyway hope this helps

Cheers




phred

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Thanks for the suggestion Mobbsypom.

I've done some research on the NWA 17 and here's what I've found (as important to me.) Others may find the pros to be con and the cons to be pro.

First off, for anyone considering this device, note that the NWA 17 is Japanese language ONLY and can't be changed. The NWZA 17 is an English language device and the language may or may not be changeable. I couldn't find anything definitive on this. But since I use US English the ZA 17 would be fine. Some sites don't seem to specify that the NWA 17 is Japanese only and that has resulted in some pretty upset customers. Buyer beware!

Pros:
- FM radio
- Bluetooth (which I don't need now, but it's nice to have)
- 64gb internal + MicroSD card slot up to 192gb although some users state they're using it with 256gb
- Much thinner than the FiiO

Cons:
- With two places for storage (internal + SD card) playlists won't work if the playlist's music is split between the two places. So if some songs are on the 64gb internal, and some are on the card, they can't be played as a playlist. This is a deal-breaker for me.
- Pricier than the FiiO X3-II. The Sony is $130 (US) more than the FiiO and that's before adding in the cost of the SD card.

So at this point, I'm still leaning towards the FiiO since playlists and storage are probably the two most important considerations for me.
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Mobbsypom

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Phred,

all fair comments..

the Sony range is slightly complicated by the range of localised names it gives devices..I am currently in Aus..and we have a different name range then in the motherland..

I have to admit that when I used the Sony..I only read from the memory card rather than the devices internal memory (as my model only had 16gb internal and I can run a 256 SD card..whilst I dont use playlists..this way it still made it a lot easier to use)

Having said all that the Fiio, still sounds better.(and is more substantially built than the Sonys..important for clumsy hands like mine!) ....one thing to check is the firmware build..there used to be limitation on the number of files read..and you would have to scour forums (such as Head-FI) to find work arounds (I had the first generation release)

Good luck and good listening






phred

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I have to admit that when I used the Sony..I only read from the memory card rather than the devices internal memory (as my model only had 16gb internal and I can run a 256 SD card..whilst I dont use playlists..this way it still made it a lot easier to use)
That's pretty much why I'm leaning towards the X3-II and not the X5-II. While it has two card slots, it would present the same problems with playlists.

Quote
Having said all that the Fiio, still sounds better.(and is more substantially built than the Sonys..important for clumsy hands like mine!) ....one thing to check is the firmware build..there used to be limitation on the number of files read..and you would have to scour forums (such as Head-FI) to find work arounds (I had the first generation release)
I'll look at Head-Fi, but other 'net chatter I've read says with the latest X3 firmware, there are no limits. I've got FiiO's firmware page already bookmarked.

Thanks again.
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CritterMan

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A neat tidbit: If a device can use a class 10 128GB microSD, the limit truly is the current manufacturing technology. The limit on these cards using current architecture is 2TB, and as far as anyone seems to know there is no reason why any of these players couldn't use 2TB cards if they existed. Kinda makes me wish they were using SD instead of micro SD. Again, no reason why they couldn't.
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phred

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A follow-up for those reading this thread.

After much reading of various audio sites (including Head-Fi) I have changed my leading candidate from the FiiO X3-II to the FiiO X1-II. At a savings of about 45%. I mentioned in my first post that I'm not an audiophile and that storage capacity is the most important feature, along with good battery life.

My reading convinced me that while X3 served my needs, it would be overkill for what I want in a device. The X1 has great battery life and while it doesn't have the rounded corners of the X3, the vertical sides are rounded. Plus the X1 is about 4mm thinner than the X3. And it has BlueTooth. And can use a 256gb card.

I do admit it seems somewhat odd to pay more for the SD card than for the device, but it is what it is.

I'm pulling the trigger on this purchase today and will report back once I've had some time to play with it.
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Mobbsypom

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I agree,,pricing is weird

Good luck and enjoy your purchase

phred

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The SanDisk 256gb microSDXC card arrived the other day. After reading the FiiO manual and checking their online FAQ and forum, I formatted it with exFAT. I should note here that with the card in the included SD adapter, Windows would only see 3.7mg. Once I put the card in a USB adapter Windows saw all 256gb.

Once formatted, I fired up MB and set up a config for syncing approx 19,000 tracks (all mp3) to the card. I started it around midnight since I knew it would take some time. My config included "level volume by tracks" which apparently is one reason for the slowness. Eight hours later, I turned on the monitor and saw the sync stuck at 57% and an error window stating that the volume normalized has stopped working. Once I OK'd out of the error, the sync continued. But I canceled it at this point and started over. And within a few minutes, the same error message appeared. I restated MB and again it happened. So I turned off the option for volume leveling and started yet again.

At 77% MB started showing a "Copy Failed. The device is not ready." status for every track. And there was now no drive letter showing in for the device in Windows explorer. I had to start all over after closing MB and pulling and reinserting the card. This time I got to 85% when MB stopped because it said the device was full despite the sync window showing 35% still available. Again I pulled and reinserted the card, this time without closing MB and the sync picked up where it left off.

At this point my library is copied to the card and I am waiting for the FiiO to arrive (supposedly it is shipping today and will be here in two days.)

The only other problems I ran in to was that MB seems to be ignoring the library filter I used for the sync: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=20830.0 The selected library filter is respected on the other two portables I've been syncing with MB. The other issue is that the selected library filter doesn't persist between MB sessions: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=20831.0  I'm waiting for Steven to take a look at these.

I'll continue posting my adventure so others may benefit from my experience.
Last Edit: January 23, 2017, 04:50:44 PM by phred
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CritterMan

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I've never tried syncing so many songs at once, I'm glad you succeeded after so many tries. If you're interested, there's a review up on YouTube of the X1ii and a several other DAPs that got posted yesterday by Z Reviews, the X1 part begins at about 30 minutes. Spoiler alert, his pick was the X1ii. He is often wrong on his facts and specs, but he does go through the device interface on camera. He's also apparently getting an X5iii from FiiO soon, and I'm really excited to see that review.
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phred

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Thanks Critterman, I give the video review a look.
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phred

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The X1-II arrived yesterday and was boxed nicely. Reminded me of the way Apple packages their devices. A nice touch with (apparently) all their devices: included are two screen protectors, one of which is factory installed, and the plastic case that wraps around the two sides and back.

I started charging it (the manual said 3 hours to full charge) and one there was enough power I went through the settings and set it up the way I wanted. After 1.5 hours it was fully charged and I inserted the microSD card which I had previous synced with my entire MB library and all my playlists. All music was recognized, as were the playlists, but the playlist couldn't find the music.  I had made a slight mistake when setting up MB for the sync. I failed to enable "use relative file paths" for playlist storage. Once I resynced all was well.

I updated the firmware to the latest and noticed that the sensitivity of the scrollwheel was out of control. It went so fast that I couldn't land on the item I wanted to select. It took a number of tries. The FiiO forum implies that there is a problem with the firmware I used and it continues to exist in the latest version. Rolling back the firmware brought the scrollwhell back under my control and it's now working well.

For 100 USD I can't see how you could go wrong. But you do need to add storage as the device comes with none. I went with a SanDisk 256gb microSDXC which I found online for about 150 USD and was well worth the price.
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