Currently, I am using Shure-SE215, FiiO E11 and Galaxy S7 as my daily driver. I am actually satisfied with current combination, but I wonder if I will get a better experience if I change my Galaxy S7 to FiiO x1 2nd gen as my audio player. Or is it better to get a new headphone amp rather than FiiO X1?

*I just copied my review from another site, so excuse any weird phrasing.

I have owned the first gen X1 for over two years, and it has yet to let me down. I like new technology, and my scroll wheel was starting to get finicky, so I thought I would give the "next gen" x1 a go. For $100, I was intrigued. Sadly, the cosmetic changes and bluetooth are not enough to make me give up my first gen. I will be returning this. Even if you are a newcomer, the slow track change may be enough to turn you away. I won't comment on sound quality since nothing is noticeably different.

*Now that the gen1 X1 is only $80, you can just get a bluetooth transmitter to make it the same price as the new x1. So that does not have to be a major decider if you don't mind a small doggle on the device.

THE IMPROVED

Cosmetic design: The 2nd gen looks much better. The glossy, rounded metal is a massive improvement over the squared 1st gen. However, I keep the included rubber case on my gen1, and have dropped it while running on the treadmill numerous times and with no problems. No rubber case included with the gen2, but a clear hard plastic one. The raised buttons also have a better feel to them. The look and feel of the black metal has a very premium feel.

The UI is pretty much the same, but has different icons on the home screen? OK

Scroll wheel acceleration is also a nice improvement if you have many artists to scroll through. But it can be hard to control. I like to avoid this problem altogether by grouping my music into folders to avoid massive lists of artists.

THE BAD

SLOW: I will start with my biggest complaint and the main reason I am returning this. Boot up time is about the same, but it takes at least 3 seconds from the time to select a song to the time you hear music. Even when you click next track. On the gen1, it is instantaneous. I timed with my phone and it took around 3 1/4 seconds for a song change. That doesn't seem like much, but if you are jumping around or just want to skip a track, it definitely stands out enough to rub you the wrong way. And since the scroll does not stop on the far left or right end of the icons on the main home screen, you have to fiddle with it to get it to stop perfectly on one side or the other. I wish them would just stop when you scroll all the way to the left or all the way to the right. Again, something that could have easily been updated on this new model.

I am using a brand new 128 GB SanDisk Ultra 128GB SD card, so I thought maybe this was due to the larger sd card size. I just use a 64 gb on the gen1. So I switched them, and the problem remained. Gen1 track change remained instantaneous with the 128 GB card. Gen 2 still took 3+ seconds to change songs.

And if you leave bluetooth on, this process takes even longer! The bluetooth seems to work, but that is not a huge concern of mine since the device has line out and I prefer a direct connection. The process of just turning on the bluetooth took nearly 35 seconds!!!! Then another 20 to find my device two feet away. If you are a patient person, I guess this is not a big deal. But if you are used to your phone connecting in seconds, this is a drag.

THE WHEEL: I hoped the touch wheel would be an improvement over the mechanical one of my gen1, which started to sort of stick after I got pop or something spilled on it (yet it still works!).

Sadly, the weird sensitivity makes it difficult to accurately control. I put the plastic included cover on at first, and the thing barely moved. Taking off the cover helped, but still hard to control. And there is no sensitivity option to scale up or down!!! That is a major downfall for a user. Thankfully the clicky sound can also be turned off. Who wants to hear that when listening to msuic

DESIGN: A minor complaint, but now the headphone jack is on the BOTTOM of the device, unlike the top of the gen1. I use sennheiser momentum 2.0, which have a right angle cord, so this is not a big deal. But if you have a straight cable, when you rest the device on the desk or on your chest when lying down, the cable will bend and can develop a short that way.

TL;DR: CONCLUSION: The gen2 looks better, but the slowed-down track selection is a major disappointment. The bluetooth works, but is that enough to deal with the slow speeds? The touch wheel is a great concept in theory, but the lack of tactile response and no sensitivity control makes it hardly an upgrade and IMO worse than the gen1 wheel.

Remember, the gen1 is now $80, and bluetooth transmitter dongles can be found for around $20.

Can someone please post the latest firmware for FiiO X1 2nd gen? It's been difficult for me to find it, and the link on the official FiiO website does not load for me. Thanks.

Hi, I owned the X1 1st generation, and when that one broke bought a X1 2nd gen. I noticed today that the X1 line is no longer being made. Should my current X1 break one day, what do you suggest as a replacement?

I am looking for characteristics that are similar to the iPod Classic, but with the ability to add microSD cards for 400 GB, 1 TB, and more mp3 space. Therefore: (1) good wheel interface, that can organize 20,000 songs and help you navigate to any album within seconds (2) huge storage capacity of 400+ GB (3) hopefully cheap price (X1 cost under $200). I notice FiiO makes an "M" line now, but they cost $700-1400 from what I've seen, which make them unappealing.

Thanks in advance

I'm running out of space on my 256 GB microSD card for my Fiio X1 2nd gen. This seems to be an issue every few years with me and mp3 players. Does anyone know if it can handle 512 GB cards, and 1 TB cards? Thank you very much in advance.

I just formatted this Sandisk micro-SD card last night because it would be easier than deleting everything manually without formatting. Needless to say, ever since I formatted it, the player won't recognize anything I put on the card, saying that there's no music found. When I attempt to manually update the library, it says 0 songs found.

Does anybody have advice for how I can go about working with this?

EDIT: I formatted the card using my tablet and now the music is being recognized. No clue why it wouldn't work after formatting with my computer but I'm glad something worked at least.

I won't be using Bluetooth, USB is enough for me. I've read that the 2nd Gen is slower and the wheel performance is also worse compared to the 1st gen. 2nd Gen looks a lot better but considering that 1st gen is faster, the wheel works better and it's $20 cheap, I'm obviously thinking of getting the 1st gen. I want to go with the one with a better performance, reliability and comfort. My question is, do you agree with u/explosivo563 and maybe there's a new update for 2nd Gen which solves all the issues mentioned in his/her review? Even if it's not the case, maybe it's more reasonable to get 2nd gen because there will be updates for it in the future?

I recently bought a secondhand Fiio X1 gen 1 off of ebay in almost perfect condition for $35.00, and thought this was a good place to put a review. After about a week of continuous use I have to say the x1 is probably the most well-made mobile DAP I've found. The entire shell is what looks to be a steel alloy of some sort, and the display is solid glass. To be honest, I don't think I could break it even if I tried.

In terms of interface, the X1 has a mechanical scroll wheel and five buttons. The interface is confusing at first, but after some getting used to it, quite intuitive. There are software updates available, along with some custom themes made by users. Battery life lasts 10+ hours, even longer the less you use the screen.

Audio quality is the real kicker here. It uses a Texas Instruments Digital-To-Analogue Converter chip to handle the sound (along with an Intersil amplifier), and the result is just amazing. This device supports up to 32 bit, along with up to 300 kilohertz. The bult in equalizer works great and the sound stage is superb.

The only real con is storage space. There is no on-board storage, meaning that you also have to purchase a micro-SD card for it to work.

All in all, I rate the Fiio X1 a 9.5/10 and would recommend it to anyone who can find it for under $100.

Bought on release..played to death..taken a back seat last few years due to other players and youngfella spilling water on it a while back..back in business now and sounding great

Seeing the Hiby R4 is highly recommended

Personally looking at the M21

Considering the X1 is really old at this point I have nowhere to go but up.

Never delved in to anything past an old school USB mp3 player, ipod, creative zen mp3 player and the X1. So looking forward to something new.

Looking around these price points i.e "R4 and M21"

I've been using my Fiio X1 for 7 years now and the scrollwheel is getting wonky. I'd like to upgrade but the cheapest in-stock Fiio player on Amazon I can find is the M11+ for $650!! My X1 cost me only $80 in 2016.

Is this all because of COVID and chips shortages? Is it because I'm looking on Amazon? I'd really like to stick with Fiio, but I don't know if I can afford to. Please advise.

Hi all,

My X1 arrived today from Japan and I was able to put the language into English so I could see what I was doing. I found the manual but didn't know if 128GB was the absolute upper limit on this? I have a ton of CD's that I am thinking of going through and re-ripping to FLAC (I'm moving from an iPod Classic), but I didn't know what it would do space wise with the 128gb card I have in now. I have about 30gb of music currently in M4A and MP3 format. I'm already listening to music I transferred over to it and holy shit this sounds fantastic! I've got a lot of CD's so I could probably do it all in a weekend or two if I was determined but I didn't know which was the best way to go. Also, should I ever need to fix it in the future, what does the spare part scene look like on this? I'm pretty comfortable opening and repairing just about any electronic or phone, but honestly that is far down the road, this thing is in way too good condition, I've already got a case protector on it.

Currently, have a pair of IT01 and I am loving it and now I am looking for a DAP to match with them.

Look like with my budget the two best choices are M3K and X1 2nd Gen, but I am not sure which one I should buy.

I am more into the sleek build of M3K but sound quality (duh!) is very much important.

I would really love to have some advices.