FiiO Feiao X1II Portable Audio Player Supplementary Evaluation Report
released on October 27 《FiiO Feiao X1II Portable Audio Player Evaluation Report[Author:Soomal] In the article, we found that the new generation X1II player released by Feiao has irregular noise at 48kHz and 96kHz sampling rates. Feiao is not a novice on the Walkman player. X1II should be regarded as their third-generation product. It is a bit strange to have such a small problem. Feiao Company and Soomal conducted communication analysis on this problem [actually encountered new problems]. After individual factor investigation and multi-sample analysis tests, we released the supplementary evaluation of X1II player today according to Soomal evaluation rules.
Prototype Source: the manufacturer sends the test or purchases it by itself.
prototype type:
is a commercial relationship: Yes
FiiO Feiao X1II Portable Audio Player
Issues
FiiO Feiao X1II Portable Audio Player-Frequency Scan @ 48kHz
FiiO Feiao X1II Portable Audio Player-Frequency Scan @ 96kHz
First of all, let's take a look at the irregular noise distortion problem encountered in the evaluation on October 27. As shown in the figure frequency scan, when the 20Hz-20kHz frequency scan signal is played at the 48kHz sampling rate and the 96kHz sampling rate, a weak linear signal can be seen intermittently in the reverse direction. Among them, this noise signal is more obvious at 96kHz. At that time, it was verified that there was no such problem at 44.1kHz and frequency doubling. The firmware version used during the test is 1.2, and then it is specially verified that the 1.0 firmware also has this problem.
Troubleshooting
FiiO Feiao X1II Portable Audio Player
In order to avoid possible individual sample problems, Soomal immediately bought a Feiao X1II player in Jingdong, and Feiao Company also delivered a brand-new X1II player. Strangely, these two players did not have the problems we encountered in the release evaluation under the 1.0 and 1.2 firmware. However, before and after Soomal released the evaluation, Feiao released the X1II 1.33 firmware.
coincidence is that in the Feiao X1II 1.33 firmware, a new problem was encountered at a sampling rate of 96kHz. The main manifestation was a slight overflow of the signal during frequency scanning, which may be caused by a slight overflow of the digital signal. This also caused disagreements when Feiao communicated with Soomal in the early days. In other words, all Feiao X1II have this problem in 1.33 firmware. In order to further verify whether it is an individual problem, Soomal applied to Feiao for two test prototypes.
After analyzing multiple versions and multiple hardware samples, it is interesting that the 48kHz\96kHz noise problem of the first prototype evaluated by Soomal did not appear in the following four prototypes. In the firmware 1.0, 1.2 and 1.33 versions, the problems of the first prototype are the same. Is this an individual difference in hardware?
X1II 1.41 Firmware Test Results
Feiao finally released version X1II 1.41 firmware this week. This version of firmware has corrected many minor bugs in details. The specific contents can be found on Feiao's official website. We continue here to analyze the problems encountered in our tests.
first of all, Feiao X1II 1.41 firmware must be released. Because there was no problem in the previous 1.0 and 1.2 versions of firmware, [1.2 version of firmware used by Soomal evaluation did not encounter this problem] appeared in the 1.33 version of firmware. In the 1.33 version, the 96kHz frequency scan had a slight overflow problem, which was solved in the 1.41 version firmware.
Second, Soomal tested five machines. Only the first one encountered the problem in our test. Is it an individual hardware problem? The answer is no. In the 1.41 version firmware of X1II, the problem of the first prototype we tested was also solved. Therefore, the problems we encounter are not individual problems, but perhaps they are rare.
third, how does feiao solve this problem? From the first time we found the problem to another problem with feiao's own firmware in the 1.33, it is related to the change of sampling rate. In fact, these problems do not exist at the common sampling rate of 44.1kHz. Feiao official said that the occurrence and correction of the problem are related to adjusting the digital filter setting of DAC chip, because PCM5142 and PCM5242 have a built-in miniDSP core, which is specially responsible for dynamic control, filter setting and other work. The updated firmware 1.41 version uses the adjusted digital filter of the DAC chip.
Therefore, it is recommended that all Feiao X1II users should not use version 1.33 firmware, but should upgrade version 1.41 firmware as soon as possible. In fact, the problem of 1.33 version X1II at 96kHz sampling rate is more serious than the problem we found.
objective test results
the problem has been solved, we also list the objective test results of X1II in the 1.41 firmware. Since the frequency of intermodulation distortion in RMAA objective test is relatively single, several problems encountered before cannot be found through RMAA's intermodulation distortion analysis, and objective test results have no reference value, so they are not listed here. The frequency scan test can be seen very clearly. [Test Prototype A is the X1II gold version purchased by Soomal. Test Prototype B is a prototype sent for testing after Feiao. The other two test results are consistent.]
as shown in the above figure, the problem has been solved, but at 96kHz, the performance of this PCM5242 obviously cannot be compared with that of high-grade DAC. there is still a lot of fine noise when playing signals above 20kHz, and the noise is distributed in the range of 20Hz-20kHz. The performance of the PCM5xxx series is generally not a secret. For example, the objective indicators of the early Le Zhibang Monitor 02US Drgaon's PCM5102 are not ideal. But as an entry sound card or entry walkman, it does not pose a serious bottleneck.
for a long time, sound card and player manufacturers like to use PCM5xxx series DAC on low-end devices, which is really strange. Even the external PLL and LPF have been done, definitely not for cost considerations, but for lack of sincerity.
FiiO Feiao X1II Portable Audio Player
and why is it that the performance is not good enough at 96kHz sampling rate and the Hi-Res certification can be obtained? Because even 16bit/48kHz sampling rate can be Hi-Res [the player software interface will display]. But then again, the Hi-Res sticker is really nice, even if it is on the sound card of Le Zhibang.
Finally, new problems were found in the test. This PCM5242 DAC chip may still have slight consistency problems. We can see that the frequency scanning of prototype A and prototype B is still slightly different at 96kHz sampling rate. There is a slight burr next to the main signal of prototype B. Of the 5 prototypes we tested, 3 did not exist and 2 did. At present, it has nothing to do with several versions of firmware.
subjective hearing
in terms of subjective listening, the 1.41 version firmware of Feiao X1II is not as simple as correcting known problems. It readjusts the DSP inside the DAC and makes new digital filter settings, which is theoretically different from the previous version of listening. However, in the 44.1kHz sampling rate music, the actual difference in listening perception is very small, but the change trend is very consistent with the listening concept after X1II and Feiao X7, and the sound is more analytical and low distortion. In the 1.41 version, the entire sound details of X1II perform better, and the control of low-frequency feeling has been improved, but the entire style seems to be more compact. However, the change is very small compared to 1.0 and 1.2 firmware.
summary
Today's article is written for the first evaluation to find out whether the noise problem of X1II player at 48kHz and 96kHz sampling rates can be corrected. Although this is a problem that does not seriously affect listening and daily experience, Feiao found the cause of the problem in time and basically corrected the problem. Next, Feiao may make experience improvements to the circular touch panel that first appeared on X1II. Compared with the problem corrected today, we believe that the improvement of the new touch experience is equally important.
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