AIGO EROS Q / AIGO EROS K / IRULU Surfans F20 / AGPTek H3 / HIFI WALKER H2

[saratoga]

Yeah. I don't know why, but a lot of these hifi players seem to pick fancy DACs but forget that people might want a way to change the volume.

Is it that it's just not available in the OS, or that it's not physically hooked up? I hope it's the former!

Looks like they forgot to include a volume circuit.

[fossphile]

Its a shame it has this design flaw. How is the xduoo x3 II looking now? I know it had a problem with power saving causing a pop and having to hacked around.

[dconrad]

Yeah. I don't know why, but a lot of these hifi players seem to pick fancy DACs but forget that people might want a way to change the volume.

Is it that it's just not available in the OS, or that it's not physically hooked up? I hope it's the former!

Looks like they forgot to include a volume circuit.

That's a major bummer. I do see a Low/High gain setting in the original firmware, maybe that's a hardware function? Though I just tried it with some bluetooth headphones and the gain setting still has an effect on them, so I doubt it.

I just tried an A/B comparison with the original firmware (using my roommate as a test subject, hah!), and the original firmware can definitely play the same song quieter than when the pops and crackles start on Rockbox, so it's definitely possible. I reckon there's just some magic there that's not apparent yet.

Side note, I never really tried to even use the original firmware until now, holy cow it's bad! Glad Rockbox is taking shape on this thing 

[dconrad]

What if in the WPS, holding the Play button brought up the Playlist rather than Stop? The rationale being, if you get to it from the Context Menu it's 3 button presses, which seems like a lot to get to the current playlist. Also, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Stop is probably not a widely used feature. I would think most people would Pause instead.

[JimZipCode]

I like the Eros Q/Hifiwalker H2 a _lot_ more than the X3ii.     More compact, a better control layout, and so far, no issues with the audio paths.

(I'm actually pretty disappointed with the X3ii, especially after how unexpectedly awesome the original X3 turned out)

Speachy, can you elaborate on this?  I've had an Xduoo X3ii for two years, and I haven't been displeased with it.  What disappointed you? 

I thought the control layout *looked* crazy when I saw it.  But, surprisingly, it's been intuitive to manipulate by touch (ie without looking at it).

Anyway – I'm always on the lookout for the next player.  (Esp since my X3ii now has some loose part rattling around inside of it: might be on its way to becoming unusable.)  If the model in this thread is better in some specific way, that's super interesting.

[JimZipCode]

Unboxing Video, features close up of lanyard/headphone cable hole loop thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOD2emJ80HY

That video is marked private.  Do I have to request permission to view?

Anyway, here are three other unboxing / intro vids:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CrqLUjyz0I
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKWQ20GTPiQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxUgDLOsMI4  (FF to 3:05)

[dconrad]

I thought I would update this thread in case anyone here hasn't been following the commit progress as closely as I have for this player - the "big bug" (for me anyway) of the crackling/popping at quiet volumes has been fixed! Gerrit #3312.

So I definitely recommend getting a new build if you haven't updated in a while.

Here's a couple other changes that might be of interest:

• Line Out volume can now be set via the volume limit. The line out at maximum is very loud, so now it can be tamed. Gerrit #3259
• Text entry controls work as expected now. Gerrit #3260
• Volume dB scale is now numerically (approximately) correct. I might be the only one in the world that cares about this, but the numerical dB scale is now at least within reason of the actual dB of the output signal (referenced to maximum volume). Gerrit #3328

[fossphile]

Unboxing Video, features close up of lanyard/headphone cable hole loop thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOD2emJ80HY

That video is marked private.  Do I have to request permission to view?

Anyway, here are three other unboxing / intro vids:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CrqLUjyz0I
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKWQ20GTPiQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxUgDLOsMI4  (FF to 3:05)

idk why it is marked as private. its not my video. shame

[fossphile]

I thought I would update this thread in case anyone here hasn't been following the commit progress as closely as I have for this player - the "big bug" (for me anyway) of the crackling/popping at quiet volumes has been fixed! Gerrit #3312.

So I definitely recommend getting a new build if you haven't updated in a while.

Great  news! I look forward to trying it .

Here's a couple other changes that might be of interest:

• Line Out volume can now be set via the volume limit. The line out at maximum is very loud, so now it can be tamed. Gerrit #3259
• Text entry controls work as expected now. Gerrit #3260
• Volume dB scale is now numerically (approximately) correct. I might be the only one in the world that cares about this, but the numerical dB scale is now at least within reason of the actual dB of the output signal (referenced to maximum volume). Gerrit #3328

Calibrated dB scale is very handy to me. Did wonder if dB scales in products,DAPs where calibrated. handy to be able to set output vol. I do find a high output voltage is useful for sound systems and car DSPs. They need the higher level and helps to bury noise floor. Great to have a choice about output level. I hope its a separate volume control not tired to headphone output volume and keys.

[dconrad]

Calibrated dB scale is very handy to me. Did wonder if dB scales in products,DAPs where calibrated. handy to be able to set output vol. I do find a high output voltage is useful for sound systems and car DSPs. They need the higher level and helps to bury noise floor. Great to have a choice about output level. I hope its a separate volume control not tired to headphone output volume and keys.

The line out volume is set by the Maximum Volume Limit under Sound Settings, so it can be all the way to 0dB (maximum) or -74dB if you wish. It's independent of the regular volume setting for headphones, but it is still the Maximum Volume Limit that the headphone volume won't go above.

Just be aware you can't have both headphones and line out plugged in at the same time - it will prefer the headphone level to protect them (and your ears!) if both are plugged in.

"0dB" is about 6.2 dBV with a full-scale tone from the Line Out, make of that what you will.

[Oktan]

I can't find a way to set repeat, shuffle and so on on the fly rather than having to go through the playback menu which is kinda cumbersome. Am I just not understanding Rockbox, or is this something that simply hasn't been implemented for this player yet? It doesn't have that many buttons so I guess it would need to be implemented through some button combination.
EDIT: Some themes seem to specify functionality mapped to a "hold button", does that have a mapping yet?

[dconrad]

I can't find a way to set repeat, shuffle and so on on the fly rather than having to go through the playback menu which is kinda cumbersome. Am I just not understanding Rockbox, or is this something that simply hasn't been implemented for this player yet? It doesn't have that many buttons so I guess it would need to be implemented through some button combination.

Somebody else might be able to chime in since I don't regularly use these features, but the fastest way I know if is to go into the playback settings via the Context Menu (hold Menu on the While Playing screen). Unless that's what you're already talking about?

[Oktan]

I can't find a way to set repeat, shuffle and so on on the fly rather than having to go through the playback menu which is kinda cumbersome. Am I just not understanding Rockbox, or is this something that simply hasn't been implemented for this player yet? It doesn't have that many buttons so I guess it would need to be implemented through some button combination.

Somebody else might be able to chime in since I don't regularly use these features, but the fastest way I know if is to go into the playback settings via the Context Menu (hold Menu on the While Playing screen). Unless that's what you're already talking about?

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. I'm pretty sure there would be a faster way to do it.
By the way, edited my last post before I noticed that you had replied. Some themes specify functionality mapped to a "hold button", is that something that has been set up as of yet?

[dconrad]

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. I'm pretty sure there would be a faster way to do it.
By the way, edited my last post before I noticed that you had replied. Some themes specify functionality mapped to a "hold button", is that something that has been set up as of yet?

Oh, yeah to my knowledge nothing like that has been set up yet. I'm not familiar with what you're describing, maybe someone more knowledgeable about that will chime in.

[Oktan]

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. I'm pretty sure there would be a faster way to do it.
By the way, edited my last post before I noticed that you had replied. Some themes specify functionality mapped to a "hold button", is that something that has been set up as of yet?

Oh, yeah to my knowledge nothing like that has been set up yet. I'm not familiar with what you're describing, maybe someone more knowledgeable about that will chime in.

It's apparently some button you're supposed to hold down to access certain features. In the theme FreshOS this is used to display the album artwork.