A slightly sideways but still worhty upgrade from the FiiO X5iii--unless you're a bass freak
I can't compare this directly to other DAPs, so instead I'll focus on the obvious comparison of this DAP to its spiritual baby brother, the X5 iii (which I have recently retired after acquiring this player). Although slightly taller in stature, the X7ii still feels solidly built and fits nicely in the palm of the hand--the relocation of the power button is a welcome change as I was constantly pressing the play/pause or volume adjustment while fiddling with the X5's power-off routine. The UI between the two is virtually identical (save for a few options in the settings menu...the car mode on the X5iii, that I never got to work) as is the external storage capacity (2 SD slots--yay!). So what about the sound?
I was concerned at first that the single ESS chip in the X7ii (even though it's practically the latest in ESS's desktop lineup) might not be up to the challenge posed by the dual AKMs in the X5iii (those DACs are featured in A&K's TOTL players, after all); or that perhaps I had wasted my money purchasing both units because I wouldn't be able to hear the difference in the first place. After switching back and forth between the X5iii and X7ii using two identical pairs of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headsets, and then back and forth again using a single pair of Oppo PM-1s and my Focal Utopias, I can say with a great degree of confidence (as could my office-mate who shared my listening party/experiment between the two) that both players truly sound excellent, but there definitely IS a difference in sound signature and which you prefer really depends on what you prefer.
For me, the X7ii is a bit more refined and perhaps even "polite" sounding than the X5iii. In general, the highs on the X7ii are, to my ears, ever so slightly more articulate and precise than the X5iii; and while the bass is snappy, responsive, and authoritative, the best way I can describe it is not quite as "thick" as the bass line on X5iii. That's okay for me--I personally don't find the extra detail on the X7ii fatiguing or that the apparent lack of bass "emphasis" somehow translates into a sense that I'm losing out on how the original low end was intended to sound. After quite a bit of agonizing over what to do with these players, I came to the conclusion that the X5iii may be what some refer to as more euphonious--perhaps even musical, but it felt like it was so at a slight sacrifice of the X7ii's more readily apparent detail, resolution, and spot-on musical accuracy. Some might call the latter sound signature sterile or analytical (that's what my office mate decided) and that's fine for some...I personally find it pleasing and easy to listen to and I appreciated being able to wring all the delicate notes and nuances out of the highs in all the [female] vocals and strings we auditioned throughout the afternoon.
In the end, the deciding feature between the X5iii and X7ii wasn't the sound signature--again, both were incredibly fun to listen to, and what they do, they both do wonderfully well. What settled it for me were slight differences in features and the UX. The X7ii's additional GB of RAM did make the interface feel ever so slightly more fluid and responsive, and there's 64GB of onboard storage up from the X5iii's stock 32GB...that, and really that alone, tipped the scales in favor of the X7ii for me because otherwise, the X5iii's sound signature, though different, was really in no significant way, worse than that of the X7ii, just different!
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New