@Dobrescu George @Caruryn
I must admit that writing post from cellphone is so suffering and annoying
I am not able to sign in through tapatalk because of network problems.
Unfortunately, Mojo is out of my budget. I will buy them (C10 and E12A) in different time periods. So, i can't afford the aforementioned products at once.
According to your statements, X5ii is a candidate which is close to be eliminated from my list.
Btw i'm just curious, how about hm650? Did you audition it?
X5II should be on top of your list. The sound is extremely clean, extremely well detailed, and the DAC inside is one of the best in the world. If you do not like sparkly treble and want more bass, more mids, you should also use an AMP, but X5II as a DAC will do it;s job better than most competition out there, I mean, it should be among the best ever made. I would rather get an X5II as a DAC than either any hifiman or ibasso or any AK. The reason is simple: Ibasso has poor battery, and other problems, I really dislike hifiman build and how they look, and AK... Well, for the price of a AK 240 i could as well get a Chord Hugo, which is better, no matter which way you look at it. Also instead of an AK 380 (I thought it was a joke at first, considering said price) I would rather get a Hugo + Fiio X7 setup.
It is not that I hate AK DAPs, but they cost a lot, and by a LOT I mean a LOT
So, you should actually really consider a Fiio all - stack, but I guess that C10 was recommended to be used alone, and it should escape the need for a stack, but I am yet to read about it's exact signature. Seems interesting, but again, how it looks, how it is supposed to be operated is really a let-down for me. I got used pretty hard to X5 series, coming from all touch screens, but the build quality was stellar (all metal, and sturdy buttons,) and menu, UI, and functionality was very reliable.
As it was stated before, maybe Mojo would be the safest bet, a fiio X7 would also be safe, but very very expensive
.
All in all, a first gen X5 (if you can fiind one) was more bassy, with a more tamed high end than the second gen X5.