Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I recently began working at a place where headphones are actually encouraged! Thank goodness they don't feel the need to pipe "background" music into my new office. I wanted two DAPs (digital audio players) - one to leave at work, and the other to leave at home with my listening rig and headphone collection. My existing DAP was the FiiO X3 2nd generation, a faithful companion for more than two years. The X3ii is stable and robust, and I have come to trust its file management, easy to use controls, and numerous audio settings. Its only problem was that I could not get it to send digital coaxial output to two external digital to analog converters (DACs) simultaneously. So I figured I would take the X3ii to work to use with headphones only and buy a new DAP to use at home. After researching the pricing, features, and Amazon ratings for FOURTEEN different DAPs, I settled on the FiiO M6, the subject of this review. The price seemed right, and I liked my X3ii, so I went with FiiO again. Its various cons outweigh its few pros, though, leading me to give it a two star rating. Pros: Size and weight: Small and light. Just right. Volume control: I like having three ways to control the volume - pressing the volume up or down buttons on the side adjusts the volume one step at a time and brings up a digital on screen control at the same time. The digital control lets you dial up or down a "speedometer style" graphic, plus you can use + and - buttons at the bottom of the screen. Sound quality: Very good for a portable device in this price range. Service: FiiO repsonded quickly and politely to my email question, with well-thought-out advice. Unfortunately, it didn't solve my problem. Cons: Screen protector: It seems that some genius (human or robot) at the factory installed the screen protector on the device's BACK, not on the screen. However, the M6 comes with an extra screen protector that I have not yet installed. Album art: My X3ii never had a problem with album art. As long as the art was embedded in the file or I had an image called "Folder" in the folder where the music file was, the X3ii displayed it while the music was playing. Period. But the M6 has started dropping images, seemingly at random, from a previously flawless SD card music library. It just displays a generic music graphic. I put a lot of effort into meticulously naming and organizing my music folders, metadata, and playlists for consistency and elegance, and it's frustrating to have that messed with. Play mode: I LOVE having a "stop after current track" feature, and I have come to depend on it so I don't have to scramble for the pause button before a new track starts. The M6, as far as I can tell, doesn't let you do this. USB audio output: My new SMSL SU-8 DAC was fine with the M6, but my Schiit Magni Multibit refused to recognize the M6's digital output with the same cable and adapter. FiiO support advised me via email to change the USB output mode from DoP to D2P, then reconnect the DAC. No dice. So I was back to where I started: a DAP that would talk to one of my DACs, but not the other. After MUCH trial and error and spending a lot of money on various cables, adapters, and splitters, I was finally able to get the X3ii to send digital audio signal via coax to both DACs without having to plug and unplug things every time I want a different DAC. So now the X3ii is my permanent, trusted home rig DAP, while the M6 is relegated to second string at work. Folders: The M6 adds obnoxious, superfluous folders like "Android" and "LOST.DIR" to my SD cards, cluttering them up annoyingly. The ideal device just plays the playlists. It should not alter the file system in any way at all. Is that so hard? FiiO, I'm not impressed. I have, how you say, "the buyer's remorse." I'm not saying you shouldn't buy this device if you want one. I'm just saying that my experince has not been ideal so far. Your experience and needs may differ vastly from my own.