I ordered a couple of iRiver ChromeX for me and my brother as a present. I had them sent to him. He has them already.

They work really fine.

Only one concern: Has anybody tried its output? He has told me he needs to max out the volume to get acceptable level when connecting it to his sound system.

He will ship mine shortly, so hopefully I'll be able to test myself next week (and enjoy the toy!!! ), but if I can get some advice ahead, it would be great.

Firmware was still 1.03, so I have downloaded and sent him 1.10, but I don't see any reference to this on the list of changes. The FAQ on iRiver's website actually advices to set the volume to max level, but I don't like the idea of having the player set like that for long periods of time...

Any comment welcome!

There is an option to set the volume to 35 when using AC adaptator. As usually when using line out you are also using AC adaptator, everything is fine using this option.

My brother told me maximum volume is 40 (which makes sense, because the scale is also to 40 in the RioVolt Sp-90 of my girlfriend).

I will check for that option, though, it's really neat. Thanks Gabriel!

Are there any possible side-effects on the circuit if running at top volume for extended periods of time?

Be careful with that option though. Several times when I had my SlimX plugged into the adaptor, I put on my headphones and was in for a shock when the music started playing.