The FiiO X3 Thread UPDATE: Project Back On! Read the First Post for Information. - Page 219  

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgray91 

MS needs to have a robust content ecosystem first if they are to compete with the iPod again, and right now they're not robust enough to do that.

Compete with the iPod again? Let's be real, they never did. The Zune was never even in the iPod's rear-view mirror....lol.

I did have a Zune HD for a little while, but the sound was thin and the required software was more frustrating than iTunes. 

of all the new portable players coming out, this one always had my interest the most, but i have to say that nothing has swayed me away from my clip zip yet.  especially since it has a better eq than any of the others so far as i can tell.

a good eq is probably the single most underrated and most effective feature in the audiophile world. 

none the less, i'm glad to see fiio got this project back off the ground. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

Compete with the iPod again? Let's be real, they never did. The Zune was never even in the iPod's rear-view mirror....lol.

 

I did have a Zune HD for a little while, but the sound was thin and the required software was more frustrating than iTunes. 

I had the original version of the Zune for many years. When I compared it to my daughters ipods as well as friends, with the same headphones, the SQ was always better on the Zune. I never had problems with the UI, and found it fairly easy to navigate. A few years later, I had the misfortune of using Itunes for the first time because of my Iphone. Hated it.

No, the Zune software was a pain, but always felt that Itunes was worse.

I currently use the Cowon J3 and Z2. Love to drag and drop music right into the player, that's the best way to load music, IMHO. SQ on both, granted with some eq'ing, sounds great.

Have a Sansa Clip and a RoCoo BA, neither get used much for various reasons.

On that note, I too am looking forward to the X3.

The ORIGINAL Zune 30 and the Zune 120's all sounded great. They did suffer from excessively low volume, but were winners nonetheless. The Zune HD sounded good, but was so flat & lifeless sounding (re: BORING!!!) it was pathetic. The volume was wayyyyy to low for anything but sensitive IEM's, and it REQUIRED an amp to sound correct. I wish I still had a Zune 30 or 120. I'd NEVER get a Zune HD again. It, honestly, was a wasted product that was left unfinished. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalFreak 

Lets see, what are some key features that would make this DAP a winner...

 

UI

Simple intuitive with gapless playback. Also tack on stuff like shuffle, playlist support and genre artist and album tag support for easy browsing. General file type support such as FLAC ALAC WAV and mp3. Most importantly NO UI BUGS PLEASE

 

Battery life

15 hours minimum 24 hrs or more would be great though

 

Storage

SD card compliant minimum 64 GB's, 128 preferred though

 

Sound

I'll put it as bluntly as possible.....It should sound as close to absolutely nothing as possible. In other words it would just disappear and let the gear it's driving stand out. If the gear plugged into it is warm then it sounds warm if it sounds analytical then it sounds analytical if it has a V or U shape then it will sound exactly like it was tuned to sound like. There should also be as little roll off in the upper registers as possible. A lot of mainstream DAP's play it safe and roll off the highs and I personally hate that. Oh and since I'm asking for extension up top give this lady a well rounded bottom end too. If source demands a deep earthy rumble I want to hear that rumble in as much detail as possible.

 

There's plenty other stuff I could mention but those are the big ones for me. Anything else would just be added gravy on the steak. Sounds simple enough in my book but for whatever reason none of the boutique DAP manufacturers are yet to deliver anything worth mentioning as a complete package.

 

Whoever is with me gimme a thumbs up

This is probably going to sound like a total "newbie" question, but what exactly is gapless playback? It seemed to be a big thing for Cowon devices [or lack of it, I forgot] and I see it pop up on a lot of portable media player threads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 

Its mainly useful for classical or audio journey albums(pink floyd).

I believe gapless is lisenced by Apple and they are one of the only ones to provide gapless on pmps in the mainstream world

No, gapless is not licensed by Apple.

From the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapless_playback

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlsan 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 

Its mainly useful for classical or audio journey albums(pink floyd).

I believe gapless is lisenced by Apple and they are one of the only ones to provide gapless on pmps in the mainstream world

No, gapless is not licensed by Apple.

 

From the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapless_playback

Quote:

Gapless playback is the uninterrupted playback of consecutive audio tracks, such that relative time distances in the original audio source are preserved over track boundaries on playback. For this to be useful, other artifacts (than timing related) at track boundaries should not be severe either. Gapless playback is common with compact discs, gramophone records, or tapes, but is not always available with other formats that employ compressed digital audio. The absence of gapless playback is a source of annoyance to listeners of music where tracks are meant to segue into each other, such as some classical music (opera in particular), progressive rock, concept albums, electronic music, and live recordings with audience noise between tracks.

 

Quote:

Player support

Optimal solutions:

Hardware

• Android devices (see Google Play Music in Software)
• Apple:
  • iPhone^[7]
  • iPod classic supports gapless playback of MP3s and AACs from the fifth generation onward^[7]
  • iPod nano second generation and later^[7]
  • iPod Touch^[7]
• Archos Gmini XS202S
• Cowon S9 supports gapless playback without software dependency since 2.31b firmware. Most newer Cowon players support gapless playback right out of the box (J3, X7, iAudio 9)
• Linn Products DS network players
• All players in the Logitech/Slim Devices Squeezebox range support gapless playback for all gapless formats (lame MP3, FLAC, Vorbis, etc.). Crossfading is also optionally available.
• Microsoft Zune supports gapless playback with Zune 2.5 or later firmware, though some bugs remain and occasionally small pops or skips can be heard.^[8]
• Olive Media Products Opus and Melody players
• Raumfeld multi-room audio system supports gapless playback since firmware version 1.2
• Rio Karma and TrekStor Vibez gapless hardware players with no software dependency
• Rockbox for various digital audio players.
• Victor Alneo V Series and C Series^[9][10]

Ah I see. I always wondered why my Rockboxed Clip Zip has smooth, "instantaneous transitions" to the next song compared to the standard Clip Zip OS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by miceblue 

Ah I see. I always wondered why my Rockboxed Clip Zip has smooth, "instantaneous transitions" to the next song compared to the standard Clip Zip OS.

SanDisk claimed gapless playback starting with the Clip+ after a firmware update, and for the Clip Zip, but it was never quite truly gapless. Rockbox fixed that, along with several other things.

I wouldn't even think of using one of my Sansas without Rockbox.....not a chance!