The FiiO X3 2nd gen (ex X3K, X3II) Thread : 192K/24B, CS4398,Native DSD, USB DAC with LO and inline remote

[Brooko]

Should be able top start giving rough comparisons in another week - but not allowed to (post) full reviews of the unit until March.  I'm a firm believer in having at least a week with any new piece of gear before critically comparing it with something else.
 
All I will say is that so far I'm pretty impressed with the implementation 

 

[nmatheis]

Glad X3 II impressing you guys. I seriously doubt I'll get one due to lack of storage space compared to my X5, but it's nice to see Fiio continue to raise the bar for stand-alone DAPs!

 

[ZGant]

How is the usability using one hand? I understand that it shares its form factor with x1, but I didn't have chance to try it personally.

 

[bowei006]

  How is the usability using one hand? I understand that it shares its form factor with x1, but I didn't have chance to try it personally.

very good
 
I always use it with one hand
 
Whereas I have to do hand gymnastics with the X5 (similar to the kind of gymnastics you would do while holding a 4"+ smartphone in one hand) to use all the buttons at times. The X3II works seamlessly on one hand. 
 
The buttons are MUCH MUCH more responsive. Probably the best physical UI implementation from FiiO as of yet. 
The scroll wheel has a serious clicking action to it (although a click doesn't represent a scroll) and it doesn't jiggle around. The buttons are also built 'better' with a solid 'click' rather than a mushed response as well.
 
Overal, me gusta.
 
Just don't know official price yet. If it is $199, we may be in heaven. I love CS4398 DACs ( I have 2 other units with it)  so I'm a bit biased here. 

 

[Wyd4]

very good

I always use it with one hand

Whereas I have to do hand gymnastics with the X5 (similar to the kind of gymnastics you would do while holding a 4"+ smartphone in one hand) to use all the buttons at times. The X3II works seamlessly on one hand. 

The buttons are MUCH MUCH more responsive. Probably the best physical UI implementation from FiiO as of yet. 
The scroll wheel has a serious clicking action to it (although a click doesn't represent a scroll) and it doesn't jiggle around. The buttons are also built 'better' with a solid 'click' rather than a mushed response as well.

Overal, me gusta.

Just don't know official price yet. If it is $199, we may be in heaven. I love CS4398 DACs ( I have 2 other units with it)  so I'm a bit biased here. 

I too am a fan of the dac used. If t is imlemented as well on this as my other daps I will be picking myself up an x3ii when it goes public

 

[bowei006]

I too am a fan of the dac used. If t is imlemented as well on this as my other daps I will be picking myself up an x3ii when it goes public

Not as well as the Colorfly C4 Pro of course, but with its feature. I can't complain that much as of the moment. 
 
I haven't used it nearly enough yet to warrant any real opinions that would be considered substantial though. Around 10 hours of personal use time I'd say as of right now ( I use it on my daily commute). 

 

[ZGant]

  very good
 
I always use it with one hand
 
Whereas I have to do hand gymnastics with the X5 (similar to the kind of gymnastics you would do while holding a 4"+ smartphone in one hand) to use all the buttons at times. The X3II works seamlessly on one hand. 
 
The buttons are MUCH MUCH more responsive. Probably the best physical UI implementation from FiiO as of yet. 
The scroll wheel has a serious clicking action to it (although a click doesn't represent a scroll) and it doesn't jiggle around. The buttons are also built 'better' with a solid 'click' rather than a mushed response as well.
 
Overal, me gusta.
 
Just don't know official price yet. If it is $199, we may be in heaven. I love CS4398 DACs ( I have 2 other units with it)  so I'm a bit biased here. 

Thanks, this is nice to hear. I'm used to controlling my dap from my jacket pocket so it seems this will be suitable. Also, is there any background noise/hiss? How is the output impedance? Any issues on volume control with sensitive IEMs?

 

[Selenium]

Have you guys used it as a USB DAC at all yet? How's that working out?

 

[x RELIC x]

Have you guys used it as a USB DAC at all yet? How's that working out?

Just covered on the previous page. The drivers aren't working so no impressions yet.

 

[Oldandcurious]

  Would I benefit from a X3 (2nd gen) ?
I understand my headphones do not require a lot of power, but X3 should still sound noticeably better than X1 - right?
And the USB DAC is a nice added feature...

= = = = 
 
To my old ears, my X3 sounds better than my X1 if I am on listening lounge chair or lying down with eyes closed  But the "better" is not a "wow!" sort of better. I hear more details, the lower spectrum has more "presence and body."  But outdoors with my portable headphones or IEMs, both the X1 and the X3 sounds good. I have two E11Ks stacked on both, just for the extra battery life. The livelier sound quality is a bonus

If I had to choose, the DAC feature of the X3 is definitely a decision maker. My E07K paired to my JDS O2 sounds good, but the with the X3 as DAC, the O2 sounds more than a tad better. I haven't used my E09K for awhile now.
 
Once the X3 II hits our shores, my X3 will end up as the dedicated DAC for my O2

 

[Oldandcurious]

  As someone who likes the treble&bass settings better than the EQ on the X3, but also knowing the direction things have moved, with the X1, can you confirm that the X3 II/K does *not* have the treble&bass settings, so I can resign myself to the new reality?
= = =  =
 
Like you, I prefer the treble and bass settings in the first X3. If the new X3 will take this out of the menu, I will most likely buy another brand new first-gen X3...

 

[Zachik]

  = = = = 
 
To my old ears, my X3 sounds better than my X1 if I am on listening lounge chair or lying down with eyes closed  But the "better" is not a "wow!" sort of better. I hear more details, the lower spectrum has more "presence and body."  But outdoors with my portable headphones or IEMs, both the X1 and the X3 sounds good. I have two E11Ks stacked on both, just for the extra battery life. The livelier sound quality is a bonus

If I had to choose, the DAC feature of the X3 is definitely a decision maker. My E07K paired to my JDS O2 sounds good, but the with the X3 as DAC, the O2 sounds more than a tad better. I haven't used my E09K for awhile now.
 
Once the X3 II hits our shores, my X3 will end up as the dedicated DAC for my O2

 
Thanks for confirming my suspicions - I will wait for the X3II after all...  

 

[Oldandcurious]

   
Thanks for confirming my suspicions - I will wait for the X3II after all...  

= = = 
You are welcome. Same here. Looking forward to X3II as well

 

[Brooko]

Just been informed by Joe - Fiio's engineers confirm that the X3 2nd gen needs a new DAC driver.
 

 I was informed that a newer DAC driver is required for the X3. It is still under development. Expect it to come sometime after our Chinese New Year holidays (15-25 Feb)

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Coming in to subscribe to the discussion

An interesting bit of behind-the-scenes: last week we were chatting about how the new X3 should be named and promoted. The take-away from the discussion is that we will promote any future replacement models of the X1, X3 and X5 as simply the (new) X1, X3 and X5 (with no suffix). Where it is necessary to distinguish the exact generation of the player being discussed, it was decided to mark it as e.g. the "X3 2nd generation", "X3 2nd gen" or "X3 2g" if you are in a real hurry

The discussion went on for much longer than I expected (with me being partly to blame), but I can see how it could be quite important to unify nomenclature for the best visibility of the model for e.g. google search.

Well, may the FiiO brand grow and prosper and the X1, X3 and X5 lines stretch out until people forget which generation we're on (as seems to be the intention) (even if I do say so myself)

I hesitated to put this down in writing as I see everyone including James himself referring to it as the X3II until recently. But I see the early previewers with the "X3 2nd gen" in hand are referring to the unit as such, so it seems the memo did get out

And on that note I wish everyone an early happy Chinese New Year

(The E10K and E11K, having come out to market with the "K" suffix, will continue to be marketed as such, until the next generation.)