[bruce1967]

 
I almost went with the OG X5 due to the cost coming down, but was worried about warranty and replacement since the release of the X5II.  Either way, for my needs, the X3II fit the requirements I was looking for in my new DAP.

It's a great little music player. You won't regret buying it!

 

[WriterHead]

  No amp is 'perfect', but I just don't understand why people would pay extra for an amp with a colouration they like (and have to cary around an extra box), when they can get the same effect by altering the EQ. If your DAP doesn't have the power, then you need an amp, no question about that, but the X3ii's specs show plenty of power available to be used.

 
 

   
Mate - because you may not agree with the comments made does not mean that they should be relegated to sound science.  I have the HD600,  I also have the X3ii, X5, and X5ii.  Apart from slight differences in sound signature in my experience all 3 drive the HD600 with no issues.  Volume matched and A/B switching, there is not a lot of difference when switching to a more powerful amp - not even the iFi Micro iDSD (which is uber powerful).  Yes there is a difference in flavour - but saying an amp brings more "dynamics", detail, soundstage all that "guff" - when it is not needed - is simply misleading someone IMO.  Try it volume matched - turn all enhancements off, and listen for the bass performance.
 
Bestula might be relating a different experience - but I'm sitting here right now  - going back and forth with the HD600, X3ii, X5, and iDSD - and all sound mighty fine with the HD600.  The difference is that I have all 3 volume matched to within 0.1 dB, playing the same file.  And I still can't understand how he's saying that they need 110/120 on high gain.  I'm currently at 63/120 on the X3ii, and any louder than this (track is Dire Straits Sultans of Swing) is starting to get uncomfortable. Average SPL is 76.5 dB.  At 80/120 ave SPL is 86.7 dB. At 110/120 with the quietest music in my test tracks selection, Amber Rubarth's "Tundra" is giving readings of over 90 dB (my max listening level with this track at a comfortable 75-80 dB would be 80/120 - ie plenty of headroom.
 
We're all relating our experiences - and IMO we're all entitled to a subjective opinion.

I agree, In my experience It's amazing how differences dissappear in volume matched blind tests. 

 

[interpolate]

I just bought a QED Profile J2P Stereo Minijack cable as a minor upgrade for output from the cheap RCA cable I've been using instead. Apparently it's rated at 5N, Gold Plated connection etc. I don't expect to dramatically improve the sound quality however I want improve the connection. Then again any other OFC cables I have bought made a good difference.

 

[betula]

  I just bought a QED Profile J2P Stereo Minijack cable as a minor upgrade for output from the cheap RCA cable I've been using instead. Apparently it's rated at 5N, Gold Plated connection etc. I don't expect to dramatically improve the sound quality however I want improve the connection. Then again any other OFC cables I have bought made a good difference.

According to my experience no headphone cable made a huge difference.
But a good jack-RCA cable can make a difference!

 

[interpolate]

Well Quod Erat Demonstandum as the Romans said.....
 
I'm usually right about these things....

 
I bought some Tech+Link (Techlink now) cable before and even it was cheaper than rival products, it gave a good conduct of audio.

 

[Hi 5]

My Fiio X3ii makes a quiet clicking noise internally when you plug in headphones or turn it on. It reminds me of the click sounds most home theater Amps make when you turn them on.
 
Is this normal for the X3ii? 

 
Regardless everything works and sound perfect.
I'm going to buy a 2nd X3ii this weekend as a backup.
 

 
Thanks for any info on the matter!!

 

 

[x RELIC x]

It's the relay switch preventing damage to your ears and headphones from a rush of current when plugging in (no loud POP).

It's normal.

 

[Hi 5]

Awesome! Thanks!
 

 

[linuxworks]

hi all,
 
I bought this unit a few months ago and am enjoying it quite a lot.
 
I have some tech questions, maybe the company rep or others could answer.
 
1) is there any way to get info about how to enable usb support for dsd playback over linux.  yes, this is an extremely technical question and I don't expect anyone to know the answer, but I'd like to help get dsd playback working over linux/usb (mpd, for a start).  I do have usb UAC2 working, out of the box, on linux mpd, so I can play 24/192 files just fine over usb/uac2.  no 'driver' needed for that since it seems that fiio has implemented UAC2 properly, for pcm streams, at least.  fiio: can you confirm or comment on your UAC2 support?
 
2) when I play a dsd file over the coax-out spdif port, it seems to convert to pcm.  I'm seeing 88.2khz coming out of the coax port and its in regular pcm format, not dsd.  if it was dsd, it would sound like its mostly noise with some audio coming thru.  I'm getting perfect audio, so its definitely pcm and not dsd.  my question is: where is this conversion happening?  is it in your (fiio) software or is it in some hardware based chipset?
 
3) remote control, aka, CTIA inline remote; you claim that you support this inline remote standard, and yet 2 remote cords I tried only work in play/pause mode.  the skip-forward and back, which are resistance-based in CTIA remotes, don't do anything when plugged into the fiio-xII phones jack and with the menu option enabled.  HOWEVER, by random chance, I happened to multiclick on the pause/play button and found that you CAN get skip song forward/backward!  double click on the pause and it goes one way, triple click and it goes the other way.  single click and it toggles play/pause.  that works ok and I can sort of deal with that, but WHY did you do it this way?  and, can you properly support the resistance based standard in a later update (or, are you missing the sensing ability to pick out the resistance values?)  EDIT: I just tested line-out instead of coax-out along with my android remote and that does not work, either.  so, it seems the presence of a cord, of any kind, inserted into the non-phones jack disables the CTIA remote feature if that cable is plugged into the phones/amped out jack.  and yes, I even tried connecting the android earbuds remote cable to the line-out jack but that didn't help or work.
 
3a) related question: when I have the single earbud/remote cable plugged into the phones-out jack, I can do the hack, above.  BUT, when I also plug in the coax-out cable (so that both are in their own ports), I now can get spdif-out on the right hand cable but the left hand remote no longer does its remotey thing.  can this be addressed/fixed in a future firmware update?  I'd like to be able to have a wired remote on the phones jack AND also send line-out OR spdif-out on the right hand jack.
 
that's about it for tech questions, for now
 
very nice player, fiio.  and the fact that you send out 24/192 (and 96, 88.2, 176.4, etc) and don't ruin the output bitstream - nice - very nice.  one of the main reasons I bought this was to have a bit-perfect non-resampled spdif out on a portable player.
 
thx
 
/bryan

 

[linuxworks]

 
According to some earlier posts, you're probably hearing 24/88 PCM.

 
confirmed.
 
I have an spdif sample rate display (DIY) and it shows 88.2 on some of the dsd files I've played thru the coax-out.
 
my spdif-in device only understands pcm; I'm 100.0% sure of that   and so, it has to be pcm and its definitely not resampled to 44.1 or 48 or anything stupid like  that.  its converted to pcm, somehow.  what I'd like to know is, how are they doing that.  from what I understand, its not a simple or easy or direct process.  its not a pure mapping, on other words, and so 'how' you do it does matter.
 
but at any rate (lol) I love the fact that any old dac (that can handle 24/96 and below) can now be used to, at least listen to the dsd files without having to be dsd or even DoP-aware.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

Myself and others have confirmed the coax is 24/88.2 through our AV Receivers.
 
Since we are getting 24/88.2, isn't it best to just use line out then?

 

[linuxworks]

  Myself and others have confirmed the coax is 24/88.2 through our AV Receivers.
 
Since we are getting 24/88.2, isn't it best to just use line out then?

 
if your system takes analog-in, sure.
 
one of my systems is ONLY spdif-in (pcm only, not dsd or dts or dd5.1), so the coax-out is the only way to get audio into my main system.
 
(I have a digital crossover and that's the start of my chain; it would actually degrade things to start with digital, covnert to analog and then convert again to digital when the signal is digital to begin with)

 

[x RELIC x]

Myself and others have confirmed the coax is 24/88.2 through our AV Receivers.

Since we are getting 24/88.2, isn't it best to just use line out then?

Depends if you like the DAC in the FiiO player or the DAC in your other audio gear it's hooked up to. Line out will use the DAC in the FiiO players.

Honestly, if it's mastered in DSD and decoded natively and output at 24/88.2 you're not likely to hear a difference at all from the original DSD.

 

[linuxworks]

just to be clear, I do like the dac (analog) output from the x3-2.  if I'm on an all analog playback chain (eg, headphone listening) then I'll definitely be using the cs4398 output on the fiio.
 
no complaints about the analog-out quality via the line-out.  they did an excellent job.

 

[420204]

 
1) is there any way to get info about how to enable usb support for dsd playback over linux.  yes, this is an extremely technical question and I don't expect anyone to know the answer, but I'd like to help get dsd playback working over linux/usb (mpd, for a start).  I do have usb UAC2 working, out of the box, on linux mpd, so I can play 24/192 files just fine over usb/uac2.  no 'driver' needed for that since it seems that fiio has implemented UAC2 properly, for pcm streams, at least.  fiio: can you confirm or comment on your UAC2 support?

Hi, I've created a little how-to for the X3 and DSD in Linux, using mpd.
it's very simple. just look at my review. here's the link:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/fiio-x3-2nd-gen-ultraportable-hi-res-dap/reviews/13086
 
What OS are you using? Kernel etc.