[sbradley02]

  Every Fiio product I"ve had from the E07 to the E17 has been slightly dark. Nothing wrong with that, but I wish Fiio would move to a more neutral signature eventually. I think I agree with the statement that Fiios pair really well with slightly bright headphones that need a little bass emphasis.

I found the X3 by itself to be on the "tizzy" side driving orthos (a difficult load) but the E12 was completely neutral.
I am guessing this is more due to the X3 not having quite enough current for the orthos by itself.
 
On a related note, anyone have any idea what the battery life on the X3 is using LO only?

 

[good sound]

  So I've been using both the X3 and the DX50 yesterday and here are some things that I noticed.
 
The X3 sounds more dynamic with great bass, but with my DT1350, its too much bass.  Sometimes the mids get a little congested with my 4.Ai but overall, just sounds a bit more alive on the X3 vs the DX50. 
The X3 feels more sturdy in my hand when holding it.  Came with a crappy silicon case that people were not happy with but at least it came with something.  The DX50 came with a pouch that is not working out for me. So now, theyre gonna release a silicon case and I will probably have to pay more to buy it.  
 
I am not a fan of the X3 button layout.  The DX50 wins completely there.  
 
The DX50 needed another week or so before release because the UI is horrible.  I am far from a picky person in regards to UI.  I just want it to play all randomly (for the most part), and it wont do that. The screen is responsive though which is good.
 
 
I am leaning towards keeping the dx50 because: user replaceable battery (i always use spare batteries for phones etc), better button placement, cleaner mids.  
 
I feel like I'm going to miss the X3 sound though.  It is very tough. 
 
Depending on your headphones, the X3 can be absolutely amazing for the price.  The fact that Fiio also listens and responds to all our whining is very respectable as well.  

 
For me the thing as far as iBasso goes is the lack of dealer support. This is an important consideration for me. I really prefer, much prefer, to hear a component,  you know audition it, before purchasing. The local dealer where i purchased my X3 had several top DAP's available to demo along with the FiiO  and a plethora of Headphone and IEM choices for a liesurely, no pressure comparison, as well. Buying expensive audio equipment sight unseen, sound unheard, from overseas is not really my style. Yes I know you can just ship the iBasso back if you don't like it but who really wants to go through the stress and hassle of that? Hopefully some day iBasso will set up a worldwide dealer network, but somehow I doubt it. Of course if the DX50 was significantly superior to the X3 then I would possibly be able to overlook that one factor, but.............

 

[madmonkey]

i searched but had no luck. do i set gain to low or high?i have audio technica m50s

 

[sbradley02]

  i searched but had no luck. do i set gain to low or high?i have audio technica m50s

Can you go as loud as you want without raising volume above around 50?
If so you are fine with low. If not set to high.
Try and see.....

 

[shrimants]

I have athm50 and can't go above 35 on low gain. Too loud.

 

[madmonkey]

cool ill check it out thank you both of you

 

[s0lar]

I ordered one. I will write my impressions here after a week or so.
I am going to use it with iBasso T5 and I will test/compare with ODAC and O2/iBasso D4/Meier CORDA MOVE and Fiio E12 but that will take some more time.

 

[howdy]

Has anyone heard when the case for the X3 will be on the market, and how much will it be. The website says soon but that could be months.

 

[shigzeo]

You could put yours in an iPod sock. Works great. I have like 6 that I use with:
 
DX100
X3
CLAS
RX3
iPod
foot
 
etc.

 

[sbradley02]

Has anyone heard when the case for the X3 will be on the market, and how much will it be. The website says soon but that could be months.

It is already on the market. I have one arriving this week.
They are showing up sporadically on EBay
I paid $39 shipped from Asia

 

[Vemon]

One month ago, I downloaded the 3rd song of one album in august 6, today I downloaded the rest songs of the same album in sep. 10. When I play the whole album on my fiio x3 the first song is the 3rd song then follow by this order  track 1 2 4 5 6. It seem that fiio x3 will classic the songs by the file modified date. I hope you can fixe this problem.
 
Thank you 

 

[castleofargh]

I bought both dx50 and x3 and kept the X3.
I won't pretend that it should be everybody's choice but from my point of view it was simple to pick the x3:
dx50 had very slight but audible noise on my jh13. and I really hate noise on my daps. the X3 sure is better on this.
I'm not a fan of tactile.
there is no difference between HO and LO's volume. some will be happy to have volume on the LO. but to me it is a sure way to kill my iems and my ears every time I go back from the LO full volume to the HO.
I have real use of the balance setting for intras I can't fit perfectly (not going deep enough). the balance helps me get the voice back at the center and an overall better imaging. I don't need any balance on customs, headphones, and iems reaching the 2nd bent so it isn't a must but a nice feature to me so I can consider some good sounding IEMs with bad fit.
I actually really like the EQ on the X3 as I don't hear the usual distortion of say my cowon's EQ. less options for better quality, I can go for that.
I preferred the form factor of the X3. the dx50 is larger and bigger and didn't feel as good in a pocket.
 
I believe I can break both by sitting on them so no winner on sturdiness.
 
 
the good stuff for the dx50 IMO:
wider and higher soundstage (but not much depth) you get the usual imaging of headphones when the X3 puts a lot of what is usually above right in front of you and has an impressive depth to my ears (more like a home stereo).
the screen staying off when you press next or pause.
more battery (my comfort zone is 13+hours for a dap so the X3 is a little short for my uses)
 
I can't talk about any firmware related features/bugs as both companies have work to do to get out of the beta feeling.
 
about sound I didn't spend much time on the dx50 (hiss is a bummer) but I'd say less bass and a bit more natural mids for the dx50. on some iems I have to raise the trebles to get the voices how I'm used to hear them on the X3.  there was something harsh in the trebles but it might get away with time.or not.
anyway I kept the X3, and if the X5 has a little less power (getting pretty hot on my jh13)  but can pass 15h I will go for it as soon as you make it available.
 
and I appreciate the open dialogue james had with us this all time. it is something I value and on the other hand I really disliked the silent treatment by ibasso.
 
I really believe this long nightmarish soap opera about the X3 for years now, have brought a very promising start for fiio in the dap industry and the good LO, low impedance, big power amp combo is something the likes of sony and iriver should take example on. just saying

 

[madmonkey]

james is why i went with the x3 .i have no idea what LO or HO means lol .i dont know any of the terms used above.i just like how james is standing behind this product

 

[bowei006]

  james is why i went with the x3 .i have no idea what LO or HO means lol .i dont know any of the terms used above.i just like how james is standing behind this product

 
LO=Line Out
HO=Headphone Out
 
Line Out is what is used to bypass the main amplifier in a device, so that a 'quiet' and unamplified(by the main amplifier) signal is sent directly from the DAC(sometimes, a pre amp is right after it, not always) to the LO port. This allows you to use another amplifier instead of the one in the device. LO thus is a way to bypass the devices own main output buffer amplifier(the one that drives headphones) so that you can use another amplifier in its place
 
Headphone out is just the place with the 'headphone icon' on the device or X3 that allows you to plug your headphones in.

 

[madmonkey]

Cool ty for the help