[subguy812]

Thanks for all of your quick posts...I am still charging but soon will give a couple of hours of good listening.

 

[Jamieson22]

​

Just got home and unboxed my X3 and am charging it. Any long time owners have any setup pointers to maximize my experience ,I use Westone W4R's. Assuming high gain?

Turn Memory Playback on. I failed to realize this and anytime the X3 shut down while paused I would need to reselect an album rather than picking up where I left off. It was a crappy day at work until I set it.

 

[jscivias]

newbie questions.. please bear with me.
 
with the next firmware can I use X3 as DAC+amp with my laptop? (or just DAC..)
 
also, do you use your X3 with an external dac/amp or do you find that unnecessary? i have dt880 250ohm headphones and westone 4r.
 
thanks

 

[bowei006]

  newbie questions.. please bear with me.
 
with the next firmware can I use X3 as DAC+amp with my laptop? (or just DAC..)
 
also, do you use your X3 with an external dac/amp or do you find that unnecessary? i have dt880 250ohm headphones and westone 4r.
 
thanks

DAC+Amp yes. 
 
X3 as a portable source on the go is very unlikely due to its digital output design. It's meant to be more of a portable source that you can move around and connect to large desktop setups. 

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

  newbie questions.. please bear with me.
 
with the next firmware can I use X3 as DAC+amp with my laptop? (or just DAC..)
 
also, do you use your X3 with an external dac/amp or do you find that unnecessary? i have dt880 250ohm headphones and westone 4r.
 
thanks

Hi, next firmware can allow u to use it as the following:
1. DAC  (line out)
2. DAC + AMP  (phone out)
3. USB to SPDIF (coax out)
 
If I recall correctly, X3 can drive up to 300ohm. As for 4r, I see it not as a necessity to use external amp unless you want to change the sound signature from using different amp. I used to have 4r and I recalled I have no need to use amp. James also mentioned that he uses his X3 with Westone ES5 so if they carry similar sound signature, you should get fantastic result from them. As for DT880, I do not have a pair but I will suspect an external amp can definitely improve the sound quality. Please bear in mind that I use high gain even for iem (LoL).

 

[jscivias]

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[AgentXXL]

​

newbie questions.. please bear with me.

with the next firmware can I use X3 as DAC+amp with my laptop? (or just DAC..)

also, do you use your X3 with an external dac/amp or do you find that unnecessary? i have dt880 250ohm headphones and westone 4r.

thanks

According to an earlier post by James from Fiio, the DAC feature is expected to be implemented in the next 2 firmware releases. This could mean the following:

1) partial DAC functionality is released for the next firmware release, with certain features such as only supporting some operating systems
2) full DAC functionality released in the next firmware release, but no guarantee of it working 100% of the time, with 'bug fixes' in a follow-up firmware releases
3) no DAC support in the next firmware release - Fiio may decide to wait for a follow-up firmware release when they are more comfortable with the features.

Or it could mean none of the above. The beta testers did find some issues (as expected with any new feature) so nothing can be guaranteed. We'll all have to be patient and wait for Fiio to make the release before we'll know.

Regardless, DAC support is coming... It's just a matter of when. As for being able to use it as DAC only or DAC + AMP, both modes should be supported. DAC only mode with the line out driving an external AMP, DAC only mode with coaxial digital mode driving an external DAC/AMP (eg. an AV receiver with coaxial SPDIF input) and lastly, DAC + AMP mode where you use the X3 to decode and the headphone out as an amplifier for your headphones. It's also possible to use the headphone out to drive an external AMP, eg. using the X3 as a preamp, but that's considered double-amping and could lead to reduced signal quality.

Patience my friends and soon we'll all have our answers.

Dale

 

[castleofargh]

I got into my head for some time now that the X3 had some kind of crossfeed forced onto me.  I may be mad but bear with me a little.
 
the depth is impressive but the width not that much compared to say the dx50.
the instruments are all pushed forward compared to my other daps.
the voices sound a little weird .something an unnecessary delayed sound added to the track could do for voices that are mostly centered and so mono that don't need crossfeed.
 
 
now am I mad? ^_^

 

[Coop]

  now am I mad? ^_^

 
Yes you are... If I'm not mistaking it is one of the criteria to be allowed on Head-fi

 
I haven't noticed anything like the vocal-issue you describe on my X3. What output are you using? Digital, Line or headphone? I usually have my E12 or O2 hooked up to the analog line out and use on/over ears. Once in a while I use IEMs (Westone UM3X) directly from the Headphone out, but that is mostly on quick runs to the supermarket so I'm not really that focussed on the music (and I mostly listen to instrumental stuff when I really take my time to listen, so that doesn't help either).
 
I'll try to see if I notice something similar once I have time to sit down and can really listen to the music...

 

[JamesFiiO]

the new firmware will be released in days and it will supports USB DAC features, remember it supports 192k/24b USB DAC in asynchronous mode.
 
it means that you get two but only paid one.

 

[jazzman7]

Can someone who has an iPad and CCK check to see whether the USB DAC function of the X3 is supported (I.e. No "too much power" msg)? That would be killer for watching movies/video. That is, of course, when the new firmware is out.

EDIT: Almost forgot -- you'd need a powered hub at a minimum. And in fact, it probably won't work unless there is a "USB Charging Off" setting in the X3. So there are some hurdles...

 

[MattTCG]

That's great news.

 

[subguy812]

I wanted to check in quickly to say that I really enjoyed my X3 last night. It really made my W4R's come alive. The detail is great and the depth is awesome. I am looking forward to ending my work day to get home and spend some more time so I can be more in depth here. So far I am enjoying the pairing. My FLAC files never sounded better. 

 

[subguy812]

   
Yes you are... If I'm not mistaking it is one of the criteria to be allowed on Head-fi

 
I haven't noticed anything like the vocal-issue you describe on my X3. What output are you using? Digital, Line or headphone? I usually have my E12 or O2 hooked up to the analog line out and use on/over ears. Once in a while I use IEMs (Westone UM3X) directly from the Headphone out, but that is mostly on quick runs to the supermarket so I'm not really that focussed on the music (and I mostly listen to instrumental stuff when I really take my time to listen, so that doesn't help either).
 
I'll try to see if I notice something similar once I have time to sit down and can really listen to the music...

I am yet to try the X3 with my UM3X. How is the pairing with the X3, sq?

 

[bodewalla]

Hi!
I'm new here. I wanted to keep the thread moving.
I have a X3 for quite a while and I'd like to add some interesting info:
Playing gapeless (for suitable file types) is automatic. You just need to browse your files (which is better than going in Category>Album) then turn off and on the device. X3 goes on playing in gapeless. As the X3 has a very fast initialization, I use this feature a lot.
I'm gonna try gapeless function with all the file types and I'll show the results here later. I believe that it doesn't work with lossless files.