Here is my brief review of the X3 2nd Gen player as it compares to the iHiFi 800. Although I prefer the sound quality of the iHiFi 800 and I am very happy with it overall, the X3 2nd Gen player is a very good DAP for the price. Hopefully, someone (anyone) from Xuelin will take a peek at this thread and make some improvements in the iHiFi 800 thru firmware updates. At the very least, I would like to see gapless playback, better/more inclusive file format support (including cue support), and improved R/L balance control. I know for some that a customized graphic equalizer function would be appreciated. These options (and more) are all obtainable, Xuelin just needs to put more effort into their firmware development... and yes, I have e-mailed them several times with these requests. If any other Xuelin owners would like to send an e-mail to Xuelin requesting firmware updates for the 960, 812v2, 800 or the 770s, then here is the e-mail address: sxj1974@163.com. Thanks.
A Brief Review of the FiiO X3 2nd Generation DAP with Comparisons to the Xuelin iHiFi 800.
Firstly, I would like to thank Mr. James Chung for allowing this preview of FiiO’s new X3 2
nd Generation DAP. I would also like to thank “Joe Bloggs” for coordinating the world preview tour, and his help in the Head Fi.org forums. As directed by the folks at FiiO, this review has been done on one of the pre-production units of the X3 2
nd Gen DAP; and it was loaned out to us for free, except for the cost of postage to the next reviewer. The information in this review is based on my experience with the loaner X3 2
nd Gen model and my Xuelin iHiFi 800 that I purchased with my own funds.
Some Brief Remarks about the FiiO X3 2nd Generation Player.
This is my first experience with any of the FiiO DAPs. Prior to this opportunity, I had not listened to any of the FiiO DAPs, so I really do not know how the new X3 2
nd Gen compares to the first generation X3, the X1 or the X5. Therefore, I did not have any previous real-life biases or assumptions of this player. There are (as of this writing) 2 very complete (ie, encyclopedic) reviews of the X3 2
nd Gen by Brooko and Twister 6, and these reviews discuss the X3 2
nd Gen in much detail and offer comparisons to the X1, 1
st Gen X3 and X5. I will not try to duplicate their work in my review. These reviews can be found here:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/fiio-x3-2nd-gen-ultraportable-hi-res-dap.
After being able to assess the X3 2
nd Gen DAP in my review period, I can easily say that it is an outstanding music player. It is quite attractive and is solidly built. The functionality, file format support and firmware are all very impressive. I have been impressed by the options that this player offers in functionality. Not only does it serve as a high-quality music player, but it also can serve as a stand-alone DAC. In addition to a headphone-out port, it also has a port for line out/coaxial out functions. While the X3 2
nd Gen does not have any built-in memory, it does have a single microsd slot that is currently able to support up to 128 gb cards. It also supports OTG (on-the-go) usb devices.
The file format support is very impressive; it supports both lossless (including high resolution FLAC files, WAV, WMA, ALAC, APE, and DSD) and lossy file (eg, MP3, AAC) formats. In addition, the files can be listed as individual songs, by albums, by artists, by genre and by personal favorites. The player also supports playlists.
The UI and firmware for the X3 2
nd Gen are also quite impressive; I did not encounter any significant firmware bugs during my time with the player. I must admit that when I first received the player, there seemed to be some difficulty with the volume control buttons, because when I would press them to increase/decrease volume, the buttons did not respond properly. However, after the first day, the volume buttons worked properly, and I had no further problems with them. Although I am not a big fan of scroll wheel navigation, the X3 2
nd Gen appears to have a fairly decent one; as others have pointed out, however, one click of the wheel does not always result in 1 advancement on the screen. A couple of the functions that I really like on the X3 2
nd Gen are gapless playback, resume play, and automatic pause when the earphone plug is removed from its port. The gapless playback worked very well with my files. I was happy to see a 10-band graphic equalizer, high/low gain “switch”, and R/L balance control. The user is also offered several options to unlock the key pad. Please refer to the extensive reviews by Brooko and Twister 6 for more detailed information re: features of the X3 2
nd Gen.
There are only a few areas where I could think of any constructive criticisms. The first has to do with the Theme selections on the player. Some of the theme colors (in my opinion) on the pre-production model are just not attractive at all, and others could benefit from more contrast between lettering and background to make it easier to see which line you are currently on. The other issue I have involves the placement of the On/Off and Volume buttons on the upper left side panel of the player. As a right-handed person, I hold the player in my left hand and use my right hand to operate the scroll wheel and front-panel buttons. As I hold the player in my left hand, my left thumb is on or around the On/Off and Volume buttons. Many times when I was placing/replacing my earphone plug into the HO port, I found that I had inadvertently pressed one of these buttons in the process. This is minor issue, but certainly something I would have to get used to.
Xuelin iHiFi 800 DAP
Please refer to this thread for more detailed information on the iHiFi 800:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/755399/xuelin-ihifi-800-a-brief-introduction.
The iHiFi 800 was released by Xuelin in February 2015. The player is a bit of a diversion for Xuelin in terms of hardware and form factor. All of Xuelin’s other current players use Wolfson DACs (960s, 812v2, and 770 have Wolfson 8740 and the 770C has Wolfson 8718). The 800 uses the Sabre ESS9018K2M DAC. All the current Xuelin DAPs use Rockchip processors. The 800 has three LME 47926 opamps and uses the OPA1662 as its LPF. Compared to the other Xuelin players, the iHiFi 800 is a neutral sounding DAP. In regards to form factor, the 800 is quite a bit smaller than the 960 and 812v2. The 800 measures 100 x 49 x 16 mm and weighs about 120 gms, while the 960 measures 110 x 70 x 26 mm and weighs about 300 gms. On the other hand, the 770s resemble an iPod Touch and weigh 103 gms. All in all, the iHiFi 800 is a solidly built, high-quality DAP. It is an attractive player with sturdy aluminum alloy casing that comes in either black or silver color versions. It has 8 gb of built-in memory storage and a single microsd card slot that supports up to 128 gb cards. It does not support OTG devices. The iHiFi 800 currently sells for ~$250 US (price includes standard shipping).
FiiO X3 2nd Gen (L), Xuelin iHiFi 800 (C), and Xuelin iHiFi 770 (R)
FiiO X3 2nd Gen vs. Xuelin iHiFi 800
For the remainder of my review, I will tend to focus on functionality, file format support, firmware, and sound quality between these 2 players. I have included several pictures that show the X3 2
nd Gen and the iHiFi 800 side-by-side. In all pictures, the FiiO X3 is on the left and the Xuelin iHiFi 800 in on the right.
Front view
Bottom panel view
Top panel view
Left side panel view
Right side panel view
Back view
Well, when it comes to functionality, the X3 2
nd Gen appears to offer more than the iHiFi 800. The X3 can function as a usb DAC and has both line out/coax out in addition to headphone out. The 800 does not function as a stand-alone DAC, and while it has a line out, it does not have coax out. The X3 supports in-line headphone remote, whereas the 800 does not. The X3 supports OTG usb devices whereas the 800 does not. Both players have a single microsd card slot and both currently support up to 128 gb cards. The 800 does have 8 gb of on-board memory storage, whereas the X3 has no on-board memory. Both have high/low gain options. The battery life on the players appears to be similar, somewhere between 10 and 12 hrs.
The X3 has much better file format support than the 800. The X3 2
nd Gen easily handles 24/192 FLAC, AAC, ALAC, along with WAV, MP3 and lower resolution FLAC files and also has native DSD decoding. The 800 currently does not support high resolution FLAC files, AAC or ALAC files and does not have native DSD decoding. The X3 offers gapless playback, whereas the 800 does not. Neither player offers cue support.
The X3 2
nd Gen easily bests the iHiFi 800 in firmware development. The firmware on the 800 is currently somewhat simplistic in comparison to the X3. FiiO appears to have literally adopted many of the more popular features from Rockbox and adapted them to the X3 2
nd Gen. Needless to say, I am quite impressed. However, when it comes to navigation through the UI to access all these nice features, I’m not sure FiiO comes out on top. Of course, this will be very dependent on an individual user’s preferences. Navigation for the X3 2
nd Gen primarily uses a combination of a scroll wheel and 4 physical buttons on the front of the player. Volume control and on/off buttons are on the upper left side of the X3. Navigation for the 800 is thru a set of 7 physical buttons on the front of the player; on/off and volume control buttons are included in the front buttons. For “in-pocket” use the 800 has separate “pause/off”, “forward” and “reverse” buttons along the upper right side panel. I much prefer the button control/navigation of the 800 myself, but I am sure others may prefer the scroll wheel layout of the X3. I do have to say that the scroll wheel on the X3 works pretty well, but there is some extra play in the wheel that can be a bit frustrating at times. I also find the volume control buttons on the front of the 800 to be more convenient/easier to use than the volume control buttons on the upper left side of the X3.
Well, despite all its apparent short-comings in comparison to the X3 2
nd Gen, as it stands now, I do believe the iHiFi 800 has better overall sound quality than the X3 2
nd Gen. I reached this conclusion after 4 days of intensive comparison between the 2 players. For the most part, I found more differences in the players when I used IEMs with dynamic drivers, and the sound quality was more similar when I used IEMs with balanced armatures. I do not currently own any hybrid IEMs, so I cannot comment on these. For the most part, I preferred IEMs with dynamic drivers with these 2 players, because the sound stage with both players appeared to be a bit narrower with BA IEMs. FiiO has since reported that some modifications will be made in sound prior to general release of the X3 2
nd Gen, so I have no idea how my current comparisons will hold up over time. Let me just say that the X3 2
nd Gen is a nice sounding DAP, and in no way do I want anyone reading this review to infer that the sound quality is not good. The differences between the 2 players are all relative and my conclusions are based on my own preferences. Before I get into the discussion of sound quality, one of the strongest attributes of the 800 is its absolute black background. I hear no hiss between songs, and there are no pops/clicks when the player is turned on/off or between songs. The black background (in my opinion) gives the music better definition, body and dimension. The X3 has a dark background as well; although I did not hear any hiss with any of my earphones, the player does have subtle clicks/pops when it is powered on/off and between songs (except when gapless playback is used).
When it comes to sound quality, both players have similar sound stages in terms of width. The most significant difference between these 2 players is in bass presentation and vocals. The 800 has a more neutral presentation and the X3 has a warmer presentation. While the bass on the 800 is less in amount when compared to the X3, it is better in quality. The bass on the 800 is punchier and more clear/detailed; in comparison, the bass on the X3 is a bit heavier (think thud instead of punch) and slightly fuzzy. With the earphones I prefer to use with the 800 (YinJW ie800), the bass on the X3 creeps into/distracts from the midrange. The vocals on the 800 are very, very nice, and this is a major strength of all the Xuelin players I have. The vocals on the 800 have better clarity and dimension than the vocals on the X3, and as a result, I find the vocals to be more “musical” and life-like on the 800. The bass quantity of the X3 can be reduced by using “cooler” earphones (like the Ostry KC06), but this does not really improve the vocals in my opinion.
The 800 has better separation of low, mid and high frequencies than the X3, and this results in better clarity of detail and improved instrument separation/placement.
(As a complete aside, for those readers who have the Xuelin 770/770C and Ostry KC06 IEMs, the sound quality of the X3 2
ndGen using the KC06 IEMs is very similar to the sound quality using the A HO port of the 770/770C (more neutral HO) with the KC06 IEMs; except the X3 2
nd Gen has a wider sound stage and the 770s have slightly better vocals.)
Both players had plenty of power to drive all my IEMs; so I would personally not routinely use a separate headphone amp with either one. I did try out both players using their lines-out with my Neco Soundlab v2 amp (with dual AD8610 opamps). I could not really appreciate any real improvements in sound quality with the 800, but the sound quality of the X3 appeared to improve. With the amp, the bass on the X3 was reduced/more refined and there was better separation between lows, mids and highs. The vocals on the X3 seemed to benefit with the amp as well.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the FiiO X3 2
nd Gen is a very nice DAP. The obvious strengths of this player are its functionality, file format support and firmware. The sound quality is quite good, and with properly paired earphones, the user should be quite satisfied. At its price point (approx $200 US), there appear to be few, if any, other players at present that can match its overall value. I predict the FiiO X3 2
nd Gen will be very well received when it is released for general sale. It is clear to me that FiiO has set a new standard for DAPs at this price point, and other manufacturers will need to step it up quite a bit to remain competitive. I certainly wish FiiO good luck and want to thank them again for this opportunity to review their new, high-quality DAP.