[gLer]

@docholliday thank you for the detailed response. I agree with most of what you wrote, just a note on "genre settings". Yes, it wouldn't solve all the problems, but I still think it would really help and should be easy to implement. For me, it could be two genres - "Electronica" and "Other". If I feel/know that more than 50% of the song is electronica, I apply "Electronica", otherwise - "Other".

My only issue with "genre" settings is that different people like to listen to different genres in different ways. I almost never pick genre settings even when they're available on a device because I want to be able to tweak them myself. Just my 0.02.

 

[MajesticSquirrel]

My only issue with "genre" settings is that different people like to listen to different genres in different ways. I almost never pick genre settings even when they're available on a device because I want to be able to tweak them myself. Just my 0.02.

Yes, I was about this kind of genre settings: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cay...oax-out-for-150.833932/page-230#post-13653289
EDIT: Added more information to make the suggestion in a link above more clear. @Andykong would be interesting to know your position on this.

 

[docholliday]

@docholliday thank you for the detailed response. I agree with most of what you wrote, just a note on "genre settings". Yes, it wouldn't solve all the problems, but I still think it would really help and should be easy to implement. For me, it could be two genres - "Electronica" and "Other". If I feel/know that more than 50% of the song is electronica, I apply "Electronica", otherwise - "Other".

My only issue with "genre" settings is that different people like to listen to different genres in different ways. I almost never pick genre settings even when they're available on a device because I want to be able to tweak them myself. Just my 0.02.

What i think would be more "functional" would be having multiple Custom settings (consisting of EQ and filter) - accessible from the Quick Menu. I tend to listen to albums at a time, or singles in a folder playing on random. I do tag the hell out of my files, but I use the "traditional" genre tags without all the on-the-fly genres nowadays.

And, removing the (painful) Gain from said menu. I lost count of how many times I've bumped it and moved from M to H gain...with well sealing custom IEMs in. Ouch.

 

[MajesticSquirrel]

The most important thing is for player to remember these settings for albums or songs so that you don't need to specify it again. For example, you play a song A, you see it will benefit from custom settings for electronica, so you specify to use electronica settings for A. Then you play song B, you see it will benefit from custom settings for rock, so you specify to use rock settings for B. Then you can turn off the player, but the next time you turn the player on and play A - electronica settings are used, if you play B - rock settings are used.

 

[Howlin Fester]

Thanks for your review. What I don't understand is why you list 'USB digital out' as a pro, and go on to describe how great the sound is when you connect the N3 to the Intruder via USB digital out. You do realise that when you connect the N3 to a dac with digital out, you're essentially using the N3 as a hard drive and what you're hearing is entirely due to the qualities of the dac/amp it's connected to (in this case the Intruder)? So for example when you describe the soundstage of this combination as 'expansive', it has nothing to do with the N3 and is entirely because of the Intruder. All the N3 is doing is feeding digital files to the Intruder, nothing more, nothing less.

Aside from that, thanks for your thoughts and efforts!

Thanks for your reply and kind words.

Yes. I do realize that the N3 is only being used as a digital transport for the Intruder and that the sound I'm hearing is coming from the intruder.

I like the N3 because this is the first DAP I have tried and purchased that allowed me to use this functionality.

I list USB digital out as a pro because it is what allowed the N3 to meet my needs. Otherwise... Meh...

So I think we understand each other perfectly.

 

[Mbeeching]

I have the Beyer Amiron (250 ohm)
It would worth to buy a dedicated amplifier to use with my N3 in the range of $100-200 US?

I'm also interested in portable amp recommendations. I've tried two of my full size cans (Fidelio X2 / Focal Elear) on the N3 using mid and high gain and neither sounded particularly good.
My desktop amp/dac is the iFi iDAC2 and it's a night and day difference. Asking an N3 to drive the Elear was probably unrealistic but I was hoping it could handle the X2.

I've got a pair of Shure 530 earphones which are on their last legs and they sound great on the N3 so it's fairly evident that the cans are simply underdriven.

 

[Paulus XII]

yes, the Rock Zircons are pretty incredible. I love mine.

One that I loved very very much for the price was the Tekfusion Twinwoofers.

 

[Paulus XII]

I'm also interested in portable amp recommendations. I've tried two of my full size cans (Fidelio X2 / Focal Elear) on the N3 using mid and high gain and neither sounded particularly good.
My desktop amp/dac is the iFi iDAC2 and it's a night and day difference. Asking an N3 to drive the Elear was probably unrealistic but I was hoping it could handle the X2.

I've got a pair of Shure 530 earphones which are on their last legs and they sound great on the N3 so it's fairly evident that the cans are simply underdriven.

I've been trying the FiiO A5 with pretty incredible results. As you said about the iDAC2, night and day difference.

 

[gLer]

Thanks for your reply and kind words.

Yes. I do realize that the N3 is only being used as a digital transport for the Intruder and that the sound I'm hearing is coming from the intruder.

I like the N3 because this is the first DAP I have tried and purchased that allowed me to use this functionality.

I list USB digital out as a pro because it is what allowed the N3 to meet my needs. Otherwise... Meh...

So I think we understand each other perfectly.

Glad we're on the same page. I wasn't implying you didn't know what you were writing by the way, but the way some people rush to connect the N3 to their dac/amps with expensive USB cables you have to wonder why they bought such a capable DAP in the first place.

Interesting that so many people buy this DAP just to use it as a digital transport. I guess for the money it's cheap enough to perform this function. I would hate to think some people buy $1000 DAPs as digital transports...

Glad the N3 meets your needs. It's a great little DAP!

 

[gLer]

The most important thing is for player to remember these settings for albums or songs so that you don't need to specify it again. For example, you play a song A, you see it will benefit from custom settings for electronica, so you specify to use electronica settings for A. Then you play song B, you see it will benefit from custom settings for rock, so you specify to use rock settings for B. Then you can turn off the player, but the next time you turn the player on and play A - electronica settings are used, if you play B - rock settings are used.

That sounds like far more functionality than the N3 is ever likely to get, unfortunately.

 

[docholliday]

That sounds like far more functionality than the N3 is ever likely to get, unfortunately.

And from the sounds of it, outside the limitation of the OS or SDK. For some reason, none of the functions write TO the µSD. The limited RAM of the device barely allows it to store the library and forces limits on playlist size. If it could write to the card, you could store those playlists on the card. You could also save catalogs to the card as well as special functions like the genre based custom settings.

Because of the RAM limitation, I don't ever see the ability for the N3 to remember the custom choice per song.

 

[gLer]

I'm also interested in portable amp recommendations. I've tried two of my full size cans (Fidelio X2 / Focal Elear) on the N3 using mid and high gain and neither sounded particularly good.
My desktop amp/dac is the iFi iDAC2 and it's a night and day difference. Asking an N3 to drive the Elear was probably unrealistic but I was hoping it could handle the X2.

I've got a pair of Shure 530 earphones which are on their last legs and they sound great on the N3 so it's fairly evident that the cans are simply underdriven.

I have an iDSD Micro on the way as my main desktop rig, primarily to give my Fostex TH-X00 the sort of headroom I feel they need to thrive. I tried the Fostex on the N3, and while it can drive them to very loud levels, I feel it pushing the N3's limits and not getting anywhere near the X00's capabilities.

Bottom line for me, given I bought the N3 for its super slim portability and amazing power-to-size ratio, is if it doesn't drive a pair of headphones well enough, the headphones probably aren't designed to be portable in the first place. Also I don't see the point of stacking a DAP and an amp if portability is the priority.

 

[MajesticSquirrel]

And from the sounds of it, outside the limitation of the OS or SDK. For some reason, none of the functions write TO the µSD. The limited RAM of the device barely allows it to store the library and forces limits on playlist size. If it could write to the card, you could store those playlists on the card. You could also save catalogs to the card as well as special functions like the genre based custom settings.

Because of the RAM limitation, I don't ever see the ability for the N3 to remember the custom choice per song.

Good point, maybe we can hope then for the N3 to remember the custom choice per folder .

 

[Mbeeching]

I have an iDSD Micro on the way as my main desktop rig, primarily to give my Fostex TH-X00 the sort of headroom I feel they need to thrive. I tried the Fostex on the N3, and while it can drive them to very loud levels, I feel it pushing the N3's limits and not getting anywhere near the X00's capabilities.

Bottom line for me, given I bought the N3 for its super slim portability and amazing power-to-size ratio, is if it doesn't drive a pair of headphones well enough, he headphones probably aren't designed to be portable in the first place. Also I don't see the point of stacking a DAP and an amp if portability is the priority.

That's fair comment, the main reason I purchased the N3 was to have a small, good quality portable that I don't have to worry about too much if I decide to go travelling.

My last was a 160gb iPod Classic which suffered from a corrupted hard drive shortly out of warranty (if I load it with more than 5gb of music it needs reformatting). Found my beloved iRiver H340 in the cupboard recently, fond memories but it's an antique by today's standards : )

Hope you enjoy the iFi, it's one of the best purchases I've made in recent years.

 

[riffrafff]

That's fair comment, the main reason I purchased the N3 was to have a small, good quality portable that I don't have to worry about too much if I decide to go travelling.

My last was a 160gb iPod Classic which suffered from a corrupted hard drive shortly out of warranty (if I load it with more than 5gb of music it needs reformatting). Found my beloved iRiver H340 in the cupboard recently, fond memories but it's an antique by today's standards : )

Hope you enjoy the iFi, it's one of the best purchases I've made in recent years.

I still have two H320's...one with a 40GB drive and Rockboxed that I use daily in the car, and spare stock one for a back-up. Great little units.