[twister6]

 

   
If you want a clean black background, stick to your original purchase color 

 
Got N3 today, and REALLY enjoying it!  Had it on burn in for about 5+ hours, sound really opens up.  Just had it paired up with my Note 4, what a treat being able to stream Spotify with N3 in my hand and my phone somewhere across the room, and not just streaming but being able to Play/Pause and Skip the tracks (N3 works great as a bluetooth wireless remote playback control), and of course change the volume.
 
This little guy is packed with features!!!

I just did some testing around this.  I can bluetooth any music from phone either stored in memory or from amazon to the N3 and it plays through wired headphones.  I also had my bluetooth headphones connected but i couldnt get any music to play.  It could see the connection though as the phone recognised the play pause command from headphones so not sure if it cant do in and out for bluetooth.  
 
Also connected the mojo and amazon music also played through this.   

 
With Bluetooth, you can either connect N3 to your phone or connect headphones to N3, but not both at the same time.  Besides, makes no sense since you can connect headphones to phone directly without N3 being in the middle

  And btw, in open space I had wireless headphones almost 60ft away.
 
Connecting headphones wireless to N3 is fast and easy, here, testing it with Sennheiser Momentum In-ear Wireless and you can control playback and volume from headphones (click on images to expand):
 
 
 
Or you can pair up N3 with your phone:
 

 
and then you can connect your wired headphones to N3, and use N3 playback controls and volume to control Spotify streaming directly to your N3:
 

 
or playback from your favorite audio apps, like Neutron (play/pause, skip next/prev, and volume works from N3):
 

 
or enjoy watching movies, like Netflix streaming with play/pause and volume controls supported:
 

 

[michaelgordon]

yeah i cant think now why i wanted to BT through the N3 from phone to headphones other than eliminating wires and the N3 sounds better using BT than it does from the phone.  It was only going to be for using Amazon music but like you said can do that direct.
 
I can confirm that the N3 will accept the connection from both phone and headphone at same time.  I connected my phone, disabled media then connected N3 this allowed me to playback music from N3 and make a call with the phone, the music stopped and started with the call as well.
 
Im really impressed and nmathias sold this too me by originally saying its a baby N5 but id say in some ways its better.

 

[twister6]

  yeah i cant think now why i wanted to BT through the N3 from phone to headphones other than eliminating wires and the N3 sounds better using BT than it does from the phone.  It was only going to be for using Amazon music but like you said can do that direct.
 
I can confirm that the N3 will accept the connection from both phone and headphone at same time.  I connected my phone, disabled media then connected N3 this allowed me to playback music from N3 and make a call with the phone, the music stopped and started with the call as well.
 
Im really impressed and nmathias sold this too me by originally saying its a baby N5 but id say in some ways its better.

 
N3 definitely has N5/i5 DNA

 
Will get into a more critical listening within a week, but so far I'm really enjoying it.  Also, this is a first dap which I don't want to put in the case, love the feel of it naked.  Actually, LOVE everything about it except for capacitive touch buttons.  Just a matter of a personal preference, but wish those would be physical buttons; or a small d-pad would have been cool.

 

[docholliday]

   
N3 definitely has N5/i5 DNA

 
Will get into a more critical listening within a week, but so far I'm really enjoying it.  Also, this is a first dap which I don't want to put in the case, love the feel of it naked.  Actually, LOVE everything about it except for capacitive touch buttons.  Just a matter of a personal preference, but wish those would be physical buttons; or a small d-pad would have been cool.

An implementation of the Fiio X1-II's scroll wheel would be really cool!

 

[docholliday]

I believe both Black and Cyan aluminum case are sand blasted. I am not sure if I use the correct English description on theis finishing process, I tried to figure out the English name of the metal handling process from its Chinese name and this is as closed as I can figure out.

It feels to be more "powder-coated" than anodized...

 

[bruce1967]

   
N3 definitely has N5/i5 DNA

 
Will get into a more critical listening within a week, but so far I'm really enjoying it.  Also, this is a first dap which I don't want to put in the case, love the feel of it naked.  Actually, LOVE everything about it except for capacitive touch buttons.  Just a matter of a personal preference, but wish those would be physical buttons; or a small d-pad would have been cool.

I agree. It's a great DAP but I'd prefer physical buttons over the capacitive buttons too.

 

[docholliday]

 
I agree. It's a great DAP but I'd prefer physical buttons over the capacitive buttons too.

At first, I hated the wheel on the Fiio X1-II, but have since grown to like it (especially when the "press mode" is disabled). I, too like physical buttons, but the N3's capactive ones aren't too bad. I just wished they would have put little indentations or another physical delineation between top and bottom button to make it easier to feel in the dark. Of course, a backlit button would have also been useful. But, at least there are physical play/pause, back/fwd, and volume buttons on the side of the N3. And I feel that those buttons will be better once I find a leather case and get rid of the squishiness of the silicone wrapper.

 

[twister6]

 

 
I agree. It's a great DAP but I'd prefer physical buttons over the capacitive buttons too.

At first, I hated the wheel on the Fiio X1-II, but have since grown to like it (especially when the "press mode" is disabled). I, too like physical buttons, but the N3's capactive ones aren't too bad. I just wished they would have put little indentations or another physical delineation between top and bottom button to make it easier to feel in the dark. Of course, a backlit button would have also been useful. But, at least there are physical play/pause, back/fwd, and volume buttons on the side of the N3. And I feel that those buttons will be better once I find a leather case and get rid of the squishiness of the silicone wrapper.

 
I actually prefer N3 without a case.  The all metal body and pleather back feels very comfortable and secure in my hand, while silicone case makes it a bit slippery.  Silicone case is fine for scratch protection and minor drops, but I think a leather case would be great for N3.  You can't cover up capacitive touch buttons, but perhaps if you have a leather case with some special material going over those buttons (like the one used in touchscreen gloves) - it will work.  But in general, I like slim footprint of N3 and don't want to add any bulk to it.

 

[docholliday]

   
I actually prefer N3 without a case.  The all metal body and pleather back feels very comfortable and secure in my hand, while silicone case makes it a bit slippery.  Silicone case is fine for scratch protection and minor drops, but I think a leather case would be great for N3.  You can't cover up capacitive touch buttons, but perhaps if you have a leather case with some special material going over those buttons (like the one used in touchscreen gloves) - it will work.  But in general, I like slim footprint of N3 and don't want to add any bulk to it.

I hope that the full face is complete open, with no clear plastic over it. A "stiff" side (embedded PVC, thin metal, or reinforced leather) and thin leather would be perfect. Fiio has the LC-FX1221 case for the X1-II and it feels great on the player. Just enough protection to keep from scratching the body; you can even place it face down and the little "rim" around the front keeps the display and buttons off the table. The face of the X1 is completely accessible (it have the capacitive touch wheel) and the case doesn't interfere at all. That little case has reinforcement on the top and sides to make it a stiff sleeve that the player slides into. The inside is a soft, velvety felt that keeps from scratching the player.
 
I too like the N3 without the silicone sleeve, but I have it on right now to keep it from getting scratched. The X1-II feels even better, with the rounded sides and "denser, more solid" feel, but it's even nicer with the FX case on it.
 
The only thing I don't like about the FX case is the hole in the back where the Fiio logo shows through (and the embossing that looks like a Harley logo). It would've been even nicer if it was just smooth and leathery.

 

[Lost Cosmonaut]

I believe reviews from Headfonics, Headfonia and Twisters will compare N3 to i5. These reviewers had written detail reviews for i5 and they have received N3 sample recently, You probably need to wait a few weeks before these reliable reviewers release their N3 review.

I've not really put it down since I've gotten it... and I'm just using AKG Y50s, which cost less than $100. 

 

[nmatheis]

twister6: Hey, Alex. I wanted to confirm something with you and also potentially clarify something for others. I've got N3 receiving music via BT from Neutron on my OnePlus 3. When I first attempted to use transport control, I tried the capacitive buttons and the center button. None of these worked while connected via BT except the Back capacitive button which terminates the BT connection. Only the side hardware buttons at a transport controls. Am I correct to assume the same is true for you?

 

[NateInBelgium]

Andykong that is a very good point you make actually about the USB power possibly degrading the signal. It may be ones and zeros but when electricity is introduced so is noise. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[tole]

 
I hope your delivery date is more accurate than mine.  It was "supposed" to be delivered today. 

Ah, well.  Maybe tomorrow. 

As you said, my delivery date is more accurate than yours.That is true. It shows it will arrive next Monday, but it arrived today. Yeah!

 

[tole]

.
Yeah! Out of the box.

 

[michaelgordon]

  yeah i cant think now why i wanted to BT through the N3 from phone to headphones other than eliminating wires and the N3 sounds better using BT than it does from the phone.  It was only going to be for using Amazon music but like you said can do that direct.
 
I can confirm that the N3 will accept the connection from both phone and headphone at same time.  I connected my phone, disabled media then connected N3 this allowed me to playback music from N3 and make a call with the phone, the music stopped and started with the call as well.
 
Im really impressed and nmathias sold this too me by originally saying its a baby N5 but id say in some ways its better.

So im going to have to call myself a liar.  What i had done was connect both devices to the headphones not the headphones & phone to the N3.  That dont work.
 
The only thing i want now is to be able to remote control (play/pause & skip tracks) the N3 from my phone while its outputting to the mojo so i dont need to take it out my pocket.  However non of the bluetooth remote apps i have tried will connect to N3.