[janawe]

Is the C3 still a good player in 2018 against other entry levels daps ?
It’s being sold at 25 usd right now, and it’s incredibly tempting.

May I ask where you found it for $25?

 

[ZeVioleLesLits]

Thanks for all your answers, I’ll buy it

May I ask where you found it for $25?

https://m.tomtop.com/p-v3959.html

Sorry for mobile link. It’s 30 usd, with the code “TTCFC3” it comes down to around 25 usd.

 

[janawe]

Thanks! I will be ordering one myself - too cheap to pass up.

 

[Lifted Andreas]

NOT ONLY the most neutral BUT the most transparent as well.......
IF you do pair C3 with a bugdet friendly little amp like NX1S or BlueBird U3 ....the you have the whole package in front of you....Nice wide soundstage .....airy spacious vocals.....lively vivid sound experience..
i had bought C3 from massdrop at 59 $ and i would pay even more to get this quality sound source,,,,25$ its a totally steal.....

It's a great price for sure. I would say though that it desperately needs to be connected to an amp to get the best out of it.

 

[iJay]

It's a great price for sure. I would say though that it desperately needs to be connected to an amp to get the best out of it.

Agreed, amping increases dynamics and opens C3 up. I'm always so impressed with the battery as well. Almost like the old iPods, you can forget about it, drag it out from it's hiding place and still have whatever battery level you left it with. Basically a worry-free device.

 

[-rowan-]

I'd get it. I'm getting it. It will be my second C3, never mind that the first one died on me. I have most of the other Colorfly DAPs as well and while they have their strengths, even they don't do neutral and transparent quite like the C3. The combination of C3 with ER4S and Topping NX1A was hard to beat.

Thanks for the tip-off.

 

[-rowan-]

Well that was fast, faster than I'd dared expect. And I'm glad to have a C3 once again. I turned it on to check it was working. 45 mins later, I'm still listening. With a big silly grin.



Btw I just checked the tomtop link and the C3 is $23 now... they're practically giving these away free!

 

[tansand]

...

 

[TrollDragon]

So everybody who bought one recently, these do burn in. I've had one as my only player for a couple years, and I bought another from that link (23!). Once burned in, the player loses the 'hard' sound some have mentioned, gets more cohesive and the sound stage opens up quite a bit. 20 hours of pink noise seems to have helped, but the new one still has some way to go before it sounds like my old one. Maybe it just takes time and music.

I am not one to believe in burn in with headphones, (Tyll proved that with testing) and especially not with solid state electronics. Different batches of components from various suppliers would attribute a different sound. This is just my opinion, but if burn in works for you then by all means enjoy.

 

[tansand]

....

 

[ilmothedude]

I wasn't believer in burn-in before, but since my hifi ear has improved and I have heard it myself, now I believe in headphone aswell electronic burn-in. I wasn't nowhere at that level in times I got my C3 though, so can't comment with that, but with my most recent dap xuelin ihifi780 I heard how it improved with burn-in. Most notably with soundstage, imaging and separation. Sound simply opened up.

 

[BruceBanner]

I wasn't believer in burn-in before, but since my hifi ear has improved and I have heard it myself, now I believe in headphone aswell electronic burn-in. I wasn't nowhere at that level in times I got my C3 though, so can't comment with that, but with my most recent dap xuelin ihifi780 I heard how it improved with burn-in. Most notably with soundstage, imaging and separation. Sound simply opened up.

Or your ears opened up.

It's been scientifically proven that we ourselves are more susceptible to adjusting to sound quality than physical equipment drastically changing it's sound signature. I have been with DAPs and IEMs for decades now, tried a tun of them, tweaked EQ's and DSP's to my hearts content, in the end I don't really believe in better sound quality but rather different sound quality. If you listen to a DAP for a few months with 'x' setup (x being certain EQ/DSPs in place, paired with a certain IEM etc) and then try 'y' (y being a new DAP, new IEMs or new EQ/DSP's) then it is often initially met with a strong opinion (good or bad) because it has contains a very fresh contrast to what your ears are accustomed too. Stick with the new DAP and persevere and soon enough you start to feel as though the sound quality improves or changes when in reality you are just 'resetting' what your ears are accustomed to experiencing, things start to sound 'normal' or 'better' and soon enough you start to hear subtle differences that perhaps were not so easily apparent in the previous set up, and now this new device gets praise but needs 'burn in'.

I have two home stereos, one is bass heavy, the other not so much. The source is the same, just the output differs. One is neither better than the other, they are just different. The bassier heavier stereo drives certain tracks better, the other stereo with less pronounced bass gives way to hearing extremely subtle sounds coming through more that are just simply drowned out by the other stereos 'fun' amount of bass. I listen to whichever one my mood suits, but not one is better than the other, just different.

It's the same with DAPs and IEMs.

If burn in does exist, I would argue that your own ears adjusting accounts for a higher percentage of perceived sound change than the actual device changing.

One way I 'proved' this to myself (a long time ago) would be to take a DAP that I have not used for many months (even years!) and toggled it on and gave it another whirl. In the past this older DAP (in conjunction with a certain headphone) may have felt was the best listening experience I have ever had, indeed when I switched to a newer DAP (at the time) I wasn't immediately blown away by the new sound quality. I persevered and stuck with the newer DAP (hey i paid a lotta money for it, others like it, so should I!) and eventually things started to sound better. Going back to the older DAP and things just did not sound the way they used to. Hard to fathom how such a pairing at one time one amazing, but now with my new 'ears' it just sounded 'off' and poor in quality. My ears simply took on the newer sound signature and anything that deviates from it is met with strong opinions.

Our ears are easy to deceive, placebo exists, studies have proven this, and even the slightest increase in volume on the same set up can give way to the perception it's a different system entirely and absolute in sounding better.

What's more likely happening? Our ears and perception to sound changing (as scientifically proven) or the circuit board is of electronics is 'opening up'.

 

[tansand]

.....

 

[BruceBanner]

What is more likely is not the question, the question is what occurs. What occurs is that headphones and electronics do burn in, do sound different after some time.



Are you sure you're not conflating two different 'scientific' gyrations here? How is 'more susceptible' quantified? Or 'drastically', or 'sound signature'? What you're saying is not 'proven' at all. I have two C3 to compare directly, and they sound different. You can pretend it's because of different components, if you want, but go ahead and try to 'scientifically prove' that.

Sure it is, go google, you should find quite a few journals and testings on population groups that support this. Ears can be tricked easily is the point, we only have to do some ABX testing to prove this
I'm not saying burn in may not exist, but I am sceptical as to how much that accounts for a perception in different sound quality. Burn in may be 10% difference in sound, your continuation and resetting your 'ears' to a different sound signature to the point that it now becomes the 'new norm' may account for the rest.

 

[tansand]

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