[Nathanael]

Hi Guys,

Id like to buy a C3 (for my triple.fi 10). There are extreme price differences between germen sellers (200 Eur) and chinese ebay sellers ( 90 Eur with P&P). I' afraid that the chinese are selling fakes. Should I be? There's also a japanase seller selling them for 110 Eur.

Thanx for help.

 

[shigzeo]

From what I understand, the Chinese sales are probably the real thing, but maybe units either taken from the factory (stolen, maybe, who knows), or meant for domestic market. I think the European ones are fully-endorsed units with guarantee, 8GB internal storage, and maybe even earphones, though that last one I have no idea on.
 
I saw the 4GB ones here in Japan at a few small shops. I confirmed that they come from factory, but it doesn't seem to be official channels. Buy defensively. If you're a fan of colorfly, the authorised vendors are probably the safe way to go.

 

[Berkovajazz]

Shigzeo, please say something more about sound. What about power, soundstage, detail, vocals, speed. What IEMs do you like the most with C3 and why? Maybe some words against 601, T51.

It was hard, but i try to translate chineese reviews via Google-translator and it says that C3 is something very little better than iPod/Cowon, but CK4 is the big step up. C4 is the biggest step up.

 

[Nathanael]

I'd like to know that, too. Especially the c3 compared to t51 (and ck4).

 

[corn]

Please don't mind my noob review for a 1st timer...
 
I've just got my 8GB C3 this morning about 5 hours ago. First impression - It's so small!! (Considering I was introduced to the big brother C4 2 weeks ago). 
 
Took me 1 hour to transfer 20GB of songs into my 32GB external micro sd and only start auditioning. By the way, I'm using a TDK BA200. For sound quality, it is definitely far from C4. However, it still carries reasonable soundstage and instrument separation. I cannot fault its sound quality for this price range. At first when I thought it lacks some low frequency, but strangely, the more I listen, the more I feel that it's not lacking the low frequency (maybe it is burnt in now). 
 
Built quality wise... it's heavy for its size. Feels slightly heavier than a samsung galaxy s2. Looks sturdy. 
 
Navigation - It's not difficult to do it but one thing i must comment is that it has a small display screen. You will need to wait for the auto scrolling. Another thing that i want to mention is that the capacitive touch is not the most sensitive one. It might annoy some of you but I think it's still bearable.
 
Overall rating:
 
SQ - 7.5/10  (Benchmark against C4)
Built quality - 9/10
Navigation - 8/10

 

[shigzeo]

The T51 I am intimately familiar with, but the CK4 I have only limited experience with.
Quote:

I'd like to know that, too. Especially the c3 compared to t51 (and ck4).

 
I'll say that the sound is overall typically Colorfly, with emphasis on the midrange in some ways, though by no means u or v shaped. However, output impedance is a bit higher than players like the C4, so you will get slight variations with low Ω earphones.
 
There is very little hiss and the signal is strong well till near 90% or so for powering external amps. 
 
The C4 is better in many ways, but you have to be into a big player. For me, the C3 is preferred.
Quote:

Shigzeo, please say something more about sound. What about power, soundstage, detail, vocals, speed. What IEMs do you like the most with C3 and why? Maybe some words against 601, T51.

It was hard, but i try to translate chineese reviews via Google-translator and it says that C3 is something very little better than iPod/Cowon, but CK4 is the big step up. C4 is the biggest step up.

 

[Berkovajazz]

Shigzeo, thank you very much
 

 

[Nathanael]

thanx a lot
 
Quote:

However, output impedance is a bit higher than players like the C4

 
Hmm... Afaik that's not so good for my triple.fi 10. They have 32 Ohm, so they are not very low impedance Earphones (like models with 16 Ohm) but they're extreme fragile when it comes to output impedance and they should be used with players with very low output impedance.

 

[kiteki]

I'm concerned about fakes of the CK4 as well, I emailed all the Colorfly contact emails I could find on the official site and received no response at all, so now I'm leaning towards a Sony A8XX with an iBasso D-Zero, anyone know which the best Sony A series is?  The Z1070 is huge that's all.
 
I understand they may have put a lot of initial effort into the development and marketing of the Colorfly players (C4, CK4) and then were disappointed with the response, much like Teclast focus on efficient tablets instead of hi-end audio devices, due to supply and demand I imagine. =/
 
I think the main issue with demand on high-end audio products is UI and perhaps battery life.

 

[Berkovajazz]

Kiteki, the best new Sonys are S760, A860. They are 90% similar. I was listening both and decided to buy S760. It is small, very good sounding, super battery life and lot of other good words about Walkman players. But i'm talking about just HO.
I don't think C3 have fakes, lot of purchases are from original trusted seller from eBay. I was writing to him, he said that he original seller, everything is 100% original + 1 year warranty.
I don't believe to C3, but i'm interesting in CK4. Brrr, but quality of true chinese players are so bad. That sucks.
I don't want portable amp with mainstream player.

 

[kiteki]

 
Kiteki, the best new Sonys are S760, A860.

 
There's so many >_>
 

 
Edit:  Ah, different memory capacity, sorry.

 

[sashaw]

The C3 looks stunning. Great storage size, guess time to sell my clip and get one of this.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

CK4 - I don't know who carry it now. I know first hand that Musica Acoustics did, but who knows now. I've also heard there were some build quality issues before. I don't know if they are addressed or not. I've never used the player.
 
EDIT: sound of C3 is pleasing, for sure, and size is perfect (a bit bigger than the 3rd gen iPod nano 'sumo') and well put together. UI seems okay. If you are used to Cowon players, you know what to expect in terms of bass roll off (minimal, but can be heard in some cases). Low noise floor. Luxury feel. I think it doesn't come with earphones, but here at headfi, that isn't a big deal at all, is it?

Shigzeo what do you think of the sound in comparison to the Studio V? Which do you prefer and for what reason?

 

[nickosiris]

Got hold of a C3 today. Sounds great. I have had a ridiculous number of music players over the years and I think I'm going to prefer it to anything I've heard except for the HifiMan players and the M6SL. So that's better than anything that I've heard by Cowon, HiSoundAudio, Teclast or iRiver. Just my opinion of course, but what else can I say?
 
If I can level any criticism at it I would say that it's not exactly overly bassy, but I can live with that - particularly if I listen to it with the decidedly bass-heavy Radius DDM. Also It has failed to play a couple of songs, throwing up a 'file error' message. Only a couple mind, and I may yet discover why - you know how some players are ultra-fussy about tagging.
 
Build quality is top drawer and whilst the interface is not the most intuitive you get used to it pretty quickly. Got it super-cheap on eBay from Hong Kong too, and got the fancy Colorfly box, mains charger and PAA-1 earbuds in the package. If nothing else I'd call it a bargain.

 

[stozzer123]

Did you get the one from seller bigbargainsonline?  if so how long was shipping?  been toying with the idea for a while but now that the fiio x3 seems to be back on i might hold off.  certainly looks like bang for the buck though!