[nagual]

My D3 is connected as follows:
 
Toslink (onboard)--->Optical cable--->D3--->RCAxP3 Belkin cable--->Edifier M3400,  ( D3 is feed through an USBxminiUSB cable, connected to the PC)
 
I´m getting a hiss that seems to vary according to the port the USB cable is connected to.
Does anyone has the same issue ?  If so, could you track down the cause ?
 
Thanks !

 

[davidzvi]

Use the wall plug?  Does it go away?
 
Never even thought of plugging it into a usb on my computer.  I'm using an optical cable to isolate it from as much interference as I can.

 

[nagual]

I´ll check the wall plug, as soon as I find it ! (Wall plugs can be noisy too, right ?)

 

[davidzvi]

Quote:

I´ll check the wall plug, as soon as I find it ! (Wall plugs can be noisy too, right ?)

Probably, but not being THAT up on the stuff I would think less than the USB off the computer.

 

[ACDOAN]

Quote:

My D3 is connected as follows:
 
Toslink (onboard)--->Optical cable--->D3--->RCAxP3 Belkin cable--->Edifier M3400,  ( D3 is feed through an USBxminiUSB cable, connected to the PC)
 
I´m getting a hiss that seems to vary according to the port the USB cable is connected to.
Does anyone has the same issue ?  If so, could you track down the cause ?
 
Thanks !

I own three of these little suckers and they are dead quiet. I plug them directly to the wall receptacle . I used Senn, JVC,Shure headphones btw.
 

 

[nagual]

 
Quote:

My D3 is connected as follows:
 
Toslink (onboard)--->Optical cable--->D3--->RCAxP3 Belkin cable--->Edifier M3400,  ( D3 is feed through an USBxminiUSB cable, connected to the PC)
 
I´m getting a hiss that seems to vary according to the port the USB cable is connected to.
Does anyone has the same issue ?  If so, could you track down the cause ?
 
Thanks !

 
Didn´t find the wall plug, but uninstalled old Live! 24Bit from my pc, and things have gotten better.  I thought hiss was just a hardware matter, now I don´t think so.

 
 

 

[discombobulation]

I am a bit clueless when it comes to DACs, but is the following set up feasible? And will it result in a noticeable improvement in sound quality?
 
Macbook Pro optical out -> Fiio D3 -> Westone 4 / Monitor speakers
 
Can you plug earphones directly into the D3 with a adapter? I will have a volume attenuator connected as well, in order to have volume control.
 
Also, has anyone used these with Amarra, and if so, how well do they work together?

 

[gnagflow]

greetings everyone.  just wanted to weigh in with my results.  i'm using the d3 with the coax SPDIF output from my computer, asus maximus formula motherboard with supreme fx2 soundcard.  it sounds wonderful.  actually it sounds too good.  it truly shows up any flaws in the encoding of mp3/compressed audio formats, but nonetheless extracts all the source has to offer.  it was mentioned earlier that the volume out of this dac is quite high, and i can confirm that, which will necessitate lowering the volume on any amp a bit more than without the d3, but on the other hand the output from the 3.5mm jacks on the soundcard is teeny to begin with.  so the d3 gives you a voltage more like typical audio equipment, as i see it.
 
my only issue with the setup is that in my output options in the computer's configuration interface (soundmax software and drivers), i only have options for 16 bit word length.  from 44.1k thru 192k.  24 bit simply does not show up in the SPDIF list.  so my guess is that this is a limitation of the SPDIF output portion of the soundcard itself.  if i do NOT use the d3, the interface DOES include the 24 bit options for output via the typical 3.5mm jacks.  foobar 2000 gives me the option of choosing 24 bit output if i choose WASAPI via SPDIF, but will give me an error if i try to open any file or url.  so, again, i see this as a limitation of the supreme fx2/soundmax subsystem.
 
if anyone has a similar situation with regards the 24 bit output to the d3 from a computer, please holla!  i'm itching to try it out   otherwise, bottom line....  do not hesitate to buy one of these.  28 dollars shipped via amazon when i got mine.  arrived insanely fast too.  it's an 800lb gorilla disguised as a marmoset lol.
 
~carl

 

[nagual]

What is your D3 connected to ? 

 

[ACDOAN]

 
Quote:

greetings everyone.  just wanted to weigh in with my results.  i'm using the d3 with the coax SPDIF output from my computer, asus maximus formula motherboard with supreme fx2 soundcard.  it sounds wonderful.  actually it sounds too good.  it truly shows up any flaws in the encoding of mp3/compressed audio formats, but nonetheless extracts all the source has to offer.  it was mentioned earlier that the volume out of this dac is quite high, and i can confirm that, which will necessitate lowering the volume on any amp a bit more than without the d3, but on the other hand the output from the 3.5mm jacks on the soundcard is teeny to begin with.  so the d3 gives you a voltage more like typical audio equipment, as i see it.
 
my only issue with the setup is that in my output options in the computer's configuration interface (soundmax software and drivers), i only have options for 16 bit word length.  from 44.1k thru 192k.  24 bit simply does not show up in the SPDIF list.  so my guess is that this is a limitation of the SPDIF output portion of the soundcard itself.  if i do NOT use the d3, the interface DOES include the 24 bit options for output via the typical 3.5mm jacks.  foobar 2000 gives me the option of choosing 24 bit output if i choose WASAPI via SPDIF, but will give me an error if i try to open any file or url.  so, again, i see this as a limitation of the supreme fx2/soundmax subsystem.
 
if anyone has a similar situation with regards the 24 bit output to the d3 from a computer, please holla!  i'm itching to try it out   otherwise, bottom line....  do not hesitate to buy one of these.  28 dollars shipped via amazon when i got mine.  arrived insanely fast too.  it's an 800lb gorilla disguised as a marmoset lol.
 
~carl

I do not know if there is a 800 lbs gorilla inside the D3 or not but I am a proud owner of three D3s. They put a new breath of life into my old Onkyo DVD/  Bluray players via Toslink connection. 
 
Best $28.00 I have ever spent. Highly recommended for a budget system. I may get out of the line here but the next best budget piece from FiiO is the E10 USB DAC/AMP.

 

[john57]

Got my D3 to fill in since two of my high end DAC,s broke down. It is a very remarkable DAC and it is a bit on the warm side and so smooth in the highs and far less of the plastic brittleness in the high frequencies. I have no trouble getting the D3 to lock on 192k at 24bit. I used good coax digital cable for the connection. That tinny D3 is very remarkable.

 

[sobukus]

I bought a D3 recently and I can confirm the observations from this post (which is bit off-topic in the thread there):
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/616077/dont-buy-any-fiio-product-from-sainstore-on-amazon-and-how-to-distinguish-a-genuine-fiio-e6-from-a-fake-one/135#post_8528808
 
Mine is of this second revision, too, apparently, and it really has muffled sound. Testing it with some analyzing software shows massive damping of high frequencies, about 15 dB at 10 kHz! The roll-off starts around 500 Hz, even. At first I thought that I got a damaged unit, but the above post leads me to conclude that this is a fault in the updated design. But I cannot really believe that this would have passed any testing and go into production.
 
I guess I will return the unit for a refund, but I would like to know what is the deal here. This really is disappointing after the raving reviews he unit got. And: I noticed there is another new revision, the D03K ... did it revert the mistakes of the second one? After all, it even claims better specs than the first one.

 

[sobukus]

I'm not a sensible person ... so I bought a D03K, not willing to believe that FiiO really meant the changes it did in the second version.
 
And yes: This one's rather nice. Frequency response is very flat, no comparison to that muffler that was my D3! But some folks might be surprised that there is no WM8805 anymore in there (and online retailers will add to confusion, not updating the descriptions from D3). The receiver is a CS8416 now.
 
But somehow I still wonder about what went wrong with the D3 revision. Was it bad design or were FiiO folks surprised by some manufacturing error? Are there people out there really living with that 15 dB damping on high frequencies?

 

[crepuscular457]

I have a Fiio D3. Not sure which version. is there a way to tell? anyway, i noticed on their site that they have the d3 and then the d03k "taishan". The d03k is the new one? 

 

[sobukus]

Yes, D03K "Taishan" is the, as to my knowledge, third incarnation of the D3 design. As noted in the linked thread, the second version has gold-plated RCA connectors and it is very obvious once you open the case (just some screws on either side), comparing the population of the board.
 
For now I haven't seen a report on the second version yet that did not mention abysmal sound quality (if you happen to hear sound above 5 kHz ...). Well, which one do you have, and does it sound good (transparent)?