- Joined
- Oct 31, 2008
- Posts
- 10,176
- Likes
- 1,097
FiiO M3 Review
Thanks to FiiO for the sample.
TLDR? Try here http://www.head-fi.org/t/805984/fiio-m3-review-by-mark2410#post_12527896

First impressions: It’s been some time since I’ve had a FiiO product in. I see and can feel that the quality of the box itself seems to have improved. It’s a more professional feeling box, not that the box is all that important. It may make a small difference if you’re browsing in a store but I can’t say I see it likely to bump into FiiO products on the high street anytime soon. A shame that but it’s not like many places sell DAP’s on the high street anyway. Opening it up, there in the player itself. I’m instantly presented with mixed feelings. The player is super tiny and I cannot help but think, oooooooohhhh. However then I notice it’s flanked by white ear buds, white. I’m not pleased, I don’t mind that they come with buds although I’d rather they didn’t. I view DAP’s coming with earphones as a waste of money and especially given that anyone buying a FiiO product probably cares enough to not need or want them. If they do want them then just let them buy them, separately. Anyway with a black player as I have here if they must come with buds, they really ought to be black I think. I know it’s not important but it’s a pet peeve of mine.
Returning to the player itself I’m again just struck by how diminutive it is. I realise that its numerical dimensions indicate it’s small but I really hadn’t twigged just how small it is. The thing is freekin’ tiny in my hand, compared with other DAP’s I use the only thing that comes close is the ancient 1G Ipod Shuffle. It’s just so itty bitty!!!

Screen: Well it’s DAP, a Digital Audio Player so the screen is only to navigate music and maybe to tell you the name of what’s playing right? It does both those things just fine. The screen is perfectly adequate for its use case. What I mean by that is it’s kinda cheap and meh. I have no problem with that as its perfectly fine for what you’re doing with it, it’s not a video player or anything.

Battery Life: The spec sheet says 12 hours playback and that to me seemed plausible. It easily lasted through not just one days use but a few. Unsurprisingly the screen getting lit up shortens that life but nicely, when you track skip or volume adjust the screen doesn’t automatically light up. Yey!!! I like to control my audio player with it either in my hard or in my pocket, where I’m certainly not looking at it so no need to power up the screen and waste power.

UI: To date I’ve never come across a DAP from the Far East (excluding Sony) that was intuitive and a pleasure to use. The UI here is functional but its pictograph’s aren’t always obvious and scrolling off screen likewise isn’t obvious. I mean it’s not impossible and you get used to it but I’d suggest doing what I normally do. Set the thing to shuffle the whole SD card and just track skip your way through things.

In The Hand: Pictures don’t do it justice. Pics and the dimensions both told it me it was small but actually having it in my hard was a revelation. It’s so itty bitty tiny!!! The thing even comes with a lanyard whose length suggests it to wear round your neck. Oh did I mention it weighs almost nothing? The only thing though is I’d rather the front wasn’t so much screen but had the buttons more spaced out. They feel all a little squished down together at the bottom. Its corners are maybe a touch angular and sharp but being plastic they aren’t too bad. Most of all the thing is just so diminutive.

Controls: The buttons on the front, from a first glance they look like touch sensitive things don’t they? That’s what I thought but gods be praised, they aren’t. They are actually normal buttons you must depress to actuate, you cannot know how pleased by that I am. It means no accidently pressing the wrong things and means I can operate the thing tactilely in my pocket. Woo Hoo!!! Love real buttons on DAP’s. I change the volume and skip tracks all the time so real buttons are always welcome. Interestingly it also has a hardware button lock switch. You slide the lock and the buttons stop working, the idea being you lock it and cant accidently press stuff in your pocket.
One interesting control feature, by default the track skipping, it comes with a soft transition. When you hit skip, the current track dips quickly in volume to nothing and then quickly climbs back up with the next track. I found myself rather liking that, despite its making the process a little slower its was nice. It made for a very smooth transition.

Format Support: The spec sheet again is fairly comprehensive. You name it, it can play it it would seem, including APE which to date I’ve never seen anyone use but apparently its more popular in the Far East. The only slight caveat is that it can’t play the very highest bit rates. Its tops out at FLAC: 48 kHz/24 bit and WAV: 96 kHz/24 bit. That is technically a shame but in reality it doesn’t matter at all. People who buy a DAP at this price are not intending to throw 192kHz /24bit files at it anyway, are they? Otherwise it also supports MP3, WMA, OGG and M4A so pretty much about everything any reasonable person is ever likely to want to use.

Connections: Here there is nothing fancy. We have the ubiquitous 3.5mm hp output, the almost as common micro USB input (for charging and data transfer) and then lastly, the micro SD card slot. That’s it, it’s a short list but really what else would you want?

Volume: The dial goes up to 60, frankly I hate to think just how loud that must get, I got it as far as 40 before finding it getting uncomfortably loud. Sure if you maybe have some very quiet piece or you have hearing issues then you might make use of it…….. me though, god no. It’s capable of going stupidly loud.

Sound Quality: So let’s be clear that the M3 is a tiny itty bitty sliver of a thing. It’s not going to be rocking desktop amp power and it’s likewise not got the most complex and sophisticated innards either. So if you think you’re going to get, world class, uber high quality audio you may want to think again. The M3 is about being a convenient and crazy small DAP its intention is to take the battery strain off your phone and give you a bit of a bump in audio quality while it’s at it. That is just what it does too. Sure it’s a little soft, little warmed, a little bit of diffuse creaminess. Its somewhat the typical FiiO sound and its one common to Far East players. They all veer towards the warmer side of things, hey it’s just what’s popular in the Far East. While I might prefer a bit more dry and clinical in a DAP, warmth coming from my earphones instead, it is what it is.

Lows: They are nicely diffuse, a little softish perhaps as the power output on the little M3 struggles to drive the Oppo PM-3’s I’m playing with. It not bad but in the deepest lows it just runs out of puff. Swapping to the Finder X1’s and while the bass doesn’t need so much power they still are struggling at the deepest deaths. They also are a little reduced in potency, they haven’t the hearty kick that a more powerful player can offer. Swapping to more rich music that is very nicely complimented and playing with some very bass heavy earphones it’s a rather pleasant on the ear pairing.
Quantity wise, while the lowest reaches diminished there is an overall little bump to the bass. That hint softer, bigger, more full and wider. Something that would pair well with something warmly sumptuous like the Sony EX-500’s. They made for a great pairing.

Mids: Once more they are a slight bit creamy and smoothed. It makes for a nicely pleasant rendition on the ear. Particularly with the warm EX-500’s they are very smooth, level and melodic. They aren’t so great with a more airy presentation song wise. They just don’t want to push towards open, breathy, clarity so they sort of sound a little bit enclosed, a touch suffocated. As is ever with a warmed presentation the best vocally you find when playing back warm and creamy vocals. They are softly smooth, richly sumptuous and the just ooze round your ears. It’s a very pleasant style to relax to. If however you push them, towards say fast paced gym type music (a place where you may well want a cheap and tiny little DAP.) Then you get that Sony esq big warm bombastic sound. It’s not one I’m wild about but Sony Hi-Fi’s have long sold well and are well loved by the general public. It’s a big potent, powerful and weighty sound. It likes to just power on through everything.
Quantitatively they are a smidge behind the bass I think, just a faint tiny bit. They do come with a dollop of cream though, which is nice but not entirely for me all the time.

Highs: They are that faintly warmed, slightly smoothed out style that we have seen elsewhere. It’s an ever popular and easy on the ear playback style. It really does pair nicely with the Sony EX-500’s. Neither are wildly great at great at the treble end so both conspire to give a delicate little dusting of shimmer, keeping it all rather vague but it works. Neither are about vast detail retrieval and they both you might think, are pushing everything too much in the warm direction but like I say, it works. Neither are analytical tools.
Quantitatively they are a smidge reduced and a little tiny bit diffused.

Hiss: I cannot say I noticed any.

Accessories: You get a rather weird selection. The micro USB cable isn’t a surprise, the earbuds are a little bit of a surprise to me but the weird one is the neck lanyard. Not that I have any problems with it, I actually rather think it’s a nice, fun idea but it’s just not something you often see. Indeed I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a DAP come with one before. The earbuds though, I’m a little disappointed with. Now I get that FiiO may have a more “high street” presence in China and so it’s then a little bit more expected that a player should come with some earphones. However, I cannot imagine anyone in the west who is buying a FiiO device isn’t going to be using their own earphones. So to me including them is a just a waste of money.

Value: This is where FiiO traditionally shine and here is no exception. While the M3 isn’t the world’s most thrilling DAP its star quality is its price tag. The thing comes in at just US$55 on Amazon US, which is just £38 though the UK price I found was £50. (Slight grumble.) The fact is at its price, either price it’s a great value product. It’s not going to challenge proper high end DAP’s but it’s not meant to, its phone battery saver, it’s a gym companion, it’s a little gem.

Conclusion: So you may have noticed I’ve not been wild about its audio quality. It isnt anything particularly acoustically special. I can’t even say it’ll be definitively better than your phone either. Phones have been getting better and when I compare it to my Lumia 735 I actually prefer the colder, crisper presentation of the 735. I generally do prefer colder DAP’s it’s just what suits me better. So the M3 is being pitched at a more typical and mainstream user.

Apr 23, 2016 at 8:58 AM
Post #2 of 25
The Warmer and more smooth presentation it offers is generally exactly what a typical, normal phone using listener is after. They want big, smooth, expansive bass. They want that big weighty sound. They want something that weighs nothing. They want something that will got through a weeks’ worth of gym sessions. They want something that isn’t going to eat any precious phone battery life. The M3 does a grand little job of all those things.

So should you buy one? Well if you want a diminutive DAP for working out, or you just want something tiny to replace your phone for battery destroying commute listening then it’s a fab little thing. It’s so small and it weighs practically nothing. Throw the lanyard on it and hang it round your neck so even if you’re a girl with no pockets you can still use it unencumbered. Aside from the music playing you’ll instantly forget it’s there it weighs so little. It’s a highly functional little DAP with excellent battery life that would be perfect as a diminutive gym or a commute companion.

- Joined
- Oct 31, 2008
- Posts
- 10,176
- Likes
- 1,097
FiiO M3 Quick Review
Thanks to FiiO for the sample.
Brief: Itty bitty DAP.
Price: US$55 or £50
Specifications: You name it, they list it. See here for full details. http://fiio.net/en/products/47/parameters
Accessories: A micro USB cable, a pair of earbuds and a neck length lanyard.
Build Quality: It would all seem to be pretty reasonably constructed. It’s all very light though which some people think means lacking, the thing weighs almost nothing which I see as a boon myself.
Aesthetics: I have the black one and its looks alright. However there is a part of me that’s kicking myself for not having asked for the blue one. I know I know, the grass is always greener but that blue looks so different. Anyway, the black, yeah its looks fine nothing wildly eye-catching though.
Power: While harder to drive things I felt it was struggling in the lower end but in terms of volume, my god it can scream when it wants too. The dial goes to 60 but I couldn’t push it beyond 40 before it was uncomfortably loud. So if you want to blast stuff out of maybe you have a hearing problem this can go stupidly loud.
Sound: The little M3 is a tiny little thing and its super cheap so I didn’t have the highest of expectations. Acoustically it is very pleasantly warmed, smoothed and with a little dash of cream. It’s a very pleasant rendition and it worked extremely well when paired with the Sony EX500’s. Both sharing that Far East / Sony sound. Big, warm, slightly diffuse bottom, somewhat creamy mids and a mostly muted, dampened treble except for a little peak in there to keep things on track. It’s been a highly popular sound signature for years so I’d expect it to be popular with likely buyers too. It’s a gently warming, adding a dash of chocolatey brownness to things. For me it turns more fast paced, powerful tracks into ones a little too heavy and too impactful. The initial impact is calmed but there is such a weight behind it. Never the less its one I know the masses like.
Apr 23, 2016 at 9:11 AM
Post #3 of 25
Apr 23, 2016 at 9:46 AM
Post #4 of 25
that indeed would seem to be the case. however........... on FiiOs spec page it has this
[td=colspan:4]
Audio Formats Supported
[/td] [td=colspan:3] APE(Fast): 48 kHz/16 bit;
APE(Normal): 48 kHz/16 bit;
APE (High): 48 kHz/16 bit;
FLAC: 48 kHz/24 bit;
WAV: 96 kHz/24 bit;
[/td] [td=colspan:3] MP3 / WMA / OGG / M4A ( excl. raw .AAC and .M4A encrypted ALAC)
[/td]
so that would have me think non encrypted ALAC would work, right? even if its lumped in with the lossy bunch as ALAC is just a lossless version of AAC. i copied an album in ALAC across and while the M3 recognised it, pulled up the album art and meta info, on trying to play it, it said file format not supported. Yet it was clearly reading the format, i can only assume its Apple being, err male genitals and demanding money for licensing playback of ALAC in which case id fully support FiiO not paying them.
what needs to happen is for Apple stuff to start supporting the globaly supported and openly compatible FLAC
Apr 23, 2016 at 8:32 PM
Post #5 of 25
Actually Mark, ALAC has been open source and royalty free since 2011. So support has nothing to do with Apple or licensing. It just happens that FiiO hasn't supported it within the firmware - which is a bit sad. Not only that - I can't even get common old aac lossy files to play. The player just locks up.
How may of the codecs did you test?
Apr 24, 2016 at 6:29 AM
Post #6 of 25
Apr 24, 2016 at 7:54 AM
Post #7 of 25
Apr 24, 2016 at 8:20 AM
Post #8 of 25
well as i understand it the codec is AAC and M4A and M4B are both simply container formats. currious still though. however do that mean poelpe really use aac these days? i mean id expect peolpe round here to probably be using FLAC and id think most people using any lossy format would just use mp3 for its universal compatibility?
i know thats what i did for my second library initunes for the 1G shuffles. i know AAC is better but that would then mean keeping or converting stuff on the fly to MP3 as and when its needed. so i said balls to that and so the second stays as MP3.
Apr 24, 2016 at 8:38 AM
Post #9 of 25
Apr 24, 2016 at 9:36 AM
Post #10 of 25
Apr 24, 2016 at 1:10 PM
Post #11 of 25
Apr 24, 2016 at 1:18 PM
Post #12 of 25
Apr 25, 2016 at 9:34 AM
Post #13 of 25
really 256? why not 320? but as to whats not to like, if im going lossy id just go 320 mp3, which is what i do becaues absolutly everything plays it so i can pull out that SD card and stick in anything knowing it will work without question. i know AAC is aslightly better codec but at 320k you dont really notice much unless your using things with brutal treble.
well thank you, it is a nice little DAP, very little, but yeah its quite easily a gateway drug to moving up to the bigger X range and making people stop using their phones.
Apr 25, 2016 at 10:44 AM
Post #14 of 25
Apr 25, 2016 at 11:33 AM
Post #15 of 25
Overall the tiny little thing does a really rather capable job of everything you ask of it acoustically. It’s a little bit flavoured but oh noes, it’s got a bit boosted bass, that enhances its expansion and weighty follow through. Its target user isn’t exactly going to see that as an issue, they are much more likely to see it as a great big plus!
Value: Has FiiO ever made anything that wasn’t great value? FiiO are arguably the kings of high value DAP’s and the little M3 slotting in at the bottom end of their range does nothing to change that perception. Its great value for its US$55 price tag.
Pros: Thing is cray cray tiny. Great battery life. Real hardware buttons!!!
Con’s: Id rather swap a smaller screen for bigger buttons.
davidcotton
X-CANs and HDAMs
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2001
- Posts
- 7,700
- Likes
- 2,198
Nice review, except that according to the main thread no alac (apple loss loss). If any one has much of that they'll have to batch convert to flac.
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2008
- Posts
- 10,176
- Likes
- 1,097
Nice review, except that according to the main thread no alac (apple loss loss). If any one has much of that they'll have to batch convert to flac.
that indeed would seem to be the case. however........... on FiiOs spec page it has this
Lossless: |
Lossy compression: |
[/td] [td=colspan:3] APE(Fast): 48 kHz/16 bit;
APE(Normal): 48 kHz/16 bit;
APE (High): 48 kHz/16 bit;
FLAC: 48 kHz/24 bit;
WAV: 96 kHz/24 bit;
[/td] [td=colspan:3] MP3 / WMA / OGG / M4A ( excl. raw .AAC and .M4A encrypted ALAC)
[/td]
so that would have me think non encrypted ALAC would work, right? even if its lumped in with the lossy bunch as ALAC is just a lossless version of AAC. i copied an album in ALAC across and while the M3 recognised it, pulled up the album art and meta info, on trying to play it, it said file format not supported. Yet it was clearly reading the format, i can only assume its Apple being, err male genitals and demanding money for licensing playback of ALAC in which case id fully support FiiO not paying them.
what needs to happen is for Apple stuff to start supporting the globaly supported and openly compatible FLAC
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2011
- Posts
- 13,315
- Likes
- 24,362
that indeed would seem to be the case. however........... on FiiOs spec page it has this
[td=colspan:4] Audio Formats Supported
Lossless: Lossy compression:
[/td] [td=colspan:3] APE(Fast): 48 kHz/16 bit;
APE(Normal): 48 kHz/16 bit;
APE (High): 48 kHz/16 bit;
FLAC: 48 kHz/24 bit;
WAV: 96 kHz/24 bit;
[/td] [td=colspan:3] MP3 / WMA / OGG / M4A ( excl. raw .AAC and .M4A encrypted ALAC)
[/td]
so that would have me think non encrypted ALAC would work, right? even if its lumped in with the lossy bunch as ALAC is just a lossless version of AAC. i copied an album in ALAC across and while the M3 recognised it, pulled up the album art and meta info, on trying to play it, it said file format not supported. Yet it was clearly reading the format, i can only assume its Apple being, err male genitals and demanding money for licensing playback of ALAC in which case id fully support FiiO not paying them.
what needs to happen is for Apple stuff to start supporting the globaly supported and openly compatible FLAC
Actually Mark, ALAC has been open source and royalty free since 2011. So support has nothing to do with Apple or licensing. It just happens that FiiO hasn't supported it within the firmware - which is a bit sad. Not only that - I can't even get common old aac lossy files to play. The player just locks up.
How may of the codecs did you test?
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2008
- Posts
- 10,176
- Likes
- 1,097
ahh then my mistake, though i still dont personally object to things not supporting ALAC despite the fact i use it myself, its was Apple being awkward and really they should just update all their stuff to be able to play FLAC
anyway, to answer your question the formats i personally tested were FLAC, MP3 and ALAC.
curious you say it locks up on trying to playback .AAC files, the wording is odd, so mayb what it means is it can play the files but only if ithey a file type .M4A? if so then that is odd.
lol, okay, i just took two ALAC files, converted into high bitrate .M4A files then manually changed the file type on one of them to .aac and lowe the one thats .AAC doesnt work its not even visable to the player. what an odd situation
anyway, to answer your question the formats i personally tested were FLAC, MP3 and ALAC.
curious you say it locks up on trying to playback .AAC files, the wording is odd, so mayb what it means is it can play the files but only if ithey a file type .M4A? if so then that is odd.
lol, okay, i just took two ALAC files, converted into high bitrate .M4A files then manually changed the file type on one of them to .aac and lowe the one thats .AAC doesnt work its not even visable to the player. what an odd situation
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2011
- Posts
- 13,315
- Likes
- 24,362
No - the suffix should be .m4a for both (aac and ALAC). And I learnt something today too - appears the aac256 files I have do play (ALAC still don't). I tried in the past just transferring my FiiO SD cards over (with aac256 on) and they would never read. I'm now wondering if I need to try manually transferring tracks. Going to do some more snooping. Might be the SD format.
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2008
- Posts
- 10,176
- Likes
- 1,097
No - the suffix should be .m4a for both (aac and ALAC). And I learnt something today too - appears the aac256 files I have do play (ALAC still don't). I tried in the past just transferring my FiiO SD cards over (with aac256 on) and they would never read. I'm now wondering if I need to try manually transferring tracks. Going to do some more snooping. Might be the SD format.
well as i understand it the codec is AAC and M4A and M4B are both simply container formats. currious still though. however do that mean poelpe really use aac these days? i mean id expect peolpe round here to probably be using FLAC and id think most people using any lossy format would just use mp3 for its universal compatibility?
i know thats what i did for my second library initunes for the 1G shuffles. i know AAC is better but that would then mean keeping or converting stuff on the fly to MP3 as and when its needed. so i said balls to that and so the second stays as MP3.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2011
- Posts
- 13,315
- Likes
- 24,362
I pretty much use aac256 for all my DAPs. I can't tell the difference from FLAC anyway - so it just makes sense. Supposedly better than MP3, small, audibly transparent. What's not to like 

nice review , thanks Mark !
In fact ,we try to make more and more people become head-fi'er. so we can sell more X series when they jump into this
! also it will a good toy for audiophiles as their second DAP.
In fact ,we try to make more and more people become head-fi'er. so we can sell more X series when they jump into this

![]() |
![]() |
Stay updated on FiiO at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
edulov
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2016
- Posts
- 165
- Likes
- 41
Laziness definitely not is the best thing.
FW 1.7
Finally checked different FLAC’s starting from the simplistic:
44.1kHz – 16/24 bit: Ok
48kHz – 16/24 bit: Ok
88.2kHz – 16/24 bit: No
96kHz – 16/24bit: No
192kHz – 24bit: No
Since fiscally it supports up to 96kHz/24bit bandwidth, it is limited in firmware, the same goes for FLAC .cue sheets.
BTW.
1. All firmwares still have a mistake which can drain the battery: in ordinary use when you disconnect hp’s jack, player pauses current track and after a standby timeout switches off. BUT!!! If you switched on player (or disconnected USB cable after transferring files), it starts playing automatically w/o checking if hp’s is connected. So you easily can imagine several scenarios when you will forget about the gadget for many hours or several days considering it fully charged. Beware of stupid FW writers…
2. Never looked at this possible issue in earlier FW’s, but with latest one, 1.7 we have another stupid issue. Since M3 has Lock switch, it is supposed that it must ignore everything when device is locked. Surprise!!! If you will switch it on in Locked state, it will start, but right before actual start it checks switch and if it locks, switches off immediately. So, if you forgot about darn switch, you may spent a lot of time and put a good practice in @&U^%@*& language, trying to figure out what happened. I mean that if power button is not controlled by lock switch, show a corresponding message for 20-30 seconds offering to unlock device. And only when user ignored message, switch M3 off to save battery.
FW 1.7
Finally checked different FLAC’s starting from the simplistic:
44.1kHz – 16/24 bit: Ok
48kHz – 16/24 bit: Ok
88.2kHz – 16/24 bit: No
96kHz – 16/24bit: No
192kHz – 24bit: No
Since fiscally it supports up to 96kHz/24bit bandwidth, it is limited in firmware, the same goes for FLAC .cue sheets.
BTW.
1. All firmwares still have a mistake which can drain the battery: in ordinary use when you disconnect hp’s jack, player pauses current track and after a standby timeout switches off. BUT!!! If you switched on player (or disconnected USB cable after transferring files), it starts playing automatically w/o checking if hp’s is connected. So you easily can imagine several scenarios when you will forget about the gadget for many hours or several days considering it fully charged. Beware of stupid FW writers…
2. Never looked at this possible issue in earlier FW’s, but with latest one, 1.7 we have another stupid issue. Since M3 has Lock switch, it is supposed that it must ignore everything when device is locked. Surprise!!! If you will switch it on in Locked state, it will start, but right before actual start it checks switch and if it locks, switches off immediately. So, if you forgot about darn switch, you may spent a lot of time and put a good practice in @&U^%@*& language, trying to figure out what happened. I mean that if power button is not controlled by lock switch, show a corresponding message for 20-30 seconds offering to unlock device. And only when user ignored message, switch M3 off to save battery.
edulov
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2016
- Posts
- 165
- Likes
- 41
One comment for Fiio people on Head-Fi: I do not like these flimsy button operation, but at least I understand why and can live with it considering very good sound quality. But squares (box vertices) had to be rounded! Just a tiny detail which costs nothing in production leaves a lot of unpleasant feelings.
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2008
- Posts
- 10,176
- Likes
- 1,097
I pretty much use aac256 for all my DAPs. I can't tell the difference from FLAC anyway - so it just makes sense. Supposedly better than MP3, small, audibly transparent. What's not to like![]()
really 256? why not 320? but as to whats not to like, if im going lossy id just go 320 mp3, which is what i do becaues absolutly everything plays it so i can pull out that SD card and stick in anything knowing it will work without question. i know AAC is aslightly better codec but at 320k you dont really notice much unless your using things with brutal treble.
nice review , thanks Mark !
In fact ,we try to make more and more people become head-fi'er. so we can sell more X series when they jump into this! also it will a good toy for audiophiles as their second DAP.![]()
well thank you, it is a nice little DAP, very little, but yeah its quite easily a gateway drug to moving up to the bigger X range and making people stop using their phones.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2011
- Posts
- 13,315
- Likes
- 24,362
Try an ABX of aac256 against any lossless codec
. You'll soon see why.
edulov
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2016
- Posts
- 165
- Likes
- 41
It might sound bad, but I started with hardware and software with mainframes and paper cards. Continues...
So I understand extremely well that sometimes saving 1 byte could be crucial. But now I can buy an extra microSD card and keep my collection in lossless. Why, by grace of god, I have to use lossy formats, even good ones? And even more - spend time transcoding?
So I understand extremely well that sometimes saving 1 byte could be crucial. But now I can buy an extra microSD card and keep my collection in lossless. Why, by grace of god, I have to use lossy formats, even good ones? And even more - spend time transcoding?
Users who are viewing this thread
Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)