I’ve had my Fiio M3 for 3 or 4 weeks now. I like it for what it is. A small, inexpensive DAP for playing music on the go. I have a number of portable DAPs. DX50 with RSA Intruder. Ipod nano with RSA Predator. Ipod classic plugged into my truck aftermarket stereo. Ipod touch with dock in the bathroom for shaving and stuff. So I look at the M3 as a tool. A tool for music listening on the go. I bought it because I wanted to stain my deck without having to worry about damaging my amps and other more expensive players.
Here is what I like:
I can take the M3 and drop it in my pocket for on the go listening. Going to the grocery store or warehouse supermarket. Pop it in my ears and I’m hearing what I want and I’m tuning out the Direct TV salesmen in the electronics isle. I listen to it while cutting the grass and doing outside yard work. I listen to it while waiting for takeout food, and used it for 3 hours while waiting on new tires for my truck last Saturday.
I’m using the Trinity Delta (first gen) headphones with it. Gunmetal filter gives me a great amount of bass, if it is in the recording. But isn’t bloated or muddy.
I have (2) 64G micro SD cards filled up with my favorite music just for the M3. Scanning time is good. I scanned an almost full 64G uSD in 40 seconds. Folder browsing is a breeze. Something interesting to note. If you plug the uSD card into the slot while the M3 is off, it will not scan. BUT you can do folder browsing. If you try to artist or album select, it will say no files.
The sound is a bit on the warmer side, and I’m ok with that. My very first listen was late in the evening when I first got it. I was going to just check it out for functionality. I ended up listening to the whole Cry of Love – Brother album. The sound is very good for a small on the go DAP. It is very good for long term listening. I don't experience any fatigue.
Neutral Issues:
Fat32 Folder Sort: A number of people are unhappy with the folder sorting issues. From my investigations, FAT32 is the culprit, and shouldn’t be blamed on Fiio or the M3. The problem is the FAT32 standard. Yes, you have to download a FAT32 sorting program. Like Drivesort. But it really is super easy once you install it and set it up. Tech Made Plain webstie provides the link and a quick tutorial on setup. I just run Drivesort immediately after transferring music to my micro SD cards. Takes less than 5 seconds. No muss no fuss.
http://techmadeplain.com/2014/how-to-sort-music-flash-drive-car-stereo/
Fat32 formatting: Yes. You will have to format your cards to Fat32, and not all computer programs will let you do that. The one from the SD Association does NOT let you choose Fat32 formatting. I suggest using this one from Ridgecrop Consultants. When you get a new micro SD card, I suggest giving it a full format. That will clear out any bad sectors or formatting that it doesn’t like.
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
Folder playthrough vs Stop at end.
I think I inadvertently found the answer to this my first weekend of use. First, I will say that I have never had a DAP with folder playthrough, and I kinda like it. Especially for my use of having it in my pocket and playing music while working outside or at the store. It just goes to the next album in the folder. If I don’t like what it goes to, I can at least listen to something until I take a moment to switch it out.
Here is where the important info is for playthrough vs stop:
IF you are using the folder > play selection. (Folder is at the bottom of the menu) it WILL play through the folder into the next.
IF you are using Artist (or Album) > play selection. (Artist is middle of the menu, Album is fourth) it will STOP at the end of the album.
Problem solved.
What I Don’t like:
Starts automatically. If you have selected the Resume mode to be position, then the unit will start playing the last song played from where you powered off. But it will do this any time it is powered on. Including if you just plug it in to charge. I DO like resume-position. BUT, I would like it to remember the position, AND have initial startup be paused.
BTW. The resume mode choices are position, off, song. Position is described above. Off > will take you to the beginning of the song that was previously playing, but will power up in a paused condition. Song > will take you to the beginning of the song that was previously playing, but will power up playing from the beginning. Of the three choices, position is the least annoying, since it does, at least start from the position you stopped.
Gapless not supported. I will reference FLAC only, since that is what I use. It does not support gapless FLAC. I can hear a tiny beep when changing between two linked songs. Like a live album. But if the album has natural breaks, then you hear nothing. Not a big deal to me for a portable DAP. It would be a big deal if it was for critical listening.
Character display: In English, there simply are not enough characters being displayed for the artists and files. Half of the screen display is available for more characters. (Again. English.) Other people have mentioned this. Selecting Led Zeppelin I, or II, or III, or IV albums are impossible. However, while playing, the file name does scroll the file across the screen while the screen is on. For the Civil Wars song, 20 years = The file displays “01 The Civil Wars – 20” But, as mentioned above, it will scroll while playing and the screen is on.
Conclusion:
I will end by saying that I really like this little player. It sounds really good. It does everything that I need it to do. I need it to be a cheap dap that I can throw in a pocket and listen to when I’m out. Without worrying if it breaks or if I lose it. Would I replace it if that happened? At this time, absolutely.
The sound is good, the features are just enough, and the price is right. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars because of price to performance ratio.
Here is a picture of my M3 inside the Trinity headphone case with the Trinity Delta (first gen)
