Hello everybody, I'm the FiiO X3. That's right, the Original Generation X3. The X3 that was planned starting from 2009 and released in Summer 2013. As for why it took so long for me to come to birth, there were rumors that James was using my blueprints for a doorstop =.= And one staff was cleaning James’ room for Chinese New Year 2012 when she found my dusty blueprints and asked James whether he still needed them, and that’s when James remembered me…
Whatever the actual circumstances, I am told I was destined for greatness: the opinion thread on me was viewed by millions on head-fi and contained over a thousand pages of replies.
I love singing, and can sing to ALAC, APE, FLAC, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC and MP3 tunes; I can sing for the computer; with the installation of a driver, I put the kid called the "onboard sound card" off work. I can sing loud, at close to 550mW power into 16 ohms; I can be a source component, work as decoder, but of course I can sing into headphones directly as well. Some people said I don't sing well, but that's because they were using crappy headphones, or the headphones just didn't match my Feng Shui. Having seen so many headphones, the first model that I fell in love with was the DN1000; one Easter, we went and lived together in a big red present box and waited for our master to take us home; the golden bow-knot and the sparkling diamond on the knot were an unforgettable memory for us.
In my heyday, I gave all the fruits in the fruit store a flogging in singing competitions, and competed with the children at my uncle's place next door. I didn’t look like much, but I had my fans, given my low price and support for up to 24/192 and DSD formats.
I had many tailor-made dresses: leatherette, silicone (in several colors) and clear cases; carry cases; and of course the bondage-inspired stacking kit (*blush*). Many people tied me to a portable headphone amp, so that I didn't have to shout my throat raw to be heard, in which case of course I sounded better. But then I grew fat, so some people abandoned this option, but many people put up with it with pleasure.
Whatever the actual circumstances, I am told I was destined for greatness: the opinion thread on me was viewed by millions on head-fi and contained over a thousand pages of replies.
I love singing, and can sing to ALAC, APE, FLAC, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC and MP3 tunes; I can sing for the computer; with the installation of a driver, I put the kid called the "onboard sound card" off work. I can sing loud, at close to 550mW power into 16 ohms; I can be a source component, work as decoder, but of course I can sing into headphones directly as well. Some people said I don't sing well, but that's because they were using crappy headphones, or the headphones just didn't match my Feng Shui. Having seen so many headphones, the first model that I fell in love with was the DN1000; one Easter, we went and lived together in a big red present box and waited for our master to take us home; the golden bow-knot and the sparkling diamond on the knot were an unforgettable memory for us.
In my heyday, I gave all the fruits in the fruit store a flogging in singing competitions, and competed with the children at my uncle's place next door. I didn’t look like much, but I had my fans, given my low price and support for up to 24/192 and DSD formats.
I had many tailor-made dresses: leatherette, silicone (in several colors) and clear cases; carry cases; and of course the bondage-inspired stacking kit (*blush*). Many people tied me to a portable headphone amp, so that I didn't have to shout my throat raw to be heard, in which case of course I sounded better. But then I grew fat, so some people abandoned this option, but many people put up with it with pleasure.
Yesterday, my youngest sister the X7 ran along and told me that the code monkeys were going to give me my last firmware update. I didn't mind much when I was told a while ago that I was out of production, but when I heard “last firmware”, I had to admit I was getting old.
After a long wait, my final firmware version 3.4 has finally arrived. Let me tell you what's new myself:
1. Fixed issue where ID3 tag info were displayed incorrectly;
2. Fixed issue where in the music folder browsing screens, one could change the volume by holding down the volume button but not by pressing briefly;
3. Fixed UI display problems in Chinese;
4. Default volume now set to “Memory” by default;
5. Path memory feature: Pressing the Back button from the Now Playing screen will now always take you to the folder / album / etc. from which the current song is selected. This is true even after navigating to the main menu or powering the X3 off and back on.
6. Removed 5800 song limit on number of songs that may be indexed by the X3 media library.
7. Added option to play through folders: ie skipping to the first song in the next folder after the last song in the current folder.
8. Added option to delete whole folders.
After a long wait, my final firmware version 3.4 has finally arrived. Let me tell you what's new myself:
1. Fixed issue where ID3 tag info were displayed incorrectly;
2. Fixed issue where in the music folder browsing screens, one could change the volume by holding down the volume button but not by pressing briefly;
3. Fixed UI display problems in Chinese;
4. Default volume now set to “Memory” by default;
5. Path memory feature: Pressing the Back button from the Now Playing screen will now always take you to the folder / album / etc. from which the current song is selected. This is true even after navigating to the main menu or powering the X3 off and back on.
6. Removed 5800 song limit on number of songs that may be indexed by the X3 media library.
7. Added option to play through folders: ie skipping to the first song in the next folder after the last song in the current folder.
8. Added option to delete whole folders.
X3 FW3.4
>>Download Address
- Latest USB DAC drivers
- >
X3 User manual
>>Download Address
Once upon a time, to let everyone know me better, FiiO's engineers taught me new things again and again, making me ever more mature in my appeal! I won’t forget what I’ve learned:
2 July 2013: FW1.2, my first production firmware, in which I greeted everyone formally for the first time; features added included deleting songs, support for cover art, learning 8 different languages, and black and white UI themes.
13 July 2013: in less than 10 days, FW1.23 was introduced, in which various improvements were made based on users’ feedback on the shortcomings of FW1.2.
Once upon a time, to let everyone know me better, FiiO's engineers taught me new things again and again, making me ever more mature in my appeal! I won’t forget what I’ve learned:
2 July 2013: FW1.2, my first production firmware, in which I greeted everyone formally for the first time; features added included deleting songs, support for cover art, learning 8 different languages, and black and white UI themes.
13 July 2013: in less than 10 days, FW1.23 was introduced, in which various improvements were made based on users’ feedback on the shortcomings of FW1.2.
17 August 2013: One month later, FW1.25 was issued, in which the blue UI theme was added, and the ordering of song files starting with numbers was optimized, to give everybody a better tailored user experience.
6 September 2013: In less than a month, FW1.31 was announced, in which the volume buttons were made able to control volume in all situations except those requiring their control in menus; the language selection dialog was made to appear after a firmware update or factory reset; various other bug fixes were made as well.
25 October 2013: In less than two months, FW2.05 was released, in which USB DAC functionality was added, so that I could sing for computers as well as by myself, doubling my fuctionality; I could now format SD cards directly as well.
One month later, FW2.1 was released, which focused on bug fixes and optimizations, because I was pretty well-rounded in features by now and the engineers focused on responding to bug reports.
28 May 2014: Because I was getting pretty smart on my own, the engineers had to spend half a year this time to prepare the next update for me: FW3.0, in which my user interface was also drastically revamped into its current tile-based navigation with 6 UI themes; I also learned how to sing to DSD songs, and I could read more complex ID3 and cover art data, giving you further visual stimulation while listening to better singing than ever.
24 December 2014: On Christmas Eve, FW3.3 was released, in which support for playlists and exFAT formatted micro SD cards were added, a digital equalizer was implemented along with the existing tone controls, and album art could now apply to whole folders. This major update made me more complete than ever and the user experience more convenient than ever.
Oct 28, 2015 at 7:40 AM
Post #2 of 20
Oct 28, 2015 at 8:08 AM
Post #3 of 20
Oct 28, 2015 at 10:44 AM
Post #4 of 20
Oct 28, 2015 at 11:10 AM
Post #5 of 20
Cross-posted yet again, I really don't have much to add -
"My $0.02 is this -
I loved the unit when I purchased it, still do. But there are some serious issues that have never been rectified - cropped album art (which was sized properly in the initial firmware), incorrect genre tagging for AAC and ALAC files, gapless problems on larger files, etc. I'm not trying to sound picayune, but these were features FiiO advertised that the X3 would perform. None of these work properly, and that's not right. I really don't mean to sound harsh, but if this is going to be the last firmware for the original X3 without further support, then I'm sorry, FiiO, I will no longer be purchasing your products.
Again, I am not asking for new features to be implemented, I just want what was advertised to work properly. And please don't tell me this is a small company, and they're doing the best they can. If you sell a product with advertised features, and said features do not work properly, then perhaps you should not be selling them to the market at large. I paid my money with certain things expected, and have been very patient, but two years on and still having issues is unacceptable, while they continue to roll out new products.
In short, not very good business practice. I know there are quite a few younger people on this forum that seem to put up with it and hope for the best, but as for me, I need to see this done right. I'm all ears (no pun intended), FiiO...what is your response?
Thanks,
Christian"
Oct 29, 2015 at 12:08 PM
Post #6 of 20
Nov 3, 2015 at 10:37 AM
Post #7 of 20
Nov 3, 2015 at 11:47 AM
Post #8 of 20
Nov 3, 2015 at 1:28 PM
Post #9 of 20
Recent changes are listed in the first post. Look to my post below to see the differences.
Nov 3, 2015 at 5:52 PM
Post #10 of 20
Thank you, but these are changes as compared to FW3.3. I'd like to know if there are any differences between the final firmware and FW3.34beta.
Nov 3, 2015 at 8:20 PM
Post #11 of 20
Nov 4, 2015 at 3:41 AM
Post #12 of 20
Nov 6, 2015 at 2:19 PM
Post #13 of 20
Nov 6, 2015 at 2:49 PM
Post #14 of 20
Nov 9, 2015 at 3:46 PM
Post #15 of 20
6 September 2013: In less than a month, FW1.31 was announced, in which the volume buttons were made able to control volume in all situations except those requiring their control in menus; the language selection dialog was made to appear after a firmware update or factory reset; various other bug fixes were made as well.
25 October 2013: In less than two months, FW2.05 was released, in which USB DAC functionality was added, so that I could sing for computers as well as by myself, doubling my fuctionality; I could now format SD cards directly as well.
One month later, FW2.1 was released, which focused on bug fixes and optimizations, because I was pretty well-rounded in features by now and the engineers focused on responding to bug reports.
28 May 2014: Because I was getting pretty smart on my own, the engineers had to spend half a year this time to prepare the next update for me: FW3.0, in which my user interface was also drastically revamped into its current tile-based navigation with 6 UI themes; I also learned how to sing to DSD songs, and I could read more complex ID3 and cover art data, giving you further visual stimulation while listening to better singing than ever.
24 December 2014: On Christmas Eve, FW3.3 was released, in which support for playlists and exFAT formatted micro SD cards were added, a digital equalizer was implemented along with the existing tone controls, and album art could now apply to whole folders. This major update made me more complete than ever and the user experience more convenient than ever.
October 2015: My final firmware 3.4 was released; the changes were noted above.
And thus concludes my journey of growth. I just hope that, on some nights, when you're tapping your foot to the beautiful voices of my other brothers and sisters, you may remember that there was once a player called the X3, who also gave you many nights of musical bliss!
And thus concludes my journey of growth. I just hope that, on some nights, when you're tapping your foot to the beautiful voices of my other brothers and sisters, you may remember that there was once a player called the X3, who also gave you many nights of musical bliss!
A note from FiiO
From X3's monologue, you may find that our firmware work had seemingly slowed from the initial breakneck pace of a new release every few days or a month, to intervals counted in months or the better part of a year. But every update brought new features and fixed more bugs reported by users, so that the firmware grew more and more stable with each update. One should then understand that it is not so easy to improve on such a stable base in the latter days?
Only stable firmware were counted in the above, but many beta firmware were also released in between. Because each person’s usage habit was different, we decided later to open the beta firmware, to allow people living on the cutting edge more options to test and play with; this also allowed us to receive more bug reports and user opinions with which to further improve our firmware.
However, because of the relative stability of the X3 firmware at the time, there were not many beta firmware available for downloaded; four were released in total in the end. It should be noted that despite the more rapid pace of firmware updates to the later X5 and later the 2nd gen players, the original X3 now incorporates most of the features and fixes of these players software-wise.
Finally, please let us take this opportunity to thank all our X3 users who were with us in our journey into the unknown territories of DAPs since the beginning, and who helped us improve the X3 and later players by all their valuable feedback. Our mature firmware of today owes much to you—we salute you all!
From X3's monologue, you may find that our firmware work had seemingly slowed from the initial breakneck pace of a new release every few days or a month, to intervals counted in months or the better part of a year. But every update brought new features and fixed more bugs reported by users, so that the firmware grew more and more stable with each update. One should then understand that it is not so easy to improve on such a stable base in the latter days?
Only stable firmware were counted in the above, but many beta firmware were also released in between. Because each person’s usage habit was different, we decided later to open the beta firmware, to allow people living on the cutting edge more options to test and play with; this also allowed us to receive more bug reports and user opinions with which to further improve our firmware.
However, because of the relative stability of the X3 firmware at the time, there were not many beta firmware available for downloaded; four were released in total in the end. It should be noted that despite the more rapid pace of firmware updates to the later X5 and later the 2nd gen players, the original X3 now incorporates most of the features and fixes of these players software-wise.
Finally, please let us take this opportunity to thank all our X3 users who were with us in our journey into the unknown territories of DAPs since the beginning, and who helped us improve the X3 and later players by all their valuable feedback. Our mature firmware of today owes much to you—we salute you all!
Best regards,
FiiO Electronics Technology Co.,Ltd
EtS13
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Great presentatiton, but from the "final" firmware I was expecting some major bug fix...it is a bit disappointing that a serious company like FiiO left out some of the most user requested changements. Cropped artwork, file name instead of tags displayed, track skip when turning back from the "while playing" menu are all major issues and do not impact firmware core, so they WERE to be fixed in this release, but they were not and never will. This, and nothing else, would have been the best way to show respect to customers that trusted in your adventure in DAP's world from the start.
raybone0566
Headphoneus Supremus
Still my favorite music player. Goes to work everyday with me and has never failed. Thanks fiio
hai2000
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my first hires player....
thanks fiio
thanks fiio
PetZoundz
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Cross-posted yet again, I really don't have much to add -
"My $0.02 is this -
I loved the unit when I purchased it, still do. But there are some serious issues that have never been rectified - cropped album art (which was sized properly in the initial firmware), incorrect genre tagging for AAC and ALAC files, gapless problems on larger files, etc. I'm not trying to sound picayune, but these were features FiiO advertised that the X3 would perform. None of these work properly, and that's not right. I really don't mean to sound harsh, but if this is going to be the last firmware for the original X3 without further support, then I'm sorry, FiiO, I will no longer be purchasing your products.
Again, I am not asking for new features to be implemented, I just want what was advertised to work properly. And please don't tell me this is a small company, and they're doing the best they can. If you sell a product with advertised features, and said features do not work properly, then perhaps you should not be selling them to the market at large. I paid my money with certain things expected, and have been very patient, but two years on and still having issues is unacceptable, while they continue to roll out new products.
In short, not very good business practice. I know there are quite a few younger people on this forum that seem to put up with it and hope for the best, but as for me, I need to see this done right. I'm all ears (no pun intended), FiiO...what is your response?
Thanks,
Christian"
pippinsdad
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The only thing I really wanted was for the bug to be fixed where if you select a song as a favorite, the player starts playing a previous song, but you see the album art of the song you are trying to select as a favorite.
(Update) It appears that after I reset the device, this problem has been fixed.
(Update) It appears that after I reset the device, this problem has been fixed.
xPakrikx
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hmm i roll back to 3.30 
for me , sound is worse and USB DAC under linux not working , bad update for EOL :|
for me , sound is worse and USB DAC under linux not working , bad update for EOL :|Autotomate
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Are there any changes between FW3.34beta and FW3.4?
Recent changes are listed in the first post. Look to my post below to see the differences.
Autotomate
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Thank you, but these are changes as compared to FW3.3. I'd like to know if there are any differences between the final firmware and FW3.34beta.
You will have to compare the last few releases.
The following changes and improvements were made to firmware 3.34beta compared to FW3.30:
1. Path memory feature: Pressing the Back button from the Now Playing screen will now always take you to the folder / album / etc. from which the current song is selected. This is true even after navigating to the main menu or powering the X3 off and back on.
2. Removed 5800 song limit on number of songs that may be indexed by the X3 media library.
3. Added option to play through folders: ie skipping to the first song in the next folder after the last song in the current folder.
4. Added option to delete a whole folder.
5. Fixed issue where artist info cannot be shown on the Now Playing screen.
After a long wait, my final firmware version 3.4 has finally arrived. Let me tell you what's new myself:
1. Fixed issue where ID3 tag info were displayed incorrectly;
2. Fixed issue where in the music folder browsing screens, one could change the volume by holding down the volume button but not by pressing briefly;
3. Fixed UI display problems in Chinese;
4. Default volume now set to “Memory” by default;
5. Path memory feature: Pressing the Back button from the Now Playing screen will now always take you to the folder / album / etc. from which the current song is selected. This is true even after navigating to the main menu or powering the X3 off and back on.
6. Removed 5800 song limit on number of songs that may be indexed by the X3 media library.
7. Added option to play through folders: ie skipping to the first song in the next folder after the last song in the current folder.
8. Added option to delete whole folders.
So it looks like 1 to 4 are new...
The following changes and improvements were made to firmware 3.34beta compared to FW3.30:
1. Path memory feature: Pressing the Back button from the Now Playing screen will now always take you to the folder / album / etc. from which the current song is selected. This is true even after navigating to the main menu or powering the X3 off and back on.
2. Removed 5800 song limit on number of songs that may be indexed by the X3 media library.
3. Added option to play through folders: ie skipping to the first song in the next folder after the last song in the current folder.
4. Added option to delete a whole folder.
5. Fixed issue where artist info cannot be shown on the Now Playing screen.
After a long wait, my final firmware version 3.4 has finally arrived. Let me tell you what's new myself:
1. Fixed issue where ID3 tag info were displayed incorrectly;
2. Fixed issue where in the music folder browsing screens, one could change the volume by holding down the volume button but not by pressing briefly;
3. Fixed UI display problems in Chinese;
4. Default volume now set to “Memory” by default;
5. Path memory feature: Pressing the Back button from the Now Playing screen will now always take you to the folder / album / etc. from which the current song is selected. This is true even after navigating to the main menu or powering the X3 off and back on.
6. Removed 5800 song limit on number of songs that may be indexed by the X3 media library.
7. Added option to play through folders: ie skipping to the first song in the next folder after the last song in the current folder.
8. Added option to delete whole folders.
So it looks like 1 to 4 are new...
Autotomate
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Well, all right, many thanks!
MrMojoRisin
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I have an issue which just occurred this morning and which probably deserves its own thread. However, since it has only occurred AFTER installing the latest firmware I thought I'd post here.
So I installed the latest and final firmware two days ago. Everything was going well until earlier this morning when my Fiio X3 1st Gen. wouldn't display the songs on my micro sd card or songs in the internal storage. After selecting either the Internal Storage or TF Card menu, a blank screen appears instead of showing the folders in which I have the music in. This happened yesterday as well but a simple restart was able to remedy the situation. This time it seems permanent
. I've tried resetting the X3 to no avail. I even reinstalled the 3.34 beta firmware also to no avail. I have over 2,000 songs on my micro sd card and yet, when I go to the About section on the Fiio X3, it shows only 9 songs present on the SD card....
Is there anyone out there who has had a similar experience? I am worried my Fiio X3 has completely **** the bed (pardon the expression) and is unrecoverable. At the moment I can't afford to buy a new one or even upgrade to the 2nd gen. nor do I have a backup device. I'm so bummed because I have been really enjoying this device since I bought it earlier this year. I have had no complaints with either firmware since all of my music is in .flac format.
Any helpful suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks,
Martin.
So I installed the latest and final firmware two days ago. Everything was going well until earlier this morning when my Fiio X3 1st Gen. wouldn't display the songs on my micro sd card or songs in the internal storage. After selecting either the Internal Storage or TF Card menu, a blank screen appears instead of showing the folders in which I have the music in. This happened yesterday as well but a simple restart was able to remedy the situation. This time it seems permanent
Is there anyone out there who has had a similar experience? I am worried my Fiio X3 has completely **** the bed (pardon the expression) and is unrecoverable. At the moment I can't afford to buy a new one or even upgrade to the 2nd gen. nor do I have a backup device. I'm so bummed because I have been really enjoying this device since I bought it earlier this year. I have had no complaints with either firmware since all of my music is in .flac format.
Any helpful suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks,
Martin.
MrMojoRisin
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Edit: Okay, so I installed firmware version 1.23 and I was able to navigate to the TF Card and the music in it. I then reinstalled firmware 3.4 and now everything appears to be okay. I just hope this doesn't become a common occurrence....
Overall, I am a bit disappointed in the latest and last firmware. I will write back with any further updates. Oh, and as for any discernible differences in sound quality over the previous beta firmware, I haven't heard any nor have I attempted to do an A/B comparison. All I can say is it sounds great....when it works....
Enough of me complaining.
Cheers to all.
Martin.
Overall, I am a bit disappointed in the latest and last firmware. I will write back with any further updates. Oh, and as for any discernible differences in sound quality over the previous beta firmware, I haven't heard any nor have I attempted to do an A/B comparison. All I can say is it sounds great....when it works....
Enough of me complaining.
Cheers to all.
Martin.
MrMojoRisin
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Update: Is it me or does the battery charge diminish quicker with this latest firmware? The next time I fully charge my fiio I'll clock the total running time and I'll post my results here. 
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