[DW10]

Do you own or have experience with the X5iii? I ask - simply because I have extensive experience with it, and while its had the odd bug (much as most Android DAPs seem to have), its actually very stable and (IMO) the best DAP in terms of features and SQ on a value basis that FiiO has released.

I agree on the X3iii though - not overly impressed so far. Speed on this thing is a killer (in a bad way)

Brooko, no I don't have any experience with the X5 mk III. I was waiting for that player to come out to purchase it, so I was cautious after the experience with the X3 Mk 2. But I do have plenty of experience with my Fiio X3 2nd gen. I read all the reviews for the X5 mk III and the conclusion was the same with all Fiio players, you have to keep waiting for them to fix issues with the next firmware (a 3 months wait each time). The X3 mk 2 is stable now, but I had to flash it twice to get rid of some nasty bugs. My question for you is, if you are going to shell out $400 (more than the cost of the old iPod Classic), don't you think you deserve a better experience? If I put down $400 or more for a player I expect it to be top notch instead of go and wait for the manufacturer to fix UI bugs or playback bugs. Android is a joke too, I always had Android phones for the past 10 years, but the last Android phone fed me up with issues and pretty much of the same wait for the next patch to fix it. So I switched to iPhone 7 and never looked back = 0 issues.

So to make the story short, Fiio is pushing their product out to the market too fast without a good investment in QC, I refuse to pay big $$$ to be a Fiio beta tester.

 

[TheoS53]

So to make the story short, Fiio is pushing their product out to the market too fast without a good investment in QC, I refuse to pay big $$$ to be a Fiio beta tester.

This is something a number of us have been saying for a while

 

[Olimatou]

This is something a number of us have been saying for a while

So to make the story short, Fiio is pushing their product out to the market too fast without a good investment in QC, I refuse to pay big $$$ to be a Fiio beta tester.

Yes and I won't bet on a future update that will solve (not sure at all !) all this problems... So disappointed

 

[Dobrescu George]

Brooko, no I don't have any experience with the X5 mk III. I was waiting for that player to come out to purchase it, so I was cautious after the experience with the X3 Mk 2. But I do have plenty of experience with my Fiio X3 2nd gen. I read all the reviews for the X5 mk III and the conclusion was the same with all Fiio players, you have to keep waiting for them to fix issues with the next firmware (a 3 months wait each time). The X3 mk 2 is stable now, but I had to flash it twice to get rid of some nasty bugs. My question for you is, if you are going to shell out $400 (more than the cost of the old iPod Classic), don't you think you deserve a better experience? If I put down $400 or more for a player I expect it to be top notch instead of go and wait for the manufacturer to fix UI bugs or playback bugs. Android is a joke too, I always had Android phones for the past 10 years, but the last Android phone fed me up with issues and pretty much of the same wait for the next patch to fix it. So I switched to iPhone 7 and never looked back = 0 issues.

So to make the story short, Fiio is pushing their product out to the market too fast without a good investment in QC, I refuse to pay big $$$ to be a Fiio beta tester.

In all honesty, I really considered X3-2 to be fully stable, same with X5ii. Maybe X5-3 and X3-3 have some bugs, since I haven't experienced those, but X3-2 was pretty bug-free when I used it, same with X5-2 which I owned for years now.

I should mention that I flashed firmwares quite a lot, I like doing that

This is something a number of us have been saying for a while

As I see it, FiiO grew more than they expected. They have really good prices, and they outgrew their own niche. Instead of selling to their own niche, where they'd have stayed quite well, more and more people buy it and then complain about things that aren't going the way they wanted.

On one hand, we live in a capitalist world, where the consumer should decide those things, but on the other hand, FiiO has the lowest prices on the market, we're talking about a company that provides their best efforts to please their customers, maybe we could be a bit more understanding, I imagine that once they grow more, there will be no more problems, we are just living in an evolutionary step.

 

[TheoS53]

we're talking about a company that provides their best efforts to please their customers, maybe we could be a bit more understanding.

I have tried, honestly and genuinely tried to be understanding for the last couple of device releases. For example, the X3iii doesn't have AptX.....and the X1ii didn't have AptX. Now, do you remember why they said the X1ii couldn't have AptX? They've used the same system in the X3iii, which means it has the same limitation. So this is something they were fully aware of well ahead of time, and yet they still went with the same system. This is despite many people specifically asking for it, and especially despite the fact that their competition decided not to intentionally include the same limitation. The M3 was advertised with a "rich set of themes", yet we are still to see this (more than a year later). Actually, up until recently they were still advertising that theme thing, but I see they had removed this form the product page now. Does that not suggest that they couldn't be bothered to live up to their initial word? Doesn't really seem like someone doing their best, does it?

I know people would say "oh but they're not the only ones, others do this too". Sure, but that's a totally BS argument. The fact that someone else does something doesn't make the act correct. Whatever, I'm tired of ranting about this same topic again and again. But probably not as tired as many of you hearing (reading) my rants, lol.

 

[DW10]

In all honesty, I really considered X3-2 to be fully stable, same with X5ii. Maybe X5-3 and X3-3 have some bugs, since I haven't experienced those, but X3-2 was pretty bug-free when I used it, same with X5-2 which I owned for years now.

I should mention that I flashed firmwares quite a lot, I like doing that



As I see it, FiiO grew more than they expected. They have really good prices, and they outgrew their own niche. Instead of selling to their own niche, where they'd have stayed quite well, more and more people buy it and then complain about things that aren't going the way they wanted.

On one hand, we live in a capitalist world, where the consumer should decide those things, but on the other hand, FiiO has the lowest prices on the market, we're talking about a company that provides their best efforts to please their customers, maybe we could be a bit more understanding, I imagine that once they grow more, there will be no more problems, we are just living in an evolutionary step.

Fiio niche was the market that Apple started denying after taking over with the iPod. I have all kinds of digital music players from iRiver, Creative Labs, Samsung andSandisk since before the iPod took over the market. Not to mention a bunch of you that have Archos, Toshibas, Cowon, MPIO, Philips and RCA. Apple thinking is that the DAP market is dead as they control a music store and now the phones that people use to playback music. There is no need for the iPod line of products, so slowly every single iPod in the line had been killed, the last survivor is the iPod Touch which will die soon. Yes, Hi-Res music is a small niche that Apple doesn't intend to explore, but is a lucrative market for smaller players.

Fiio had the opportunity to own this market, but it looks like they are not scaling out properly as they started developing really good products with bad quality control on the software. Now what remains to be seen is if they can gain our following back as there are a few heavy weight players coming in. Fiio now has a lot of competition, which they didn't had 3 years ago. The biggest competitors in this game, Astell & Kern (iRiver), Cowon, iBasso, Cayin and big names that are coming back Pioneer, Onkyo and Sony. Remember Sony invented the portable audio business, they are coming back with big cannons and they are aiming at little players like Fiio. Big name companies have the manufactoring and marketing power that Fiio does not have.

Personally I haven't bought a Sony product in a long time, but a year back I replaced a Canon DSLR with a Sony Alpha A6300. Let me tell you I am impressed by how good the camera is. Now Sony is revamping their Walkman series with a big line of DAPs, with all the bell and whistle. They may not get it right at the first or second attempt, but they have the experience to make the product better and better. My intention was to get an X5 Mk III first and now the X3 Mk III, but based on my previous experience with the X2 2nd gen, I am willing to try a Walman. Competition make products better, before 2016 Fiio didn't had that many competitors, is now time for them to get their act together.

 

[fourrobert13]

I have tried, honestly and genuinely tried to be understanding for the last couple of device releases. For example, the X3iii doesn't have AptX.....and the X1ii didn't have AptX. Now, do you remember why they said the X1ii couldn't have AptX? They've used the same system in the X3iii, which means it has the same limitation. So this is something they were fully aware of well ahead of time, and yet they still went with the same system. This is despite many people specifically asking for it, and especially despite the fact that their competition decided not to intentionally include the same limitation. The M3 was advertised with a "rich set of themes", yet we are still to see this (more than a year later). Actually, up until recently they were still advertising that theme thing, but I see they had removed this form the product page now. Does that not suggest that they couldn't be bothered to live up to their initial word? Doesn't really seem like someone doing their best, does it?

I know people would say "oh but they're not the only ones, others do this too". Sure, but that's a totally BS argument. The fact that someone else does something doesn't make the act correct. Whatever, I'm tired of ranting about this same topic again and again. But probably not as tired as many of you hearing (reading) my rants, lol.

It's funny you bring up FiiO's advertising because they are advertising gapless playback for the X3III on their website which we know isn't true. I'm not sure why they do this because it's clearly false regardless if it's coming in a future firmware or not. If the player can't do something, then they shouldn't say it can. Regarding the X3II being buggy comments, I disagree. My original X1, X3II, and X5II were all very solid and stable DAPS that I never had any issues or bugs with. Can't say the same for the X1II, nor this device apparently after reading through the last few pages of comments about it. I do believe I will be passing on the X3III. I really think it's sad what they are doing.

 

[TheoS53]

Fiio niche was the market that Apple started denying after taking over with the iPod. I have all kinds of digital music players from iRiver, Creative Labs, Samsung andSandisk since before the iPod took over the market. Not to mention a bunch of you that have Archos, Toshibas, Cowon, MPIO, Philips and RCA. Apple thinking is that the DAP market is dead as they control a music store and now the phones that people use to playback music. There is no need for the iPod line of products, so slowly every single iPod in the line had been killed, the last survivor is the iPod Touch which will die soon. Yes, Hi-Res music is a small niche that Apple doesn't intend to explore, but is a lucrative market for smaller players.

Fiio had the opportunity to own this market, but it looks like they are not scaling out properly as they started developing really good products with bad quality control on the software. Now what remains to be seen is if they can gain our following back as there are a few heavy weight players coming in. Fiio now has a lot of competition, which they didn't had 3 years ago. The biggest competitors in this game, Astell & Kern (iRiver), Cowon, iBasso, Cayin and big names that are coming back Pioneer, Onkyo and Sony. Remember Sony invented the portable audio business, they are coming back with big cannons and they are aiming at little players like Fiio. Big name companies have the manufactoring and marketing power that Fiio does not have.

Personally I haven't bought a Sony product in a long time, but a year back I replaced a Canon DSLR with a Sony Alpha A6300. Let me tell you I am impressed by how good the camera is. Now Sony is revamping their Walkman series with a big line of DAPs, with all the bell and whistle. They may not get it right at the first or second attempt, but they have the experience to make the product better and better. My intention was to get an X5 Mk III first and now the X3 Mk III, but based on my previous experience with the X2 2nd gen, I am willing to try a Walman. Competition make products better, before 2016 Fiio didn't had that many competitors, is now time for them to get their act together.

What annoys me A LOT is that Fiio really cannot afford to have bad QC. Nevermind the fact that good QC doesn't cost anything (we're talking about taking pride in your products), but if Fiio wants to compete with the big fish, they're gonna have to pull their heads out and realise that they NEED to become synonymous with both quality and value.

 

[fourrobert13]

What annoys me A LOT is that Fiio really cannot afford to have bad QC. Nevermind the fact that good QC doesn't cost anything (we're talking about taking pride in your products), but if Fiio wants to compete with the big fish, they're gonna have to pull their heads out and realise that they NEED to become synonymous with both quality and value.

I said early on in the X1II thread that the admin assistant for FiiO could have discovered most of it's issues in a couple hours of just playing around with it. This thread is starting to look like the X1II thread. A lot of the same comments are being said as they were in that thread. Very sad to see.

 

[Olimatou]

As I see it, FiiO grew more than they expected. They have really good prices, and they outgrew their own niche. Instead of selling to their own niche, where they'd have stayed quite well, more and more people buy it and then complain about things that aren't going the way they wanted.

Do you mean I am complaining because I am a big child of 43 years that don't accept bugs they selled to me packed in a lovely brick ?

As you can see in my following picture, this thing is playing arbitrary a DSD file as I am asking it to play a file from Sia album in folder mode (without folder reading option set) !!! Effectively, you're right, things aren't going the way I wanted ! This product currently sucks and is not reliable at all... The more I use it and the more I discover bugs everywhere ! Far away from specs and quality they claimed when they promote it on the July keynote...

I won't do a list of all bugs I discovered, I am tired to list them all... And the 1st that is telling me that FiiO wasn't aware of all that bugs in this product is only a fanatic addict that don't want to see the cruel reality. The clothes do not make the man and this device is not what I could expect when I readed descriptions from FiiO's. The promise is not there standing in my hands for the moment and it is sort of lie I can't agree with. When I buy a product, I usually do not take a subscription for patches because it is not working. I want it to work straight from unpacking.

Regards

 

[dissembled]

Many times, the touch wheel on my device is not registering touches whilst scrolling, even after turning the rotary sensitivity to high. Though what I'm experiencing could also be the prominent UI lag that everyone is reporting. I hope the upcoming update will address it.

On a more positive note:
As I said before in an initial post: the Amperiors (updated version of Sennheiser HD-25 1 IIs) synergizes so well with this player. They just sing so beautifully with each other that I can't stop listening!

I also really love the Recently Added songs feature absent in previous Fiio players. As I said before, listening to new songs in any player is a godsend indeed.

Sorry for rambling. Unlike many others, I'm happy with my purchase. What I want though is simple: a good sounding DAP that plays my music, period. I do understand that everyone's needs are different, though.

 

[Olimatou]

For example, the X3iii doesn't have AptX.....and the X1ii didn't have AptX. Now, do you remember why they said the X1ii couldn't have AptX? They've used the same system in the X3iii, which means it has the same limitation

This is only software limitation and maybe a lack of hardware power... As I can see with X3III, they simply limitate DSD decoding to 64 version because the device cannot get enough power to decode 256 without hanging. But this is pettiness to not upgrade with more reliable SoC to simply operate the system for its full specification at least or with more features like competitors have... And finally to save money on a chip that cost 1$ more ? On devs working to implement a new SoC ? For APT-X, you need 1 day to implements libraries (and even if it was 7 days, what does it costs more ?) into your distro, but to be more competitive on the price range, they simply don't want to afford the Qualcomm licensing and maybe put a qualcomm SoC onboard... So you will not have apt-x on these products... This is economies of scale but a bad calculation on the consumer side...

 

[TheoS53]

This is only software limitation and maybe a lack of hardware power... As I can see with X3III, they simply limitate DSD decoding to 64 version because the device cannot get enough power to decode 256 without hanging. But this is pettiness to not upgrade with more reliable SoC to simply operate the system for its full specification at least or with more features like competitors have... And finally to save money on a chip that cost 1$ more ? On devs working to implement a new SoC ? For APT-X, you need 1 day to implements libraries (and even if it was 7 days, what does it costs more ?) into your distro, but to be more competitive on the price range, they simply don't want to afford the Qualcomm licensing and maybe put a qualcomm SoC onboard... So you will not have apt-x on these products... This is economies of scale but a bad calculation on the consumer side...

Yup, they said that the AptX issue is because Qualcomm doesn't support the MIPS architecture. Ok, fine.. Change the architecture, don't use a system that's limited again and again if you're well aware that the limitations will hinder your competitiveness in the market.
And on another note, how long have Fiio been using the same architecture? How much has it changed since the first X5 (this is a legit question, as these things are a bit out of my depth)? If things hadn't changed too much, why are paying customers still having to deal with bugs? Like, hasn't Fiio gotten things sorted out by now? Anyways, like I said, I'm rather tired of ranting about this. But personally, I think Fiio should stick to what they do really well - amps, DACs, and iems... Leave anything and everything that involves software, as Fiio don't seem up to the task.

 

[Olimatou]

Sorry for rambling. Unlike many others, I'm happy with my purchase. What I want though is simple: a good sounding DAP that plays my music, period. I do understand that everyone's needs are different, though.

Sincerely happy for you and if you found your holy graal with it, so it's cool... As you said, for me this product sounds nice but bugs is a hassle for me...

Regards.

 

[briant4pres]

Honestly, what happened to this company?