[ngoshawk]

X5iii in da house!

Unboxing vid will be up in a few. Updated FW, no problem to 1.1.0. Streaming Tidal as I write. And paid homage to Hawaiibadboy in my vid. :muscle_tone2:

 

[dsrk]

   
*crying for the victims of the loudness wars

*
 
 
I don't have any stickers on any devices, peeled the stickers off my laptop the moment I got it, always doing this with the devices I won - gives the user the purest sensation of that device. 
 
The mod looks really tidy! 
 
Curious how long it will lost or if there are any drawbacks! Anyway, great work on the mod! 
 
The 300-400$ range is very filled to the bring with all kinds of IEMs, no chance of someone telling you what would be best for you without a comprehensive description of your tastes! 
 
My personal take: Go with a second hand ie800 if you can find a trustable source or put money up to ie800, it is the best straight down wearing style IEM I tested to date. 

My second personal take: Many people love FiiO Ex1 with some EQ - you might want to check it out! 
 
My third personal take: Dunu DN2000 series, Echobox X1, and many others  - your tastes were not mentioned so you might also like Etymotic or Shure or you know - virtually anything. 

I listen to all kinds of music, I have a lot of classic collection. How well ie800 fare against SE846? I live in Hyderabad, India, it's very hard find an used pair here. Please recommend me some more.

 

[dsrk]

 
 The X5iii is tilted warm just a tad.
 Sony XBA-A2
Fairly neutral with room to eq in either direction.  If you have a library with all kinds like rock and stuff that set is pretty dope. You can get a balanced cable from Sony for the IEM too for that budget.
 
Just my 2 cents

I used to have Sony XBA 4, does A2 sound better than XBA4? I listen to all kinds music, I listen to classic a lot if that helps.

 

[ngoshawk]

I listen to all kinds of music, I have a lot of classic collection. How well ie800 fare against SE846? I live in Hyderabad, India, it's very hard find an used pair here. Please recommend me some more.

I auditioned a pair of FLC8S, and I was quite impressed with them. I was able to pick up a "near new" pair off of EBay for $211/shipped. Something like that may be worth considering. I searched for a good week, and fell into this pair.

What with the multitude of filters, the tailoring of sound SHOULD get you pretty close to what you are looking for. I am quite impressed by the FLC8S.

 

[superuser1]

X5iii in da house!

Unboxing vid will be up in a few. Updated FW, no problem to 1.1.0. Streaming Tidal as I write. And paid homage to @Hawaiibadboy in my vid. :muscle_tone2:

 
Awesome!! It actually exceeds expectations if i may say so. @Hawaiibadboy is my current hero

 

[dsrk]

You're thinking about the wrong kind of compression. What you're thinking of is compression for lossy codecs during file encoding. That does use psychoacoustic modeling, which discards sounds that shouldn't affect our listening.

@cleg was talking about the user of software compression during the measuring process to even out the volume across songs. This limits means there's not as much difference between the quiet and loud parts of a song as there would be naturally. As dynamism, subtlety, and sense of space all suffer.

And to keep this related to the X5 v3 thread, my review unit is on the way.

Hi nmatheis,
 
How good is the sound stage on X5 3 compared to the Opus#1?

 

[ngoshawk]

Awesome!! It actually exceeds expectations if i may say so. @Hawaiibadboy
 is my current hero

I have to say, my initial listening impressions surpass the i5 I had a few months ago. Easy to operate, quick of operation, intuitive and a good sound so far. I would agree with Hawaii, it is on the warm side. Probably not as warm as i5, but I do prefer a warm sound.

Too early for much more...

 

[dsrk]

  I'm actually tuning out to some re-cabled xb90ex and Dark Side of the Moon is stellar. Love this album, know this album.
Sound dope.
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

.

I loved my xb90ex and they broke. I got CKS77 but they not in the same league as the xb90ex. The highs on the Sony's were not upto my taste though.

 

[dsrk]

 
 The i5 was very warm like a pinch of reverb was in the music. Warmest DAP I have ever spent time with. Anything with some low end was overtaking the mid clarity. The EX1000 are very bright and they were not even able to get over that. The xb90ex were not good at all with it. Cayin and Andy are great. No bullcrap from them. That DAP was really warm though. I like bass and warmth added by myself but not as a sonic default of the DAP tuning.
 
Just my opinion. The i5, mojo, Soundaware M1 pro and the X5iii all tilt warm but the i5 went too far for my taste.

I too don't like too much warm sound, how warm is X5 3 compared to the X5 or X7?

 

[WhiteKnite]

I auditioned a pair of FLC8S, and I was quite impressed with them. I was able to pick up a "near new" pair off of EBay for $211/shipped. Something like that may be worth considering. I searched for a good week, and fell into this pair.

What with the multitude of filters, the tailoring of sound SHOULD get you pretty close to what you are looking for. I am quite impressed by the FLC8S.

I absolutely loved the FLC8S. I preferred them over the 846 even. Unfortunately I had to send them back due to fit issues but I still miss them.

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

 
I too don't like too much warm sound, how warm is X5 3 compared to the X5 or X7?

Not really warm. Smooth is a better sound description for X5iii. The DAC's are clearly present in the sonics. Smooth but detailed. X5i was mostly used to play with themes and my listening with it was not much actually. It was alright but nothing grabbed me so I never got into it. I was on the X7 tour with an IEM at the early firmware stage and it was dead neutral and that was not enjoyable for me. The X5iii is the best FiiO dap i have touched.  slight warmth but no loss off detail retrieval and that is my pref sig apparently.
 
 

   
Awesome!! It actually exceeds expectations if i may say so. @Hawaiibadboy is my current hero

 
 
That happened to me. I was not expecting to keep it or get involved with the thread but it's pretty damn sweet and priced normal which is getting rare. I am a fan. So I am here

 

[ngoshawk]

 
Not really warm. Smooth is a better sound description for X5iii. The DAC's are clearly present in the sonics. Smooth but detailed. X5i was mostly used to play with themes and my listening with it was not much actually. It was alright but nothing grabbed me so I never got into it. I was on the X7 tour with an IEM at the early firmware stage and it was dead neutral and that was not enjoyable for me. The X5iii is the best FiiO dap i have touched.  slight warmth but no loss off detail retrieval and that is my pref sig apparently.
 
 
 
 
That happened to me. I was not expecting to keep it or get involved with the thread but it's pretty damn sweet and priced normal which is getting rare. I am a fan. So I am here

Yes, smooth would be a better choice of words. It is a good unit. My week will be busy! And my pocketbook may be lighter after this...

 

[dsrk]

I absolutely loved the FLC8S. I preferred them over the 846 even. Unfortunately I had to send them back due to fit issues but I still miss them.

aaahh, that is the only problem for me too with these over the ear IEMs. I do not get a perfect fit easily and it always takes too much effort.

 

[dsrk]

 
Not really warm. Smooth is a better sound description for X5iii. The DAC's are clearly present in the sonics. Smooth but detailed. X5i was mostly used to play with themes and my listening with it was not much actually. It was alright but nothing grabbed me so I never got into it. I was on the X7 tour with an IEM at the early firmware stage and it was dead neutral and that was not enjoyable for me. The X5iii is the best FiiO dap i have touched.  slight warmth but no loss off detail retrieval and that is my pref sig apparently.
 
 
 
 
That happened to me. I was not expecting to keep it or get involved with the thread but it's pretty damn sweet and priced normal which is getting rare. I am a fan. So I am here

 
 

 
Yes, smooth would be a better choice of words. It is a good unit. My week will be busy! And my pocketbook may be lighter after this...

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!, thanks a lot. You guys really rock!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I can't wait to get my own and listen to my huge collections all over again and again...I don't need to know any more comparisons on X5 3, it's enough.

 

[superuser1]

   
 
Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!, thanks a lot. You guys really rock!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I can't wait to get my own and listen to my huge collections all over again and again...I don't need to know any more comparisons on X5 3, it's enough.

 
You wont regret getting the X5 III. I use the Fiio EX1 with the DAP and A5 stacked together and it does the job really well for its price. Though the highs are unnecessarily extended. Works as a second iem and i have to put in a note about comfort. Its very comfortable and fits very easily without much effort. That is also something i liked. However be careful of the rather irritatingly sticky and tangle prone cable.. ok maybe i'm exaggerating a bit about that.