HELP! Changing Gears smartphone to fiio x1

[tfnvk]

hi folks! i am new to this hobby please forgive my ignorance.i am using right now xperia z1 (smartphone) as my source and brainwavz m3 as my iem. i am listening to pop music which is 320kbps and i am planning to switch unto fiio x1 and re-400. i cant try the fiio x1 and re-400 because i am ordering it online. my question is, is it worth changing gears with regards of sound quality or is it worth the price? thanks!~ have a good day!

 

[billybob_jcv]

Only you can decide the value or "worth" of an upgrade. Whenever I see a post like this, I think that you really *do* want the new gear, and what you really want from us is for someone to tell you that you are making the right decision and that it's OK to spend the money. I think that is entirely a personal choice, and setting a value on the upgrade is meaningless. There are people on this forum that will drop $1000 just to see if there is any difference in the latest version of a headphone they already own. For other people, buying one budget headphone means they had to save money for months. "Value" means very different things to different people. I think it's your decision, and if you want it - then buy it! It's only money...

 

[ProtegeManiac]

There is one practical reason to get the X1 over a smartphone, provided you don't mind lugging two devices (at least you don't need to strap them together), and that's the 100-step volume control. Depending on the IEM and the smartphone, the former may be efficient enough to drive "easily" with minimal distortion (or in some cases, bass easilydistorts on smartphones, but you can easily remedy that with a great EQ on player apps, like NeutronMP), but it may also be too efficient and the smartphone doesn't have enough steps in its volume attenuation. With my SGS3 and ASG-1.3 for example I just use Neutron's EQ to avoid most distortion, but it can still go from "almost there" to "TURN IT DOWN!" in one press. By contrast the X1 not only has less THD (the bass is still a bit loud, but it's not distorting and the notes stay tight), but it has about five to eight steps between those two points on the smartphone (not actual dB output - it may only be five and just has a lot less distortion so I count up to eight).

 

[tfnvk]

 

 

Only you can decide the value or "worth" of an upgrade. Whenever I see a post like this, I think that you really *do* want the new gear, and what you really want from us is for someone to tell you that you are making the right decision and that it's OK to spend the money. I think that is entirely a personal choice, and setting a value on the upgrade is meaningless. There are people on this forum that will drop $1000 just to see if there is any difference in the latest version of a headphone they already own. For other people, buying one budget headphone means they had to save money for months. "Value" means very different things to different people. I think it's your decision, and if you want it - then buy it! It's only money...

 
thank you sirs for your insightful feedback.since the two of you commending the x1.i think im getting it. but about my iem, i know the re-400 is being praised by many people.is there really a huge gap between brainwavz m3 and re-400 in terms of clarity of the treble and mids?

 

[tfnvk]

bump. anyone?