[s0lar]

Very strange. I can clearly hear a difference between X3 and Clip+. But I have changed the opamp, so I cannot compare stock X3 to Clip+. I also have RE262, SM3 (and Brainwavz B2 instead of DBA-02). The soundstage from the Clip+ is not as deep and resolution is lacking. Have you tried intense listening to the Hi-res demo tracks? You can re-encode them with foobar to 16-48 so you can play them on Clip+ as well.
My resolution test track: Rebecca Pidgeon with Spanish Harlem.
And on the Chesky demo CD I find the very first track to be quite revealing as well.

 

[Sefelt103]

@Photofan1986 so what you are saying is Cowon has produced a player with approx. 10X the battery life of the Fiio X3 with no degradation in sound quality ?

 

[burtomr]

  My conclusion is that for me, it's not worth the hassle. The X3 interface is not terrible, but the Cowon's and Rockboxed Clip+'s is much better. 

 

Originally Posted by s0lar /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
You can re-encode them with foobar to 16-48 so you can play them on Clip+ as well.
 

 
s0lar, no re-coding is necessary with Rockbox, it can play absolutely any audio format. One of the great things about Rockbox FW.

 

[Photofan1986]

@Photofan1986 so what you are saying is Cowon has produced a player with approx. 10X the battery life of the Fiio X3 with no degradation in sound quality ?

I am absolutely not saying that. I am saying that for me, the Cowon sounds as good and has a better battery life (not nealy 10x, maybe the new D20).

 

[In-A-Song]

  Got my X3 a couple of days ago. Well, I'm a bit disappointed, and here is why. While it certainly sounds good, I really can't tell it apart from my Cowon D2+, or the CIip+. It has much more power to drive some big cans, but as I don't have those and use mainly use IEMS, I don't really care.
I'm using some nice IEMS, as SM3, DBA-02, RE-252 Sony EX600 and have also tested with Senn HD555.
I made a special switch with two jack plugs and one headphone output, so that I can switch from one DAP to the other without having to pull the headphones out. After normalizing the volume, and playing some high quality FLAC files, I am barely able to tell them apart.
Actually, the Cowon D2+ lacks a little thump on the low end, but the difference is really, really subtle. (that's the famous Cowon bass rolloff probably) The Clip + doesn't display this. Other than that, I really can't tell them apart. I expected a difference in the soundstage, detail reproduction,... but no. Then again, I was wondering how two players that display the same freq response could actually sound different, well, now I know. To my ears, they don't.
Here I'm talking about the Cowon set to flat, all settings off. Once I play with the BBE settings, I can get a much nicer sound.
 
This actually comes as a surprise. I consider myself a music lover (and I'm a musician), and I have a good hearing, but I'm probably not  an audiophile stricto sensu. From what I've read, I expected to be able to hear the differences easily. I am using some nice iems, and I can clearly tell the apart and hear what they've to offer. Not so with the different good DAPs.
 
My conclusion is that for me, it's not worth the hassle. The X3 interface is not terrible, but the Cowon's and Rockboxed Clip+'s is much better. Battery life is ridiculous compared to my D2+. It is also much bigger and heavier. The Cowon also has a better screen. It is also much faster....
The only reason why I'd consider keeping the X3 is for its powerful amp, if I need to power big cans. But I don't.
 
Sorry to be a mood killer, but that's my honest opinion. And I think some might actually think alike.

 
Since I'm going to be ripping my larger collection soon I've decided I needed to become a beta tester for the x3 and dx50 (not officially) I was just waiting until I didn't need to be an Alpha tester.  I plan to compare the Clip +, Creative Muvo, iPhone 5S, X3, DX50, amped and non-amped.  I'm considering true portable use, office desk use, home use, travel use.  So I'm sure I won't end up with using a single player, but I'm very interested if I'll personally be able to hear any quality difference on some of my favorite music which can be quite varied. I think it's a given that changing the phones has a much bigger impact on your sound.  I also need to find comfortable portable earphones that I like, so that is added to the mix.  I think like many people I'd just use the iPhone for portable and maybe even at work, BUT I hate running my phone battery down listening to music.  If the iPhone had better battery life I'm sure a good 50-70% of my needs would be covered.  I do like trying different things though, and interested if I can even tell the difference between MP3 256Kb/s and FLAC cd quality.    The music comes first though; I can appreciate good music from a radio I don't need Hi-Fi to love my music, it's more like icing on the cake.

 

[MikePortnoy]

Hi

When we use x3 as a dac, do we need an extra amp? Or can we use it like e17?

 

[In-A-Song]

Hi

When we use x3 as a dac, do we need an extra amp? Or can we use it like e17?

Don't need an amp. You can use it like the E17, your choice to use LO or HO.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Speaking of which, i find that x3 as dac/amp sounds better than e17....

 

[atwaterkent]

I received my 3rd unit (thank you Amazon's easy return policy). I used the Fat32 SD card formatter on the FiiO website and downloaded and installed the latest firmware 2.05.... This is a little confusing because the earlier version 1.31 has a later date than version 2.05. So which is actually the newer version?
 
I still have exactly the same issue as the other two units. The number of folders/files loaded/recognized on an SD card appears to be limited that can be read by the X3.
 
I noticed that FiiO people said they will stop responding on this forum as they are receiving too many questions.....and will respond only to direct e-mail inquiries.... HUH?
 
Think "Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil" !
 
I will wait a little while to see if they actually resolve this MAJOR issue as I do actually like the player...but as a $200 8GB FLAC player it's a little steep. Buy the Sansa 32GB clip player for $31.95 and save a lot of money and it works as advertised...there are other decent units as well....
 
I'll keep checking back.....

 

[jj69]

  I still have exactly the same issue as the other two units. The number of folders/files loaded/recognized on an SD card appears to be limited that can be read by the X3.

 
If you've been through three units so far, the problem is probably not that you're receiving defective X3 units.  It's more likely there's something with the way your files are tagged that the X3 doesn't like. 

 

[ClieOS]

v2.05 is the latest firmware.
 
If you have repeated problem with files recognition, I'll say it is very likely not an issue on the X3 but probably just how these files are tagged - and to be more precise, those files can appear normal on Windows / Mac / other devices too. There are many formats of tagging and X3 isn't likely to support them all. The easy way to make sure is to find out which files ain't being recognized and retagged it with mp3tag.
 
On a minor chance, it can be an encoding issue as well. I have some FLAC files that plays fine on PC but won't play on the X3. I re-encoded them and they are fine now.

 

[davidggreene21]

I enjoyed your review.  I just received my X3.  I have a MBP and my library is Apple Lossless.  When I plugged the X3 in it is not readable since it came with the Windows files on it.  Can you guide me through the formatting settings and steps to get the X3 detup for Apple lossless.  Also I have my music in iTunes library on a standalone Lacie drive.  Thanks for your help in advance.  

 

[ClieOS]

Can't really help you since I never own a Mac in my life.

 

[tjw321]

  I enjoyed your review.  I just received my X3.  I have a MBP and my library is Apple Lossless.  When I plugged the X3 in it is not readable since it came with the Windows files on it.  Can you guide me through the formatting settings and steps to get the X3 detup for Apple lossless.  Also I have my music in iTunes library on a standalone Lacie drive.  Thanks for your help in advance.  

The X3 should be readable on a Mac "out of the box". I just plugged mine in and it worked straight away on my MBP.

 

[rc87]

ClieOS, just read your first post. Thanks for that.
E17 owner here. I'm struggling between keeping my e17 and use it with android smartphone (usb otg, ending with a bulky brick) or simply sell it and buy x3.
 
My collection is all flac, but 24bit/96k are starting to grow.
 
I find myself using the e17 on my laptop a lot. So I really like they added the usb/pc functionality to the X3.
 

• Can you confirm that X3 is better (SQ) than e17?
• Could you explain sound differences, if there are, between their DACs, e.g. soundstage,  etc on same headphone?

 
I've read: (here http://www.headfonia.com/first-impression-fiio-x3-dap/)
Quote:

 X3 is more laid back and the sound is cleaner than the E17. Resolution and micro details better on the E17.

 
You heard this too? It's a deal breaker?