[NymPHONOmaniac]

Hi I am torn between x10 and c10 myself can you help me is c10 significantly better than x10?

X10 have a very smooth sound and perhaps feel it lack dynamic for some, with right headphone or IEM it can sound fabulous, but with warm iem it lack excitment IMO
Do not have heard the C10 but it cost between 200-300$ while X10 cost between 100-150$ so yeah, sure another league in term of price too!

Best DAP value right now is to find a Xduoo X3 for 70$, nothing can beat this price value in term of sound, portability, durability and features. A must have IMO

 

[Sulbh]

X10 have a very smooth sound and perhaps feel it lack dynamic for some, with right headphone or IEM it can sound fabulous, but with warm iem it lack excitment IMO
Do not have heard the C10 but it cost between 200-300$ while X10 cost between 100-150$ so yeah, sure another league in term of price too!

Best DAP value right now is to find a Xduoo X3 for 70$, nothing can beat this price value in term of sound, portability, durability and features. A must have IMO

I can get c10 for 140 and x10 for 115.

 

[Alex3221]

Hi. I have a zishan z2 on the way and am looking for some advice. I remember reading somewhere that people changed the op amp in it to something better. What was that amp and is it easy to change?

Should be the muses 8920, burson v5i dual, Lme49720na or Lme49720ha.

 

[kova4a]

Hi I am torn between x10 and c10 myself can you help me is c10 significantly better than x10?

Well, both are great DAPs. X10 has a bit more modern and straightforward UI, although I hate how it always returns to the playback screen automatically instead of remaining in the current menu page you were looking at. C10 doesn't do that but it does take some more time to get used to, but it's totally fine. C10 has the standard colorfly software issues - mainly it has issues with properly recognizing cue files, so if you have a lot of images with cue files it's not bad to separate them in separate tracks. Another common colorfly issue is that organizes folders by date and not by name, so you have to use a sorting program to get them to properly organized alphabetically.

Build quality is great on both - x10 being all metal is extremely solid with nice reassuring weight in the hand without being very heavy. C10 gets the points for aesthetics with that great feeling curved wooden back and because of it it's actually fairly light given its size.

And then comes the sound. X10 is extremely capable and aims for technicality - control and separation are its strong suits. It's tight, articulate and extremely neutral. C10 brings in a lighter noted sound that is more spacious and airy and as I said before makes the x10 sound a bit uptight and congested in comparison. It just presents the sound with a specific finesse and musicality that is hard to match. Not by anything I've heard in this price range (not even close). Both have very low noise floor but dues to its upper treble presence and more airy sound c10 gives in separation to x10 in exchange for a more open and effortless presentation.

For me the c10 is easily the better looking and sounding DAP of the two even though it has its issues. I'll definitely buy a new one as soon as they restock the gold one.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

OKAY.

Please, Faudio FA1 owner, compare APE format with FLAC. And share some tough here.

Something strange is happening here, for my ears its utterly confirm: MORE AIR between instrument, MORE weighty and natural bass and better imagin. Near night and day. No joke. It make me very confuse as all my music is FLAC.
I'm not sure I can return to flac with this Dap after hearing how it sound superior with APE.

Try to find info about this black magic aspect, but just find this:

Support format: MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLA, AAC, M4A, OGG, 3GP, ALAC, DSF, DFF etc.

(1) WAV: PCM (8BIT, 16BIT, 24BIT) MS-ADPCM (4BIT) IMA- ADPCM (3BIT, 4BIT) Sampling frequency: 8KHZ-192KHZ

(2) APE: C1000 (Fast), C2000 (Normal), C3000 (High), C4000 (Extra High), C5000 (Insane)

(3) FLAC: (Level 0, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5, Level 5, Level 6, Level 7, Level 8)Bit depth: (16BIT, 24BIT) Sampling frequency: 8KHZ-192KHZ, maximum bit rate: max 9.6Mbps

(4) ALAC: Support bit (16BIT, 24BIT) Sampling rate: 8KHZ-192KHZ Maximum bit rate: max 9.6Mbps

(5) DSF / DFF: support DSD64, DSD128, DSD256

Wonder what 9.6Mbps mean exactly....?

 

[bsoplinger]

When talking about the X10 can I request folks say either NiNTAUS or Xduoo. Sometimes its difficult to tell by context. Luckily the last bunch of posts had the helpful mention of the X10 costing over $100 which got me to the Xduoo player versus the NiNTAUS one

 

[bsoplinger]

…
Something strange is happening here, for my ears its utterly confirm: MORE AIR between instrument, MORE weighty and natural bass and better imagin. Near night and day. No joke. It make me very confuse as all my music is FLAC.
I'm not sure I can return to flac with this Dap after hearing how it sound superior with APE.
…
Wonder what 9.6Mbps mean exactly....?

The first one is very troubling. Since both FLAC and APE are lossless formats they should produce identical bits of sound info. If there really is a difference then there is a serious problem with the software. There's a caveat though so keep reading.

As far as the bitrate limit goes, basically they're saying that what gets decoded, that is the actual sound bits not the compressed stored bits, cannot exceed 9.6 Mb worth of data in any given second. By my math, that means 16 bit files cannot be encoded at faster than 300 khz, 24 bit files at 150 khz. Basically bit rate = sample rate * sample depth * 2 (its stereo so 2 data streams).

So perhaps if you have 24 bit / 196 kHz FLAC files that's why they don't sound good. The problem here is that if there's a limit to the data bandwidth being processed I can't understand why APE wouldn't also be limited.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

The first one is very troubling. Since both FLAC and APE are lossless formats they should produce identical bits of sound info. If there really is a difference then there is a serious problem with the software. There's a caveat though so keep reading.

As far as the bitrate limit goes, basically they're saying that what gets decoded, that is the actual sound bits not the compressed stored bits, cannot exceed 9.6 Mb worth of data in any given second. By my math, that means 16 bit files cannot be encoded at faster than 300 khz, 24 bit files at 150 khz. Basically bit rate = sample rate * sample depth * 2 (its stereo so 2 data streams).

So perhaps if you have 24 bit / 196 kHz FLAC files that's why they don't sound good. The problem here is that if there's a limit to the data bandwidth being processed I can't understand why APE wouldn't also be limited.

Thanks for the details....I don't understand myself....it begin hasardously while playing only one APE album I have...perhaps its better mastering too but I doubt it. All of this its to take with a grain of salt, will test it further but since the begining I was thinking the lack of dynamic impact was part of soundsignature...now, its like another DAP. Very strange and firmware sure need more update. Ak4497EQ is suppose to be a power hungry DAC as well...its not like its badly decoded as it crave for so much details easily, its more than impressive in this aspect, more like sound pressure is different, as yes it can happen with 96khz flac with Xduoo X3 for example....will make test with exact same albums FLAC vs APE to see.

 

[Slater]

When talking about the X10 can I request folks say either NiNTAUS or Xduoo. Sometimes its difficult to tell by context. Luckily the last bunch of posts had the helpful mention of the X10 costing over $100 which got me to the Xduoo player versus the NiNTAUS one

True dat. Like when people say X3 - are they talking about FiiO X3 or xduoo X3?

 

[cqtek]

Two days with my Zishan Z3 and l like it a lot of. I have also Zishan Z2 and I compared only a bit but I don't find differences in sound. But the size of Z3 is really a big difference. I upgraded the firmware to v0.2. The use is very minimalistic but easy. I prefer buttons than potentiometer.
I changed the oamp to LM4562HA from Zishan Z2. Don't like the time to boot, about 20 seconds with a Toshiba Exceria M302-EA. Now I'm testing battery life, seems it the same from Z2, but I think duration with screen will be less than Z2. Another negative point is volume steps, from 0 to 31, but over 20 is the normal use. The problem over 20 every step increases the volume more than I like it. I think 64 steps wiil be better. Screen comes with a plastic film protector, not very good because is soft.




Now is my daily DAP with NiceHCK Bro IEM's:

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

But the size of Z3 is really a big difference. I upgraded the firmware to v0.2.

How did you change the firmware? I can't even figure out how to turn this thing off without flipping the switch. Maybe it's the only way?

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

I'm not sure how to change the opamp in the Z3, the space is very tight and the battery is stuck down with glue pretty well. Maybe if I take off one end I could some how get the tool in to pull the opamp off?

I hope I can find out how to change the language in the firmware, lol.

The sound is completely different than Z1, more alive, more natural, while the Z1 is a bit more flat and contained.

 

[cqtek]

How did you change the firmware? I can't even figure out how to turn this thing off without flipping the switch. Maybe it's the only way?

It's easy, only needs to copy the file in the root of the SD card. But if you download the file inside there are the intructions in chinese, you can translate easily with Google.

I'm not sure how to change the opamp in the Z3, the space is very tight and the battery is stuck down with glue pretty well. Maybe if I take off one end I could some how get the tool in to pull the opamp off?

If you have a flat precision screwdrivers you can put under the chip and you can pry carefully. I maked and nothing bad happened.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

It's easy, only needs to copy the file in the root of the SD card. But if you download the file inside there are the intructions in chinese, you can translate easily with Google.
If you have a flat precision screwdrivers you can put under the chip and you can pry carefully. I maked and nothing bad happened.

Sorry, I should have said I didn't know where to get the firmware file v0.2. I asked my seller for it and it looks like they sent me v0.1. How do I check the firmware version? I only read English and want to get rid of the Chinese on the player, but I don't think it's possible? The only thing in English is the song titles.

I'll try the screw driver method, Thanks! How much better is the sound for you now?

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

I write a review of my Xduoo Nano D3 if some of you are curious about it give it a look!
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/xduoo-nano-d3.22867/reviews#review-19733

Any questions are welcome too!

Cheers!