[gerelmx1986]

I think the same of the fiio X3 first generation, SQ is not that good, filled with inaccuracies in staging and placement  NEIN NEIN NIEN , since i got  a sony A17 i've fallen back in love with sony

 

[musiquelover]

I'm not a FiiO fan but I know that the X1 WILL NOT sound ***** very few things do to be honest. You're observations lack a little subtlety and insight maybe

It has no highs. The bass rolls are unclear. Everything about this unit is garbage. Im making a test on a ua apollo twin duo. Dont get me started on having insight. Fiio x1 is pure ********.

A decent phone will win over fiio x1 in sound quality but not amp power.

 

[musiquelover]

I'm not a FiiO fan but I know that the X1 WILL NOT sound ***** very few things do to be honest. You'relike I said above observations lack a little subtlety and insight maybe

 

[Toom]

It has no highs? Show me the graph.

 

[cuiter23]

I'm personally not very fond of the X1 and X3 either. My iPhone sounds better so it doesn't really justify me buying a dedicated player like the FiiOs.

 

[castleofargh]

I fail to see any relation between the first X3 and the X1 outside of the brand. they sound nothing alike under most situations, almost all components are different, the X3 was a power house that was amp+DAP in one box(and fiio's first attempt at DAPs). the X1 is your 100$ average DAP to use with portable gears.
 
and when saying stuff like "A sounds better than B", please guys try to mention at least what IEM/headphone was used to reach that conclusion. almost no source is always superior under all circumstances. I can pick an IEM that will show some unfair and specific superiority for one DAP or another. and that's if I stay strictly on measurements. if I add subjective preferences of random mishap from impedances, then I can just claim anything I want just like musiquelover(who I feel I've already met on another forum with the same moderate and substantiated claims ^_^).
anyway, we could go back and forth for days, given that I can't really argue about how to properly conduct an audio test outside of sound science, this topic can't hope for more than opinion vs opinion. so I'll leave it at that. I like the X1 and doubt there are a lot of 100$ DAPs with such an audio fidelity. that's my opinion. 

 
 
 an iphone measures very well actually. so I completely understand not wanting to add a cheap DAP to it. I suspect most people do it only to save some battery on the phone. my phone is one of those old things without a touchscreen or internet, that can last for a week on one charge(because that's my priority). so I don't have the battery life problem, but it also can't play music^_^

 

[duartes07]

Hello everyone!

My name's Duarte and I'm still getting started in the "HD Audio" world.

Some months ago I decided the 320kbps mp3 quality was no longer good enough for me (try listening to Muse at any decent volume and you'll understand) and so I spent some money (a lot really) on a set of Sony XBA-H3 headphones, after some personal "market research".

Unfortunately, their high price meant putting off buying a good DAP for some time and sticking with my iPod Nano but I believe now's the time to get one

The first one I noticed was the Sony NWZ-A10 because I had already bought a Sony product and was very pleased with it. The price is already a bit high for me but I can manage if that means good audio quality.

After some more research I found out about the Fiio x3ii and honestly by now I've made up my mind 80% towards this one from what I've read so far. Same price but better sound quality, albeit with some usability set-backs I think I can live with.

But what may actually settle the score and I haven't actually read about much, is pairing between the DAP I'll buy and the headphones I already have.

If someone here can tell me about it or even link me I'll be very pleased

Thanks in advance,
Duarte.

PS: Sorry for waking up a thread from last year

 

[gerelmx1986]

Hello everyone!

My name's Duarte and I'm still getting started in the "HD Audio" world.

Some months ago I decided the 320kbps mp3 quality was no longer good enough for me (try listening to Muse at any decent volume and you'll understand) and so I spent some money (a lot really) on a set of Sony XBA-H3 headphones, after some personal "market research".

Unfortunately, their high price meant putting off buying a good DAP for some time and sticking with my iPod Nano but I believe now's the time to get one

The first one I noticed was the Sony NWZ-A10 because I had already bought a Sony product and was very pleased with it. The price is already a bit high for me but I can manage if that means good audio quality.

After some more research I found out about the Fiio x3ii and honestly by now I've made up my mind 80% towards this one from what I've read so far. Same price but better sound quality, albeit with some usability set-backs I think I can live with.

But what may actually settle the score and I haven't actually read about much, is pairing between the DAP I'll buy and the headphones I already have.

If someone here can tell me about it or even link me I'll be very pleased

Thanks in advance,
Duarte.

PS: Sorry for waking up a thread from last year

I haven't heard the new fiios but i had a sony A17 and it sounded great, very detailed yet with punchy bass and clarity in mids and highs, wide soundstage

 

[duartes07]

  I haven't heard the new fiios but i had a sony A17 and it sounded great, very detailed yet with punchy bass and clarity in mids and highs, wide soundstage

Just to be sure, are you referring to the A17 + XBA-H3 combo, or that DAP with other headphones?
 
Thanks,
Duarte

 

[gerelmx1986]

 

  I haven't heard the new fiios but i had a sony A17 and it sounded great, very detailed yet with punchy bass and clarity in mids and highs, wide soundstage

Just to be sure, are you referring to the A17 + XBA-H3 combo, or that DAP with other headphones?
 
Thanks,
Duarte

​
Yes i used my A17 with my XBA-H3 (now sold both of them), Liked the sounds from the A17 a lot with the H3's but then discovered the XBA-A3 and those are a lot betterm A3 have better highs and better mids and controlled bass esp the mid-bass Bump the H3 have

 

[castleofargh]

Hello everyone!

My name's Duarte and I'm still getting started in the "HD Audio" world.

Some months ago I decided the 320kbps mp3 quality was no longer good enough for me (try listening to Muse at any decent volume and you'll understand) and so I spent some money (a lot really) on a set of Sony XBA-H3 headphones, after some personal "market research".

Unfortunately, their high price meant putting off buying a good DAP for some time and sticking with my iPod Nano but I believe now's the time to get one

The first one I noticed was the Sony NWZ-A10 because I had already bought a Sony product and was very pleased with it. The price is already a bit high for me but I can manage if that means good audio quality.

After some more research I found out about the Fiio x3ii and honestly by now I've made up my mind 80% towards this one from what I've read so far. Same price but better sound quality, albeit with some usability set-backs I think I can live with.

But what may actually settle the score and I haven't actually read about much, is pairing between the DAP I'll buy and the headphones I already have.

If someone here can tell me about it or even link me I'll be very pleased

Thanks in advance,
Duarte.

PS: Sorry for waking up a thread from last year

 
 the sony EQ doesn't let you take down the bass(the last EQ going down is at 400hz), so you have to decide if you're ok with the xba-H3's bass. if sometimes you think it's too much in the 100-200hz, you may appreciate the EQ of the fiio. I believe that's the main thing to make you decide.
else objectively at last, yes the fiio is better. and yes the UI/battery of the sony are better. choices, choices ^_^.

 

[duartes07]

 
 the sony EQ doesn't let you take down the bass(the last EQ going down is at 400hz), so you have to decide if you're ok with the xba-H3's bass. if sometimes you think it's too much in the 100-200hz, you may appreciate the EQ of the fiio. I believe that's the main thing to make you decide.
else objectively at last, yes the fiio is better. and yes the UI/battery of the sony are better. choices, choices ^_^.

Choices, choices indeed... But I think I've definitely settled with the FiiO by now. Thanks for all the help guys, this seems like a very nice community and I'll try to be more active around here.

I will buy the FiiO X3II and I'll report back with some feedback (unfortunately I won't be able to do a comparison as I don't know anyone with either and there don't seem to be any stores with the devices around here or back home). If I miraculously end up buying the Sony I'll report back too!

Thanks again,
Duarte

 

[Tenlow]

Hey people, 
 
I'm not really new here since I've been reading for a long time but I now have a question of my own  
 
I listen to music mostly via my MacBook Pro (Mid 2014, Audirvana Plus or iTunes + Bitperfect) at home and via my Galaxy S6 when I'm on the go (Neutron player, at least 320kbs, mostly Flac/Alac though). At the moment I'm using either my V-Moda Crossfade M100 or my Audio-technica MSR7 or my Sennheiser IE80 InEars depending on my mood or the music I want to listen to. 
 
For quite some time now I wanted to buy a dedicated portable music player mostly for the longer battery life and higher storage capacity than I do have available on my phone. The Sony NWZ-A15 is quite cheap these days and I'm tempted to give it a go but I always wondered whether the Walkman would sound (significantly) better than the Galaxy S6 for the S6 can also play Flac/Alac files and generally seems to be one of the better sounding smartphones. Some internet reviews claim the A15 does sound better than your average smartphone others say they could barely hear a difference at all.
 
Maybe someone owns a (good sounding) smartphone and a Sony NWZ-A15 and could tell me if it really does sound better than the phone because I guess I could still live with the phone being my main daily driver on the go but there is this temptation, so... please help me out  
 
Thanks. 

 

[Polar1]

  I always wondered whether the Walkman would sound (significantly) better than the Galaxy S6 for the S6 can also play Flac/Alac files and generally seems to be one of the better sounding smartphones. Some internet reviews claim the A15 does sound better than your average smartphone others say they could barely hear a difference at all.

 
I can't say something specific on how big is the difference in SQ between A15 and the average smartphone, but based on my experience I can say that you shouldn't expect serious improvement just by changing your source. The sound quality mainly depends on the headphones.  

 

[Tenlow]

   
I can't say something specific on how big is the difference in SQ between A15 and the average smartphone, but based on my experience I can say that you shouldn't expect serious improvement just by changing your source. The sound quality mainly depends on the headphones.  

Sure, I know that but using the the same headphones on my S6 and the MacBook Pro for example, I'm finding the MacBook to sound quite a bit better overall than the S6. So the source obviously does play a quite important role as well. And I always thought that a (good) dedicated music player should in theory sound better than a smartphone otherwise there wouldn't be much use for these players after all. But maybe I'm wrong and that's where my question comes from basically.