The FiiO X3 2nd gen (ex X3K, X3II) Thread : 192K/24B, CS4398,Native DSD, USB DAC with LO and inline remote

[adrsz]

hello guys, 
 
im new here. sorry for my bad english. i have a question. before i ask i want to let you guys know that im new to this all and have 0 knowledge. i wont fool myself and believe i will be able to catch up on you. i was gifted by god with much intelligence. i know that and i can live with that. i became a carpenter and  made the best out of my situation - building bespoke furniture.
 
i have a blackberry q10 with some noname overear headphones. my only source for music is spotify premium. im not satisfied with my setup and want to to upgrade it. so getting a solid dap without being able to use spotify offline is not an option.
so i read a bit through the forum and got more questions than answers but at least i found some options and now i need your help to pick up the "best" one for me.
 
 
1. i know i need to buy new headphones. i chose the ma750 from rha. 90€
2.
  a: keep blackberry and buy a dap with dac option (fiio x3/ dx90) and connect them.
  b: buy a new phone. htc m9 or galaxy note 4 and tune it with viper4android.
3. if i choose option 2a do i need anything else like an amp? fiio e12
4. if i choose option 2b do i need still to get a dac and amp? fiio e17 + fiio 12
 
thanks for help and i really appreciate every answer and effort

 

[Sulbh]

If budget is not a problem and you don't want to carry two devices with you then htc one is very good option and yes for better sound you can always connect an amp.
There are not many android DAPs in the market.One option is sony NWZ zx1 and HUM pervaision which is quite new in the market

 

[dby2011]

They ever going to update the firmware for this?  The 5800 file limit is just ridiculous. They have been releasing so many products lately you have to wonder how stretched their software people are.  The X1 and X3ii should have had this fixed long ago. 

 

[yoyorast10]

Why can't you use the pause song button in standby mode?

 

[x RELIC x]

Why can't you use the pause button in standby mode?

You need to switch to the appropriate Lockscreen mode in the settings menu.

 

[yoyorast10]

First time setting up the USB dac. Do you need to put the sound all the way to max on your X3 to get enough sound on your PC? Or did I do something wrong?

 

[x RELIC x]

First time setting up the USB dac. Do you need to put the sound all the way to max on your X3 to get enough sound on your PC? Or did I do something wrong?

I think you have it backwards. The sound should be coming off of the PC to the X3 Headphone Out or Line Out. Think of the PC as a fancy storage medium that does the codec decoding and feeding the digital signal to the X3 DAC to convert it to an analogue signal for the amplifier in the unit (headphone out) or to line out to go to an external amplifier.

Edit: To be clear......... PC feeds the X3 NOT X3 feeds the PC.

 

[yoyorast10]

I think you have it backwards. The sound should be coming off of the PC to the X3 Headphone Out or Line Out. Think of the PC as a fancy storage medium that does the codec decoding and feeding the digital signal to the X3 DAC to convert it to an analogue signal for the amplifier in the unit (headphone out) or to line out to go to an external amplifier.

Edit: To be clear......... PC feeds the X3 NOT X3 feeds the PC.

Yes, so basically you play music on your PC, it goes through the X3, which goes through the headphones, and you'll get better sound?
 
I can use the volume buttons on my X3 to make the volume higher coming from the PC, I guess this is normal?

 

[x RELIC x]

Yes, so basically you play music on your PC, it goes through the X3, which goes through the headphones, and you'll get better sound?

I can use the volume buttons on my X3 to make the volume higher coming from the PC, I guess this is normal?

Perfectly normal, as designed.

 

[yoyorast10]

Perfectly normal, as designed.

 
Okay, one thing I just noticed: If you have the Fiio X3 connected as a USB dac, and playing music on your PC, and then holding down the -volume button on the X3, what will happen is a song from the X3 player it self will start to play, which means two songs from 2 different sources are playing at the same time, and a really annoying distorting sound happens. I don't know if it's just me, if I did something wrong, or if there's something wrong with my X3. But it doesn't seem right.

 

[x RELIC x]

Okay, one thing I just noticed: If you have the Fiio X3 connected as a USB dac, and playing music on your PC, and then holding down the -volume button on the X3, what will happen is a song from the X3 player it self will start to play, which means two songs from 2 different sources are playing at the same time, and a really annoying distorting sound happens. I don't know if it's just me, if I did something wrong, or if there's something wrong with my X3. But it doesn't seem right.

Short presses of the buttons increase/decrease volume, and long presses skip forward/back. That's crazy that it plays music at the same time from both the unit and the PC. Do you have the unit set to DAC mode or STORAGE mode in the settings menu?

 

[yoyorast10]

Short presses of the buttons increase/decrease volume, and long presses skip forward/back. That's crazy that it plays music at the same time from both the unit and the PC. Do you have the unit set to DAC mode or STORAGE mode in the settings menu?

Can you check if it does that for you as well?
 
Long press = skips forward/back, do this while in DAC mode and two songs are going to play, with a really heavy distorting sound. It can even be ear damaging, by the way. So try it with your headphones off.

 

[dogmusic]

I've done a search in this forum, but I can't find whether anyone had luck using a 256GB SDXC card directly in the card slot of the X3ii.
 
I think someone in the X5ii thread had success with an external card reader adapter and a 256GB card.
 
Anyone have info on this?
 
Thanks.

 

[x RELIC x]

Can you check if it does that for you as well?

Long press = skips forward/back, do this while in DAC mode and two songs are going to play, with a really heavy distorting sound. It can even be ear damaging, by the way. So try it with your headphones off.

Sorry no, as I don't have an X3ii and I don't listen to my X5/X5ii as a DAC from the computer. I should have been more clear. The functionality of both devices are the same though.

My recommendation is don't try to skip forward/back when using as a USB DAC, as it seems to be a bug. Unfortunately you can't disable the long press function of the volume buttons so just use quick presses to adjust the volume.

 

[dogmusic]

  I've done a search in this forum, but I can't find whether anyone had luck using a 256GB SDXC card directly in the card slot of the X3ii.
 
I think someone in the X5ii thread had success with an external card reader adapter and a 256GB card.
 
Anyone have info on this?
 
Thanks.

 
So I did get my 256GB microSDXC card to work with an ebay OTG card reader in the X3ii USB input.
 
My problem had been trying to format the card in the X3ii. My Mac Mini wouldn't mount it so I couldn't load any music. But after formatting the card in exFAT on the Mac, I then renamed it "X3", and everything worked from there.
 
The card only had a few files on it, so if there's a problem with the card after filling it, I'll post about it.