[fourrobert13]

  Yep, that fixed the issue. Is Fiio aware of the OTG playback glitch in 1.6?

I'm sure they are.  Follow this thread for FW updates and to report bugs to FiiO.: http://www.head-fi.org/t/770863/official-x3-2nd-gen-beta-firmware-thread-fw1-16-lifted-5800-song-limit-on-media-library-added-russian-and-thai-ui/150#post_11889005

 

[goodyfresh]

  No worries, just keep listening and enjoying the music, whatever the format - Another couple of anecdotes...
 
 
I was in a self service restaurant back in the and put some innocent looking sauce on my salad, got back to the table and started eating. The sauce was horrible, some chemical tasting, disguting, indedible travesty! My wife quickly pointed out to me that it was a blue cheese dressing, my mind filled in the gaps and it tasted wonderful again
 
And closer to home... Having invested in some decent IEMs and the FiiO X3ii I REALLY enjoyed the new sound I had discovered, hoowever all was not well for long.  I decided to compare various outputs of the DAP, headphone out vs line-out etc, comparing sound qualities like any good geek would do. I merrily plugged in the headphones into the line-out and varied the sound level via the PC (using the player in DAC mode). The sound quality was noticeably brighter and seemed more detailed. Making the sound output from the variable output (headphone out) suddenly seem muddy and unclear by comparison. In my wisdom I automatically assumed the Lineout sound I was hearing via my IEM's was the purest sound possible and therefore "right".

After many weeks of searching for better amplification to make the most of this "pure" sound from the lineout (ie to allow volume adjustment on the go whilst benefitting from the lovely line out clarity), and failing miserably, as amplification resulted in colouration again whatever I seemed to do, finally I got some sense from a wise forum poster with some grounding in electrical theory. Seems like driving the IEMs from the Line out jack is a complete nono, and I was messing with the impedances somewhat, resulting in an artificially boosted treble and upper midrange and losing some bass to boot.

So...After this revelatory moment when I found out that the line-out sound was actually a horribly coloured version of reality, my brain did a number on me and all of a sudden the previously muddy sounding variable output of the headphone jack started sounding completely wonderful again.

Psychoacoustics...A double edged sword... can make you think your system's complete ***** because of some stupid belief that you're absolutely right about something completely that's completely wrong or it can make you relisten to albums and REALLY enjoy them again simply because they're encoded at a higher bitrate and MUST be better sounding, right?

LMAO you were listening to IEM's directly from the line-out with no amp stacked on the player?  SERIOUSLY?  Ahahahahahaha I'm sorry man but that really is hilarious

 

In the end, it's fascinating how fluid and unreliable the human sensory system can be.  So easily influenced by factors having nothing to do with the actual sensory input itself!  Lol.

 

[salla45]

Pretty funny to me that we are willing to buy upgraded audio playback devices that probably only take audio from our smart phones up about 5 percent in quality BUT fuss over purchasing hi res tracks that add a similar small amount to the "mix".

Yes some of the benefit is the mastering but some is the reduced artifact level from the process of converting to pcm.

And if you disagree then great. Do not purchase the tracks. But I suggest you lay off the criticism since buying a fiio and being hyper critical of purchasing hi res is hypocritical. And that includes downgrading the high grade tracks. Both are hobbies with few provable benefits other than our ears and enjoyment in the minds eye

By the way I really love Steve Wilson His music is great and his remixes are great. But the only album where I stuck with the original hdtracks version and not the Steve Wilson remix happens to be CTTE. I like the bass better on the original. I really love his work on the yes album. Also nonsuch, power and the glory, and aqualung. The hdtracks version of aqualung is Steve Wilson mix unaltered. The first release was messed with by a mastering engineer

Steve Wilson has participated in some interesting interviews where he states that 24-96 is his preferred recording format even though the difference is audible only in a small percentage of the music playback process. Of course we know that Neil young is all over hi res but then again he is in the hi res ecosystem with Pono

Hehe. That is interesting about CTTE - i just find the HD versions distorting and the SW version cleaner generally. Will give the bass a relisten however!!
 
Incidentally I have quite a few hd track albums and SACD ISO's which work wonderfully on the FiiO, and ALL my catalogue is now Flac as a minimum. I ditched my MP3's about 2 years ago and re-ripped all my 1500 cd's into Flac. That was a fun experience, re-listening to stuff as I went along. Happy days, in search of audio and musical nirvana. Interestingly I read something today which made me laugh; why do we invest so much in a hobby that makes us listen to less music - food for thought!

 

[salla45]

 
LMAO you were listening to IEM's directly from the line-out with no amp stacked on the player?  SERIOUSLY?  Ahahahahahaha I'm sorry man but that really is hilarious

 

In the end, it's fascinating how fluid and unreliable the human sensory system can be.  So easily influenced by factors having nothing to do with the actual sensory input itself!  Lol.

yeah, i know... newb alert

! I was attenuating it via the PC volume, so it seemed a good idea at the time.

 

[goodyfresh]

  yeah, i know... newb alert

! I was attenuating it via the PC volume, so it seemed a good idea at the time.

LOL, isn't it like, also actually NOT GOOD FOR THE IEM'S to do that, since the power output and output impedance can be so much more uneven?

 

[hamidr]

Sorry guys if this is repeated dumb question...Would it be a stand alone amp too? e.g: Feed to an analog line in then headphone out?

 

[goodyfresh]

  Sorry guys if this is repeated dumb question...Would it be a stand alone amp too? e.g: Feed to an analog line in then headphone out?

You can use it WITH a standalone amp from the line-out of the X3ii.  You can also use it as a standalone DAC/Amp with USB input from a computer.  However, it does not work as a standalone amp without also doing DAC, and does not accept a line-in input, only does line-out output.

 

[hamidr]

Thanks,
So as a standalone AMP I should look somewhere else. So how's the headphone out SQ with a senn hd558? And would x3 2g + e17k be a good combo or just overkill?

 

[goodyfresh]

  Thanks,
So as a standalone AMP I should look somewhere else. So how's the headphone out SQ with a senn hd558? And would x3 2g + e17k be a good combo or just overkill?

Wait wait you're looking for a standalone amp PLUS DAC?  Then this should be great, as long as you're fine with using USB input, and as long as you don't need REALLY powerful amplification.  This thing has pretty decent power, it outputs up to over 200mW or something like that to 32ohms, and with a very low output-impedance of something like 0.3ohms.  It should be more than capable of driving most headphones under 80 ohms or so quite well, unless they happen to also have low sensitivity, and can drive headphones up to something like 150 ohms at least decently.
 
I can actually answer your second question, as I had a chance to demo the HD518, 558, and 598 in-store and was using my X3ii as a source.  It does a great job with the HD558, IMO!  Definitely more than capable of driving them to their full potential.  Soundstage is very nice and natural sounding, and overall tonality is very sweet.  Of course, all those things are done even better with the pairing of X3ii+HD598, haha.
 
E17k would probably be unnecessary since it's a combined DAC/amp, and the X3ii already has a damn good DAC (Cirrus Logic's flagship chipset, in fact) in it which is quite honestly probably better than the DAC chip in the E17k, although someone should correct me if I'm wrong.  I've also heard that the E17k has notable issues with background hiss with headphones and IEM's that are more sensitive.  You'd probably get much better results by stacking the X3ii with a Fiio E11k or, ideally, an E12a, both of which are standalone amps with no DAC.  What you would do is get the Fiio stacking-kit and 3.5mm-to-3.5mm short connecting cable, then stack the player and amp with the line-out on the player to the line-in on the amp, and you'd be good to go.  Both the E11k and E12a have some other nic features too, like a very high quality analog-bass-boost.  However, all that being said, unless you want it just for the bass boost, the whole thing could very well be an unnecessary use of your money unless you happen to be planning to use some harder-to-drive headphones, since as I said the X3ii already has pretty powerful amplification for a portable player.  It is certainly FAR more powerful than the amp you'll find in something more mainstream like an iPod or Sansa Clip.  For example, it's fully capable of driving my V-Moda M-80's (well, not mine anymore, sold them to my roommate), Shure SE215 IEM's, and Sony MDR-1A's to their absolute full potentital without any additional amping, as well as somewhat less-sensitive (but not truly hard-to-drive) cans like those HD558's.

 

[Brooko]

And would x3 2g + e17k be a good combo or just overkill?

I have both E17K and X3ii. The X3ii has lower out put impedance, so it will be better with highly sensitive IEMs. Both have very similar output power - but E17K can give you more volume simply because line-out from X3ii is higher volume. Using the combo gives better battery life on the X3ii, and also adds hardware tone controls. Adds bulk though. Not "needed" IMO but still a nice combo if you don't mind the extra weight/size.

 

[goodyfresh]

I have both E17K and X3ii. The X3ii has lower out put impedance, so it will be better with highly sensitive IEMs. Both have very similar output power - but E17K can give you more volume simply because line-out from X3ii is higher volume. Using the combo gives better battery life on the X3ii, and also adds hardware tone controls. Adds bulk though. Not "needed" IMO but still a nice combo if you don't mind the extra weight/size.

Don't you think, though, that like I said since the X3ii already has a good DAC, stacking it with an amp/DAC combo like the E17k would be "less" beneficial (value-for-money wise, I mean) than stacking it with simply a standalone portable amp (no DAC) like the E11k or E12a?  Or would there be some noticable benefit from the E17k over those other two options that I am not aware of?

 

[salla45]

  LOL, isn't it like, also actually NOT GOOD FOR THE IEM'S to do that, since the power output and output impedance can be so much more uneven?

Yep indeed. 

 

[hamidr]

Thank you so much guys for detailed replys..
My Marantz CD-6004 CDP also use CS4398 DAC and sounds very delicate so,
I think I would go for x3ii first and see how does it sound without ex amp. Just few other questions sorryDue to the lack of an internal mem I'm not abale to get sound out of the box with x3ii right? So if I get a micro sd, should i download my music directly to the x3ii via usb like many other DAPs or every time I shoud take that card out and use a SD reader?
I also wondered if the EQ circuit is digital or analog(before DAC or after?)! Cause I hate those noise and crackling/hissing caused by digital EQs found on smartphone for exp.
And, before going to shop anything especial should be concerned to aviod getting a lemon or used one? I'm going to pick it up from a store.
 
Thanks in advance

 

[goodyfresh]

  Thank you so much guys for detailed replys..
My Marantz CD-6004 CDP also use CS4398 DAC and sounds very delicate so,
I think I would go for x3ii first and see how does it sound without ex amp. Just few other questions sorryDue to the lack of an internal mem I'm not abale to get sound out of the box with x3ii right? So if I get a micro sd, should i download my music directly to the x3ii via usb like many other DAPs or every time I shoud take that card out and use a SD reader?
I also wondered if the EQ circuit is digital or analog(before DAC or after?)! Cause I hate those noise and crackling/hissing caused by digital EQs found on smartphone for exp.
And, before going to shop anything especial should be concerned to aviod getting a lemon or used one? I'm going to pick it up from a store.
 
Thanks in advance

What I did was:  The first time I loaded my music library onto the micro-SD, I did it by using the SD-card-sized adapter to insert the Micro-SD directly into my laptop, because the data-transfer speed that way is much faster than when it is inside the X3ii, which limits it to about 5MB/s transfer speed.  However, whenever I have SUBSEQUENTLY put MORE music onto the card, or deleted things from it, I do it by keeping the card in the player and putting the player in storage-mode.  Why, you may ask?  Well, it seems to me that constantly inserting and removing the micro-SD into the slot in the X3ii probably can't be good for the card, and may cause it to have a shortened lifespan as a result!  I don't want to risk that.  Since now I only ever put maybe a gigabyte or two of stuff onto there at any given time (as opposed to the over 100 gigs I had to load onto teh card when I first transferred my whole library) I don't really mind the slower 5MB/s speed.

Keep in mind that before you transfer anything to the card, you will want to insert the card once into the X3ii and use teh X3ii to format the card into Fat32 and with the optimal sector/block-size for use with the device.

Anyway I'm pretty sure the EQ is digital, but, it doesn't create any crackling or hissing as it is implemented very well.  It isn't volume-matched with the non-EQ setting, though, so if you want to do a side-by-side comparison and get a good picture of the changes, you'll have to make one of the custom presets set to all-zero and switch back and forth between that and the other settings to  your comparisons.
 
I haven't heard of many cases of people getting lemons/defective units of the X3ii.  It does happen, but that is true of ANY electronic commodity, not just this one.  Luckily, Fiio has very, VERY superb warranty coverage and super-attentive customer-service, so if your product turns out to be defective and god-forbid the store you bought it from won't accept a return/exchange, Fiio will surely repair or replace it for you.

Yeah I do very much like the sound of the CS4398 DAC chip.  "Delicate" is how I would describe it as well.  Very good detail, somewhat analytical sounding. Some people prefer a less analytical, more "organic" sound, but since I am using the device with smoother, somewhat colored and more organic sounding headphones (the Sony MDR-1A) I find it to create a perfect, complementary pairing, as a result.  I'd say that the X3ii makes an IDEAL pair with the MDR-1A as a portable setup, as far as my own sonic preferences go.  This is the happiest I've ever been, so far in my life, with my music-listening experience   I guess what I'm saying really, getting back on-topic, is that if you pair the X3ii with smoother, more organic (not super-analytical, but still good with detail) headphones, it will create a very nice "balance" between an analytical sound and a smoothed-out sound.  While, if you yourself want a super-duper-analytical sound, then you can pair the X3ii with something like the Audio Technica ATH-MSR7 and that is what you will get! :-D

 

[hamidr]

@goodyfresh  So there's a mass storage mode via USB connection.
Thank you so much you just answered all of my questions