[Brooko]

And in case anyone thinking this is veering too far OT (which it probably is), at least that's the X3ii in the background of the above photos.  I use it for a lot of my testing 

 

[goodyfresh]

   
Yep - same sig.  You can also find semi-regular Titan deals around the $85-90 mark on mass-drop.
 
Re the 2000 vs 2000J - that's kind of why I left you the link on my reviews .....
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/dunu-dn-2000j/reviews/13243

Thank you very much, sir!  You have been MOST helpful.  Bright headphones/earphones tend to fatigue my ears (whcih are very sensitive to upper-mids/low-to-mid-treble frequencies) very easily, or even cause them pain, so I will probably want to go with the DN-2000 rather than the 2000J as my first pair of serious IEM's.  I must say, that frequency-response on the DN-2000 looks like EXACTLY the kind of sound I would like to hear for my on-the-go listening.  Now my big internal debate is whether to get my first pair of serious over-ear full-sized first, or the IEM's first   Because my finances are very tight right now and it'll take me a whiel to save up a few hundred bucks >_<
 
And I don't think this is too off-topic, since as you said you use your X3ii for your testing, and so what we're really talking about is how these IEM's will sound with the X3ii

 

[oldschool]

Is anybody else experiencing uneven discharge of the battery, as far as the onscreen indicator is concerned?
 
I get progressively less time with each bar depleted. Overall, I think I get around 8 hours of total play time but today the last bar only lasted about 20 minutes.
 
 I am using 98 ohm IEMs at high gain and pretty high volume. I've so far charged the unit 4-5 times, from complete depletion to 100% charge.

 

[Brooko]

  Is anybody else experiencing uneven discharge of the battery, as far as the onscreen indicator is concerned?
 
I get progressively less time with each bar depleted. Overall, I think I get around 8 hours of total play time but today the last bar only lasted about 20 minutes.
 
 I am using 98 ohm IEMs at high gain and pretty high volume. I've so far charged the unit 4-5 times, from complete depletion to 100% charge.

 
Yeah - it's not an even distribution on the meter. None of the Fiios have been really.  I'm guessing the reason you're only getting 8 hours is the high gain, high volume usage. I can get 10-11 hours easy with sensitive IEMs (low gain).

 

[oldschool]

Yeah, that's fine - 8 hours is ok given the high ohmage and the gain, just wanted to know if the drain is uneven for other people too

 

[Brooko]

  Has anyone strapped a Fiio E11K to the X3ll? If so, how were the results? I couldn't bear reading through 7200 posts. 

 

 
OK - X3ii with E11K - connected using Fiio's L17 cable,and using the stacker kit .....
 

 

 

 
After I volume matched (easy to get within 0.1 dB using an SPL meter), and then fast switched between the two (using my DN2000J), there isn't a lot of difference (if any).  Definitely no "widening of the sound stage".  Personally I find people describing that sort of thing are usually not volume matched properly when comparing.
 
Both set-ups sound good - but if you were using sensitive IEMs, that don't need further amping, I'd stick with the X3ii by itself.
 
But I also tried the two with the VE Zen earbuds (320 ohm), and then (to me anyway) the E11K did sound slightly cleaner (but we're talking only the slightest bit - and as the comparison was sighted, I could be imagining it). Definitely more headroom with the E11K - it has the more powerful amp circuit. Strictly speaking though, I haven't used the E11K a lot with the X3ii.
 
Where it would help:
 - harder to drive headphones
 - if you want to sue the bass boost (it is a subtle boost)
 - for battery life (combining the X3ii and E11K greatly boosts the battery life).  I haven't measure it yet - but I wouldn't be surprised if you could get 16-18 hous if both were fully charged.
 
It is a nice compact pairing.  Do you need it - probably not, but no harm using it if that is your preference.  With or without - sounds good to me

 

[KC33]

You sir are the greatest. I do appreciate this very much. 

 

[KC33]

I just ordered the D 2000J, I only say this here cuz I'll be testing them with the X3ll. 

 

[goodyfresh]

   
OK - X3ii with E11K - connected using Fiio's L17 cable,and using the stacker kit .....
 

 

 

 
After I volume matched (easy to get within 0.1 dB using an SPL meter), and then fast switched between the two (using my DN2000J), there isn't a lot of difference (if any).  Definitely no "widening of the sound stage".  Personally I find people describing that sort of thing are usually not volume matched properly when comparing.
 
Both set-ups sound good - but if you were using sensitive IEMs, that don't need further amping, I'd stick with the X3ii by itself.
 
But I also tried the two with the VE Zen earbuds (320 ohm), and then (to me anyway) the E11K did sound slightly cleaner (but we're talking only the slightest bit - and as the comparison was sighted, I could be imagining it). Definitely more headroom with the E11K - it has the more powerful amp circuit. Strictly speaking though, I haven't used the E11K a lot with the X3ii.
 
Where it would help:
 - harder to drive headphones
 - if you want to sue the bass boost (it is a subtle boost)
 - for battery life (combining the X3ii and E11K greatly boosts the battery life).  I haven't measure it yet - but I wouldn't be surprised if you could get 16-18 hous if both were fully charged.
 
It is a nice compact pairing.  Do you need it - probably not, but no harm using it if that is your preference.  With or without - sounds good to me

Thank you dude, that's very helpful!  I guess you're right, most of the reports of a change were probably from folks not doing proper volume-matching. . .fools

I do still wonder if using the line-out into the E11k, for a cleaner not-already-amped signal, might improve things somewhat.  Or perhaps the use of a more fancy portable amp like the E12.  I may have to ask around and try to find someone on the site who has tried either or both setups.

 

[AtmaJnana]

I tried an X5ii recently but soon decided i didn't really need an extra SD slot and the cost compared to the X3ii is quite high so i went for that instead, and i love the X3ii!
 
I can't tell any difference in the sound myself and i love the smaller size, it feels compact whereas the X5ii feels a bit hollow, the smaller wheel on the X3ii is a bit smoother too, the X3ii also syncd perfectly with playlists from JRiver first time.
 
I do hope that a future firmware update will support a 256GB SD card but i won't be needing that much space for a while.

 

[beankurt]

*shoutout to Fiio* it's been sometimes since X3 been updated...

 

[goodyfresh]

  I tried an X5ii recently but soon decided i didn't really need an extra SD slot and the cost compared to the X3ii is quite high so i went for that instead, and i love the X3ii!
 
I can't tell any difference in the sound myself and i love the smaller size, it feels compact whereas the X5ii feels a bit hollow, the smaller wheel on the X3ii is a bit smoother too, the X3ii also syncd perfectly with playlists from JRiver first time.
 
I do hope that a future firmware update will support a 256GB SD card but i won't be needing that much space for a while.

Hmmmm, interesting that you say you couldn't hear any difference in sound between the two, since MANY people keep saying the X5ii noticably improves the soundstage and imaging, while slightly improving the detail as well.  Maybe it's your headphones somehow not being suited to handle the differences between the two and make them audible?  What cans were you using to listen to the two DAP's?

 

[shuto77]

I was just thinking that it would be cool if the X3ii had multiple eq/volume presets/ "profiles" you could select upon boot up. I have two pairs of iems and a demanding pair of headphones that require vastly different settings. Not sure if this feature could be added via firmware.

My Sound Blaster X7 has this feature, though I don't use it much since I use my AKGs for all my gaming/movie viewing.

*edited a typo

 

[Brooko]

I was just thinking that it would be cool if the X3ii had multiple eq/volume presets/ "profiles" you could select upon boot up. I have two pairs of iems and a demanding pair of headphones that require vastly different settings. Not sure if this feature could be added via firmware.

My Sound Blaster X7 has this feature, though I don't use it much since I use my AKGs for all my gaming/movie viewing.

*edited a typo

 
The EQs are all editable. So you can do that already.

 

[AtmaJnana]

  Hmmmm, interesting that you say you couldn't hear any difference in sound between the two, since MANY people keep saying the X5ii noticably improves the soundstage and imaging, while slightly improving the detail as well.  Maybe it's your headphones somehow not being suited to handle the differences between the two and make them audible?  What cans were you using to listen to the two DAP's?

 
Well maybe i jumped the gun a little, there was not enough difference to make me stick with the X5ii.
 
If anything the X3ii is a little warmer to my ears yet still very transparent, the X5ii seemed a little less forgiving. I use DT770s.