[Zuvio]

  I'm extremely impressed how well X3II holds separation and refinement while several instruments play at once. To my ears this technical ability at least with Fidue A83 as the test specimen holds up stronger than my Pono Player and DX90 which lose the drums and guitar notes in a semi-smear.
 
 

 
I second that! I found this to be the case when i first got the X3 2nd gen. Where my other DACs were falling apart on treble transients with splash, the X3 2nd gen kept everything under coherent tight control. Very impressive, well done FiiO. This company is doing things the right way. My best wishes to FiiO for their aspirations in aiming to serve us the best of their ability at good price.

 

[H20Fidelity]

   
I second that! I found this to be the case when i first got the X3 2nd gen. Where my other DACs were falling apart on treble transients with splash, the X3 2nd gen kept everything under coherent tight control. Very impressive, well done FiiO. This company is doing things the right way. My best wishes to FiiO for their aspirations in aiming to serve us the best of their ability at good price.

 
Yeah, that's it, coherency, the treble etc.
 
If X3II had the resolution and detail of DX90 along with X3II's tight technical aspects we've already spoken about I'd pretty much be done for DAPs. Though its also why we never seem to leave completely satisfied, one product does what another can't and visa versa. There's always a missing aspect which makes something in audio incomplete it seems.

 

[aratnon]

I really love the sound of x3ii, but the browsing songs is so painful for me. At least I need the songs display with the song name instead of file name and some kind of method that allows me to scroll through the list faster. If they won't update these features, I will sell it and come back to my phone for sure.

 

[Coldheart29]

Sooo, the x3ii has finally arrived.
Damn, this little thing sounds good! Now i can definitely say that my nexus 5 lacked some bass, and i can finally say goodbye to that ugly distortion it has in the high frequencies.
For example, if i were to listen to Epica's "the quantum enigma" with the nexus 5, i'd had to fiddle with the equalizer, otherwise i'd get a quite fatiguing sound, due to some annoying distortion in the upper half of the spectrum. Now, with the x3, i simply have to hit play, and all i get is a clean, smooth and detailed sound. 
 
I've been listening to it for just about half an hour, and i can already tell that it's totally worth the money. SQ is leagues ahead of any smartphone or player i've tried till now and build quality is top notch.
 
 
Just a question: Usually, with average sensibility IEMs, at what volume do you guys set the player? I have mine set between 70-80 on low gain to reach my usal listening levels, That seems a bit high o.O

 

[EagleWings]

 
Just a question: Usually, with average sensibility IEMs, at what volume do you guys set the player? I have mine set between 70-80 on low gain to reach my usal listening levels, That seems a bit high o.O

 
How sensitive are we talking here? I have a Sennheiser IE80 that has 16 Ohm impedance and 125 dB sensitivity. With the EQ Off, I set it around 44-48 and with the EQ On, I set it around 55-60. (Both on Low Gain). But yes, there are tracks where I crank the volume up to 70(with EQ) or 60(without EQ) and sometimes even set the gain to High. 

 

[Coldheart29]

I'm using se215, 20ohms and 107db/mW, so quite a bit less sesnible than the ie80.

 

[EagleWings]

I'm using se215, 20ohms and 107db/mW, so quite a bit less sesnible than the ie80.

 
I sold my SE215 before I got my X3ii, but yes on other devices like my Sansa Clip Zip, SE215 needed few more steps of volume increase than IE80's volume.

 

[goodyfresh]

   
I sold my SE215 before I got my X3ii, but yes on other devices like my Sansa Clip Zip, SE215 needed few more steps of volume increase than IE80's volume.

The SE215 are not especially sensitive for IEM's, but still a good bit more sensitive than most of the full-sized headphones I've tried.

They do pair pretty well with the X3ii, although my Puro Sound Labs IEM500 and my Trinity Deltas both sound much better

 

[Zuvio]

   
Yeah, that's it, coherency, the treble etc.
 
If X3II had the resolution and detail of DX90 along with X3II's tight technical aspects we've already spoken about I'd pretty much be done for DAPs. Though its also why we never seem to leave completely satisfied, one product does what another can't and visa versa. There's always a missing aspect which makes something in audio incomplete it seems.

 
 
You hit the nail on the head again!! Nice wording. You seem gifted at explanations. My same thoughts exactly. One DAC or DAP is so good at certain things, then the other DAC or DAP has strong aspects which the other ones lack, points that can't be denied. The best of both worlds in one DAC or DAP would be much appreciated, because the X3 2nd gen does have weak points. Maybe the new DX80 might be the one, that will be released within 3 more days said the guy from iBasso. 
 
The X5 2nd gen is known to perform better all round than the X3 2nd gen.

 

[looge]

Comparing to the iPod I find the X3ii do offer better SQ but the UI needs to be improved at least in one area i.e. in Now Playing > All Songs should show the actual song title and not the file name.

 

[bruce1967]

  Comparing to the iPod I find the X3ii do offer better SQ but the UI needs to be improved at least in one area i.e. in Now Playing > All Songs should show the actual song title and not the file name.

I thought they fixed that in a fw upgrade. are you on the latest fw? Under settings there should be a setting to change from file name to title for the display.

 

[looge]

 
I thought they fixed that in a fw upgrade. are you on the latest fw? Under settings there should be a setting to change from file name to title for the display.

Right..I'm still at fw 1.1. Will upgrade to fw 1.3 but have to do it later cos I've ran out of blank micro sd cards
Thanks Bruce

 

[bruce1967]

  Right..I'm still at fw 1.1. Will upgrade to fw 1.3 but have to do it later cos I've ran out of blank micro sd cards
Thanks Bruce

You're welcome.

 

[betula]

  Right..I'm still at fw 1.1. Will upgrade to fw 1.3 but have to do it later cos I've ran out of blank micro sd cards
Thanks Bruce

I recently upgraded from 1.1 to 1.3 with my almost full 64GB card. All went smoothly. 
And first time ever in my fw upgrade history (I owned X3 1st gen from the beginning) the favourites have not been deleted.

*Unfortunately I have to edit this post. After a few days being happy for first time keeping my favourites list with a an X3 fw upgrade, X3ii just froze, and after restart the favourites list was gone.  

 

[JWolf]

   
Hi, you may try to play DSD ISO by the foobar2000 when using the X3II as a DAC. Here is the related instruction: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lvno7v2s8x8sv15/X3%202nd%20gen--DAC%20User%20guide.pdf?dl=0. Hope that helps. 

 
Thank you. That did the trick. I was almost there. It's just that I was using the wrong option in the ASIO driver.