[Dobrescu George]

  You must be listening at a really high volume level (bad for your hearing) if you can max out the X3ii w/ 400i, I can't listen at more 95/120 which is about 87-93dB

 
You know things are rough when you are a loud listener and someone quotes a higher listening volume than you 

 (my situation sometimes)

Just curious, X3ii able to drive 250Ohm headphone?
I tried it with HE-400i, darn hard to drive haha, I max out the volume on my X3ii with high gain, though what I heard from the headphone is not with Low volume but can feel that it's struggling, not dynamic.

 
I would hold you a second there - not having enough power to drive aka not being driven well is a different thing than not enough volume. You're sure you didn't have EQ engaged at the moment?

 

[triplew]

You know things are rough when you are a loud listener and someone quotes a higher listening volume than you   (my situation sometimes)

I would hold you a second there - not having enough power to drive aka not being driven well is a different thing than not enough volume. You're sure you didn't have EQ engaged at the moment?

Nope. No EQ. Good you got the points clearer, I think the process was this, I felt that it's not driven well so I tried with higher and higher volume thinking that may be more power would have shown better sound, however end up I still felt that it's "struggling" (not in term of volume). It could be due to I had wrong expectation. It was a brief testing at a shop so I'm not able to repeat again.
Anyway I'm still happily using my X3ii daily with my IEMs.
Just that recently I'm considering Earbud VE Zen2.0 which is with high impedance, then saw your comment, so trying to understand better the capability of X3ii (understood sensitivity also plays an important factor)

 

[Dobrescu George]

Nope. No EQ. Good you got the points clearer, I think the process was this, I felt that it's not driven well so I tried with higher and higher volume thinking that may be more power would have shown better sound, however end up I still felt that it's "struggling" (not in term of volume). It could be due to I had wrong expectation. It was a brief testing at a shop so I'm not able to repeat again.
Anyway I'm still happily using my X3ii daily with my IEMs.
Just that recently I'm considering Earbud VE Zen2.0 which is with high impedance, then saw your comment, so trying to understand better the capability of X3ii (understood sensitivity also plays an important factor)

 
I think that X3ii should be able to drive VE ZEN 2.0 well. 
 
All hifiman are hard to drive headphones - in my experience I could enjoy HD800 with FiiO x5ii - but hifiman needed something like fiio k5 or E12 to be driven to full power. 

 

[DavidA]

   
I think that X3ii should be able to drive VE ZEN 2.0 well. 
 
All hifiman are hard to drive headphones - in my experience I could enjoy HD800 with FiiO x5ii - but hifiman needed something like fiio k5 or E12 to be driven to full power. 

the only hifiman headphone that I would put in the hard to drive list is the HE-560, all the others were much easier to drive IMO.  The best the HD-560 sounded is paired with a Hugo or Liquid Glass.  The X3ii is a decent DAP and while not the most powerful its not a bad DAP to me, just not the optimum with some headphones.,

 

[Dobrescu George]

  the only hifiman headphone that I would put in the hard to drive list is the HE-560, all the others were much easier to drive IMO.  The best the HD-560 sounded is paired with a Hugo or Liquid Glass.  The X3ii is a decent DAP and while not the most powerful its not a bad DAP to me, just not the optimum with some headphones.,

 
Oh.... Chance is that HE560 is the only one I tried 

 
 
The shop told me that the others were somewhat similarly hard to drive so I didn't investigate. 
 
I personally felt that He 560 lacked some bass and some treble for me tastes alas they were quite good headphones. 

 

[Mustainized]

Just curious, X3ii able to drive 250Ohm headphone?
I tried it with HE-400i, darn hard to drive haha, I max out the volume on my X3ii with high gain, though what I heard from the headphone is not with Low volume but can feel that it's struggling, not dynamic.

HE-400i is something like 35 ohm/93 dB, which is easier to drive compared to my K612 (120 ohm/~92 dB) but if you find HE-400i quiet with X3ii it's interesting because I rarely listen full volume even with my K612 and I prefer listening to music really loud as well. But if you're talking about the dynamics of the sound, HE-400i is an inefficient planar, it may not sound as its best. For example; with my X3ii, my K612 is sounding pretty good, quite dynamic and gets literally loud but not the best dynamics in the world

 

[Lavakugel]

Is it possible to set my fiio a litter warmer through EQ settings?

 

[Mustainized]

  Is it possible to set my fiio a litter warmer through EQ settings?

I think you can feel slighty warmer sound if you boost low frequencies. Or you can lower the upper mid range. But the terms like warm or cold are characteristic things, it's not directly connected to EQ. But a headphone amp can make our source warmer at all, Fiio amps are neutral though. (if I'm not mistaken)

 

[DavidA]

   
Oh.... Chance is that HE560 is the only one I tried 

 
 
The shop told me that the others were somewhat similarly hard to drive so I didn't investigate. 
 
I personally felt that He 560 lacked some bass and some treble for me tastes alas they were quite good headphones. 

The first clue to the HE-560 being under driven is the lack of bass.  Someone explained that it needs more current(?) to sound good, which is why I think they sound a touch better on my Lyr2 over my Ember, the Lyr2 has a bit more current.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  The first clue to the HE-560 being under driven is the lack of bass.  Someone explained that it needs more current(?) to sound good, which is why I think they sound a touch better on my Lyr2 over my Ember, the Lyr2 has a bit more current.

 
 
Good to know! 
 
Thank you for telling me! 
 
I'll test again if I have the chance!
 
 

  Is it possible to set my fiio a litter warmer through EQ settings?

 
That's quite simple! 
 
Increase the first 3 sliders with 4, 2 and 2 DB and decrease the last 2 sliders with 2 and 2. 
 
Let us know if it worked for you! 

 

[triplew]

HE-400i is something like 35 ohm/93 dB, which is easier to drive compared to my K612 (120 ohm/~92 dB) but if you find HE-400i quiet with X3ii it's interesting because I rarely listen full volume even with my K612 and I prefer listening to music really loud as well. But if you're talking about the dynamics of the sound, HE-400i is an inefficient planar, it may not sound as its best. For example; with my X3ii, my K612 is sounding pretty good, quite dynamic and gets literally loud but not the best dynamics in the world

I think it's more about dynamics of the sound, yup you are right, thanks for reminded me it's inefficient planar unlike PM3 or HE400S

 

[Mustainized]

I think it's more about dynamics of the sound, yup you are right, thanks for reminded me it's inefficient planar unlike PM3 or HE400S

Have fun!

 I'm gonna buy a Fiio K5 soon, I will share my experiences about the effects of K5 on my AKG K612. Honestly, I'm wondering the ''true potential'' of this headphone too badly. I'm really digging it even with my X3ii only

 

[Dobrescu George]

There's a massdrop on X3ii! 
 
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/fiio-x3-2nd-generation-player?referer=QKT34K

 

[Lavakugel]

   
 
Good to know! 
 
Thank you for telling me! 
 
I'll test again if I have the chance!
 
 
That's quite simple! 
 
Increase the first 3 sliders with 4, 2 and 2 DB and decrease the last 2 sliders with 2 and 2. 
 
Let us know if it worked for you! 

+4, +2, +2 and last to -2, -2.....sounds better instantly. Thanks.

 

[Lavakugel]

Is the new Fiio A5 a good pairing with X3 II? How's sound improving?