[Achmedisdead]

 
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Couple this with some serious storage solution, and size not notably larger than other hard drive based MP3 players, and I think you just described my next DAP purchase!

Agreed...please include substantially more than the HM602's pathetic 2GB onboard storage. A good - say, eight hours - battery life and gapless are both great features to have, if not necessities. EddieE pretty much listed all of what we're looking for.

8 hours is good?

 

[dfkt]

That would be rather pathetic, indeed - but since FiiO is going to use some reasonable parts (unlike some of their dumpster-diving competitors), I hope the battery life would be good by today's realistic standards.

 

[12345142]

Hey, if you set standards low, it's easier to be impressed. In retrospect, eight hours is pretty bad, I guess. Unlike myself, who only needs enough juice to get through Sandinista!, other people probably use their PMPs for longer stretches of time. Actually, I might consider myself the anomaly here. Usually these audiophile players don't have much in the way of battery life, though - the HM602 lasts for eight hours, I think.

 

[a_tumiwa]

Love the Line-out feature!
 
is it possible if the Internal Storage is Hardisk but still support expansion memory card?

 

[JoetheArachnid]

8 hours really isn't all that bad. Hell, my iPod Classic barely gets that. Mind you, the Classic has 80GB of storage, so the X3 would have to have at least 10GB (w/potential for expansion via microSD) for it to be viable.
 
Also don't forget the other formats: Ogg, ALAC, APE and all the rest would be welcome additions to the regular WAV/mp3/FLAC/AAC lineup.
Also also please make it possible to release firmware updates that can be installed manually via the USB connection. That would be most excellent.

 

[Riku540]

ALAC and WMA Lossless would be nice but they would have to acquire licenses to use those wouldn't they? As long as it supports FLAC, I'm happy. dBpoweramp makes life easy this way.

 

[EddieE]

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8 hours really isn't all that bad. Hell, my iPod Classic barely gets that. Mind you, the Classic has 80GB of storage, so the X3 would have to have at least 10GB (w/potential for expansion via microSD) for it to be viable.
 

 
8 hours is bad. It's bad on your iPod classic and its bad on the hifiman.
 
My Cowon S9 manages around 40-50 hours, my old Cowon D2 even longer and even my Clip+ with its  manages around 12 hours or so which is still not what I would call good but you expect from a tiny player like this - how big can the battery be?.
 
If you look at the FiiO E7 - that has a really superb battery life. Officially 80 I think and I've never had it out of its dock for anywhere near that long but it is definitely as good as the S9 if not better.
 
I have a feeling this may actually be the same amp/dac circuit of the E7 converted into a DAP. If that suspicion is merited, then it wouldn't last as long due to screen, memory use etc but we can still hope for a very respectable battery life to it.

 

[xXFallenAngelXx]

I think memory is necessary at the very least cuz FLACs can take up a lot of room compared to just mp3 rips..I like the idea of an sd card slot ..

 

[Zida]

Well if you ask me 8 hours of battery life is the minimum of functional for most people (any less and you can't necessarily take it out of the house for a full day). If they're going to niche themselves into a specific type of market it'd work, but the more they get the wider the appeal of the player will stretch.

 

[EddieE]

You know the full Beatles catalogue including past masters is not even 4gb? EDIT: And I mean in FLAC.
 
Big capacity is good, I'm not saying otherwise, but in reality we are getting a bit spoilt?
 
I remember fitting as many tapes in my pocket as I could, or CDs or minidiscs. No way I'd ever managed to get as much music as I can on a "tiny little" 4gb player these days. 

 

[Train]

This player sounds really exciting. As it stands, I'm not 100% impressed with the current options I have for upgrading; each player being considered is good and would fit most of my needs, but there is always some serious issue or two I have with each.
 
As for the upcoming FiiO X3, I can honestly say that I wouldn't bother considering it if it lacked gapless playback. I'd also be pretty disappointed if the battery lasted less than 10 hours with lossless playback, as there are those busy days when even my iPod gets fully drained. Anyway, here's a short list of what I'd like in a player:
 
- Gapless playback = must-have. Most of what I listen to are live performances or continuous mixes.
- Good battery life (10 hours using lossless should be the minimum, I think) and/or easily swappable battery. For me, 15-20 hours would be good for a music-only device, anything more is awesome.
- Clean, quality line-out (preferably 3.5mm, but avoid use of a specialized dock).
- Sensible and responsive UI. A poor UI could make me look elsewhere.
- Drag/drop for file syncing. Mandatory software for syncing is annoying and restrictive.
- File/folder browsing, so I can organize my music my way without worrying too much about tagging.
- Lots of storage space. I take as much of my music collection with me as possible, so I prefer as much built-in storage as possible. Expandable storage using SD cards would also be a HUGE plus, but I still want lots built-in.
- FLAC support.
- No gloss. Not really a feature, but Jesus do I hate glossy plastics.

 

[prone2phone]

maybe fiio could release x4 dap at the same time with better parts. for example people who modify teclast t51 say that ad8620 opamp is much better than opa2604, but it is relatively expensive.

 

[Ishcabible]

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- No gloss. Not really a feature, but Jesus do I hate glossy plastics.

x2 on this. If it's going to have plastic, rubberized plastic would be awesome. Brushed aluminum would be pretty cool though.

 

[EddieE]

From the sounds of it the line out will be from the FiiO LOD socket used on the E7, so it can dock with the E9.
 
FiiO will doubtless release a LOD cable as an optional extra (they make them for other players already)... and perhaps here I can make a suggestion if it's not too late....
 
A low profile line out plug, with the cable coming from the side to a 90 degree mini plug is a VASTLY more functional, less intrusive solution to the straight mini plug coming from the end of a long line out plug.
 
Like this, for example:
 

 
Rather than this:
 

 
This is the result of a google image search so don't know who to credit for the photo/LOD

 

[Riku540]

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- No gloss. Not really a feature, but Jesus do I hate glossy plastics.

x2 on this. If it's going to have plastic, rubberized plastic would be awesome. Brushed aluminum would be pretty cool though.

 
I'm thinking it'll be just like the E7's casing. Durable but still sleek looking.