[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

 
I don't get it. How do you change the battery then?

You don't unless you know what you're doing. The last portable player I had where I can swap the battery was a 30gb-HDD Creative Zen. Zen MX, iPod Video, Cowon S9, iPT4, that I had later all needed to be opened by a tech. But hey, if Apple can charge and arm and a leg and probably not have a tech in the store to replace the battery on site, all you have to do is send it back to Cowon. The ZenMX is still with me now and the battery's still got 4hours on Grados, 8hrs++ on an efficient IEM, 320kbps MP3.
 
BTW, these batteries nowadays need years of use with lots of charging cycles before getting anywhere near to unuseable. Plus if you have other players, you're less likely to pile up those cycles on one device.
 

 

[JamesMcProgger]

lol all the hipe one and two months ago
any news?
 

 

[ClieOS]

The only news is 'no news'. Until the controller supplier can finish up their current contract with the bigger customer, FiiO will have to wait for its turn. August is still the best estimation.

 

[scannon18]

Quote:

The only news is 'no news'. Until the controller supplier can finish up their current contract with the bigger customer, FiiO will have to wait for its turn. August is still the best estimation.

Well, might as well start speculating again:
 
Gee, I hope the X3 can do better service to my Atrio M5s than my iPod touch.   The iPod is not quite powerful enough to really run these things.  The better DAC should be nice too, I can always tell the difference in DAC when running the M5 through my E7.

 

[doof-ed]

Aaaaand its gonna be christmas by the time it comes out. "estimation"
sigh
i can only hope it comes out in august
 
Quote:

The only news is 'no news'. Until the controller supplier can finish up their current contract with the bigger customer, FiiO will have to wait for its turn. August is still the best estimation.

 
 

 

[styx100]

[size=medium]Well it’s interesting to see what happens, when the moths finally fly out of my wallet in August, as I want to purchase a nice PMP.[/size]
[size=medium]Like many I have been watching the market and have short listed my intended victims, I want the audio quality of my Fiio E7 amp, and this is what’s holding me off of buying.[/size]
[size=medium]They seem to be weighing in at similar prices, some with nice to have features that I don’t really want i.e. video pictures etc.[/size]
[size=medium]Choice:[/size]
[size=medium]Fiio x3[/size]
[size=medium]Good customer relations[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Products[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Audio[/size]
[size=medium]August. Price range: $150-$170[/size]
 
[size=medium]SFLo2[/size]
[size=medium]Poor interface, GUI[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Audio[/size]
[size=medium]$129.50[/size]
[size=medium]MP3 Nation[/size]
[size=medium]Stock arrival is expected towards the end of July[/size]
 
[size=medium]Cowon J3[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Audio[/size]
[size=medium]GUI[/size]
[size=medium]£159.00[/size]
[size=medium]Available now[/size]
[size=medium]My question is, what’s making you wait for this little device over the competition?[/size]
 
[size=medium]Styx100[/size]

 

[EddieE]

The X3 has digital out making it a good candidate to create a second digital audio rig without buying a second computer or lugging a laptop to and from locations. If you have a DAC or an amp with a DAC that accepts coaxial in - the X3 will be quite a convenient light weight solution as a source. If you have an E9 the X3 will dock with it creating a tiny, single plug rig with even more convenience factor.
 
The X3 would be an Ideal component in a work place rig, travel rig, a small rig at your partners house, bedside rig etc.
 
Those are the big hitting selling points for me, even though it is ostensibly a portable device, its functionality as a source is what's attracting me. Nothing is going to top the Clip + as a portable device IMO.
 

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Aaaaand its gonna be christmas by the time it comes out. "estimation"
sigh
i can only hope it comes out in august
 

Well, FiiO isn't just waiting around for the supplier. They are moving forward with other projects on other amp and DAC so we should see some release between now and then.

 

[Germs]

So that means all the design and functionalities are now finished?
Any idea about the support of SDXC cards? (There is an assumption in the first post, but nothing official)

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

So that means all the design and functionalities are now finished?
Any idea about the support of SDXC cards? (There is an assumption in the first post, but nothing official)

Design and features were finalized month ago. Since SDXC support need to be supported on firmware level, so FiiO still need to wait for the chip supplier (which also provides firmware) for the final answer.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by styx100 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
[size=medium]My question is, what’s making you wait for this little device over the competition?[/size]

Digital output. With the Ibasso PBx and DBx , I can finally have a powerful battery-powered bedside rig that in I might like better than my long-in-the-tooth Marantz TDA-1541 CDPlayer. Advantages of course are:
 
1) The whole rig is about the price of an Arcam CDPlayer, which can't drive cans on its own (unlike the Marantz)
2) I can pack them in a bag with my camera and use them anywhere I'm gonna stay long enough to make it worth setting them up. Or in a train/plane, but personally I have my Cowon S9 for that.
3) I can use them during a power black out
 
Of course, there are other things to consider. I can skip the DBx and just use the X3, or get the S:Flo now and worry about reliability or battery replacement much much later. Other devices have digital out too, but they're more expensive.
 

 

[databass]

Styx,
 
The dealbreaker for me for both the S:Flo2 and the Cowon J3 is their inability to play 24/96 and 24/192 Flac. Most of my audio collection is ripped vinyl on 24/96 and increasingly on 24/192. Right now I listen to my collection on my Rockboxed-Fuze--and it still sounds pretty good considering the downsampling.
 
I'm really psyched for the x3. For me, the most important feature after hi-bit Flac playback would be compatability with SD-XC, since each album at 24/192 is about 1.2 GB!
 

 
Quote:

[size=medium]Well it’s interesting to see what happens, when the moths finally fly out of my wallet in August, as I want to purchase a nice PMP.[/size]
[size=medium]Like many I have been watching the market and have short listed my intended victims, I want the audio quality of my Fiio E7 amp, and this is what’s holding me off of buying.[/size]
[size=medium]They seem to be weighing in at similar prices, some with nice to have features that I don’t really want i.e. video pictures etc.[/size]
[size=medium]Choice:[/size]
[size=medium]Fiio x3[/size]
[size=medium]Good customer relations[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Products[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Audio[/size]
[size=medium]August. Price range: $150-$170[/size]
 
[size=medium]SFLo2[/size]
[size=medium]Poor interface, GUI[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Audio[/size]
[size=medium]$129.50[/size]
[size=medium]MP3 Nation[/size]
[size=medium]Stock arrival is expected towards the end of July[/size]
 
[size=medium]Cowon J3[/size]
[size=medium]Quality Audio[/size]
[size=medium]GUI[/size]
[size=medium]£159.00[/size]
[size=medium]Available now[/size]
[size=medium]My question is, what’s making you wait for this little device over the competition?[/size]
 
[size=medium]Styx100[/size]

 

 

[EddieE]

Does a recording exist that actually requires greater dynamic range than 16bit offers? I'm not so sure...
 
I know it's an extra process to go through but it would leave you with a much more practical collection (and audibly identical) to downsample it all to 16bit.

 

[jackmccabe]

 
Quote:

Does a recording exist that actually requires greater dynamic range than 16bit offers? I'm not so sure...
 
I know it's an extra process to go through but it would leave you with a much more practical collection (and audibly identical) to downsample it all to 16bit.

Very true, the theoretical dynamic range of 16 bit is 96db which is above what almost all music requires.
The dynamic range of human hearing is approximately 120db-140db, so if you were listening to ridiculously dynamic music at dangerously loud volumes it could be useful.

 

[databass]

I like the way my vinyl remasters sound at 24/96 and 24/192 over regular CD-quality rips. Especially the newer releases which are coming out on 45 RPM.
 
It does a better job at preserving the textures, warmth and subtleties of my music. I know this is an unscientific, purely subjective opinion, but I believe there are quite a few other folks here who feel the same as I do.
 
And hats-off to Fiio for putting this hi-bandwidth functionality into their player. Can't wait until August.
 
 
Quote:

 


Very true, the theoretical dynamic range of 16 bit is 96db which is above what almost all music requires.
The dynamic range of human hearing is approximately 120db-140db, so if you were listening to ridiculously dynamic music at dangerously loud volumes it could be useful.