[Dsnuts]

 

[Levanter]

There were other issues too. A lot people were complaining about bugs. Also, I didn't like that the X3 was heating up. Even my quad core tablet does not heat up. The 10 hour battery life is on the low end for me unfortunately. In addition, I didn't like hearing that the X3 is on the warm side of things. Enough that a member had to mod it to make it sound more like the C3? 

All in all, there were too many issues being thrown day in and day out with the player that made me decide not to get it. $200 for a buggy piece of hardware? No thanks. I'd rather get a $90 buggy hardware and save me some money lol. 
A member who owns the X3 has stated this in terms of warmness vs clarity differences. I'd prefer clarity over warmness. 

Fiio X3 Dimensions:[size=small] 55 X 109 X 16 (mm) (Taken from google)

Colorfly C3 Dimensions: [/size]
[size=21.33333396911621px]80x50x10mm[/size]


Clarity: Colorfly supposedly wins this category by a small margin (if you mod the X3, if you don't mod it, then the C3 wins by a larger margin)
Size: Colorfly wins
Price: Colorfly wins
Line out: X3 wins
UI: X3 wins
Usability: Who wins this one?

The X3 isn't really buggy. Just that some people are quite unreasonable in their demands and expectations on a new unit. FiiO is quite dedicated in releasing fixes and refining the firmware, unlike Colorfly which I assure you has a pretty poor customer service and dedication in perfecting their firmwares. Granted the C3 doesn't have much of a UI for there to be many bugs.
I'm using the X3 on a daily basis now, and I'm not experiencing any annoying bugs.

However yes, X3 is warmer and has slighty less clarity due to what I feel is a stronger/deeper reach in bass compared to the C3. But then the soundstage is also slighty wider than the C3.
Songs which requires more emphasis in bass and impact, the X3 sounds nicer with better decay. The C3 though sounds more of a neutral type to me.

Oh and the X3 doesn't really heats up much, but it does get warm which is considered normal by James since there's an amp in it as well.

 

[Tehol]

Quote:

I'd just use it with an amp. I just need a good dap with a line out. And not a ipod or fuze.

This is pretty much what I was thinking as well.  I'm open to other options but I do need a decent DAP and Panda's review stated that the e12 makes a noticeable improvement to the x3 in terms of the vocals, mids and clarity so this should serve well enough.  Maybe when the x5 is released I'll trade up but for now this should do pretty nicely. 

 

[TekeRugburn]

This is pretty much what I was thinking as well.  I'm open to other options but I do need a decent DAP and Panda's review stated that the e12 makes a noticeable improvement to the x3 in terms of the vocals, mids and clarity so this should serve well enough.  Maybe when the x5 is released I'll trade up but for now this should do pretty nicely. 

Yeah it matches pretty will dimension Wise with the tralucent t1 and skipping the warmish internal amp will do wonders I believe

 

[gmahler2u]

Does anyone wants sell voskhod 75?

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

There were other issues too. A lot of people were complaining about bugs. Also, I didn't like that the X3 was heating up. Even my quad core tablet does not heat up. The 10 hour battery life is on the low end for me unfortunately. In addition, I didn't like hearing that the X3 is on the warm side of things. Enough that a member had to mod it to make it sound more like the C3? 
 
All in all, there were too many issues being thrown day in and day out with the player that made me decide not to get it. $200 for a buggy piece of hardware? No thanks. I'd rather get a $90 buggy hardware and save me some money lol. 
A member who owns the X3 has stated this in terms of warmness vs clarity differences. I'd prefer clarity over warmness. 

 
To be fair, I was thinking of mod'ing the C3 as well, but it just doesn't have enough space inside for me to do anything about it. I don't mod things just because I don't like them. I mod them because I believe I can improve them (*it is a common trait for most DIY'er, constantly looking for way to mess around).
 
But that aside, don't take the issue to one side. Yes, C3 offers better clarity and upper end detail. But in contrast, X3 offers better bass hit, speed and lower-end texture / detail too. What I have said is that if you prefer clarity over other aspects of the sound, you will probably prefer C3. But sound is more than just clarity, and of course we all have to decide what is more important to us personally.
 
As for bugs - I don't think C3 has less bugs in its days. It certainly has its own share of problem but it is also a lot longer in the market for ColorFly to iron out most of the problem and it is a much simplier device to begin with. In comparison, FiiO has been much more active in firmware development than any other Chinese DAP maker that I know of. Where else does you see a manufacturer releasing bugfix in monthly (and sometime weekly) basis?

 

[serious7]

Quote:

 
I cancelled my order as well. All you need to do is submit a ticket with their customer support. They will confirm that you in fact want to cancel your order and then they will refund you your money. There is a 5 day hold via PayPal, but that wasn't an issue for me. 

Does the return automatically go to your paypal account or will the funds be returned to my credit card (I did a credit card purchase through paypal). I'm not sure how the refund process will work in that situation. 

 

[serious7]

Quote:

 
To be fair, I was thinking of mod'ing the C3 as well, but it just doesn't have enough space inside for me to do anything about it. I don't mod things just because I don't like them. I mod them because I believe I can improve them (*it is a common trait for most DIY'er, constantly looking for way to mess around).
 
But that aside, don't take the issue to one side. Yes, C3 offers better clarity and upper end detail. But in contrast, X3 offers better bass hit, speed and lower-end texture / detail too. What I have said is that if you prefer clarity over other aspects of the sound, you will probably prefer C3. But sound is more than just clarity, and of course we all have to decide what is more important to us personally.
 
As for bugs - I don't think C3 has less bugs in its days. It certainly has its own share of problem but it is also a lot longer in the market for ColorFly to iron out most of the problem and it is a much simplier device to begin with. In comparison, FiiO has been much more active in firmware development than any other Chinese DAP maker that I know of. Where else does you see a manufacturer releasing bugfix in monthly (and sometime weekly) basis?

Thanks for chiming in. Yea you're right about that. But what about the C3+BH combo compared to X3+BH/X3?

 

[Greed]

Does the return automatically go to your paypal account or will the funds be returned to my credit card (I did a credit card purchase through paypal). I'm not sure how the refund process will work in that situation. 

I believe the money will go directly into your Paypal account. It is possible that it will be refunded to your credit card, but I doubt it. In the past, refunds have always just gone into the Paypal balance of my account, even though I paid with a CC through Paypal.

 

[ClieOS]

Though they pair fairly well together, BH doesn't add the much needed power to C3. Personally I am more incline to use C3 with an actually powerful amp. With BH, C3 is 'okay', and still lack the kind of power a demanding headphone will need. So as far as power and tightness goes, X3 is still well ahead of C3+BH. That being said, I don't think BH is a particularly good pairing with X3 either. IMO, If the source is good enough, a good all-around amp is a must. I do think BH is good sound, but no necessary a good all-arounder since it doesn't offer a lot of power or control.
 
On side note, X3's line-out is a little better sounding than C3's maxed headphone-out when used for amping. Not by a lot but X3 is cleaner and more dynamic.

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

Thanks for chiming in. Yea you're right about that. But what about the C3+BH combo compared to X3+BH/X3?

 
Related info from ClieOS:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/651769/fiio-x3-thread-full-review-http-www-head-fi-org-t-663600-impression-fiio-x3-high-fi-low-price/2955#post_9628740
 
Edit: Yeah, like ClieOS said above lol.

 

[serious7]

Quote:

Though they pair fairly well together, BH doesn't add the much needed power to C3. Personally I am more incline to use C3 with an actually powerful amp. With BH, C3 is 'okay', and still lack the kind of power a demanding headphone will need. So as far as power and tightness goes, X3 is still well ahead of C3+BH. That being said, I don't think BH is a particularly good pairing with X3 either. IMO, If the source is good enough, a good all-around amp is a must. I do think BH is good sound, but no necessary a good all-arounder since it doesn't offer a lot of power or control.
 
On side note, X3's line-out is a little better sounding than C3's maxed headphone-out when used for amping. Not by a lot but X3 is cleaner and more dynamic.

 
Interesting. A lot of people think the BH is killer with the C3. You're the first person to think otherwise lol...
 
Since the BH has a lineout, I was planning to use the BH with the X3's line out.  I only plan on using X3 with iems. 
 
I decided to keep the X3 order in place cause I don't want to be dinged by paypal fees. 
 
Back on the waiting trail now... 
Quote:

 
Related info from ClieOS:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/651769/fiio-x3-thread-full-review-http-www-head-fi-org-t-663600-impression-fiio-x3-high-fi-low-price/2955#post_9628740
 
Edit: Yeah, like ClieOS said above lol.

Lol.

 

[undersys]

Quote:

Im with you, I think im going to skip the Fiio x3 and get the c3 with a jds lab c5 amp. Im also tired of hearing that they will be out soon and yet no one has them except from ebay.

 
I don't agree about that mate.

I walked down to my local distributor for x3 many weeks back and walked out with two boxes of x3 in my hands...

Just  because USA is not first for once don't mean its only on "ebay"
 
I also will vouch for the UI. I don't find it unusable. My uses are quite limited though so take that with a  grain of salt. 
James seems very helpful and F/W keeps coming out. Unlike many other vendors...

Each to there own 

 

[serious7]

GUys, MP4 Natinon is going to have stock in the next few days. Get ready! I just asked the reps and they said in a few days!

 

[cel4145]

FiiO is quite dedicated in releasing fixes and refining the firmware . . .

I'm not saying that they won't continue to do so, but there is no track record of that since this is FiiO's first device that needs firmware updates, and the X3 has yet to be fully released in all its markets. Companies often don't follow through with needed additional firmware fixes for electronic devices after they are on the market; they go on to focusing on their next product. Then again, if the X3 is successful, FiiO could decide to do a major revision of the firmware to improve the product even further. There's just no way for us to to know until it happens.