[darkarn]

Ah, glad to see this getting cleared up...
 
Anyway, I have tested the X3 before in a silent room (i.e. the shop when there is almost no other customers and located in a quiet corner of a shopping centre) with a Beyerdynamics Custom ONE Pro and a 16GB card full of FLACs, 320K MP3s and a WAV file. There seems to be not much of the distortions at all; I even think they sound better than from my Clip Zip (but then again, that's due to the DAC and amp being able to drive my COP better lol)

 

[M-13]

This is a statement written by James, translated by me, and represents both our thoughts on the matter.

---

Thanks for the update James and the team at Fiio. You guys are awesome at keeping consumers informed and happy. I love how the X3 is backed by such a cool support team.
 
The X3 fine the way it is for me but I also eagerly await new FW realeases in the months to come.
 
I honeslty don't care too much about mp3 playback. The whole ponit of me buying the X3 was to listen to lossless, and yes the few mp3 files I have on it sounds just fine to my ears. I went through listenig to them yesterday, comparing them to the FLAC versions of the same song, and for the mp3 they sound fine for me but yeah FLAC for me 99% of the time.

 

[justblue]

This is a great message encouraging to purchase the X3 as a truly supported and futureproof DAP

 

[DarrenTheGeek]

I bought the SACD "Dark Side of the Moon" and only upon receipt discovered that the multichannel sounded superb but that the stereo track (which I wanted to rip) was alas a fold-down of the multitrack and quite compressed. The premise is to buy the disc and rip the 96kHz/24bit tracks for the X3 but it doesnt always work so practically.  Sigh.

 

[good sound]

  I bought the SACD "Dark Side of the Moon" and only upon receipt discovered that the multichannel sounded superb but that the stereo track (which I wanted to rip) was alas a fold-down of the multitrack and quite compressed. The premise is to buy the disc and rip the 96kHz/24bit tracks for the X3 but it doesnt always work so practically.  Sigh.

I don't quite understand this post. The disc you are referring to is an SACD. It does not contain 24/96 material,it contains DSD encoding which obviously is not the same thing at all. However DSD is still hi-rez and the DSD layer of SACD's can be ripped, but it's not easy and it requires very specific equipment and software. Even if you can manage to rip the DSD stereo layer of the SACD you will have to convert it to either FLAC or WAV or some other format to play it on your X3 as the X3 does not do native DSD,yet. The standard redbook or CD layer that that disc contains is actually quite good and ripped via Exact Audio Copy or DB Poweramp, in accurate rip mode, in either FLAC or WAV will still produce a very good sounding copy. This is what I have done as i do not have the facilities to rip the DSD layer of my SACD's. I do also have several downloaded DSD files converted to FLAC, WAV, and AIFF that sound excellent on my X3.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

I thought u need one of those early PS3 to export the iso image first and then do the flac encoding to 24/96 from that...

 

[good sound]

I thought u need one of those early PS3 to export the iso image first and then do the flac encoding to 24/96 from that...

That's correct. The older PS3 with firmware 3.55 or lower was the specific equipment i was referring to. I have the required PS3 but I upgraded the firmware to above 3.55 prior to learning about the ability to rip SACD's ISO files with it. Returning the PS3 to a firmware version of 3.55 or lower is possible but it requires fairly major surgery. I am not fully confident in the abilities of those local to me who offer to do the procedure for approx. $100. Also it permanently renders your PS3 to that firmware and all of the restrictions that entails. Many of the more modern games and Blu-ray movies require a firmware beyond 3.55 for playback or use. There are those who offer, for free, to rip your SACD collection for you onto an outboard hard-drive, which you supply, but the thought of shipping off my entire collection of SACD's to some stranger, never mind the cost this would entail, scares me even more than the prospect of having my PS3 modified. The third and best option would be to find an existing PS3 that is all ready to go for purchase. These machines do come up for sale reasonably frequently, but they can be pricey and the risk factor, considering the YLOD phenomena associated with the original PS3's, is still quite high. Taking all of this into consideration I think it could be sometime, if ever, before I manage to get my SACD collection ripped. That's a shame as the DSD files I have downloaded and converted to 24/192 sound phenomenal on the X3.

 

[DarrenTheGeek]

Forgive my comment which were prematurely posted.  My intent was to rip the CD layer of the SACD I had purchased but discovered that it was quite inferior to prior CD releases - specifically from Harvest and Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs which I own.  Indeed the DSD content on the SACD is entirely another matter and because one apparently needs a specific version of Sony's PS3 to rip it I've changed course to pursue DVD-A's- which do have high resolution PCM tracks.  In this vein the  Dark Side of the Moon's "Immersion" box set would have been a better choice to rip though its vastly more money.  Yes, I have ripped a small set of my CDs to ALAC with excellent results.  Still, I am compelled to pursue higher resolution files especially when the CD version is not as good.

 

[good sound]

  Forgive my comment which were prematurely posted.  My intent was to rip the CD layer of the SACD I had purchased but discovered that it was quite inferior to prior CD releases - specifically from Harvest and Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs which I own.  Indeed the DSD content on the SACD is entirely another matter and because one apparently needs a specific version of Sony's PS3 to rip it I've changed course to pursue DVD-A's- which do have high resolution PCM tracks.  In this vein the  Dark Side of the Moon's "Immersion" box set would have been a better choice to rip though its vastly more money.  Yes, I have ripped a small set of my CDs to ALAC with excellent results.  Still, I am compelled to pursue higher resolution files especially when the CD version is not as good.

Hmm, I thought the CD layer had quite good sound. I owned the Mobile Fidelity Ultradisc II of DSOTM and sold it after acquiring the SACD. Of course i don't listen to the CD layer on my home rig but i did compare the CD layer of the SACD to the Mobile Fidelity CD and thought the CD layer of the SACD was at least as good if not better. I certainly agree with the pursuit of high resolution files whenever they are available. I have ripped the hi-rez two channel groups, either 24/96 or 24/192, of all of my DVD-Audios with DVD-Audio Extractor. These files are all in WAV on a 64GB micro SD card which sounds fantastic in my X3. 

 

[DarrenTheGeek]

Perhaps I am used to the MFSL CD version of this album- and am showing my age.  An interesting review though of the stereo tracks of the SACD: http://www.stereophile.com/news/11649/ and while the article is old the content is still relevant. 

 

[rsrecon]

I don't understand half of what you guys talk about, but since I got my X3, my ears tell me it is the best portable audio player I have ever heard! Love it!

 

[Bray90820]

I want to report the bug i have seen with the X3
 
1. If i hit the back button during a library update the device freezes.
2. The folders on the SD card need to have a specific name IE.The library update would freeze when the root folder was named "Aarons Music" but once i changed it to "Music" it worked.
3. The album art for some albums don't show up on the device but they do on my computer.
4. Not really a bug but i thought i would mention it anyways. It would be nice when you select an artist it would be nice to have a list of the albums like on an iPod with a view all button within the artist list.

 

[jkauff]

The whole point of the X3 is that it's an affordable hi-res player. If you don't own or plan to buy hi-res files, why on earth would you choose the X3? Just about any portable can play a variety of lossy formats, and many of them can play FLAC or ALAC. Just about any smartphone can, too. There are so many options available.
 
I bought the X3 because almost none of these alternatives offer 24/96 or greater playback, and I have a lot of hi-res music. The X3 has a high-quality DAC, a built-in amp, and a quality line-out. For $200.

 
I have several dozen MP3 files of out-of-print songs, but that's all, and I have lots of ways to play them. I don't care if they don't sound great on the X3--they don't sound great on anything. I wouldn't put them on my X3 in the first place--I need all the storage space for hi-res.
 
If you have most of your collection in MP3 and didn't rip to lossless in the first place, you made a big mistake, and compounded it by buying a hi-res player to put them on. Ignorance can be expensive, cut your losses and sell your X3 and buy something more appropriate.
 
I think the philosophy behind FiiO's priority list for future dev work is right on target, and I appreciate them taking a stand for the right way to do things in the face of all the noise on this forum.

 

[punit]

Completely agree with jkauff's post

 

[tjw321]

  Completely agree with jkauff's post

Honest question here, as I'm new to the world of hi-fi, but can you both hear the difference between hi-res flac and CD quality flac (or even 320kbps mp3) but not hear the difference between an ipod (for example) and the X3?
 
I don't have an ipod but I do have a Galaxy S3, which I understood was reasonably well regarded as a player, and even when I use my E7 with it I believe I can hear a clear difference. But I can't hear the difference between TVBR AAC at 110 and CD quality FLAC (old ears - I'm not saying there isn't a difference).
 
So, is the ipod (for example) that good? Or am I fooling myself about how good the X3 is compared to my S3/E7 combination? I have AB tested FLACs vs AAC but not thoroughly, and I haven't AB tested X3 vs S3/E7.