[aangen]

I have the greys but haven't tried them yet. I will do that soon. How have you managed to not go for the SE846? I am tempted but I so love the SE535.

 

[Mmet]

  I have the greys but haven't tried them yet. I will do that soon. How have you managed to not go for the SE846? I am tempted but I so love the SE535.

i managed to not go for SE846 just because i can't afford its price ... when i can afford it i will go for it sure 

 ( or roxenne universal ) ......
BTW se535 is the best iem i ever heard in my life and my first hi end iem !
 
try your greys .. you will never regret it ... if you have the extraction tool the job will be very easy 

 

[jmx55]

  I tried it with another IEM. My brother's Sony MDR XB90EX which has high emphasis on bass. Still sounding muffled. Even worst than that of the 510's. On a Sennheiser CX870, it is bassy and the treble makes your ears bleed to death. I don't know. Hi-gain somehow improves the overall sound quality with the expense of tiny hiss and noise but it still toooo far from what I expect and read based on those countless reviews of many self proclaimed audio enthusiasts before buying it.
 
My problem with its sound signature is that it tends to focus on some part which is not the case on any DAP, HiFi Component or even on a PC with a decent sound card. Then focus' less on those are focused on the equipments I mentioned. This makes songs sound sooo different on this thing. 
 
I am no audiophile but I've been into this earphone-player thing even before Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod and was listening to the same songs til now. 
 
Can anyone explain why it sounded different? Can Fiio play more with its SQ and create a moreGENERIC sounding player that will not go beyond the usual sound signature? Generic but still coming out on top in terms of details, bass, and stereo separation!

I am stuck in the exact same boat. I bought this audiophile player expecting a clean sound, but here I have a sound signature that kills all the goodness of its parts and make it sound worst than what mainstream players have to offer. The audio channels are definitely out of phase. I wouldn't call it sound signature rather sound tweaking to add some artificial surround space to music, which is just unacceptable for a player that is intended as audiophile. It is surprising how others seem to like the sound not noticing the awkwardness. The rigidity and presence of sound is faint/thin even though I pump up the volume or equalizer/tone it doesnt help because the channels are not completely in phase. It is strangulating the impressive components it has. I think this is the main issue X3 has at present that needs to be addressed. I dont know if this soundstage is hardware or software implemented, I hope it is the latter and gets corrected or I am burdened with a sum wasted on a player that I cant listen to without having my hearing sense twisted and frustrated. Fiio needs to get the basics right first with the sound of this player. It already has impressive hardware, you don't have to further tinker with the sound! Keep it plain and simple and it will be much better.
 
btw, what firmware version did your player came preloaded with? Mine came with 1.23 from which I am guessing it is one of the first ones made. Since most others dont seem to have this rather noticeable defect, it is my speculation that the initial ones might have suffered from the sound signature issue. In which case it might be time to avail warranty and ask for a replacement.

 

[aangen]

It is likely you have either poor source material or a bad unit. Trust me, these things sound great to most of us. We aren't fooling ourselves either. Use your warranty and get another unit. What you are describing is very unusual.

 

[jmx55]

  It is likely you have either poor source material or a bad unit. Trust me, these things sound great to most of us. We aren't fooling ourselves either. Use your warranty and get another unit. What you are describing is very unusual.

I have mostly 320kbps mp3s and some 24bit/192kbps flac, both sound fine on other devices and skewed on my X3.
 
Ok, I will contact fiio for replacement and see if it resolves the problem.

 

[undersys]

 
 
btw, what firmware version did your player came preloaded with? Mine came with 1.23 from which I am guessing it is one of the first ones made. Since most others dont seem to have this rather noticeable defect, it is my speculation that the initial ones might have suffered from the sound signature issue. In which case it might be time to avail warranty and ask for a replacement.

 
F/W 1.23 had a lot of issues I feel, esp with MP3/OGG
Maybe try an F/W upgrade first ?

 

[x RELIC x]

I've had an X3 from the very first shipment and I didn't heard anything close to what your describing jmx55

This in comparison to everything else I've heard and used previously, including speaker setups. Very strange.

 

[jmx55]

   
F/W 1.23 had a lot of issues I feel, esp with MP3/OGG
Maybe try an F/W upgrade first ?

Already given the newer firmware a try. I prefer the sound of 2.14 beta and 3.0, using 3.0 at present as it provides fullness to bass and covers the constricted stereo image to some extent but the sound is still unsettling. Couldn't tolerate the 3.2 and later for this reason as they are too revealing of the stretched, out of phase like stage.
 
 

I've had an X3 from the very first shipment and I didn't heard anything close to what your describing @jmx55

This in comparison to everything else I've heard and used previously, including speaker setups. Very strange.

 
My bad luck then. I can clearly hear the difference to the point that it gets discomforting.

 

[jimmers]

I've had an X3 from the very first shipment and I didn't heard anything close to what your describing @jmx55

This in comparison to everything else I've heard and used previously, including speaker setups. Very strange.

Pretty much the same here, sounds good through my computer speakers too.
It has been reviewed/tested by some audio mags too and they had no problems with it, they preferred their AK120 but not necessarily for the price.

 

[sparda0]

The first time I heard the SQ of this player was with FW 2.1, at that time I was blown away with it! I was using the cheaper Sony MDR-EX310 back then and it brought those earphones to life. Not sure though if I was just over excited and did not really pay full attention to it, as its sound signature favors the song --Lorde;s Royal.
 
But after buying it 3 weeks ago, I was bitterly disappointed. And most people here are bashing me about my claims. I wont say it sounds bad if its not! I've had Sony Walkmans in the past and iPods but they all follow the same signature. They just differ on details, sound-stage and bass. With the more expensive Walkmans holding the upper hand of course.
 
Then I used a Voodoo'd Galaxy S1 for a year before buying this thing. And believe me, even now it still beats the X3 bigtime! I'm not an audiophile but I know what good sound quality is.

 

[sparda0]

I don't think we have bad units mate. I listened to the Fiio X1 on one of the authorized seller here, the sound signature is the same! Lesser bass and details but overall sound signature --they're the same. If its as good as all of you guys claim then it should have beaten the Voodoo'd Galaxy S1 with Wolfson during the first 10secs of comparison. But no! It sounds so tiny compared to the S1.

 

[sparda0]

The audio coming on both earphones is compressed, combining (though perceived separated) all the details then injected in your ears with one shot resulting into a bad sound-stage and presentation. After a few songs, it gives me head and ear ache. 

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

The audio coming on both earphones is compressed, combining (though perceived separated) all the details then injected in your ears with one shot resulting into a bad sound-stage and presentation. After a few songs, it gives me head and ear ache. 

Have you tried out anything other than in-ear Sony headphones with the x3? It may be that that what you are using just doesn't pair well with it on later firmwares
. Try out a decent pair of over ear headphones with the x3 and compare them with your S1. There will be plenty of headphones that will sound better with the x3.

 

[sparda0]

Tried it with several IEMs. Sony MDR-EX310 and 510. MDR-XB30EX and 90EX. and then the Sennheiser CX870. All saying the same thing, "FiiO X3 doesn't deliver". A good sounding player doesn't have the right to pick an ear or headphone just to sound good.

 

[bruce1967]

  The audio coming on both earphones is compressed, combining (though perceived separated) all the details then injected in your ears with one shot resulting into a bad sound-stage and presentation. After a few songs, it gives me head and ear ache. 

Well clearly the x3 is not for so quit whining about it and buy another DAP. Nobody is interested in what you have to say. Create a new thread if you need to...call it the Fiio bashing thread.