[Mr Trev]

I am thinking I want an X3. I also like the looks and reviews of the x1. My question is would I need an additional amp with the x3, like I was thinking I would do with the X1(e11k).
I am a current clip+ user with all FLAC files. I am looking for an upgrade in the souce, but do not want to break the bank on the first move. Any advice or opinion is appreciated. Thanks.

My advice....wait till spring when the x3 II is released.

 

[sewoo55]

Question about the cover art..... In the past, only album covers with a smaller file size than 100kb would show up on screen. With the new firmware, has this changed?

 

[JohnMarch]

128gb works just fine.

Great. Thanks for that. I'll check the prices with a few of the local suppliers. I hope class 10 cards aren't going to be too expensive.
 
I intend having a listen to some files tonight

 

[bzippy]

 
Great. Thanks for that. I'll check the prices with a few of the local suppliers. I hope class 10 cards aren't going to be too expensive.
 
I intend having a listen to some files tonight

you should expect to pay $100 fro a 128GB card i think, at least for Sandisk or Samsung. i suppose you could get off cheaper but i personally didn't want to take the chance on a maker with anything less than the best reliability record.

 

[bowei006]

Has it been so long that an X3 update is comming out?
 
Gosh time flies

 

[x RELIC x]

Has it been so long that an X3 update is comming out?

Gosh time flies

Yup. Haven't seen you around here for quite a while

 

[edmscan]

In that we are talking sound quality .. I must (well I don't have to but I will) .. the X3 is only marginally better than my iPhone 4s. It is a bit better in the bass department .. but overall not really. Am I disappointed .. no, cause I like the X3.  The wheelie design on the X5 / X3 II was not an option for me, didn't want it.  So .. this is it for me.
 
But then .. honestly I do not hear a great deal of difference between flac and mp3 files (though some mp3's sound really bad .. but I have heard some terrible flac files too).
 
I do have some DSD files .. and they are ok, but not earth shattering. I think I just need some new IEM's.
 
(I meant to say .. iPod 3rd Gen not iPhone) .. I almost never use my iPhone as a music source, but it it not much different than the iPod)

 

[bowei006]

Yup. Haven't seen you around here for quite a while

I've been floating around other threads 

 

[bzippy]

  In that we are talking sound quality .. I must (well I don't have to but I will) .. the X3 is only marginally better than my iPhone 4s. It is a bit better in the bass department .. but overall not really. Am I disappointed .. no, cause I like the X3.  The wheelie design on the X5 / X3 II was not an option for me, didn't want it.  So .. this is it for me.
 
But then .. honestly I do not hear a great deal of difference between flac and mp3 files (though some mp3's sound really bad .. but I have heard some terrible flac files too).
 
I do have some DSD files .. and they are ok, but not earth shattering. I think I just need some new IEM's.

 
Quote:

  as for me ... i had high hopes too first i got x3 ... to be insanely better than any other mass consumer device ( let alone ipods .. it is definitely better than any ipod from the first listening and  blind test as well ) but after some time with it i realized that it is not a big jump in sound quality with easily driven headphone .. in quality it is not different from the sansa clip + in a blind test .. i had hard time the guess which one is playing !! 
its advantage is mainly its amp section .. it is the most powerful player i've ever had plus its unique sound signature .. warm and deep .. very very deep sound .. with wide sound stage ( my previous F806 is a little wider but that is it ) .. i purchased it too for its bass & treble hardware controls i appreciate that too much ( the only player that has this feature ) only topped for me by the stock walkman players EQ not the android ones ..
 
it has a unique sound signature with a very powerful amp and that's it 

and i don't expect a HUGE difference with E18 too .. just a different sound 

same experience here. now, i'm a noob HP fan and probably haven't fully developed my golden ears yet but i just got an X3 hoping it would blow away my Zune player but it didn't. in fact i can't say it's really any better from a purely SQ pov. a slightly different freq balance but not better imo, at leat not from the HP jacks. i think the Zune's stage might even be a bit wider so far. but like Mmet i still much prefer the X3 to the Zune because of the high end features, like the T/B controls, massive storage via sd card, and perhaps most importantly: the line out. i don't have a HP amp yet but i have used the X3 line out with my two rooms systems (one large, one small) and the clarity & separation improvement was quite noticeable. because there's no line out on the Zune i was forced to "double amp" by sending the Zune's HP out into my systems' aux in jacks, and i now see how that was blurring things. problem is that both my rooms system receivers seem to have rather pedestrian circuity behind their HP jacks, so i don't yet have the means to get optimum HP performance with the X3. but . . .
 
the real test will come when my Cayin C5 arrives tomorrow! will i hear the dramatic improvement going X3 line level into the C5 (compared to X3 HP jack)? i really expect so, but we'll see tomorrow. (driving Senn HD600's, btw.)
 
and i must mention that i also have a used E12 v1 amp (pre production) that should arrive next week. so i'll get to a/b them directly. a fight to the death -- only one can stay. the aspect i will be perhaps be paying the most attention to is each amps' bass boost, as the HD600's definitely need a little help down there imo. the more natural & subtle boost that doesn't radically change the overall character will probably be the winner.

 

[Koolpep]

 
same experience here. now, i'm a noob HP fan and probably haven't fully developed my golden ears yet but i just got an X3 hoping it would blow away my Zune player but it didn't. in fact i can't say it's really any better from a purely SQ pov. a slightly different freq balance but not better imo. i think the Zune's stage might even be a bit wider so far. but like Mmet i still much prefer the X3 to the Zune because of the high end features, like the T/B controls, massive stoage via sd card, and perhaps most importantly: the line out. i don't have a HP amp yet but i have used the X3 line out with my two rooms systems (one large, one small) and the clarity & separation improvement was quite noticeable. because there's no line out on the Zune i was forced to "double amping" by sending the Zune's HP out into my systems' aux in jacks, and i now see how that was blurring things. problem is that both my rooms system receivers seem to have rather pedestrian circuity behind their HP jacks, so i don't yet have the means to get optimum HP performance with the X3. but . . .
 
the real test will come when my Cayin C5 arrives tomorrow! will i hear the dramatic improvement going X3 line level into the C5 (compared to X3 HP jack)? i really expect so, but we'll see tomorrow. (driving Senn HD600's, btw.)
 
and i must mention that i also have a used E12 v1 amp (pre production) that should arrive next week. so i'll get to a/b them directly. a fight to the death -- only one can stay. the aspect i will be perhaps be paying the most attention to is each amps' bass boost, as the HD600's definitely need a little help down there imo. the more natural & subtle boost that doesn't radically change the overall character will probably be the winner.

The Zune and the various iPods are very good players, their sound quality is not bad at all. I had a Zune 30 myself. However, the DAPs like the Fiio's etc. shine with harder to drive headphones, like some multi balanced armature drivers, power hungry headphones or headphones with high impedance, etc. EDIT: Oh and I forgot of course also with high res music. Just listening to the same compressed music might not make such a great difference, even though there should be at least some difference.
 
But give it a bit, if a change is for the "better" sometimes only makes itself clear after some hours of listening. I am looking forward reading about your impressions of the Cayin C5. I have received mine today (Sunday is a working day here) and am charging it currently - can't wait to hear it soon.
 
Cheers,
K 

 

[nmatheis]

Spoiler

same experience here. now, i'm a noob HP fan and probably haven't fully developed my golden ears yet but i just got an X3 hoping it would blow away my Zune player but it didn't. in fact i can't say it's really any better from a purely SQ pov. a slightly different freq balance but not better imo, at leat not from the HP jacks. i think the Zune's stage might even be a bit wider so far. but like Mmet i still much prefer the X3 to the Zune because of the high end features, like the T/B controls, massive storage via sd card, and perhaps most importantly: the line out. i don't have a HP amp yet but i have used the X3 line out with my two rooms systems (one large, one small) and the clarity & separation improvement was quite noticeable. because there's no line out on the Zune i was forced to "double amp" by sending the Zune's HP out into my systems' aux in jacks, and i now see how that was blurring things. problem is that both my rooms system receivers seem to have rather pedestrian circuity behind their HP jacks, so i don't yet have the means to get optimum HP performance with the X3. but . . .

the real test will come when my Cayin C5 arrives tomorrow! will i hear the dramatic improvement going X3 line level into the C5 (compared to X3 HP jack)? i really expect so, but we'll see tomorrow. (driving Senn HD600's, btw.)

and i must mention that i also have a used E12 v1 amp (pre production) that should arrive next week. so i'll get to a/b them directly. a fight to the death -- only one can stay. the aspect i will be perhaps be paying the most attention to is each amps' bass boost, as the HD600's definitely need a little help down there imo. the more natural & subtle boost that doesn't radically change the overall character will probably be the winner.

IMHO, E12 v1 should be better than Cayin C5 as far as the bolded part goes. C5's bass boost is too broad and adds more warmth than I prefer. C5 has better soundstage, though.

 

[bzippy]

 
The Zune and the various iPods are very good players, their sound quality is not bad at all. I had a Zune 30 myself. However, the DAPs like the Fiio's etc. shine with harder to drive headphones, like some multi balanced armature drivers, power hungry headphones or headphones with high impedance, etc. EDIT: Oh and I forgot of course also with high res music. Just listening to the same compressed music might not make such a great difference, even though there should be at least some difference.
 
But give it a bit, if a change is for the "better" sometimes only makes itself clear after some hours of listening. I am looking forward reading about your impressions of the Cayin C5. I have received mine today (Sunday is a working day here) and am charging it currently - can't wait to hear it soon.
 
Cheers,
K 

 
yeah i guess i should mention my collection is almost entirely wma lossless ripped from CD's. well, except of course for the Dr Chesky stuff that came with the X3 -- and a big WOW AWESOME HOLY FUQ for those tracks. here's hoping 24 bit audio becomes the standard in my lifetime (plus terabyte sd cards of course), not that i'm looking forward to rebuying 600+ cd's.
 
anyway, looking forward to your C5 review as well. i think i'm gonna head over to that thread now (while trying my best to avoid all HP cable upgrade discussions ).

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

Have FiiO State when the X3 II is coming out?

 

[bzippy]

IMHO, E12 v1 should be better than Cayin C5 as far as the bolded part goes. C5's bass boost is too broad and adds more warmth than I prefer. C5 has better soundstage, though.

yeah that's kinda the prejudice/expectation i'll be bringing into the shootout. and with the deal i got on the E12 we're talking almost a $100 price difference, so the C5 has to overcome that as well. we'll see how it goes.

 

[JohnMarch]

 
you should expect to pay $100 fro a 128GB card i think, at least for Sandisk or Samsung. i suppose you could get off cheaper but i personally didn't want to take the chance on a maker with anything less than the best reliability record.

Thanks. I checked one supplier's website where there is a local store not far from where I live and the site only listed 32GB as its largest class 10 SDHC card. There are one or two other suppliers so I'll check them out.
 
I'm currently listening to the WAV "Fly From Here" - yet again - and so far it's been - dare I say? - perfect. I wonder if again it's my imagination but I think it sounds even better than before. I couldn't be happier.
 
I was thinking of buying an X5 or the X3 II - and I might still do that to get the native DSD option, as I'm a real SACD fan. If I do, it's unlikely to be because of any disappointment in the X3's sound quality however.