[peter123]

R u guys sure about this, cause as far as I have read and understood, more the headphone impedance more amp it requires to drive it, so ath- IM70 being just 10 ohms in my understanding will be over powered by X3 as it's headphone impedance is 16 to 100 ohms?

I'm still studying the ohms and voltage effects of headphones, earphones and amps, so sorry if I'm mistaken.

Thanks! 

The output impedance on the X3 is 0,4 ohm so it's very well suited for a 10 ohm IEM. The IM70 is a great option.

 

[Koolpep]

  R u guys sure about this, cause as far as I have read and understood, more the headphone impedance more amp it requires to drive it, so ath- IM70 being just 10 ohms in my understanding will be over powered by X3 as it's headphone impedance is 16 to 100 ohms?
 
I'm still studying the ohms and voltage effects of headphones, earphones and amps, so sorry if I'm mistaken.
 
Thanks! 

There is a rule of thumb that the damping factor should be around 8x
 
Output impedance should be lower than your headphone impedance divided by 8. So if you have 32 Ohm headphones, your amp/player should have an output impedance of 4 Ohms or lower. 
 
However, this is just a rule of thumb and some headphones can be driven just fine with an amp that has 10 Ohms output impedance while the headphones have 16 Ohms. It all depends. Some headphones might sound terrible on that amp and some might sound good. The rule of thumb though is a good generic idea.
 
Cheers,
K

 

[RedTwilight]

At first I thought x3 sounded better line out to nx1, now, not so sure about "better". Less v shaped? Sure, but not necessarily better. Only gain I really like about that combo is insane battery life of nx1, and having a volume knob. But, you also double the size...so as of late, x3 solo for my cheapo havi b3 pro1's makes me insanely happy. Only issue I have is the "unknown artist" thing. But I'm sure fiio will fix this soon and I'm to lazy to try other fw.

Seconded. I recently added a BSG Cmoy to my (growing) collection. First off I observed that the soundstage increased quite drastically, and also the sound became alot brighter.

The nice thing is that the sound is a lot more dynamic now, even with the EQ on. Not so sure if the x3 battery life will be extended though. However yea as you mentioned it becomes quite a handful to hold (no pun intended ).

 

[Androbot v4]

 
There is a rule of thumb that the damping factor should be around 8x
 
Output impedance should be lower than your headphone impedance divided by 8. So if you have 32 Ohm headphones, your amp/player should have an output impedance of 4 Ohms or lower. 
 
However, this is just a rule of thumb and some headphones can be driven just fine with an amp that has 10 Ohms output impedance while the headphones have 16 Ohms. It all depends. Some headphones might sound terrible on that amp and some might sound good. The rule of thumb though is a good generic idea.
 
Cheers,
K

Thank you guys for all your feedback ...I ordered ath-IM70 

 

 

[peter123]

At first I thought x3 sounded better line out to nx1, now, not so sure about "better". Less v shaped? Sure, but not necessarily better. Only gain I really like about that combo is insane battery life of nx1, and having a volume knob. But, you also double the size...so as of late, x3 solo for my cheapo havi b3 pro1's makes me insanely happy. Only issue I have is the "unknown artist" thing. But I'm sure fiio will fix this soon and I'm to lazy to try other fw.

I agree on the NX1|, it's more different than better compared to the HO on the X3. I also prefer the HO over the X3/NX1 combo with the B3's.

 

[indieke]

Just a stupid question. I use the Fiio X 3 as a Dac.  In J river I can choose between DSD Or Pcm. I have the impression the sound is different, depends also on the file which is used. So I was wondering, because the files are   originally not DSD encoded, if it has any use.  I do hear a difference if I play from the player, or from the computer. From the unit the sound seems warmer, highs are softer, but transparency is good also.  Anyway, isn't the disadvantage using a Usb Dac, htat it is more sensitive to jitter?

 

[originalsnuffy]

I can't directly answer your question.  But you should know that the X3 does not natively play DSD.   All DSD files are converted internally on the fly to PCM.  So converting from PCM to DSD and back to PCM could introduce anomalies.

 

[indieke]

Thanks for your reply. But isn"t jitter a problem with PCM transporttion over Usb?

 

[originalsnuffy]

I have not heard much about Jitter in a long time.  My understanding is the USB has enough bandwidth to take jitter out of the equation, and modern DAC units also take jitter out of the equation.  Unless something sounds horribly wrong, jitter is not the "usual suspect".
 
I do think that converting signals is a source of issues and always resist that when I can

 

[bzippy]

At first I thought x3 sounded better line out to nx1, now, not so sure about "better". Less v shaped? Sure, but not necessarily better. Only gain I really like about that combo is insane battery life of nx1, and having a volume knob. But, you also double the size...so as of late, x3 solo for my cheapo havi b3 pro1's makes me insanely happy. Only issue I have is the "unknown artist" thing. But I'm sure fiio will fix this soon and I'm to lazy to try other fw.

i have no reservation about saying that the X3 LO sounds better to me than the HO, no matter where i send it. the detail, separation and just overall liveliness is noticeably improved with LO. only problem is that i have no control over EQ with LO and i'm finding my HD600's need just a bit of help reaching the lowest depths (kick drum for rock/pop/etc and double bass for classical). so i am seeking a portable amp that handles bass boost just right. the Cayin C5 i am currently using has too much in the bass boost for my needs. we'll see if the FiiO E12 v1 i have on the way does any better at it.

 

[x RELIC x]

i have no reservation about saying that the X3 LO sounds better to me than the HO, no matter where i send it. the detail, separation and just overall liveliness is noticeably improved with LO. only problem is that i have no control over EQ with LO and i'm finding my HD600's need just a bit of help reaching the lowest depths (kick drum for rock/pop/etc and double bass for classical). so i am seeking a portable amp that handles bass boost just right. the Cayin C5 i am currently using has too much in the bass boost for my needs. we'll see if the FiiO E12 v1 i have on the way does any better at it.

I wish I grabbed the e12 v1 as the bass boost is centered lower in the freq range than the 'regular' e12. Let us know how you like it with the X3.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

 
i have no reservation about saying that the X3 LO sounds better to me than the HO, no matter where i send it. the detail, separation and just overall liveliness is noticeably improved with LO. only problem is that i have no control over EQ with LO and i'm finding my HD600's need just a bit of help reaching the lowest depths (kick drum for rock/pop/etc and double bass for classical). so i am seeking a portable amp that handles bass boost just right. the Cayin C5 i am currently using has too much in the bass boost for my needs. we'll see if the FiiO E12 v1 i have on the way does any better at it.

The EQ works fine through the line out. It is the hardware bass and treble that only works through the headphone out. Sorry if you are talking about the bass and treble and not the EQ. If you meant the EQ, give it a try and it should work fine.

 

[Mr Trev]

The stacking kit is awesome, but sweet mother those bands are tight! I was actually worried the tabs might crack off while I was stretching 'em on.

 

[bikerboy94]

  The stacking kit is awesome, but sweet mother those bands are tight! I was actually worried the tabs might crack off while I was stretching 'em on.

I really like mine. Much better then just the bands.

 

[Mmet]

 
i have no reservation about saying that the X3 LO sounds better to me than the HO, no matter where i send it. the detail, separation and just overall liveliness is noticeably improved with LO. only problem is that i have no control over EQ with LO and i'm finding my HD600's need just a bit of help reaching the lowest depths (kick drum for rock/pop/etc and double bass for classical). so i am seeking a portable amp that handles bass boost just right. the Cayin C5 i am currently using has too much in the bass boost for my needs. we'll see if the FiiO E12 v1 i have on the way does any better at it.

if i were you i would consider the new digizoid fs or fs+