[Saoshyant]

Almost forgot about the E11K...  not sure I'd have a need for it, but it's certainly something to keep in mind.

 

[Za Warudo]

What headphones are you using, I have zero hiss with my E12, they must be sensetive like the shure se535! There is a little noise floor between tracks but not audible when the music is playing.

Soundmagic HP100 (32ohms,  95dB/mW @ 1KHz )
 
Between the QC problems with the E12, and the lousy amp performance of the X3, I think I'll stay away Fiio products from now on.

 

[TrollDragon]

I've never had a problem with the hardware, it's the firmware that is comical... Well maybe the cheap ass E17/E09K docking fit, which two pieces of sticky rubber fixes. We are all spoiled by Apple products...



It sounds like there is a DX50/90 or AK with your name on it!

 

[howdy]

Soundmagic HP100 (32ohms, [COLOR=545454] 95dB/mW @ 1KHz [/COLOR])

Between the QC problems with the E12, and the lousy amp performance of the X3, I think I'll stay away Fiio products from now on.

I've had my FiiO products for awhile now with no issues, my X3 froze on me once when I first got it which was when t was first released. So to say I've had good is awesome. I have had issues with my DX50, which are FW related though and I'm contemplating getting rid of all my iBasso products.

 

[aangen]

 

What headphones are you using, I have zero hiss with my E12, they must be sensetive like the shure se535! There is a little noise floor between tracks but not audible when the music is playing.

Shure SE 535 is sensitive? News to me, that's what I use the most on my X3 and X5. In my opinion the higher frequencies are recessed. But I am old so there's that. My CIEMs are shrill compared to the SE 535s. (Zero hiss with any and all phones, maybe it is hearing loss)

 

[briancvrrbs]

I'm trying to manually update my Media Library but it always freezes halfway through. Has anyone had this problem?
 
And does anyone know how to shuffle through every song?

 

[Opus131]

I've had enough with the brittle/harsh uppermidrange-treble of the X3. I suspect it's mainly due to the amp section.

 
It might still be the firmware. I tried comparing the x3 to my x-fi to see why i liked the latter better even though the x3 had better sound, and the x-fi has this fat, bass coloring over everything. The sound of the x3 is a lot leaner by comparison, which "clears" everything and reveals a lot of detail but than makes everything sound brittle and sparkly at the end of the higher frequencies. 
 
So what i did is plug the x3 as a DAC on my PC and checked the software bass boost option that comes with the Windows interface driver, and voila, now everything sounded like the x-fi, bassy and greasy. This gutted the middle and upper ranges but it also eliminated some of the brittleness. This is with the 2.14b btw, i'm going to try with the 3.0 next. 
 
Strangely, the hardware bass regulator on the x3 doesn't have this effect. I'm guessing high end hardware doesn't need cheap artificial coloring to make the frequencies sound fun but the x3 is somewhat stuck in the middle? It wants to compete with higher end devices but still benefits from the stuff they use to make commercial products not sound like total crap? 

 

[Opus131]

Bleh, it just makes things worst with the 3.0, but with this firmware the upper ranges don't sound as brittle to begin with. 
 
One thing i find strange is that the 3.0 always sounds better when i first flash into it, but than later own i always go back on the 2.14b. I think its because the frequencies go from brittle to tinny, so that i keep switching between them to avoid one or the other, depending on which i find more annoying. 

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I preferred many things about the 2.1 firmware compared to 3.0. The only thing that was a huge downside to 2.1 was that bad background noise with Mp3s. Whenever there was a quiet moment in a track, on good headphones you would hear ever single one of these strange hissing and crackling noises. This was also very noticeable between the tracks. I also found the UI much better on 2.1.
 
Does 2.14b have the background noise issues with Mp3s? I think I may give that a go if the Mp3s don't have this problem. I'm just not sure where 2.14b is available.

 

[Opus131]

Here's a link to it:
 
http://www.mediafire.com/download/8mstmdpypw1dk7d/x3+FW2.14beta_volumemod.zip
 
I'm really curious to see what they are going to do on the next firmware. 

 

[TrollDragon]

The pausing on the 2.x series of firmware was so severe that it is basically unusable IMHO, multiple times a day I had to disconnect & connect either the headphone or line out plug to get the X3 to continue playing music.
 
You guys must have not experienced and thoroughly enjoyed this charming little feature with the 2.x firmware?

 

[MicroEuphoneum]

History:
      'the Biz'     http://www.mediafire.com/download/o4s665hsxpptboy/01_RunMyBiz.flac

 

[Opus131]

  The pausing on the 2.x series of firmware was so severe that it is basically unusable IMHO, multiple times a day I had to disconnect & connect either the headphone or line out plug to get the X3 to continue playing music.
 
You guys must have not experienced and thoroughly enjoyed this charming little feature with the 2.x firmware?

 
My only experience is between the 2.14b and the 3.0, and i had nothing like that so far. Just the occasional crash on the 2.14b and a weird bug on the 3.0 where the "last position" setting on the resume option shows the wrong song information when resuming after shutting the device down even if the song resumed is the correct one. The only way to fix this is to flash to another firmware completely, and than flash the 3.0 back. 

 

[Za Warudo]

 
It might still be the firmware. I tried comparing the x3 to my x-fi to see why i liked the latter better even though the x3 had better sound, and the x-fi has this fat, bass coloring over everything. The sound of the x3 is a lot leaner by comparison, which "clears" everything and reveals a lot of detail but than makes everything sound brittle and sparkly at the end of the higher frequencies. 
 
So what i did is plug the x3 as a DAC on my PC and checked the software bass boost option that comes with the Windows interface driver, and voila, now everything sounded like the x-fi, bassy and greasy. This gutted the middle and upper ranges but it also eliminated some of the brittleness. This is with the 2.14b btw, i'm going to try with the 3.0 next. 
 
Strangely, the hardware bass regulator on the x3 doesn't have this effect. I'm guessing high end hardware doesn't need cheap artificial coloring to make the frequencies sound fun but the x3 is somewhat stuck in the middle? It wants to compete with higher end devices but still benefits from the stuff they use to make commercial products not sound like total crap? 

 


So this has nothing to do with the amp section? That disappointing. I'm still not 100% sure if this issue is headphone related or recording related, but I've been using this setup for about 2 months and I only started to notice this harshness. I'll need do some more tests with my desktop dac/amp and other headphones.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

  Here's a link to it:
 
http://www.mediafire.com/download/8mstmdpypw1dk7d/x3+FW2.14beta_volumemod.zip
 
I'm really curious to see what they are going to do on the next firmware. 

I have tried it out and to me, it is far, far to quiet. Even on high gain and max volume it was the same as it only being half way on 3.0 while being on low gain. It also wasn't very responsive and kept freezing too.

Thanks for the link anyway.