[rivermivida]

  I agree with peter123.  If you're looking for huge differences with easy to drive headphones, you've chosen the wrong hobby.  I have a Nexus 5 phone, and with PowerAmp on it, playing the same FLAC, I find the X3 to drive my Atrio MG7's much better.  I run the X3 on low gain, and have the Bass adjustments turned up on both, but the X3 easily bests my Nexus for simply driving the Atrio's to much better bass response and "feel".  With the Nexus, the bass is bloated and sloppy, but with the X3, it's powerful and tight.  I don't have the Nexus rooted, and another thing I find, is that the volume of the X3 is "much" louder, with clear and easy to hear detail.  
 
You're right on the EQ of the X3 right now.  The implementation isn't perfect, but they just released it with 3.3.  Upcoming firmware updates will no doubt improve the ability of the EQ, without affecting volume, the way it does now.  Remember, the X3 was Fiio's first step into the DAP world, and I think they are doing great things with each firmware update.  
 
I hope you make a decision that pleases you the most, either keep or return the X3, but for me and my IEM's, the X3 is the way to go.

In your opinion, what iem would be better and hardest to drive for the X3 than the Yamaha EPH 100 (less than 200 usd)?

 

[rivermivida]

@rivermivida I beleive you may have missed the post I did as you posted the above so I'll say it again.

The X3 and the e17(original) have the same hardware and sound the same.

and what about the E18?

 

[CarstenF]

I'm not trying to make any arguments for either format, I was asking if anyone found one to perform better than the other for the X3. I merely said that exFAT doesn't become fragmented as easy as FAT32 (from what I've read) and even then I'm not sure if that makes a difference when were talking about only 128GB and 8GB of storage in a DAP and I never mentioned NTFS.

I'm sorry if it came off like I was trying to convince anyone to switch formats. If anything I was asking for opinions if anyone had tried both exFAT and FAT32. I ended up using the player to format the card so it is set up in FAT32. 

As far as I'm aware Fiio added exFat support for 3.30 (some betas before 3.30 supported it also).
However, the documentation says if you use exFat, you still need a second micro sd card formatted in fat32 to do firmware updates from (this should not be necessary because the x3 has internal memory which could be used to to the firmware upgrade from. However, X1 and X5 don't have those 8gb of internal memory and they probably use the same sortof firmware upgrade routine for all 3 devices).

The main advantage of exFat over fat32 is the removal of the max file size limit of 4gb of fat32. This is important for video but not really important for an audio device.
There are, however, a few other advantages of exfat and exfat support:
- users can just take a new micro sdcard and use it straight away without worrying about formatting it or needing to know what formatting is ( almost all cards starting from 64gb come preformatted in exfat)
- exfat increases speed: "SDXC cards, running at UHS-1 have a minimum guaranteed write speed of 10 MBps and exFAT plays a factor in achieving that throughput through the reduction of the file system overhead in cluster allocation. This is achieved through the introduction of a cluster bitmap and elimination (or reduction) of writes to the FAT table. A single bit (flag) in the directory record is used when the file is contiguous to tell the exFAT file driver to ignore the FAT table." (Quoted from en.m.wikipedia.org)
- exfat uses hash values for file name searches improving the speed of file name accesses and includes data integrity checks

But this is all theory. It would be great if someone tested if higher read/write speeds can be achieved with exfat32 when copying music to or from a card in the X3 when formatted in exfat vs fat32. Sometimes different cluster / file allocation unit sizes can have an influence on read/write speeds also.

 

[gerelmx1986]

  Yes, sure, volume and eq, are almost the same, thanks.
 
I insist, i expected a HUGE difference between a Samsung phone and a X3 player...
 
Now i think that my Samsung with a E10 or E 18 will be much pristine than this X3...., or i'm crazy..??

I think you are not that crazy bro... I find my still un-burned Walkman A, to be better sounding than the fiio x3, pristine, clean sound, far more revealing subtle and feeble sounds, more airy  Sony recommends 100 hour burn in and then the sound shall stabilize due to the POSCAP capacitors inside

 

[x RELIC x]

and what about the E18?

The e18 uses different hardware. It uses the TI PCM1798 DAC with a different amp section and is just slightly more powerful than the X3, but about the same for all intents and purposes. I suggest you browse FiiO.net and look closer at the specifications and descriptions of what you are looking for.

I'm pretty sure the X3 doesn't work with USB OTG but then again why would anyone want to do this? It's a clean powerful player that plays music with lots of mSD storage available. I don't understand the reasoning for wanting OTG from a smartphone to a DAP, but that's me.

The e18 is built specifically so you don't have to buy a separate DAP and can use your smartphone to store and play the files while the e18 handles the audio characteristics (differently depending on how you connect it, amp improvement from line out or DAC/amp improvement from OTG USB). It can also charge your smartphone while you use it. You may be interested more in the e18 given that you already like your smartphone and are looking to boost its performance, which the e18 will do. The question is how much of a difference it will add to your audio chain?

As I mentioned earlier though, no matter what you choose you should listen to it exclusively for a while to get used to the difference. THEN go back to your old device and go from there.

 

[CarstenF]

I think you are not that crazy bro... I find my still un-burned Walkman A, to be better sounding than the fiio x3, pristine, clean sound, far more revealing subtle and feeble sounds, more airy  Sony recommends 100 hour burn in and then the sound shall stabilize due to the POSCAP capacitors inside

It depends very much on the headphone / dac/amp combination. The Fiio house sound used to be slightly warm with a good bass reproduction.
Fw 3.0 for the X3 had a relatively strong bass which matches well with headphones that lack a bit in bass, e g the Beoplay H6.
With Fw 3.2 the sound was changed to be a bit cleaner sounding (slightly less bass).
If you want an airier, cleaner sound the X3 with its Wolfson dac may not be the right dac playerfor you. The X1 sounds less warm than the X3 and I believe theX5 does as well.
Also the improvement in sound quality with cd quality or mp3 quality sources is not that large between a phone with a good audio quality such as an iphone4/4s and the X3 when using low impedance headphones. You profit more if you use say a 250 Ohm such as some of the Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser headphones.
I'm also considering upgrading in hope of achieving still better audio quality. I may try the x5 or the pono player in the future.

 

[WAV-4-my-X3]

To me, yes.

 

[WAV-4-my-X3]

  Are you saying 3.0 sounds better than 3.3? 

To me, yes.

 

[ZMan2k2]

In your opinion, what iem would be better and hardest to drive for the X3 than the Yamaha EPH 100 (less than 200 usd)?

You'd have to look around for some higher impedence IEM's. The Yamaha's you have are 16ohm impedence, which is nothing for the X3 to drive. If you look at the Fiio website, a 16ohm load amounts to 540mW. Some high impedence Sennheiser or Beyerdynamic overears would be a true test for the amp in the X3. My Atrio's are 32ohm, but are no longer available. But they get about 270mW from the amp. Personally though, the biggest thing I've noticed with the X3 is the detail retrieval with these Atrios. Something I simply couldn't get with iPods or phones.

 

[Mmet]

  Yes, sure, volume and eq, are almost the same, thanks.
 
I insist, i expected a HUGE difference between a Samsung phone and a X3 player...
 
Now i think that my Samsung with a E10 or E 18 will be much pristine than this X3...., or i'm crazy..??

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 

 

[CarstenF]

The e18 uses different hardware. It uses the TI PCM1798 DAC with a different amp section and is just slightly more powerful than the X3, but about the same for all intents and purposes. I suggest you browse FiiO.net and look closer at the specifications and descriptions of what you are looking for.

I'm pretty sure the X3 doesn't work with USB OTG but then again why would anyone want to do this? It's a clean powerful player that plays music with lots of mSD storage available. I don't understand the reasoning for wanting OTG from a smartphone to a DAP, but that's me.

The e18 is built specifically so you don't have to buy a separate DAP and can use your smartphone to store and play the files while the e18 handles the audio characteristics (differently depending on how you connect it, amp improvement from line out or DAC/amp improvement from OTG USB). It can also charge your smartphone while you use it. You may be interested more in the e18 given that you already like your smartphone and are looking to boost its performance, which the e18 will do. The question is how much of a difference it will add to your audio chain?

As I mentioned earlier though, no matter what you choose you should listen to it exclusively for a while to get used to the difference. THEN go back to your old device and go from there.

The only reason i can see for using the fiio as dac with a smartphone or ipad is using a streaming service such as spotify, deezer or quobuz and wanting better sound quality (due to the better dac implementation of the x3 or the better amp of the x3).
I dont't own any android devices (apart from my tv). With the ipad3 I'm sometimes using the x3 via usb as dac/amp for spotify, depending on headphone. It works with a passive usb hub in between (the idevices are a bit fussy about usb power draw and this hub lies to the ipad, claiming the x3 consumes less power than it actually does).
It should in theory work with android too but would depend on android version and phone and power consumption.

 

[rivermivida]

The only reason i can see for using the fiio as dac with a smartphone or ipad is using a streaming service such as spotify, deezer or quobuz and wanting better sound quality (due to the better dac implementation of the x3 or the better amp of the x3).
I dont't own any android devices (apart from my tv). With the ipad3 I'm sometimes using the x3 via usb as dac/amp for spotify, depending on headphone. It works with a passive usb hub in between (the idevices are a bit fussy about usb power draw and this hub lies to the ipad, claiming the x3 consumes less power than it actually does).
It should in theory work with androud too but would depend on android version and phone and power consumption.

My utopic dream is/was to have a smartphone with a pro or semi pro media player qualityand features.

I know what you´re thinking......: "just dream on".

 

[gerelmx1986]

It depends very much on the headphone / dac/amp combination. The Fiio house sound used to be slightly warm with a good bass reproduction.
Fw 3.0 for the X3 had a relatively strong bass which matches well with headphones that lack a bit in bass, e g the Beoplay H6.
With Fw 3.2 the sound was changed to be a bit cleaner sounding (slightly less bass).
If you want an airier, cleaner sound the X3 with its Wolfson dac may not be the right dac playerfor you. The X1 sounds less warm than the X3 and I believe theX5 does as well.
Also the improvement in sound quality with cd quality or mp3 quality sources is not that large between a phone with a good audio quality such as an iphone4/4s and the X3 when using low impedance headphones. You profit more if you use say a 250 Ohm such as some of the Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser headphones.
I'm also considering upgrading in hope of achieving still better audio quality. I may try the x5 or the pono player in the future.

 
LOL bro I use ONLY FLAC, not crappy mp3's I odn't use my smartphone, as an audio devie, so my iphone is just the phone and internet browser nothing else, for videos my laptop
 
iPhone 4s good audio qyalty.. really? I listened to it using my audipphile grade MDR-1R using alac from a flac and the A17 the flac... iphone sounded rather bland and boring
 
Like @castleofargh i am an apple hater

 just because my sister gave me the iphone 4s for free i took it, otherwise smartphones are like 13,000 to 20,000 pesos here in mexico

 

[Clipster]

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.

 

[x RELIC x]

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.

Read the previous page or two. All talk about the power of the X3.

Or this

http://www.head-fi.org/t/651769/the-fiio-x3-thread/14520#post_11210330