[WAV-4-my-X3]

What amp beneath the ipod ? .. and how about pairing that amp with the x3 ?

When I bought it in 2015, it was called a FiiO Kilimanjaro 2 E11K. Now I think it's called an A3 (on amazon).

 

[WAV-4-my-X3]

When I bought it in 2015, it was called a FiiO Kilimanjaro 2 E11K. Now I think it's called an A3 (on amazon).

Oops, sorry. And I never found the need to amp the X3. It seems to have quite enough power as is. But maybe I'll give that one more shot before announcing on here that I'd like to get rid of the X3.

Later - OMG. Okay, X3 stays. But you know what? Maybe my 48/16 and 48/24 FLAC files go.
I always compared my lossless FLAC on X3 to 320 AAC on the amped iPod, and consistently found the iPod to be as good as lossless. But now... I just listened to an mp3 (yes, mp3) on FW 2.1 (which I've always preferred) on an AMPED X3 and wow. I hate to say X3 "sounded as good as the iPod," but it's true.
So. Maybe I'll "shelve" my tons of FLAC and handful of Apple Lossless files, convert them to 320 AAC, and just amp my X3. And it seems to be handling a 256 GB card, so, damn, all of my recorded music (vinyl rips) on there.

p.s. Still not liking FW 3.4 final firmware much, but that's just a personal choice.

 

[Mmet]

Oops, sorry. And I never found the need to amp the X3. It seems to have quite enough power as is. But maybe I'll give that one more shot before announcing on here that I'd like to get rid of the X3.

Later - OMG. Okay, X3 stays. But you know what? Maybe my 48/16 and 48/24 FLAC files go.
I always compared my lossless FLAC on X3 to 320 AAC on the amped iPod, and consistently found the iPod to be as good as lossless. But now... I just listened to an mp3 (yes, mp3) on FW 2.1 (which I've always preferred) on an AMPED X3 and wow. I hate to say X3 "sounded as good as the iPod," but it's true.
So. Maybe I'll "shelve" my tons of FLAC and handful of Apple Lossless files, convert them to 320 AAC, and just amp my X3. And it seems to be handling a 256 GB card, so, damn, all of my recorded music (vinyl rips) on there.

p.s. Still not liking FW 3.4 final firmware much, but that's just a personal choice.

Thanks for the reply.. as if i were you i would do 2 things :
give the X3 better amp it totally deserve it ( i had fiio amp as yours for some time before and replaced it with RSA the predator ) believe me .. you wont go back nor forward to anything else

And i would give the 3.4 fw a second chance and some time to get adapted to it

 

[WAV-4-my-X3]

Thanks for the reply.. as if i were you i would do 2 things :
give the X3 better amp it totally deserve it ( i had fiio amp as yours for some time before and replaced it with RSA the predator ) believe me .. you wont go back nor forward to anything else

And i would give the 3.4 fw a second chance and some time to get adapted to it

Yeah, I think the amp is here to stay, and I'm prepared to upgrade it when/if I need to.
And yes, I'll give 3.4 another chance.
Thanks, Mmet!

 

[WAV-4-my-X3]

*crickets*
tumbleweeds...
Where is everybody?
Happy New Year!
Today I discovered how much of a difference it makes in my truck to have the Custom EQ set at not 0 in the middle, but the -6 at the bottom. Wow.

 

[Mmet]

*crickets*
tumbleweeds...
Where is everybody?
Happy New Year!
Today I discovered how much of a difference it makes in my truck to have the Custom EQ set at not 0 in the middle, but the -6 at the bottom. Wow.

How does it sound ? .. what turns me off from the custom eq is a weird bug .. each time i turn on the player the eq is not active despite activating it before turning off ! .. and i have to go to setting and activate it again every time i turn the player on.. which is unintuitive

 

[Mr Trev]

*crickets*
tumbleweeds...
Where is everybody?
Happy New Year!
Today I discovered how much of a difference it makes in my truck to have the Custom EQ set at not 0 in the middle, but the -6 at the bottom. Wow.

How so? You using it as a source from the line out? If that's the case then it might be that the X3 is overdriving whatever it's plugged into - the X3 does have a much higher line out level than most other portables. Enabling the EQ will lower the output by default, so keeping it at 0 should be enough to avoid clipping and such

How does it sound ? .. what turns me off from the custom eq is a weird bug .. each time i turn on the player the eq is not active despite activating it before turning off ! .. and i have to go to setting and activate it again every time i turn the player on.. which is unintuitive

What firmware are you using? IIRC, my EQ never gets deactivated - even when I let the battery die

 

[WAV-4-my-X3]

How does it sound ? .. what turns me off from the custom eq is a weird bug .. each time i turn on the player the eq is not active despite activating it before turning off ! .. and i have to go to setting and activate it again every time i turn the player on.. which is unintuitive

Yes, this is using the line out from X3 to an interface I have in my vehicle. EQ set at 0 sounded a little too distorted, but -6 sounds great.
Nice and clean and perfect with the Custom EQ on and levels set at -6. And it seems to stay on until I turn it off, even if I power off the player, which I do a few times on a shopping jaunt. When I get home and I want to resume headphone listening, I turn it back to EQ off. Not once has it just decided to turn the EQ off.
I'm excited about this, because before, I would put on FW 2.1 if I was going to run around in the truck, because it sounded better than 3.4 (even with EQ on and levels set at 0). Huge hassle, of course.
I'll be using FW 3.4 all the time now, headphones or vehicle. My only adjustment will be turning the EQ on or off. "Custom" also seems to hold at -6, where I put it.
(This is playing 48/16 and 48/24 FLAC files of vinyl rips, which is about all I listen to.)

 

[Mmet]

What firmware are you using? IIRC, my EQ never gets deactivated - even when I let the battery die

The latest 3.4

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

How so? You using it as a source from the line out? If that's the case then it might be that the X3 is overdriving whatever it's plugged into - the X3 does have a much higher line out level than most other portables. Enabling the EQ will lower the output by default, so keeping it at 0 should be enough to avoid clipping and such

What firmware are you using? IIRC, my EQ never gets deactivated - even when I let the battery die

I've always had to do this too. Every time I have the EQ on and turn the unit off, when it turns back on, it says it is on whereever you left it (e.g, EQ rock), but in actual fact, it is off, and to turn it back on, you need to cycle all the way back to off and then back to the EQ you want to activate it. It is just a habit I've got into having to do every time. I think this wasn't an issue with some earlier firmwares that had the software EQ. I'm not 100% sure if this issue also occures with the line out though which is the output that I think you said before that you mainly use.

 

[Mr Trev]

I've always had to do this too. Every time I have the EQ on and turn the unit off, when it turns back on, it says it is on whereever you left it (e.g, EQ rock), but in actual fact, it is off, and to turn it back on, you need to cycle all the way back to off and then back to the EQ you want to activate it. It is just a habit I've got into having to do every time. I think this wasn't an issue with some earlier firmwares that had the software EQ. I'm not 100% sure if this issue also occures with the line out though which is the output that I think you said before that you mainly use.

Interesting. I just see the "EQ" on screen and assume it's working. Never thought to actually toggle it to see if it's doing it's thing. 98% of the time I am using the line out into devices that can easily handle the 2.whatever volts the LO uses, so I'd probably never hear any distortion/clipping anyways (I also just use a flat EQ - basically just using it for pre-cut purposes, just in case)

 

[Mmet]

I've always had to do this too. Every time I have the EQ on and turn the unit off, when it turns back on, it says it is on whereever you left it (e.g, EQ rock), but in actual fact, it is off, and to turn it back on, you need to cycle all the way back to off and then back to the EQ you want to activate it. It is just a habit I've got into having to do every time. I think this wasn't an issue with some earlier firmwares that had the software EQ. I'm not 100% sure if this issue also occures with the line out though which is the output that I think you said before that you mainly use.

Yes ..exactly what i mean in my case ...
Letting that bug subject beside .. i wished if there is a shortcut for eq in the quick menu ... Because giving that software eq a chance .. i am loving it sooo much ..
I mean even just enabling it on flat .. it is doing something to the sound .. like a dsp activated or something ..it changes the representation and imagining of instruments for the better ... Like when it is off you are getting the Raw sound of the device ( which still enjoy so much ) .. on : you get the filtered version of it or so.. may be ? And it is not a volume difference thing i think

 

[Mr Trev]

It'd be beyond awesome if some gear geek took a crack at further optimizing the firmware - sort of like what MrWalkman has been doing with the Sony firmware (great job BTW). Iron out all the wrinkles Fiio left behind

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

The EQ reset after rebooting and the quick menu return glitch are the only things that annoy me about the X3. I bought a 2nd hand X3II, but I still chose to use the original pretty much all the time.

 

[WAV-4-my-X3]

No idea on Peti's problem.
But I do have a question. Through the years everyone has stated preferences on firmware, sound quality tweaks, etc. But I've always wondered what exactly they're listening to. Which format do you listen to? What source? Downloaded MP3? AAC from iTunes? AAC ripped from CD? FLAC ripped from CD? FLAC or ALAC from vinyl rips? WAV or AIFF?
Thank you tons.