[F900EX]

ClieOS posted this quote many moons ago and I think lot's of people in this thread seem to forget this.
 
 "it is not an audiophiles player like HifiMan or ColorFly, it is a mass consumer level product with a few added audiophiles' feature. So user friendly is one of the main design goal, not be-all-end-all SQ. This has always been FiiO's philosophy regarding their own products"

 

[Oof Oink]

"it is not an audiophiles player like HifiMan or ColorFly, it is a mass consumer level product with a few added audiophiles' feature. So user friendly is one of the main design goal, not be-all-end-all SQ. This has always been FiiO's philosophy regarding their own products"

That may very well be true for the X3, but I'd hardly consider it a generalization. How many mass consumers are familiar with, and/or utilize external amplifiers or DAC's? I'd say FiiO caters far more to the audiophile(s), than not. Albeit, I'd love to see them become a household name among the consumer market, at large.

 

[Oof Oink]

By the way, my message only pertains to that last bit, which states, "This has always been FiiO's philosophy regarding their own products."

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

From the first post in this thread....
 
 
 
J3 output power is 29mW per channel@16 ohms. 
 
I forgot the J3 power rating was 29 per channel  
 So it might be only about five times the power.....I don't know if the X3's 300mW is both channels or just one.

 
Probably both channels, thanks to the internal 300mA buffer of AD8397.
 
 
Quote:

ClieOS:
Did you hear any high pitch "CPU noise" from X3? There is no indication that there would be, but I would like to make sure.
My Rockboxed Sansa Clip+ has "CPU noise" when: 1) switching between albums; 2) playing SOME (but not all) 24/96 high resolution flac songs (no noise with 16bit flac, and those "noisy" 24/96 flac songs do not produce noise on computer [with or without transcoding]).
Thank you in advance for your comments.

 
No noise or hiss I can detect so far, even with the most hiss prone IEM I have, the SE530. This applies to both 16/44.1 high bitrate mp3 and wma, as well as 24/96 FLAC, during normal playback, screen on/off, changing menu, switching tracks / album, on internal memory and TF card. The only hiss I can detect is the background hiss recorded inside the quiet passage of some music. In other words, I think it is almost noise free, or the SNR must be excellent.
 
Quote:

In term of SQ (good separation & detail) , how does X3 compare to:
 
1) Colorfly C3
2) HiSound RoCoo P
3) HiSound Studio V

I only heard RoCoo P before, and X3 is overall a better DAP - easier to navigate and control, just as (if not more) powerful, much less noise, and better sounding (though not by a lot).
 
Quote:

ClieOS, thank you for all your answers and impressions, thus far. I have but one primary concern, with regards to the X3, and that's audible hiss with particularly sensitive IEM's. It's the one reason I always dreaded my experience with HiSoundAudio. So, if you wouldn't mind me asking, does the X3 exhibit audible hiss? I'm assuming that most any source will exhibit hiss at moderately high volume levels (as has been my experience with even the better sources I've owned), but I'm just trying get a better idea of how well the X3 performs in that department. Thank you in advance.

Answered above.

 

[ClieOS]

Oh, it also doesn't have any 'click and pop' during start-up as it has a relay inside, like the one in E12.

 

[Oof Oink]

Thank you so much, ClieOS. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear.

 

[turokrocks]

Quote:

Personally, I'll be shocked if the X3 outshines the J3 in the SQ department.  I think the J3 WOULD be lifeless without Jeteffect 3.0 and BBE+, IMO this is what really makes the J3 worth it, using JE3.0 and BBE (personal taste) it's the difference between day and night. 
 
The other thing ( for me ) that comes to mind, is when someone mentions FiiO, I think, good company, good CEO, good prices, the products I've owned from them I have been happy with, but I have never been Wowed by them.   I'm sure some people will think that I am forgetting about the price your paying,   This might be true, but I own other products that were in the same price point and my expectations were surpassed, Blox would be a good example and even the Cowon J3.
 
Maybe I'm wrong but it would seem that FiiO are relying on the hardware to bring out the sound from the X3. And if that's the case, I don't feel that will be enough for the X3 to be a J3 killer, it maybe a little unfair for me to say this, but I guess I am going on from past experience from other audio products ... Plus going from the endless 60hrs of battery life to 10hr-15hrs at best might be an issue for me.
 
 
So when lol turokrocks states that the J3 will sound "Lifeless" compared to the X3......
 
You don't know how much I want to get excited, but experience tells me, let's just wait and see or hear in this case

I have/had many DAPS, including the J3, and if I wanted to arrange them from top (best) to bottom, the J3 is the last....
 
The T51 easily outshines it in SQ by a big margin, and from what I can tell by ClieOS updates, logic dictates X3 will  also better it.
 
The only department that J3 outshines others is the 53+ battery life....that's it. It was a "sup_bar" dap, with a nice UI, but as I mentioned , it was lacking everything, and I am talking in Hardware wise SQ, with all the BBE and Jet-effect, it will "Cheat" and make the sound "Better" for some, but not for me, as it made mu music (flac) artificial, which I did not like.
 
As you said, we should hear at the end...and then decide....

 

[gigtcj]

i am very excited that this will be out on the market soon. i have been waiting for a player like this for a good while.

 

[Carlsan]

Quote:

I have/had many DAPS, including the J3, and if I wanted to arrange them from top (best) to bottom, the J3 is the last....
 
The T51 easily outshines it in SQ by a big margin, and from what I can tell by ClieOS updates, logic dictates X3 will  also better it.
 
The only department that J3 outshines others is the 53+ battery life....that's it. It was a "sup_bar" dap, with a nice UI, but as I mentioned , it was lacking everything, and I am talking in Hardware wise SQ, with all the BBE and Jet-effect, it will "Cheat" and make the sound "Better" for some, but not for me, as it made mu music (flac) artificial, which I did not like.
 
As you said, we should hear at the end...and then decide....

 
Agree with your last statement but I too have had a number of DAP's and the J3 has been my favorite for years. The BBE/Jet-effect may be "cheating" but it made the DAP really shine. Does it really matter if it's software or hardware that makes something sound special? In the end it's the SQ that matters, and I always got an excellent SQ with the J3. I should add that I also have the Z2 with the same software, and that one does not have as good a sound.
 That said, we all hear differently.
 
On another note, many of the "audiophile" hardware DAP's that we have seen in recent years have terrible UI's. They sound good but are hard to navigate and so not so easy to use on a day to day basis. 
 
 
And I am also very much looking forward to the X3 as my J3 could use a decent replacement. 

 

[mikeyb48]

Hi,

Becoming more and more difficult to hold off on buying a new DAP as I want to replace an iPod Touch with the X3, but Amazon keeps tempting me back for a browse every day lol.

Mike.

 

[turokrocks]

Quote:

Hi,

Becoming more and more difficult to hold off on buying a new DAP as I want to replace an iPod Touch with the X3, but Amazon keeps tempting me back for a browse every day lol.

Mike.

Use the force Mike...come to the other side..

...Fortune favors the bold.

 

[mikeyb48]

"Use the force Mike...come to the other side.....Fortune favors the bold."


Hi,

Attracted to the dark side am I lol.

Will wait and see if any arrive in the UK.

Mike.

 

[dissembled]

Is there a dynamic normalizer built in? Always loved that feature in my Sony DAP. Secondly, I'm guessing the player and micro SD card are detected as removable drives in Windows when connected? There's no need for third party software to transfer music, correct?
 
I've also noticed that there's My Favorites listed in the menu screen. Does that describe the on-the-go playlist on the player? Do you know how the maximum amount of songs the playlist can hold?
 
Lastly, can you delete songs directly on the player (similar to the Sansa Clips)?

Thank you in advance.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Is there a dynamic normalizer built in? Always loved that feature in my Sony DAP.

 
Shouldn't you normalize when ripping? It's not perfect but it prevents a shocking blast when you go from a Telarc to a Sony BMG.
 
Quote:

Secondly, I'm guessing the player and micro SD card are detected as removable drives in Windows when connected? There's no need for third party software to transfer music, correct?

 
Rest assured that's one of the reasons (apart from price and bulk) that would make people get this over an iTouch and an iDevice-compatible DAC. Although if I had this, I'd probably not hook up the player since the microSD card doesn't require me to pry a hardcase off then open the battery door (as you would on Android phones).

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Is there a dynamic normalizer built in?

No.
 
Quote:

Secondly, I'm guessing the player and micro SD card are detected as removable drives in Windows when connected? There's no need for third party software to transfer music, correct?
 

 
Yes, not driver need for OS as it will detected as removable drive. However, it will be smart to have some kind of software to mange and sync music because ID3 tag reading isn't perfect on X3. A good music managing software will put all the music in the correctly named folder and makes browsing much easier. I use Media Monkey personally.
 
Quote:

 
I've also noticed that there's My Favorites listed in the menu screen. Does that describe the on-the-go playlist on the player? Do you know how the maximum amount of songs the playlist can hold?
 

Yes, you can add / delete songs to the Favourite list. No, I don't know how many songs it can hold.
 
Quote:

Lastly, can you delete songs directly on the player (similar to the Sansa Clips)?
 

No.