[nmatheis]

Concensus reached then

danmlr never did say whether he eventually managed to volume match properly when he was testing   

Or, he's a bat :wink_face:

 

[danmlr]

Fair enough.
 
I thought the biggest difference was with the HO. Closer with the DAC and LO, but even there, I prefer the X5. 
 
I was pretty amped to receive the X3II--I wish I had liked it more. I sent it back at a loss with the restocking fee. 
 
I've gone through this many times before: finding something I REALLY like and then buying more stuff which didn't match up in performance. 
 
 
I'm considering an upgrade in my amp, from E6 to E12. I am hoping for a performance gain! My only niggling complaint with the E6 which I enjoy a heck of a lot, is that the volume steps are too large. Hopefully the E12 will solve that. I'm assuming there is a big increase in battery life as well. 

 

[x RELIC x]

Fair enough.

I thought the biggest difference was with the HO. Closer with the DAC and LO, but even there, I prefer the X5. 

I was pretty amped to receive the X3II--I wish I had liked it more. I sent it back at a loss with the restocking fee. 

I've gone through this many times before: finding something I REALLY like and then buying more stuff which didn't match up in performance. 


I'm considering an upgrade in my amp, from E6 to E12. I am hoping for a performance gain! My only niggling complaint with the E6 which I enjoy a heck of a lot, is that the volume steps are too large. Hopefully the E12 will solve that. I'm assuming there is a big increase in battery life as well. 

The e12 is insanely powerful so if you aren't needing to drive difficult headphones I recommend the e12A which would have much better volume control and many have reported preferring the sound over the original e12. Also, if you find the volume pot not sensitive enough with the e06 then the e12 will not likely solve your issue.

E12 has 12 hours battery time. The e12A has 20 hours battery time, which is how long the X5 will last when using line out.

Edit: By the way, the e12A is about the same output power as the X5 so you won't be getting much benefit from using the external amp besides whatever coloration the e12A brings to the mix, or if you like bass boost.

 

[JaZZ]

  Concensus reached then

 
I don't think so. To my ears the X3 II sounds better. Cleaner.
 
X5 II / X3 II > X5
 
This applies to the headphone out. Through the line out they're about equal.

 

[Brooko]

  I was underwhelmed with the X3II's sound quality. 
 
Some claim the X5 and X3II are close in SQ, but I didn't find that to be the case at all. The  X3II HO in particular is noticeably inferior to the X5. 

 
Here's what was quoted Jazz
 

  I don't think so. To my ears the X3 II sounds better. Cleaner.
X5 II / X3 II > X5
This applies to the headphone out. Through the line out they're about equal.

 
The consensus is that he was wrong. Are you saying you don't agree?

 

[JaZZ]

  Here's what was quoted Jazz
 
The consensus is that he was wrong. Are you saying you don't agree?

 
Kind of. The consensus was that they're similar in sound quality, with a sight advantage for the X5. For me that's not the case. It's the opposite, and the advantage is more than slight.

 

[Brooko]

We can agree then that the X3ii's H/O is not noticeably inferior - I think that was the consensus 

 

[JaZZ]

  We can agree then that the X3ii's H/O is not noticeably inferior - I think that was the consensus 

 
Ah, yes, we can agree on that.

But actually there's no need for a consensus. This is a discussion forum. And the sonic ideals are quite individual.

 

[PinkyPowers]

What's the difference between the X5 sleep mode and the X3ii sleep mode?

 

[JamesFiiO]

What's the difference between the X5 sleep mode and the X3ii sleep mode?

 
In X5, the sleep mode means it will turn off the power when the sleep time is off. in X3ii and X5ii, they will not turn off the power but will go into "sleep " mode, so when you press the power bottom it will go back to work immediatly. 

 

[mikaelmark]

   
I don't think so. To my ears the X3 II sounds better. Cleaner.
 
X5 II / X3 II > X5
 
This applies to the headphone out. Through the line out they're about equal.

FiiO stated X5 II will lower jitter and play all different frequencies better than X5, from 44,1 kHz to 192 kHz. Will this also be true when using line out from those players?
 
Also, they stated 40% higher voltage at high gain with X5 II. Would this be true with line out, and is there any noticeable difference? Earlier they telled low gain gives higher sound quality.

 

[JaZZ]

  FiiO stated X5 II will lower jitter and play all different frequencies better than X5, from 44,1 kHz to 192 kHz. Will this also be true when using line out from those players?
 
Also, they stated 40% higher voltage at high gain with X5 II. Would this be true with line out, and is there any noticeable difference? Earlier they telled low gain gives higher sound quality.

 
All I can tell is that to my ears the line outputs of all three players sound virtually the same. I tried to compare the sound of low and high gain on the X5 II and didn't come to a final conclusion if there's a difference or not. If there's one, i'ts probably one I don't have to care for, as it seems.

 

[PinkyPowers]

In X5, the sleep mode means it will turn off the power when the sleep time is off. in X3ii and X5ii, they will not turn off the power but will go into "sleep " mode, so when you press the power bottom it will go back to work immediatly. 

Thank you. I have enjoyed the X3ii sleep mode, and how quickly it comes back on. I shall miss this with the X5. At least it boots fast.

 

[Mr.Tom]

The X5 is the best! No, wait...the x3II is better, or is it the X5II? How about the X1? When I'm walking around with my Koss75's, I'd be hard pressed to hear any difference.
 
So the X5 is better? What headphones are you using? Whats the impedance of your headphones? this will make a bigger difference than that of the model player.
 
So you may all be correct when wearing your brand of headphone.

 

[danmlr]

The e12 is insanely powerful so if you aren't needing to drive difficult headphones I recommend the e12A which would have much better volume control and many have reported preferring the sound over the original e12. Also, if you find the volume pot not sensitive enough with the e06 then the e12 will not likely solve your issue.

E12 has 12 hours battery time. The e12A has 20 hours battery time, which is how long the X5 will last when using line out.

Edit: By the way, the e12A is about the same output power as the X5 so you won't be getting much benefit from using the external amp besides whatever coloration the e12A brings to the mix, or if you like bass boost.

 
Great info. Thanks! The E6 is a fantastic little amp, will stick with it for now.