I gathered from reading that I really need to get RockBox on this if I get this player? What do I give up by doing this and what do I gain? Does the stock firmware really not support resuming at the location of a stopped song?
Its almost 2018,should I just look elsewhere?
You don't really give up anything, and you gain more than can even be explained in a few sentences.
The X3 is a great player for it's price - has low noise, drives pretty much all gear you'll throw at it, it sounds great, it's relatively small, has dual card slots, lock switch, great battery life, and many other features.
Now that I have experienced the power of Rockbox, I will never go back. Unless something completely game changing comes along, I will ONLY buy DAPs that support Rockbox. I love Rockbox on my Sansa Clip+, xduoo X3, and iPod Classic.
Now, keep in mind that the limitations (or cons as you will) are more for the X3 and have nothing to do with Rockbox - for example, monochromatic screen, no bluetooth/aptx, no Android, no DAC, no balanced amplification, no optical output. It also has a tinted screen cover that is difficult to see in sunlight (however there is a simple mod that totally corrects this and it only costs a few dollars).
I guess if I HAD to list a 'con' of Rockbox, it's that it can be a little bit intimidating and 1st. It's sooo powerful and there's sooo many options and features that you can play with. They have an excellent Wiki and online manuals though, and I wrote a short guide on exactly what sound settings to set (for those that don't feel like reading through the manual and learning what all of the advanced settings do).
I'll tell you, I have learned so much about this hobby by installing and playing with Rockbox. So many topics to learn about and explore, and you can do a lot of it right in the palm of your hands. The custom EQ profiles are worth it alone.
