[dmehler]

@dmehler,

If your battery doesn’t last long and gets real hot, it is defective. Most likely an internal short. I would discontinue use ASAP.

The risk of fire with li-ion is very real. The electrolytic material they contain is extremely flammable. That’s why they catch fire and explode.

Li-ion batteries contain an extremely high energy density, which is both good and bad.

Thanks. The battery is the same size as the previous one, but I can't remember when I got it how long it lasted. To those of you with 2000 MAh batteries what settings do you use, with rockbox if you use it, and how long battery life should I be looking for? I used it today and it did not get hot. Perplexing, is there a way I can test it?

 

[Slater]

Thanks. The battery is the same size as the previous one, but I can't remember when I got it how long it lasted. To those of you with 2000 MAh batteries what settings do you use, with rockbox if you use it, and how long battery life should I be looking for? I used it today and it did not get hot. Perplexing, is there a way I can test it?

If you open the case, is the battery swollen, puffy, or bulging? It should be perfectly flat on both sides. If it’s puffy or bulging, the battery is bad.

 

[dmehler]

The battery is not puffy, swollen, or buldging.
With a full charge and under rockbox settings turning off the lcd screen for certain flashing events fast forward, and turning it down does seem to help.
Is there other stuff I can do?

 

[Slater]

The battery is not puffy, swollen, or buldging.
With a full charge and under rockbox settings turning off the lcd screen for certain flashing events fast forward, and turning it down does seem to help.
Is there other stuff I can do?

You mean to extend battery life?

A huge drain on battery is the OLED screen. Turning down the brightness as low as it will go is the easiest way to extend battery life. This was difficult when I had the stock tinted screen cover. After I swapped it it for a clear plastic screen cover, the screen was significantly brighter (which then allowed me to lower the brightness all the way and still see the screen easily).

 

[dmehler]

Yah, to extend battery life. I've got the brightness knocked down all the way and it is workable. Are there other things/settings I can do?

 

[funkymartyn]

Would you say that you use less power on headphone out where you can decrease volume a bit , compared to using line out which is full power ,?

 

[Slater]

Yah, to extend battery life. I've got the brightness knocked down all the way and it is workable. Are there other things/settings I can do?

Here’s some things you can do to maximize the battery life:

• Use the screen as little as possible
• lower the brightness
• lower the screen sleep time to a low number like 1 or 2 seconds
• don’t turn the volume up excessively
• use the line output instead of headphone output (as that disables the internal amplifier)
• Use the file and folder method of choosing music (not the database method), because when the database indexes/reindexes the database it’s keeping the CPU and RAM busy (sometime for quite a while).

But other than that, there’s no magic setting that says ‘make battery last longer’ or something.

There is a setting that allows you to use the controls without waking the screen up. It’s in the Rockbox settings somewhere. So for example, any button you press causes the screen to turn on. If you’re just changing the volume or skipping to the next track, there’s usually no need to activate the screen. This setting keeps the screen off anytime you use a music control button. But if you want the screen on (like to scroll through your music collection, I think you hit home or option or something). I don’t remember the setting off the top of my head, but if you poke around in display options you’ll find it.

If you do all of those things, you’re not going to double or triple your battery life or anything. But you’ll definitely get longer run times.

 

[funkymartyn]

Good to know the line output is better than headphone out.. Thanks for that.

 

[Slater]

Good to know the line output is better than headphone out.. Thanks for that.

Well, not necessarily better, just 2 different choices.

One uses the built in amplifier (and I think does some audio processing) and the other bypasses all that.

The X3 actually has a decent amp for such a small DAP, and there’s many times I use my X3 by itself and appreciate not having to lug around an external amp.

It depends on what you’re driving. Some gear needs amplification, while other gear had low enough sensitivity that it doesn’t need amplification (like 16ohm IEMs for example).

It’s kind of like gasoline with different octane. Some cars require high octane gas. Other cars don’t. You can use high octane gas in the cars that don’t need it, but it doesn’t really benefit much other than costing more money. The amplifier costs more heat and battery power, so if you don’t need it you can opt to not use it.

The LG V30 phone has something similar. An extra amplifier circuit that’s available when triggered by high impedance, and disabled when there’s low impedance. But obviously the amplifier uses more battery so it’s disabled by default on the V30.

 

[funkymartyn]

So which is better for battery saving....line out, or headphone out.....you lost me a bit. Lol..
What I have been doing so far is, using line out via a Y. Lead. 3.5mm from headphone into two rca into Hifi amp, using thevtime outputs, playing using the Hifi.....and its good.....
But I also have used grado headphones out from the headphone outputs at about volume 30.... Other time using line out into a stand alone speaker..where I could choose to use either outputs.

 

[Slater]

So which is better for battery saving....line out, or headphone out.....you lost me a bit. Lol..
What I have been doing so far is, using line out via a Y. Lead. 3.5mm from headphone into two rca into Hifi amp, using thevtime outputs, playing using the Hifi.....and its good.....
But I also have used grado headphones out from the headphone outputs at about volume 30.... Other time using line out into a stand alone speaker..where I could choose to use either outputs.

Headphone out uses amplifier. Amplifier uses battery.

Line out disables amplifier.

 

[funkymartyn]

Thanks for the info...shame I can't get a Gold one then I'd have one of each....but none to be found New.. Can only get another Black or Silver. Lol

 

[funkymartyn]

Portable headphone amps.....
Worth sticking in Line Out....?
Worth sticking in Headphone out ?

Line out I use yo go into hifi amp...could this cause trouble , as 2 amps...
Headphone out , sometime go to speaker.
And sometimes headphones HD 580. And grados. Grado are low impedance.

 

[EmPathWalker]

Portable headphone amps.....
Worth sticking in Line Out....?
Worth sticking in Headphone out ?

Line out I use yo go into hifi amp...could this cause trouble , as 2 amps...
Headphone out , sometime go to speaker.
And sometimes headphones HD 580. And grados. Grado are low impedance.

Line out is a high impedance, low power delivery circuit. You can't draw much power from a line out.

 

[Slater]

Portable headphone amps.....
Worth sticking in Line Out....?
Worth sticking in Headphone out ?

Line out I use yo go into hifi amp...could this cause trouble , as 2 amps...
Headphone out , sometime go to speaker.
And sometimes headphones HD 580. And grados. Grado are low impedance.

External amps should always be put on the line out.

If you put an external amp on the headphone out, it would get ‘double amped’ which will usually only add extra gain and distortion that is not desirable.