Post by Rabbit on Jul 29, 2016 12:22:25 GMT
The Fiio M3 is being sold at around £49 so it's a pretty cheap player. I have one now for my USA trip since I don't want to be carrying anything heavy in my shorts pockets or have anything expensive to be nicked. I also bought an armband to carry it on so it's pretty portable.
First sight ....
Very small and neat. Buttons are proper push type rather than touch sensitive types. Facia is just plastic which will show fingerprints. Body is pretty hard? Can't really complain at that price.
The earbuds with it are barely adequate but fine for a beach. They are a bit IPod looking in white. They lack bass and real definition, but in the hotel, I'll have something better on it and then it actually sounds good.
Battery life is quite impressive for a tiny unit. It plays FLAC as well which is nice. Surprise, surprise ..... It plays 128gb cards so is doing better than their literature suggests. They quote 64gb as tops. Well, I'm delighted that I will be able to use my bigger cards, so take a massive library with me.
Screen isn't fantastically bright, so I might have to hide my head from the sun to see it in Florida. Menu system is basic as is normal for Fiio but works fine. One interesting thing is that you have two ways to access menu items. Short press for selecting music etc, long press to access settings. Easily missed.
As soon as you change card, it does a scan. You can't stop it. However, it doesn't take too long even with 128gb thank goodness.
It's not as powerful as the X series in terms of volume, but it sounds pretty good to me. No line out. Nothing fancy but a great alternative to the Sandisk players IMO. It works well and is going to be the only player that I take with me since it reads big cards and also for the security aspects.
I have read threads elsewhere on the player with people getting into all kinds of difficulties with their files and playlists, but tbh, it's been flawless for me so far. I think perhaps that some are trying to treat it as though it's some kind of high end unit, which it isn't. I have two 128gb cards that it reads easily and FLAC, WAV and MP3. Noise floor is slightly higher than the X3 or X5 but nothing drastic. if you use 32ohm headphones, noise is really not an issue and certainly with an amp, s/n ration is perfectly fine with the volume on the unit up and the amp reducing it.
The armband I got is great and takes it out of your pocket and under you shirt sleeve. Wire for headphones can then be threaded through your shirt. This makes it a really portable player, not even needing to be in your pocket or a bag. The band is worth getting and makes more sense with a player that's so small.
question most will ask .... Is it better than the Clip Zip which has a clip on the back for your belt. I like the Zip arrangement as well, but the big draw for me was the fact that it accepts much bigger cards and the scanning is massively faster than the Zip. Screen is also much better so imo, I'd now go for an M3 if I was looking for a tiny unit for real portable use.
A great buy.
First sight ....
Very small and neat. Buttons are proper push type rather than touch sensitive types. Facia is just plastic which will show fingerprints. Body is pretty hard? Can't really complain at that price.
The earbuds with it are barely adequate but fine for a beach. They are a bit IPod looking in white. They lack bass and real definition, but in the hotel, I'll have something better on it and then it actually sounds good.
Battery life is quite impressive for a tiny unit. It plays FLAC as well which is nice. Surprise, surprise ..... It plays 128gb cards so is doing better than their literature suggests. They quote 64gb as tops. Well, I'm delighted that I will be able to use my bigger cards, so take a massive library with me.
Screen isn't fantastically bright, so I might have to hide my head from the sun to see it in Florida. Menu system is basic as is normal for Fiio but works fine. One interesting thing is that you have two ways to access menu items. Short press for selecting music etc, long press to access settings. Easily missed.
As soon as you change card, it does a scan. You can't stop it. However, it doesn't take too long even with 128gb thank goodness.
It's not as powerful as the X series in terms of volume, but it sounds pretty good to me. No line out. Nothing fancy but a great alternative to the Sandisk players IMO. It works well and is going to be the only player that I take with me since it reads big cards and also for the security aspects.
I have read threads elsewhere on the player with people getting into all kinds of difficulties with their files and playlists, but tbh, it's been flawless for me so far. I think perhaps that some are trying to treat it as though it's some kind of high end unit, which it isn't. I have two 128gb cards that it reads easily and FLAC, WAV and MP3. Noise floor is slightly higher than the X3 or X5 but nothing drastic. if you use 32ohm headphones, noise is really not an issue and certainly with an amp, s/n ration is perfectly fine with the volume on the unit up and the amp reducing it.
The armband I got is great and takes it out of your pocket and under you shirt sleeve. Wire for headphones can then be threaded through your shirt. This makes it a really portable player, not even needing to be in your pocket or a bag. The band is worth getting and makes more sense with a player that's so small.
question most will ask .... Is it better than the Clip Zip which has a clip on the back for your belt. I like the Zip arrangement as well, but the big draw for me was the fact that it accepts much bigger cards and the scanning is massively faster than the Zip. Screen is also much better so imo, I'd now go for an M3 if I was looking for a tiny unit for real portable use.
A great buy.