Post by solderdude on Aug 9, 2013 11:46:18 GMT
My FiiO X3 arrived today.
Played with it a bit and seems to meet my expectations.
Sounds good and looks good.
Price is very fair/good for what's being offered (E 220.- in NL)
Way below that of any real competitors.
Would liked to have seen some useful EQ options (such as those from Rockbox) but you can't have it all.
Considering the X3 provides everything else I need it is not a deal-breaker for me.
Nice display and fortunately NO touch screen.
The buttons are arranged a bit non intuitive (I would say even awkward) but may only take a short time to get used to it. So far no luck with that (getting used to it) though.
X3 in it's silicone sleeve next to the Fuze in a silicone sleeve which the X3 has replaced as of today.
The Fuze will probably retire or may get used by other family members until the battery is completely depleted.
The display of the X3 is bigger and higher resolution when it comes to album art.
Operation in a pocket is easier with the X3 because to operate the Fuze's 'wheel' you need to take it out of your pocket.
Fuze is 'faster' to navigate, not electronically faster but in a operational way.
Both take about the same amount of time updating the library on the uSD card (16GB 2/3 full with correctly tagged 320kbs MP3).
Fuze may last somewhat longer with it's battery (when new), not really tested, and 10hrs is good enough for me.
X3 is MUCH more powerfull when it comes to driving headphones.
No stupid EU regulations on the FiiO, the Fuze you will have to 'trick' by stating the device is not used in Europe to get at least some volume out of it.
Sound quality with 320 MP3 is indistinguishable (to me) between them on equal volume but when things have to go a little louder the Fuze is limited where the X3 still has LOTS of headroom left. X3 can go a lot louder and can effortlessly drive high impedance headphones while for the Fuze you will need a separate amp.
FiiO is relatively 'new' in the market but comes up with a more and more impressive product line.
Also I really like the fact they respond to e-mails and act on them.
I can recommend players like the Sansa Fuze (and clip types) for the cheapest option to get excellent sound.
The FiiO X3 is 3 to 4 times more expensive but you get more player and higher performance for file types exceeding 44/16.
For it's price it is unrivalled and may be the cheapest route to optimal sound.
Sansa Fuze for those on a tighter budget and playing 48/16 files (max) where as the X3 can play files up to 192/24.
Both players are equally 'neutral' and flat in sound, the X3 has better specs (for what that's worth).
The audio signal path (for headphones) is as follows:
The WM8740 Wolfson DAC, which is no slouch is used in SE mode, meaning I think they do not make use of the balanced output of that DAC.
Also I don't think that using balanced out and separate SE conversion would increase performance significantly.
The analog output signal is routed via a buffer opamp ADxxxx to the line-out connector as well as fed into the volume control IC.
Volume (and tone control) is performed by the NJW1194 (I think).
The NJW1194 actually performs quite well and is preferred over digital volume control.
The output signal of the NJW1194 and is subsequently fed into an AD8397 power-opamp. A very wide bandwidth, low noise opamp that has high output current capabilities.
All are very well performing components.
Output resistance is very low (<0.3 Ohm) which is really nice when it is driving low impedance IEM's.
The output voltage swing is high enough (8Vpp = 2.8V) to drive low impedance headphones to high levels (250mW into 32 Ohm) and high impedance headphones to 'decent' levels 25mW in 300 Ohm). Your average HD650 will be able to reach 113dB SPL.
Played with it a bit and seems to meet my expectations.
Sounds good and looks good.
Price is very fair/good for what's being offered (E 220.- in NL)
Way below that of any real competitors.
Would liked to have seen some useful EQ options (such as those from Rockbox) but you can't have it all.
Considering the X3 provides everything else I need it is not a deal-breaker for me.
Nice display and fortunately NO touch screen.
The buttons are arranged a bit non intuitive (I would say even awkward) but may only take a short time to get used to it. So far no luck with that (getting used to it) though.
X3 in it's silicone sleeve next to the Fuze in a silicone sleeve which the X3 has replaced as of today.
The Fuze will probably retire or may get used by other family members until the battery is completely depleted.
The display of the X3 is bigger and higher resolution when it comes to album art.
Operation in a pocket is easier with the X3 because to operate the Fuze's 'wheel' you need to take it out of your pocket.
Fuze is 'faster' to navigate, not electronically faster but in a operational way.
Both take about the same amount of time updating the library on the uSD card (16GB 2/3 full with correctly tagged 320kbs MP3).
Fuze may last somewhat longer with it's battery (when new), not really tested, and 10hrs is good enough for me.
X3 is MUCH more powerfull when it comes to driving headphones.
No stupid EU regulations on the FiiO, the Fuze you will have to 'trick' by stating the device is not used in Europe to get at least some volume out of it.
Sound quality with 320 MP3 is indistinguishable (to me) between them on equal volume but when things have to go a little louder the Fuze is limited where the X3 still has LOTS of headroom left. X3 can go a lot louder and can effortlessly drive high impedance headphones while for the Fuze you will need a separate amp.
FiiO is relatively 'new' in the market but comes up with a more and more impressive product line.
Also I really like the fact they respond to e-mails and act on them.
I can recommend players like the Sansa Fuze (and clip types) for the cheapest option to get excellent sound.
The FiiO X3 is 3 to 4 times more expensive but you get more player and higher performance for file types exceeding 44/16.
For it's price it is unrivalled and may be the cheapest route to optimal sound.
Sansa Fuze for those on a tighter budget and playing 48/16 files (max) where as the X3 can play files up to 192/24.
Both players are equally 'neutral' and flat in sound, the X3 has better specs (for what that's worth).
The audio signal path (for headphones) is as follows:
The WM8740 Wolfson DAC, which is no slouch is used in SE mode, meaning I think they do not make use of the balanced output of that DAC.
Also I don't think that using balanced out and separate SE conversion would increase performance significantly.
The analog output signal is routed via a buffer opamp ADxxxx to the line-out connector as well as fed into the volume control IC.
Volume (and tone control) is performed by the NJW1194 (I think).
The NJW1194 actually performs quite well and is preferred over digital volume control.
The output signal of the NJW1194 and is subsequently fed into an AD8397 power-opamp. A very wide bandwidth, low noise opamp that has high output current capabilities.
All are very well performing components.
Output resistance is very low (<0.3 Ohm) which is really nice when it is driving low impedance IEM's.
The output voltage swing is high enough (8Vpp = 2.8V) to drive low impedance headphones to high levels (250mW into 32 Ohm) and high impedance headphones to 'decent' levels 25mW in 300 Ohm). Your average HD650 will be able to reach 113dB SPL.
