FiiO X3-II High Resolution Music Player (2nd Generation)

The FiiO X3 (2nd Generation) has been the best purchase I have made in a long time. As a HUGE music enthusiast, I spent days looking for the highest quality alternative to mp3 players and iPods in addition to better quality speakers and headphones that I can afford. My problem is I am always on a budget, so I can't spend hundreds of dollars (most often unnecessarily as some audiophiles do). I wanted something better; something awesome to play higher resolution audio and to truly improve my listening experience overall. In our days where highly compressed audio is the norm, I stand against the ways things have become. Have you ever watched a DVD in a Blu-ray player? Get my point? Anyway, my point is higher resolution sounds better with the right equipment, and the X3 is an excellent choice, and not even just for FLAC files. MP3s also sound better with this wonderful little device. The X3 is the ANSWER to all of the above. It sounds AMAZING. Progressive Metal/Rock and my older 80's and 90's albums have never sounded so good. I haven't felt this excited about listening to music since I was 14 years old and I ran to Newbury Comics to buy the latest CD releases and would sit down in front of my stereo and make mixed tapes, and later CDs. I'll end this review with a quick list of Pros and 1 Con. Pros: The X3's built is beautiful (high quality aluminium alloy). When you hold it, it feels well-made. The sound stage is fantastic. You get the highs, the lows, and all in between. The vocals and bass are so clear. This is the way music should be heard. Give "Welcome to the Machine" by Pink Floyd a spin in this, and you'll see for yourself. Simply wonderful listening experiencing. I sometimes don't want to stop listening. Oh, and the storage capacity (microSD card only) is up to 128 G. I bought a 64 G microSD on Amazon for $23! Can't go wrong here. For $199.99 plus the cheaper cost of an SD card, the X3 is SO WORTH IT, and better than any iPod or other mp3 player up to the $500 price range. Con: The UI could be a bit more convenient and the display is not as great. With a little creativity, you could get around this since the file management is your PC's or Mac's. Bottom line of this long review: Buy this beautiful DAP with a GOOD set of headphones (not IPod buds or some basic set). You won't regret it. I absolutely love mine!

This is by far one of the best sounding DAPs I've ever listened to. For my budget it met every expectation possible, not only that but I've never actually personally owned a DSD decoder so being able to listen to those files on demand especially while working is a great luxury. I have sampled a lot of formats at this point, if your collection consists of a lot of high quality FLAC you're going to love it, although it still brings new life into my lossy formats as well. For frame of reference, my testing equipment has consisted of Sennheiser Momentums, as well as the coax and line out outputs. All work flawlessly and have warm clear sound. I would be hesitant to say that it is capable of driving larger cans, the output of the X3ii is 200mw <(200mW'@32''224mW'@16''24mW (@300') according to ea audio uk>. For my purposes this is more than sufficient, you can argue about output and impedance all day for all I care, I know what I hear and for what I'm looking for this is perfect. I listen between 74/120 volume to 88/120 volume depending on mastering and its plenty loud with 9.5/10 accurate sound reproduction. I still would like to try it with a headphone amp like the MontBlanc, but I don't really have any desire to upgrade and sacrifice portability. The EQ is pretty good for what it is, although I tend to leave it off and let the individual mastering of the track speak for itself. The Momentums are good for this purpose, however I did encounter overly bright mids in a few tracks (probably due to mastering or vinyl reproduction errors) which I was able to EQ out and it sounded better. Technically its no longer an accurate reproduction of the high fidelity track if you're EQing it. I think though that's what I enjoy most about this player, it has very serious aspects yet remains absolutely practical and most importantly simple to use and enjoyable. Included in the box is a silicon glove style case, three protective wrap cases, and two extra screen protectors. Mine is resting in the accessory clear case, however for most the included silicon is probably sufficient. I really hope I didn't get a clone from Amazon, I'll be returning if I did, but the build quality is the only place where I would possibly say its lacking, and when I say lacking I mean in Quality Control not design or production. One button on my X3ii is not the same as the rest on the face, it does not press as accurately or as well and seems a bit ajar. Scroll wheel center button slides around. My biggest gripe is the USB port. Using the included USB cable I have copied files from my computer, rather than just using my micro SD card reader. Don't ask me why, just thought it would be as efficient. I was dead wrong. Copy speed bottlenecks at around 3-5 mb/s, as well as several of my high quality lossless files had a bunch of data missing when compared to the source file. This really concerns me, if data is being lost over USB then my sense is that using it as a DAC (which I have yet to do, will report back when I have) could potentially suffer from signal loss. This very well could be the USB cable, or worse the USB port, the cable was supplied so I was inclined to trust it. From now on I'm just going to transfer directly to the microsd from the card reader. All in all, TLDR: sound quality is really good, I've found it perfect for my needs and spent a lot of time looking around. Be advised of output and have realistic expectations. There are several alternatives that are at least worth looking at, iBasso, HiDiz, Astell and Kern, as well as the FiiO x5 and x5ii (to be released next week at time of writing). I speak not out of actual listening experience with most of these devices, but with my own research and personal listening tests of Astell Kern products as well as Apple, FiiO, and Sony.

I want a simple, good-sounding portable music device that includes a micro-SD card in its design. Also, I really do not want to spend more than a coupla hundred bucks. I read the reviews, and opted for the X3-II. the item arrived swiftly, I then took steps to put it to use; I charged it up, then slapped a 128GB micro SD card into it, loaded it up with tons of WAVs (using WMP), and plugged it in (via the line-out into a Y cable) into the digital input of my integrated amplifier. Yes the UI is truly clunky, but who cares- it sounded great! I listened to it for a few hours and I knew that I could really like this thing. Later that night, I tested it with headphones. The headphone jack was faulty; one channel was loud and clear, but the other would flicker in and out if I jiggled the base of the wire. From my experience with a few digital music players, this is generally the Achilles' Heel of such devices. But Damn! Straight off the Shelf?!?!? Well, I am a forgiving person, and I do believe that everybody deserves a second chance. And I am a sucker, so I returned it, and bought another one. The second X3 arrived, I charged, synced, and loaded it; I then went straight to the headphones. Again the headphone jack proved to be faulty. I read the reviews, and this is generally a well-liked device. So either I have had the most uncanny misfortune, or there is a pattern here. I suspect that on both occasions, I was sold returned merchandise, despite the fact that it was not advertised as such. I give it two stars. The UI sucks, but is good enough, and it sounds really nice. But what good is that if it is shoddy and malfunctioning?

Esta muy bueno apenas lo puse a unas bocina bose teatro con cable coaxial y woowww que poder en tan solo un pedazo.

This is my second fiio player. i have the X1 and I bought this player for the DSD support. Like the X1, the X3 is almost the same size and the all metal build is really good. Fiio has thoughtfully included lot of accessories in the box itself. Screen protectors, usb cable, coaxial line out cable are all included along with three customizing stickers. The sound of the X3 is better than the X1, at least that is what I feel. I have tested the X1 and X3 with the same headphone amplifier (TEAC HA-P50) and Bowers And Wilkins P3 and the X3 sounded more bright and clean. X3 has a deep sleep feature which is very useful. The X3 just goes into hibernation 9 if I can call it that) if unattended unlike previous models which would shut down totally. The X3 is a perfect balance of build, sound, price and performance. The X5 is there for those who want to pay that extra bit, but for me the X3 is perfect and maybe if I upgrade, I will go for the X7 when it comes out. Right now, the X3 is taking care of my need for good sound on the go perfectly.

Ce petit lecteur audio offre un excellent rapport qualité prix, pour l'audiophile qui désire une qualité supérieure au MP3 traditionnel. Points forts : Boîtier ergonomique et bonne prise en main. Sortie audio analogique, pour connexion vers ampli analogique (prévoir un cordon stéréo jack 3,5 vers RCA) Sortie numérique coaxiale (via cordon adaptateur jack 3,5 vers coaxial fourni) Sortie casque (via jack 3,5) Support des formats Lossless Flac jusqu'à 192khz/24 bit Son de haute qualité Reconnu comme disque Usb par un ordinateur (stockage des fichiers audio) Nombreux réglages Mise à jour rapide de la banque de fichiers Points faibles : Ecran petit, et pas très lisible au soleil Je ne regrette pas du tout cet achat, ce produit me sert en voiture, et à la maison sur mon ampli numérique Hifi.

Kürzlich bin ich in einer Fachzeitschrift auf einen High-Res-Player-Test (Gerätepreise von 430 bis 900 Euro) aufmerksam geworden. Erneut habe ich mir die Frage gestellt, ob im mobilen Einsatz die Klangunterschiede tatsächlich im Vergleich zu mp3-Aufnahmen groß ausfallen könnten. Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage habe ich mir den FiiO X3 II zugelegt, der binnen 2 Tagen geliefert wurde und in mein Budget über ca. 250-300 Euro passte. + POSITIV > Klangverbesserung auch bei mp3, deutlich verbesserter Klang mit flac oder wav Formaten gegenüber "Apfel & Co" > massives qualitativ sehr gutes Gerät mit ansprechendem Design > relativ unkomplizierte Bedienung mit gut funktionierendem Dreh-Rad (letzteres ab Firmware 1.3) > recht hohe Leistungsreserven am Kopfhörerausgang ohne Lautstärkebegrenzung > Coax und Line-Out an zweitem Kombiausgang mit sehr guter Qualität nutzbar, Adapter anbei > unproblematische Übertragung der Audiodateien ohne eines Hilfsprogrammes wie z.B. iTunes etc. > Abspielen von Ordnern und Dateien in einer selbst geordneten Folge möglich > Detailauflösung der Musik besonders bei mittleren und höheren Frequenzen deutlich besser als jedes mp3 Format, der Bass etwas weniger aber dafür präziser > leicht wechselbarer Speicher über mico-sd bis 128 GB > hat gegenüber dem X1 einen besseren DAC von Wolfson (X1: Texas Inst.) > ist kompakter als der X5 und daher für den mobilen Einsatz besser geeignet > der Hersteller-Service ist löblich, man ist sich nicht zu schade, neue Firmware zur Verfügung zu stellen, die kleine Unzulänglichkeiten der Steuerung verbessert bzw. beseitigt O NEUTRAL > das Display ist nicht sonderlich groß, die Schrift ebenfalls > Kombi-USB-Micro-Eingang zum Aufladen und für die Dateiübertragung, USB auf Micro USB-Kabel anbei > der Akku kann nicht selbst getauscht werden > es ist kein USB Ladegerät / kein Kopfhörer dabei (letzteres kann man jedoch nicht erwarten) > die Klangausrichtung begünstigt eher das mittlere Frequenzband, "man möchte es scheinbar möglichst vielen Hörern recht machen" > die räumliche Darstellung ist nicht die Stärke des X3, die Detaildarstellung ist hingegen sehr gut > ein 10 Band EQ (Equalizer) ist vorhanden und deaktivierbar, an meinem Kopfhörer sowie am Coax ergab sich mit EQ keine Klangverbesserung > der X3 II hat keinen eigenen Speicher (ist jedoch nicht unbedingt nötig) - NEGATIV > die mitgelieferten Design-Aufkleber sind lächerlich und verschlechtern Optik, Haptik und Design > die Silikonhülle ist ein "schlechter Witz" und riecht merkwürdig > Gerät kam mit alter Firmware (Version 1.1) - aktuell Version 1.4 > Coveranzeige hinkt auch mit aktueller Firmware der Auswahl bzw. Bedienung noch hinterher > die Übertragung vieler Audiodateien über Micro-USB ist recht langsam > Firmware Update nur mit fat32 Micro-sd machbar (fat32 bis max.32 GB, über 32 GB wird es exfat32) > Eine ausführliche Bedienungsanleitung in Deutsch habe ich nicht gefunden (wenn auch nicht unbedingt notwendig) > für den "härteren" mobilen Einsatz ist der Micro-USB-Anschluss und insbesondere der Kartenslot nicht ausreichend geschützt Fazit: Der FiiO X 3 2nd ist insgesamt ein sehr gutes Angebot, das sich klanglich nicht vor teureren Geräten verstecken braucht. Gute Kopfhörer und die Verwendung von wenigstens flac oder wav Audiodateien sind jedoch anzuraten. Allerdings habe ich auch den Eindruck, dass professionelle mp3 Aufnahmen mit ca. 256 kBit oder 320er kBit aac ebenfalls eine Klangverbesserung erfahren. Die Displaygröße ist durch die mobile Einsatzfähigkeit beschränkt, ein ipod Classic oder ein X5 wäre mir aber schon zu groß. Der Klang des X3 am Coax brachte eine ähnliche Qualität wie der CD-Player an meiner HiFi Anlage - man könnte sich m.E. sogar einen CD-Player sparen. Der Klang meines Mediaplayers mit HDD am Coax war schlechter, was mich gewundert hat. Die Klangverbesserung von mp3 auf flac war deutlich, von flac auf wav nicht wahrnehmbar. Der Bedienungskomfort eines ipod classic wird nicht erreicht, dafür ist man aber auch nicht von iTunes "abhängig". Hörbücher oder selbst zusammengestellte Audiodateien (z.B. Klassik) lassen sich mit dem X3 II viel einfacher verwalten/ansteuern. Ein Touchscreen, BT oder Airplay bei einem reinen Hi-Res Audio-Player dieser Preisklasse würde nicht dieses Klangergebnis erzeugen. Die für mich maßgeblichen Qualitätskriterien werden erfüllt - daher 4,5 gerundet 5 Sterne.

Give it 5 stars even though I only got it for a couple of days. I have read a lot about it, about its so called problems. I read the operational manual several times, one week before, and the comments and Q&As here and there. I didn't have any problem setting it up. The product is great, looks great, feels great and sounds great (wait, see below). I want to keep things simple, only to store and play ALAC files and use it almost in default mode. I connect my favorable ear buds (the TaoTronic ANC) to the body, it sounds good, smooth with sweet sound. After a few hours, I connect the FiiO A3, with the same ear buds, same music. The quality of the sound jumps two levels. If then it was 5 out of 10, it was now a 7. The better head amp made the music alive; bass kicking but not dominating; and the small things with more nuances. Absolutely high end sound. Then, I played with the co-axial cable supplied, connected to my SMSL Sanskrit Gen 6 and the SMSL sApii, (I consider my best set up amount the FiiO 10k, K5). Now I can compare the X3 DAC feeding them with the co-axial cable supplied and the iMac feeding them with S/P optical cable from the iMAC; using the same ALAC songs, same head amp, just different DACs (or are they?), and different cables (coaxial vs optical), same ear buds. I can press the Sanskrit select button and change from X3 DAC to Sanskrit almost instantaneously. It sound of the DAC from the X3II is very very refined, silky. The sound from the Sanskrit is also very refined with a fuller body. If I can use the violin analogy, the X3II DAC is like the sound of a Stradivari and the sound of the Sanskrit is like the sound of a Guarnieri. One thing I am not 100% sure is: when the digits of 0 and 1 coming out of the X3II through the co-axial to the Sanskrit, do they go through its own DAC, then to the Sanskrit DAC again? It shouldn't be, since it is supposed to be bypassing the X3II DAC. I am not too sure. So, the natively sound from the X3II if set at 5 out of 10, adding a FiiO A3 amp elevates it to 7 out of 10 (using the lineout, not the earphone outlet which is not as good). Then, feeding the digital data through a co-axial cable to the SMSL Sanskrit DAC to the SMSL sApii head amp will get a 8.5 or 9 out of 10. I will leave the 1 or 1.5 points to a $5,000 to $25,000 DAC and head amps. I also have a FiiO K5, supposedly a perfect companion to the X1,3, 5, 7 etc. I find it somewhat hard to plug it in the dock, like putting a thread through the eye of a needle. Forcing it will probably damage the Mirco port of the X3II. If it got it plugged in, the small LCD of the X3II is too small and it is hard to read what is going on. I use the supplied USB cable to connect to my iMAC with ease, for charging, for loading songs etc. It is not required to USB connect to a computer if you play music through the co-axial cable. Maybe in the future. I will find a way to play X3II music with the K5 (the K5 is good). Again, I wonder how the X5, X7 sounds better and by how much if I am using external head amps. As for the bad experiences people got and wrote, maybe it was true, but I suspect those folks do not read the instructions carefully, and/or tried very complicated set ups with complicated different files of different formats. The manual is lengthy and hard to read, and not a Nobel price winner writing. If you use the X3II just for playing music of one or two types, things shouldn't be too bad. The little machine is very sophisticated but also can be very complicated; but it can be rather simple if you use it simply (but you still have to read its operation manual carefully). I don't have to update the firmware, it already is at FW 2.0. My bigger micro SD cards have not arrived yet. I am using a Kinston 16 G card class 10 for now. Still, it is a far cry from my old iPOD (even my grandson doesn't want it), with < 8 Gig for music max.. I use ALAC files for both. If you are from iPOD culture, expect a big change in UI and operations. If you insist it should be the same, you will be bitterly disappointed. I played it with the FiiO A3 connected for almost 12 hours. The battery of the A3 ran out first and the battery of the X3II still have about 1/3 capacity left, according to the gauge on the LCD. So, the battery should last 15 hours, non stop playing, Maybe it was because it was in deep sleep which save battery juice a lot. The A3 doesn't have it. More updates if I have more worthy things to say. It is so good to have it in your hand, so beautiful at such a low price. In my area, the price can differ a 45%. I am lucky to get it at the low end, and it was delivered very very fast.