FiiO X3 Mark III Portable High Definition Audio and MP3 Player 192Khz/32Bit Bluetooth 4.1 Satnav Wheel

Product Information

To test the FiiO X3 III I used a 64 GB, class 10 microSD manufactured by Samsung. It was loaded with FLAC files (16 bit, 44.1 kHz) and 320 kbps MP3 files. I used the RHA T20i, KZ ZS6, Venture Electronics Monk Plus SPC, Venture Electronics Asura 2.0s, RHA MA650a, RHA MA750i, RHA MA650a and Yinyoo IN8 to test the FiiO X3 III, plus the UE WONDERBOOM as a Bluetooth device. Bryan: I was told by Joseph (popularly known as Joe Bloggs at headfi.org) of FiiO that the company has opted to go with the popular X1 physical architecture and retune the popular X3 while keeping its original output impedance at approximately 0.2 Ohms. The exterior of the X3II is aluminum with a very dense feel to the entire unit. At 112g, the X3II feels very good in the hand and of high build quality. It doesn’t feel thin or hallow in the slightest. Custom Art Music One: The X3 exerts good control of the Music One for tight, well defined bass and a cleaner sound across the spectrum than the Clip+. Reverberant bass comes across as more prominent from the Clip+ since the control isn’t as good, and the driver keeps moving where the X3 keeps the presentation cleaner. The X3 is slightly smoother than the DX50, but less revealing and with less bass. Bass quality between the X3 and DX50 is similar. 6/10

Alongside the X7 Mark II, FiiO F5 and F9, FiiO made a big push for increased performance using their tried and tested value for money message that has served them well down through the years.

A final note on the rating. I gave the FiiO X3 III a 7/10. That’s because of its current flaws that spoil the listening experience, in my opinion. Given there is no assurance that they will be fixed in the future, the rating is lower than it would be without them – in fact, I would give the X3 III a 7.6/10 score. Please keep that in mind when reading the rating. Overall, the physical usage of the X3 was not a problem for me while I used it. It was quite nice to use and worked with my everyday routine while walking my dog. This drives the AKG Q701’s with no problems(high gain), and can drive even my more sensitive IEM’s without problems as well due to the 60 steps of volume control and using low gain.

Of course, it is a complete redesign compared to the original X3 but not so much of an evolution when compared to the X1 and X5 which now pretty much sets the bar or road map for the type of design FiiO is after. Pairing and range of this BT module and implementation are much better than the X1 2nd gen though with far less dropout, greater distances by up to 3-4m and a faster bootup and pairing time. USB-DAC CompatibilityI find that the biggest presentational emphasis of the X3iii is in its low-end and vocal presence with a slight lower treble emphasis but not as dominant as,say, the M3s. It does push out vocals a bit more than the X1 2nd gen for sure and its planted warmer bass response will stand out a lot more than previous iterations. Bass The X3iii uses a 2350 mAh Li-polymer battery which is slightly smaller than the 2600mAh battery inside the 2nd gen X3. The X3 Mark III will give you around 10 hours compared to the rated on a paper spec of 11 hours on the older version. That is actually not bad considering the additional features on the X3 Mark III. Very few if any earphones out there should stump the X3’s amp section. It is most comfortable with earphones that average >8Ω under load, but is more than capable even below that. the FiiO X3 III can go – if set – into standby mode after a chosen period of time ranging from 1 minute to 8 minutes; This is also the first X3 generation with a built-in Bluetooth 4.1 capable module. Previous players were a bit cut off from the universe and had no connectivity. Today’s modern DAPs, even at the budget level now have some form of connectivity and this keeps FiiO up to speed in that respect. All-New Design

Then at the same time, some piano key strikes are felt with a very beautiful sweetness and tonality that is on the musical end of the spectrum. That same guitar will then invert to a more sweetened tonality when Mr. Lagrene hits a harmonic. High Pitched Vocals Will Chinese manufacturer FiiO have a runaway success with their new budget X3 digital audio player? Noel Keywood thinks so. The X3 3rd Gen is part of that Infinity sound pitch of summer 2017. Alongside the F5 and the Q1 Mark II everything was about enhanced portability and the inclusion of a balanced output or cable capability. The X3 Mark III is no different in that respect with a balanced output to match up with the F5, F9 or F9 Pro. FiiO is pitching the balanced output as enhancing the X3 Mark III staging and detail performance over the unbalanced output. Dual DAC The second key external difference to the X1 is the metric depth of the unit. The X1 measures in at 96.7 mm×57.7 mm×14.1 mm whereas the X3 Gen 2 (2nd gen) is 96.7 mm×57.7 mm×16.1 mm. That is an extra 2mm which may not sound much but it feels a lot more in the hand and on side by side comparison screenshots. The X3 plays an even hand. Neither frequency gets more love than the other. Mids, of course, are far easier for the ear to interpret. Detail in both bands is very high and distortion is low. Moot to how the ear hears bass is its slightly lower dynamic range.The X3 SG now does Native DSD and supports up to 192kHz/24bit. It also has dual oscillators to run 44.1kHz and 48kHz. Power wise the new SG X3 puts out ＞224 mW (16 Ω/THD+N＜1%). The first X3 >540mW. At 32Ω the old one did >270mW, the new one 200mW. At 300Ω the old one did >30mW and the new one >24mW. Purely looking at the numbers the original X3 has more power but numbers aren’t everything of course. The original X3 also was developed for a headphone impedance range of 16-300Ω while the SG is now best between 16 and 150Ω. All this naturally means the the X3 SG sounds quite different from the original one…

Shonuyn 306a: The 306a has an overall good sound with the P2+1, but the bass isn’t all that strong and there is a slight hiss. The midrange is pushed a bit forward, and the overall sound signature isn’t as dynamic as the X3 headphone out. 5/10 FiiO has inserted anOPA1622 based amp stage into the X3iii. This is another product from TI and is actually quite new being launched only last year. Impedance matching is not super low, around 1-1.5Ω for both its balanced and unbalanced outputs. That should be low enough for most efficient IEMs to sound “correct” and true to their tuning. PowerWhat I do appreciate is the quality of the screen, the UI navigation and the responsiveness of the UI. Again not quite AK quality screen, but it’s a good quality screen and I like how the UI is quite responsive and snappy. The UI graphics is pretty good as well and though the positioning of the buttons can be made to be more intuitive (+ shaped, for instance), overall I’d give an 8/10 for the UI. But of course maximum read or write is generally not achieved with these cards. Class 2 is meant for SD Video recording. Not to mention latency and other things with class 2 differences possibility. The X3II dishes out 210mW, roughly, and that just isn’t much at all for anyone using a Planar or anything above 120Ω. I find it unsuitable for portable USB DAC usage because of that fact.