Perhaps, xDuoo X2 can be called the main event of the domestic portable market this year. Of course, 2015 brought us a lot of excellent devices, but it was the X2 with its price and good quality that managed to lower the price level of normal-sounding players to an incredible $ 50. The manufacturer did not think long and decided to release a new model that takes into account all the shortcomings of the X2, starting with the rustic sound and ending with software problems. So xDuoo X3 appeared.
What did not people like about X2? Well, first, sound. For $ 50 it is not bad, but in "absolute" comparison loses to competing solutions. OK, the new model gets a good DAC CS4398 and an amplifier built on the OPA1612 and LMH6643. Because of this, of course, we have to increase the battery capacity and the size of the case, because no one knows how to get around physics.
Secondly, X2 is not the most successful management (not bad, but in some places strange), to fix this in X3 added buttons, and with an excess.
Instead of a two-color screen from Sansa'vskih players in X3 housed a conventional monochrome OLED, was also removed the mirror coating of the screen, although the readability of the screen in the sun has not improved. Added a second slot for memory cards, hardware lock and much more.
Despite the significant growth of opportunities, the price has grown only 2 times, and can be approximately for 7400 rubles, which for such characteristics is more than good.
Specifications
- SoC: Ingenic JZ4760B
- DAC: Cirrus Logic CS4398
- Amplifiers: 2 × OPA1612 + LMH6643
- Output Power: 250mW @ 32Ω
- Line Output Level: 1.5 VRMS
- Frequency range: 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz (± 0.5 dB)
- Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise: 0.002%
- Signal to noise ratio: 112 dB
- Recommended load impedance: 8Ω - 150Ω
- Support for lossless formats: APE, FLAC, AIFF, WAV, ALAC
- Supported resolutions: up to 24 bits, 192 kHz
- Support lossy formats: MP3, OGG, ACC, WMA
- Support DSD: DFF format (DSF promised later)
- Built-in memory: no
- External Memory: 2 × MicroSD up to 128 GB
- Battery: 3.7 V, 1500 mAh
- Operating time on one charge: about 8 hours
- Charging time: <2 hours (2 A charger)
- Screen: 1.3 ", OLED
- Dimensions: 105.5 mm × 45 mm × 14 mm
- Weight: 100g
Packing and delivery kit
Over the box in the company also worked, a simple version of X2 clearly did not fit the "older" model. So the X3 comes in a more serious two-ply box. Top - a traditional paper box with printing, inside - the main box of solid cardboard in black. Placing the player is traditionally: on top of the device, under it - accessories.
The latter, however, a little: in addition to the player itself, in the box you will find a microUSB cable, a protective film on the screen and instructions. Taking into account the price of the device, you can not blame this equipment.
Design and management
The design of the device in the company decided to work, but not all ideas went for future use. In order to accommodate the updated iron and battery, xDuuo X3 had to increase the case. In xDuoo decided to make the player narrow, stretching it in length. By form-factor, it most closely resembles iHiFi 800 and Fiio X3 of the first version. In general, the idea is quite robust, a similar aspect ratio allows the player to be easily located in the pockets of jeans and shirts, and in the hand it is not bad, all the control buttons are easily accessible.
Like the younger model, the X3 body is made of aluminum (a big plus for the price category), but this time in xDuoo for some reason they decided to play with texture and made on the front panel a radial ribbing diverging very thin circles from the Menu button. Almost certainly it was done to give the panel a look similar to a vinyl record (in xDuoo they called it "CD-finish", but really it's more like LP). It's interesting and impressive looks on the photos, but in reality these narrow grooves are clogged with grease from fingers and dirt, which quickly spoils the look of the device, and cleaning this panel without scratching it is not so easy. The player is available in three colors and this problem is most relevant for the black case, the silver and golden mud is not so noticeable.
The second problem with xDuoo is the strange arrangement of the buttons. There were fewer buttons in X2, which made developers use strange solutions in terms of user experience. In X3 they decided to take out the hardware buttons as much as possible, but for some reason they made them all of different sizes, and they are positioned as if someone sneezed at the drawing and scattered splashes and placed the buttons. In combination with the fact that the shake buttons slightly tear (the same childish illness as in the first revisions of X2), this slightly spoils the perception of the player. But, firstly, it's a budget player for only 110 dollars, and, secondly, in the new X3 revisions the problem of bounce has to be solved, and rumors have been rumored to work.
Also, some part of the bewilderment is caused by the screen, here a simple OLED-display of low resolution is used. For a budget player, of course, it is more than suitable, but the main problem is that almost nothing is visible on the screen in the sun. I continue to wait, which of the Chinese manufacturers will first learn e-Ink or at least return to the banal LCD-screens.
Fortunately, the drawbacks of the player on this end, and the positive side begins. With the exception of the knocking of buttons, the player is well assembled, everything is neat and practical.
The controls are spaced on all sides of the device. On the left side there is a hardware button lock switch. I've never used this one, but it's always better to have an unnecessary opportunity than not to have the necessary one, and I personally do not exhaust all usage scenarios, for someone the "hold" switch will be useful. On the right side are located volume control buttons (100 steps) and two microSD slots. The latter option is encountered more and more often, and this is relevant given the general fashion for the DSD format, but not all players are happy with the owners, and at the moment X3 is the most affordable option with this option.
The top panel houses the MicroUSB connector for charging and memory access, at the bottom - the headphone output and the line output. When connected to the LO, the player automatically turns off the volume control and sets it to maximum. When the headphones are disconnected from their jack, the player pauses playback.
The front panel, traditionally, is the busiest. Here are scattered (the word "placed" is suitable in this case is small) 6 control buttons and a screen. At the top left is a power button, a long press of it turns the player on and off, and a short one allows you to turn off the screen (the screen turns on by pressing any button if the lock is not activated). In the upper right, there is a button to go back one level in the menu and file lists. Below them, not quite in the center, but next to it, the Menu button is located, which calls the context menu on the playback screen (it's illogical, but you can not get to the main menu with this button). Still lower on the left, above each other, there are two triangular navigation and rewind buttons. To the right of them - a large round play and pause button, it also serves to confirm the action and select options.
Of course, until the illogicality of iHiFi devices is far away, but to call the UX player a thoughtful language will not turn. But in this case all illogicality is just a matter of short-getting used to.
The player menu is very simple. The developers did not realize a full-fledged media library with viewing by genres, styles and performers. The basis of navigation in the X3 is a file browser, so all the tasks of organizing music on the card fall on you. By the way, unlike X2, the new model sorts tracks and folders alphabetically. In addition, you can choose to play all the songs in a row, select tracks or CUE files for some reason put on the top level of the menu in a separate list. The system settings and playback are quite ascetic, but all you need is a type of shutdown timer. The only small disadvantage of the firmware is a fairly long time of turning on and loading the player. Apparently, this is a payment for the use of Linux as the basis for firmware.
The operating time of the player from one charge was 7 hours 50 minutes during the test measurement when playing FLAC files with a resolution of 44.1 kHz / 16 bit. The battery in the player is not capacious, and the company's engineers did not seriously interfere with the charging process, so it took only 2 hours and 5 minutes with the power adapter from the iPad to restore the full charge of the battery. The results are very good even for expensive devices, and for the budget model - and at all excellent.
Sound
To listen to the player, the following headphones were used:
- ZMF Omni
- Oppo PM-3
- Dunu DN-2000J and Titan 1
- Lear LHF-AE1d
- Ambient Acoustics AM10
In general, the work on stuffing and equipping the player with a normal DAC / amplifier produced results, where X2 took it with a nag and punch, X3 tries to captivate the listener with more "high-end" and audiophile sound, and in many respects it does it. The overall delivery of the player is close to neutral, sometimes even slightly boring, I think this is a conscious decision of the developers.
The bass is surprisingly good for such a small and inexpensive player. It is dense, very elastic and dynamic, there is no lubrication, no porridge and attempts to "take quantity". This allows the player to show itself well with enough dark headphones, which strikingly distinguishes it from a younger brother. The depth of the bass is not prohibitive, but slightly more than the "average in the hospital," which, in general, is also good for this category. Very good at X3 transmission of texture and density of LF.
Middle frequencies slightly suffer from a lack of emotionality, the developers began to play in the monitored feed and overdone with neutrality. In general, the resolution and speed on the midrange for xDuoo X3, everything is very much in order, the MF is transparent and readable, but they lack the musicality. It's hard to explain, but the music kind of sounds like it's "smoothed", removing the unobtrusive emotions. This problem is not very pronounced, given the price it can not be called serious, but it has a place to be. Scenes the player builds well in width, but in depth - a little worse than average.
The high-frequency range is also simplified. There is no flowability, or accentuation of HF for creating the effect of pseudo-detail, but the HF themselves play out fairly rudely, losing small nuances. It can not be said that the player plays the HF band somehow sharply, but it is not delicate and airy either.
In general, if we try to sum it up, - xDuoo X3 is a good step towards neutrality in comparison with X2, for its price tag it sounds very, very good, but it does not reach the decisions of 200 dollars and higher.
At the time of this writing, some X3 instances showed a strange bug: tracks with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz are played a bit slower than they should, the slowdown is about 1-2%. It is very difficult to hear this by ear (although it is possible), most likely, it is related to the problems of the master oscillator, since on tracks with 48 kHz this error is not present. The problem is barely noticeable and will probably be solved in the next firmware, but I must mention it.
Compatibility
In general, the player has a very good power reserve, which allows it to rock well even tight models of headphones, but their choice should be approached carefully. For a start, I would not recommend reinforcing headphones to it, especially those that tend to emphasize the area of sibilants. In combination with the sharp feeding of the player, they will not sound the best way. It's also not very good with this player combining the Ostry KC06A with their failure on the HH, the sound is very wadded. Well proven themselves Dunu Titan 1, Lear AE1d, almost all VSonic models from VSD3 to Gr01. Good with the player and inexpensive overhead models such as Takstar.
The genre player is versatile enough, of course, it will not play a big symphony orchestra or complex mat-metal by 100%, but will try to do everything that is within its power. To the quality of recording the player is not particularly critical, somewhere in 7 out of 10.
As usual, a few examples
Danny Elfman - Serenada Schizophrana. Not a separate track, but a whole full-length album of the composer, whose work everyone has heard, and many do not know the name. Meanwhile, Danny Elfman wrote so much music for the famous films (for example, he is the author of the main theme of the "Simpsons" and the very melody from "Mission Impossible"), which may well compete with Howard Shore and Hans Zimmer. Serenada Schizophrana - his "independent" work for the orchestra and choir, recorded with the highest quality. Naturally, X3 can not win it 100%, but it does not prevent him from coping with this complex product at a very good level.
Megadeth - Symphony of Destrution. More suitable for this player work. Well-designed bass allows X3 to produce a good "fat", and super resolution for Megadeth as a whole is not necessary. So for the classic metal this player is quite good.
Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part 2. It is unlikely that the classic of electronic music needs a special introduction, his works are known, perhaps, to all. xDuoo X3 on this track shows itself well, the sound is very engaging and drivey.
conclusions
Of course, X3 is not a "silver bullet" and not a "killer of giants", the player has a number of shortcomings in sound and ergonomics. But for its price, it looks and sounds just fine, being, undoubtedly, the best device for beginning music lovers who want to join seriously sounding devices, without inflicting a death blow on the budget. In addition, an updated version of the player is already on its way, in which part of the problems will be solved, and according to the experience of X2 it can be noted that work on the bugs in xDuoo can.
The article is based on materials .
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