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

I've had mp3 players since you could only fit 8 songs on it and you got what you got. As progress went along so did the portable player. But nothing ever compared to the home setups and amps with speakers to boot.Until now. I read a few reviews about this player and initially worried about the controls and user interface, however the main reason you buy a player is quality of the music.The ui does take a little getting used to (and I do mean little, it's not at all tricky or alien unless you've never had access to a player before). It is very customisable. So much so that it's hardly recognisable to how I use it now to how it came out of the box.I bought a 128gb card to go with it and filled it with FLAC files (you will notice the difference between standard mp3 vs FLAC). It set itself up very quick and I was off.I used 2 differnt headphones that have burned in just perfectly for me. First are some Sony in ear and they feel good as ever and I do notice sounds from song I never did before (especially Beatles, Stones and Mumford and Sons).When I plugged in my Sennheisers, they almost blew my head off. The clarity I managed to get was perfect. John Williams Hanz Zimmer, James Newton Howard and Ludovico Einaudi have never sounded so good - especially live)Sound quality is immense and you also can customise the current EQ settings (rock, pop, metal, ACG), or make a totally new one.For the money, this bit of kit is absolutely worth it. Easy to use, customise and work. The sound is second to none. Think I'll look into getting a FIIO Amp to go with it. Not that it needs it, but I am intrigued to see what that's all about as well.Totally happy with this altogether.

Arrived in decent quality packaging, with two protective cases (clear one fitted), three screen protectors (one pre-fitted), charging cable, audio cable and quick-start manual. No charger, but we all have plenty of those now. No headphones, but again this leaves the choice up to you. Note that you also have to supply your own micro SD card to hold the music. Plays Hi-Def audio formats from a whole range of choices - I use CD quality FLAC lossless files and there's no problem playing these. Built-in Bluetooth allows wireless headphones, no trailing cables. Works fine with the Denon set I've got - volume controls on the headset and pause/play works. Also has a headset socket for the wired option. Fairly easy to use controls, with a touch wheel similar to iPods. There's lots of settings to play with, both for the hardware and music playback (gapless playback, play through from one album/folder to the next, too many options to list). It is definitely worthwhile down loading the full manual from Fiio's site to find out everything it can do and how to set it up the way you want. Only drawback so far - apart from needing the full manual - was it arrived with earlier than the latest firmware. Easily rectified and quick to update though, so it's now running the latest. Just need to find out if 256GB micro SD is the absolute limit as per the spec, or if a 400GB would work (current FLAC library is around 300GB so I've had to leave some off for now).UPDATE: Heard back from FiiO support - it should support 400GB cards as well.

Just incredible! I'm 50 years old and never had a portable hi res player before, but after years of disappointing sound on mobile phones etc, I finally took the plunge and committed my hard earned. Wow! I'm hearing nuances, instruments, tones I've never heard before in some of my favourite tracks. I'm by no means an audiophile, but I am a massive music fan and finally I can hear every note on the bass guitar. The drums sound so crisp and cymbals crash instead of splash.....and all with a bog standard set of Dre Beats earphones...bet you can't guess what my next purchase is going to be?This thing is going to be my constant companion from now on. As for the UI, well I have to agree it can be a bit clunky and slow to react, but the scroll wheel works ok for me. I'm probably a little more patient with things than some and my usage will be different than someone who's very serious about their tech. The screen is quite good, it's clear and easy to navigate. I love that you can really whack the volume up when you feel like it and you're not 'nannied' by volume limits. The bass is really deep and rumbling on the dance tracks and I like that you have a custom setting on the equalizer, which stays on instead of reverting to some generic setting when you switch off, meaning you don't have to reset it every time. Anyway, my apologies for gushing on, but it really has been something of a revelation for me. reading the other reviews, it may not be the best player out there, but certainly, for someone who's new to these things, it's a great place to start.

A nice bit of kit. Bluetooth works really well and easy. Use this with my B&W P5 earphones. Only thing I don't like is the scrolling. Its a bit too clever and unnecessary. Still, the sound quality is far superior to my Sony Z3 Compact phone.