Fiio m3k digital player

[Florestan]

My old Philips digital player's battery is dying so I desperately need a new player, one that supports both mp3 and FLAC. I've got my eyes set on Fiio m3k which fits nicely in my budget. Does anybody here have any experience with Fiio equipment? Is it any good? I am not an audiophile, all I really need is a reliable, low-budget equipment. I listen almost exclusively through earbuds. Any comment strictly on topic welcome, TIA.

[Ken B]

Before I answer, let's talk about Trump for a while.


I looked at the reviews on Amazon.
Reviews of the player, not of Trump. Let's get past Trump.

Now about Boris Johnson.

The reviews are mostly good. The really bad ones are about the awkward interface and touch screen. 60% of ratings are five star so I guess the sound is good.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I am the happy owner of two Fiio X-1 players. The first was bought in 2015 and provided very faithful service, excellent sound quality, good battery life, and an interface that I like a great deal (I organize by folders not tags). I also really like the tactile feel of the hard buttons and and the mostly metal construction! I thought it had died in 2018 when it was totally unresponsive and did not turn on. One member here said that his lasted about three years, so I thought it was done. Nevertheless, I was still very satisified with the three years I got for about 100$ plus the price of a micro SD card. So, I decided to buy a new  X1 (this one a Gen II). After it arrived, I was re-reading the manual for the first one, and it said that the unit may need to be reset by inserting a pin into the little re-set hole. Sure enough, this did the trick, and it has been fine ever since! Now, I have two, but don't mind at all, because I always have one at the ready fully or mostly charged, and the new one supports a 256 GB card that will hold about 700 CDs worth of FLAC. I have about 580 CDs on there now, with about 60 GB space still left. In addition to headphone mode, it also offers a high output mode if needed to use with speakers/preamp or whatever. I actually use it as a front end in my second system, which includes powered AudioEngine A5+ speakers. Does not even need the high output mode to drive those.

So yes, I think they are excellent values for the money for  high res playback. Some people complain about the responsiveness of the wheel, but it is not a problem for me. Make sure you are using the latest firmware. 

When I buy another one, I will likely get an X5, mostly for the dual card slots. However, the newest, sleekest models have large touch screens and run on Android. I like the X1s because they are very simple and exist for the sole purpose of audio playback--no distractions, not even the time! Also, I can operate mostly in the dark (volume up/down, track advance, pause/play) without having to look at yet another screen.

[Florestan]

I am the happy owner of two Fiio X-1 players. The first was bought in 2015 and provided very faithful service, excellent sound quality, good battery life, and an interface that I like a great deal (I organize by folders not tags). I also really like the tactile feel of the hard buttons and and the mostly metal construction! I thought it had died in 2018 when it was totally unresponsive and did not turn on. One member here said that his lasted about three years, so I thought it was done. Nevertheless, I was still very satisified with the three years I got for about 100$ plus the price of a micro SD card. So, I decided to buy a new  X1 (this one a Gen II). After it arrived, I was re-reading the manual for the first one, and it said that the unit may need to be reset by inserting a pin into the little re-set hole. Sure enough, this did the trick, and it has been fine ever since! Now, I have two, but don't mind at all, because I always have one at the ready fully or mostly charged, and the new one supports a 256 GB card that will hold about 700 CDs worth of FLAC. I have about 580 CDs on there now, with about 60 GB space still left. In addition to headphone mode, it also offers a high output mode if needed to use with speakers/preamp or whatever. I actually use it as a front end in my second system, which includes powered AudioEngine A5+ speakers. Does not even need the high output mode to drive those.

So yes, I think they are excellent values for the money for  high res playback. Some people complain about the responsiveness of the wheel, but it is not a problem for me. Make sure you are using the latest firmware. 

When I buy another one, I will likely get an X5, mostly for the dual card slots. However, the newest, sleekest models have large touch screens and run on Android. I like the X1s because they are very simple and exist for the sole purpose of audio playback--no distractions, not even the time! Also, I can operate mostly in the dark (volume up/down, track advance, pause/play) without having to look at yet another screen.

This is very helpful, thank you.

[aukhawk]

Yes I have a Fiio X5II and like it very much - rather an old-skule type of player by current trends, which are mostly phone-like Android-based players and touch-operated.  The X5II is all physical controls. I've had a couple of other bits of Fiio equipment too and I think their stuff is very good and good value for money.

You'll find more info than you'll ever need about the m3k in this discussion thread - I haven't looked at it but I'd expect to find a lot of criticism in there, it's just typical of this type of thread, take it with a pinch of salt:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fiio-m3k-probably-the-most-cost-effective-hi-res-music-player

Tip for threads like this - read the 1st page (the product announcement) then just dip in every 10th page or so to see if any bugs are surfacing over time.  Also - for any such player - look out for the latest firmware upgrade.

[Florestan]

Yes I have a Fiio X5II and like it very much - rather an old-skule type of player by current trends, which are mostly phone-like Android-based players and touch-operated.  The X5II is all physical controls. I've had a couple of other bits of Fiio equipment too and I think their stuff is very good and good value for money.

You'll find more info than you'll ever need about the m3k in this discussion thread - I haven't looked at it but I'd expect to find a lot of criticism in there, it's just typical of this type of thread, take it with a pinch of salt:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fiio-m3k-probably-the-most-cost-effective-hi-res-music-player

Thank you.

[Mirror Image]

I don't personally have any experience with Fiio, but my dad owns a headphone amplifier manufactured by this company and he loves it. They make good products.

[steve ridgway]

I have an Astell & Kern AK Jr player. A similar sort of metal thing with several real buttons and a dial as well as the touch screen. I'm very happy with it and if the Koreans think Z should come at the start of the alphabet before A and no letters should have any form of accent mark that's fine with me .

[j winter]

Reading with interest.  Not to derail the thread, but an honest question:  what is the advantage nowadays of a portable music player, as opposed to just using a smartphone?  Why have a separate device? 

I had various ipods for years, and several years ago when the last one kicked the bucket, I bought a massive SD card for my Android phone, installed Poweramp, and I've never looked back.  Works great, supports FLAC, plays through bluetooth speakers, etc.  It also fixes one of my main gripes with ipods, which was lack of space -- it doesn't hold all of my music, but with a 512 GB SD card it's way more than enough to be carrying around...     

[Florestan]

Reading with interest.  Not to derail the thread, but an honest question:  what is the advantage nowadays of a portable music player, as opposed to just using a smartphone?  Why have a separate device? 

I had various ipods for years, and several years ago when the last one kicked the bucket, I bought a massive SD card for my Android phone, installed Poweramp, and I've never looked back.  Works great, supports FLAC, plays through bluetooth speakers, etc.  It also fixes one of my main gripes with ipods, which was lack of space -- it doesn't hold all of my music, but with a 512 GB SD card it's way more than enough to be carrying around...     

My reasons are very simple:

1. I don't need a smartphone, I need a portable music player

2. A portable music player such as Fiio mk3 is much, much cheaper than an iPod. For instance, the cheapest iPod available n Romania is three times more expensive than the Fiio.

[Florestan]

I've made up my mind and ordered it. Many thanks to all for the feedbacks.

[Ken B]

I've made up my mind and ordered it. Many thanks to all for the feedbacks.

Happy Birthday. 

[j winter]

My reasons are very simple:

1. I don't need a smartphone, I need a portable music player

2. A portable music player such as Fiio mk3 is much, much cheaper than an iPod. For instance, the cheapest iPod available n Romania is three times more expensive than the Fiio.

Makes perfect sense.    That's what I get for assuming that everybody's already got a smartphone, they seem so ubiquitous these days...

[Holden]

I have an Astell & Kern AK Jr player. A similar sort of metal thing with several real buttons and a dial as well as the touch screen. I'm very happy with it and if the Koreans think Z should come at the start of the alphabet before A and no letters should have any form of accent mark that's fine with me .

I also have an A&K Jr and just love it. It cost me very little and the sound quality is just amazing. The only issue is that the interface is a bit clunky if you have organised your music via the playlist system. This doesn't affect me as I always organise and search via folders and this isn't clunky at all.

[steve ridgway]

I also have an A&K Jr and just love it. It cost me very little and the sound quality is just amazing. The only issue is that the interface is a bit clunky if you have organised your music via the playlist system. This doesn't affect me as I always organise and search via folders and this isn't clunky at all.

Yes I went over to using folders, multiple levels are good to reduce scrolling. I only use my company smartphone and don't put apps on it but doubt Samsung would have concentrated on high quality audio and being multi purpose there's more chance of some other process interfering. The worst possibility of course is that it could ring .

[Roasted Swan]

Reading with interest.  Not to derail the thread, but an honest question:  what is the advantage nowadays of a portable music player, as opposed to just using a smartphone?  Why have a separate device? 

I had various ipods for years, and several years ago when the last one kicked the bucket, I bought a massive SD card for my Android phone, installed Poweramp, and I've never looked back.  Works great, supports FLAC, plays through bluetooth speakers, etc.  It also fixes one of my main gripes with ipods, which was lack of space -- it doesn't hold all of my music, but with a 512 GB SD card it's way more than enough to be carrying around...     

Not sure anyone answered your question.  My reasoning is twofold; the DAC in a phone is never(?) going to be as good as the one in a music specific/dedicated player.  There is some question of battery usage if you are running a music player on your phone a lot.  I personally prefer having separate bits of kit for different functions and I can set up the EQ'ing on my player very specifically.  Perhaps this can be done on a phone too - so that might be a worthless reason!

[Florestan]

It's been a week since it arrived and I tested it on all kind of music, orchestral, vocal and solo piano. Great sound (on no-name ear buds I inherited from my mother, may God rest her soul in peace!) and ergonomy. I'm very pleased with it.

[CRCulver]

My reasoning is twofold; the DAC in a phone is never(?) going to be as good as the one in a music specific/dedicated player. 

That is not a reason to get a dedicated music player. That is a reason to listen to music on a smartphone, but get a Bluetooth headphone amp for the phone that has a quality DAC in it. FiiO happen to make a Bluetooth amp (the BTR3) that sounds astoundingly good, as good as my home stereo.

There is some question of battery usage if you are running a music player on your phone a lot.

This is no longer such a major concern. Even cheap phones these days will provide enough battery life to listen to music all day, as long as you keep the screen turned off (which is the major battery hog). If your Android version supports a "Battery saver" mode that heavily throttles the processor and gives you extremely long battery life, you can still listen to music on that because even FLAC does not put a big burden on modern hardware. You can also simply plug the phone in to charge while listening to music, and since the FiiO amp is wireless, you can walk around the house with your headphones on while the phone is plugged in.

[Florestan]

I really don't need a smartphone of my own. Every time I need one I use my wife's.

[j winter]

Not sure anyone answered your question.  My reasoning is twofold; the DAC in a phone is never(?) going to be as good as the one in a music specific/dedicated player.  There is some question of battery usage if you are running a music player on your phone a lot.  I personally prefer having separate bits of kit for different functions and I can set up the EQ'ing on my player very specifically.  Perhaps this can be done on a phone too - so that might be a worthless reason!

Thanks for the reply!  For me the DAC quality is not a deal-breaker, since I'm listening to the phone either through Bluetooth earbuds or in the car.  Even though most days I probably do the majority of my listening that way, I still think of it as an alternate/portable backup -- I still have physical CD's of probably 80-90% of my music, and if I really want to give something a serious listen I'll use my home system for that.  If I'm riding along in the car, the DAC on my phone is good enough for me (though I'll keep that bluetooth amp in mind... will wonders never cease . )