USB DAC & CD question

steelglam

Super Member
Hello,

I have a FiiO X3 that to date I have only used as a portable media player. But it also can be used as a USB DAC.

I know that if I have the FiiO X3 connected to my laptop and in DAC mode, and I play a media file (WAV, FLAC, MP3, etc.) that I have on my computer with Windows Media Player (or Foobar, or MediaMonkey), the signal is sent to the DAC in the FiiO X3 via the USB as a digital out (and then converted to analog by the DAC in the FiiO).

But the question I have is does the same thing happen if I play a CD that I insert in the laptop's disc drive? Or when using the CD drive is the signal first converted to analog before being send via the USB to the FiiO/external DAC? What if instead of using the laptop's CD drive, I used an external CD/DVD/DVR drive that I have connected to the laptop via one of the other USB ports?

Basically, I'm wondering if I can effectively use the USB DAC (in the FiiO X3) as a DAC for CDs that I play either in the laptop's disc drive or an external USB disc drive that I have connected to the laptop? I know that there are issues with jitter, etc. when using a laptop's disc drive, but I'm just confused about how the signal passes when using an internal or external disc drive and a USB DAC.

Thanks in advance for any insight that you can provide!
 
Yes, as long as your FiiO is the current output device, all digital sources, i.e. mp3, wav, flac, CD, etc., will be digitally transported to your DAC.
 
Here's a problem concerning the fiio x3 gen2 that I think is going to test you big audio brains out there. I have a fiio X3 generation 1. In this device is a 128 GB MicroSD card, formatted NTFS, full of (mostly) flac audio files. All these files play perfectly in the X3i. However, I have always found the UI on the X3i unintuitive, so I thought I'd buy myself an X3ii. This simply refuses point-blank to recognise the vast majority of my flacs. I dropped 10 albums into a folder on the X3ii and after a library update it saw 2. I re-ripped 2 CDs, using the same ripper and the same settings - it will only see one of those albums. It would even make more sense if it didn't see either. The fact that there is absolutely nothing in any way 'exotic' about these files is proven by the fact that the earlier model sees, reads, and plays them perfectly. I have formatted the SD card FAT32, exFat, NTFS, as well as allowing the system to do an internal format of the card. I have converted some files from flac to wav. I have propitiated Great Cthulhu and called upon Arishem The Judge. Nothing. As far as I can see there is no way to import files into the media library other than simple drag-and-drop (which has always worked perfectly on the X3i). I have only persevered thus far because it has to be said that the sound on the X3ii is better. But I am sorely tempted to send this thing back and try another manufacturer altogether. Any ideas?
 
I never thought it was a problem with windows.
Also, this is the second X3ii I've tried and the first had the exact same problem. That was several months ago so I thought I'd give it another go.
 
Well I'm sending it back and getting an Astell & Kern AK Jr. If that fails I'll shoot myself in the head. Twice.
 
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