Fiio M15 Review (Digital Audio Player)

[dmac6419]

I do.

Me too

 

[ExUnoPlura]

I had one of these, briefly, and was prepared to forward it for testing, but the OS oddities (side-loading Roon, Qobuz, etc.) combined with unreliable WiFi and LDAC made it not worth the effort and I returned it. Still, glad to see it performs well enough with wired headphones.

 

[dmac6419]

I get Roon to work on the Fiio M11 and Ibasso DX160 work real well

 

[50°F=Hellfire]

The fact that DAPs with proper engineering actually exist brings something into relief, at the bare minimum.

Now, it would be great to see if there's any hidden gem in the <$500 offerings, say the FiiO M11, iBasso DX160, Cayin N3 Pro, Shanling M5s, Hiby R5/R3, etc...

By the way @amirm, how low is the output impedance?

The DX160 apparently measures very well.

 

[pozz]

On the FiiO site it says this unit has Airplay/DLNA etc. So it can function as a compact streamer/DAC as well?

 

[lashto]

Battery is huge, they state >15h...

Many of the newest 'fancy' DAPs are specified for 8h or so and won't even last a single day. Why do people buy those big, impractical and expensive devices beats me. All I can think of is some sort of "my DAP is bigger than yours" thing.

Even 15h battery would only be "barely ok" in my book. "Huge" battery is something like Cowon Plenue D: 100 hours (mp3) / 50 hours (highres). Single charge lasts a week, can save your phone battery, it's very small and easy to use. IMO, one of the very few DAPs which actually make sense

 

[AudioSceptic]

AKM does not have any steeper filters programmed, period. This or nothing..

Thanks, that's very poor for a DAC. Given the cost of this DAP and the fact that it uses a FPGA, I'd expect Fiio to provide decent filters themselves.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Any way you look at it, that’s a lot of power for portable non main-powered device, wondering what’s the battery life with hard loads like the tested Ether, (or does it matters? do peoples actually use those on the go?) In all cases portable stuff that can feed everything are not legion.

I used a portable when travelling from around 1979 (sony Walkman) until I retired at the end of 2009, it went Cassette > CD > minidisc > iPod > Phone. Since I retired I haven't used one much, I should sell them.
I bought an Astell and Kern one 10 years ago expecting it to sound better and it is beautifully made but it is Android.
I don't use DAPs or headphones 99% of the time at home.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I've got Fiio's low-end, low-power, tiny and cheap M3K DAP. Attached to the AKG K371 'phones, it makes a mighty noise. Being so small and unattached to a phone, it makes for a better option than playing through a smartphone that doesn't really fit in my pocket. I've got 512gb on a Micro SD, 1600 CDs worth of Apple Lossless files. Sounds remarkably good.


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I see at Fiio's website that it has great battery life, good specs, and can even be used as a computer DAC via USB. So how much? Only £60 at Amazon UK! I'd love to see Amir measure it.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Oh no I just realized this is ak4499 *2.

So that adds to the cost, but is it producing commensurate results?

 

[Veri]

So that adds to the cost, but is it producing commensurate results?

Not really, from the results you'd expect an inferior chip like the AK4497 or even AK4993.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Not really, from the results you'd expect an inferior chip like the AK4497 or even AK4993.

That's what I meant.

 

[Robin L]

I see at Fiio's website that it has great battery life, good specs, and can even be used as a computer DAC via USB. So how much? Only £60 at Amazon UK! I'd love to see Amir measure it.

One thing, though. It's got a programming glitch: sometimes it takes several tries to get it running again after being turned off. Attempt to re-start, it hangs up. Hold down the power and pause buttons to shut down, then restart with the power button. Sometime that requires more than one attempt. The good news, you can put the thing on pause for weeks. Also, takes a very short time to recharge the battery. It is a pretty bare bones device, but it can take a 2 tb Micro SD [in theory: I've yet to use anything bigger than 512gb]. The built-in eq isn't all that good and the amp power is weak. But, again, it mates perfectly with the AKG K371, plenty of volume and bass, no distortion as far as I can tell. I've got music broken down into musical genre folders, inside the folders by artist, so navigation is relatively easy---very meaningful for a Classical music buff like me, so I can break down Beethoven by Symphonies, Concerti, Sonatas, etc and then by artist, so all of Annie Fischer's Beethoven Sonatas are in a single folder. It also plays through folders, so it can play through continuously. I've used it as a USB DAC with an I-Mac that had a non-functional headphone out, worked fine. It's plug and play with Apple devices, you have to download a little software for Windows machines. No Bluetooth, but what do you expect for $69 USD? The Micro SD chip cost more than the player.

 

[pavuol]

I see at Fiio's website that it has great battery life, good specs, and can even be used as a computer DAC via USB. So how much? Only £60 at Amazon UK! I'd love to see Amir measure it.

Also, as of now, the newer M3 pro would make much more sense ("few cents" more and a lot more power courtesy of ES9218P).

EDIT: or maybe not at all, user guide hints possibility of 7 user preset EQ profiles and no custom one..

 

[AudioSceptic]

Also, as of now, the newer M3 pro would make much more sense ("few cents" more and a lot more power courtesy of ES9218P).

Yes, looks worth the extra (£83 at Amazon).

 

[ZolaIII]

Also, as of now, the newer M3 pro would make much more sense ("few cents" more and a lot more power courtesy of ES9218P).

Meh it's refined ES9018K2M + Sabre9601K in one. The CS43131 designs should be really interesting one's instead.

 

[highpurityusbcable]

Also, as of now, the newer M3 pro would make much more sense ("few cents" more and a lot more power courtesy of ES9218P).

I have one. Bought it just to try something modern and didn't expect much but it sounds clean enough. I can't hear anything unpleasant at least. Also surprisingly powerful. Navigation is limited because of the small screen and occasional lag, usb dac mode has a big latency. Other than that I have no complaints. Maybe if Fiio would be kind enough to release one more firmware but they will abandon it most likely.

 

[BostonJack]

Or a Qudelix 5K for like $100. Yeah it doesn't measure as well and isn't quite as powerful, but for most uses it's good enough and you can't beat the form factor.

I have a Qudelix 5k on order. Arriving tomorrow. Agree on measurements. Looking forward to playing with EQ. May use it for travel, perhaps for listening on ski lifts (where keeping things water protected and simple are necessary things).

I might use it while working, as background, where my concentration is on work, not the fine details of the sound quality.

 

[dmac6419]

Many of the newest 'fancy' DAPs are specified for 8h or so and won't even last a single day. Why do people buy those big, impractical and expensive devices beats me. All I can think of is some sort of "my DAP is bigger than yours" thing.

Even 15h battery would only be "barely ok" in my book. "Huge" battery is something like Cowon Plenue D: 100 hours (mp3) / 50 hours (highres). Single charge lasts a week, can save your phone battery, it's very small and easy to use. IMO, one of the very few DAPs which actually make sense

I buy them so I don't have to use my phone,biking, walking, work, yard work, or just chilling on the porch

 

[dmac6419]

I had one of these, briefly, and was prepared to forward it for testing, but the OS oddities (side-loading Roon, Qobuz, etc.) combined with unreliable WiFi and LDAC made it not worth the effort and I returned it. Still, glad to see it performs well enough with wired headphones.

Fiio M15 came with the play store available, so why would you have to sideload?I have the M11 wifi and LDAC works just fine.oh FYI m11 m11 pro and m15 comes with Tidal and Qobuz already loaded.