fiio m17

[nickmas0n29]

Any measurements for FIIO M17?
Is it really worth to buy?
I have FIIO M15 already.
Should I buy FIIO M17 too or sell M15 and buy M17?
Any ideas?
Has Amir had a chance to measure it?

 

[Was]

Any measurements for FIIO M17?
Is it really worth to buy?
I have FIIO M15 already.
Should I buy FIIO M17 too or sell M15 and buy M17?
Any ideas?
Has Amir had a chance to measure it?

Hi.

I live in Korea. I am currently using cayin n6ii ti and fiio m17.

Among the people around, there are a few people who are transitioning from m15 to m17.

It is definitely a highly recommended dap if you can handle the weight.

 

[nickmas0n29]

Hi.

I live in Korea. I am currently using cayin n6ii ti and fiio m17.

Among the people around, there are a few people who are transitioning from m15 to m17.

It is definitely a highly recommended dap if you can handle the weight.

Thank you. Can M17 handle the Sennheiser HD800s without a desktop amp? They claim it does.
Is the sound difference noticeable between M15 and M17 or the difference is the power, more outputs, size etc?

 

[Was]

Thank you. Can M17 handle the Sennheiser HD800s without a desktop amp? They claim it does.
Is the sound difference noticeable between M15 and M17 or the difference is the power, more outputs, size etc?

The manufacturer says that it can drive Sennheiser HD800s enough, but I don't know the exact thing because I haven't used it myself.

And the m17 is definitely better than the m15 in terms of space, resolution and output.

I think the amp part of the m17 is really well made.

 

[ElMexicano]

Just received the M17.

This is ridiculous how good this dap sounds...Really. You don't need more than 10 minutes to just figure it out : this is a masterpiece.

No EQ needed or even an eventual burn in. Out of the box, it sounds breathtaking.

The resolution is absolutely incredible (I used to have the Chord Dave, and the M17 is my new reference to beat), the separation is insane, soundstage extremely acurate, and always does justice to the mix artistically, super dark background also with a delicious weight on every note. It is gonna be very hard to find someone who not gonna like how this dap sounds. Yes, you will be able to listen some details you never did, even with the best kind of sources you usually use.

There is no debate, it makes the SP2K sounding kind of boring, it obviously beats the chord Hugo 2. This M17 plays in the league of the best desktop DACs for me.

Just a listen to Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough that i know by heart, like many of us, is a jawdropping exemple : the track sounds like I never experienced before, incredibly resolved and full of little refinements. I can clearly read the Quincy's work in the mix like I was sitting beside him in the studio.

Each track, the same sublime feeling of an exceptionnal listening experience.

Regarding the build quality, it is, again, absolutely wonderfull.

I would not hesitate to use it as a source on a 100K+ hifi home system.

I never liked Fiio before, but this time congratulations for that. This is a game changer in the portable hifi world !

 

[majingotan]

Uh huh...

Nothing beats a double shot of Kona bean espresso to make any DAP twice sounding breathtakingly good

 

[ElMexicano]

Yes I know this is not the style of the house, this is just my feelings, no science here, so take it for what it is...For me this unit is really impressive and I hope the measurements will confirm that.

 

[nickmas0n29]

I bought the FIIO M17. I will share my experience. Nothing scientific though, just my ears and the comparison with my other audio gadgets.

 

[nickmas0n29]

My Alien Gadget from Andromeda arrived. Amazingly powerful and clear. It shaked my HD 800S and took my living room studio monitors to another level when I connected to my Denafrips Ares II DAC with a coaxial cable.
It's size of a 3.5 HDD but a little thicker. Fast, clear and definitely shines when I used UAPP.
It played well from my NAS library, Tidal and Qobuz. It came with the dock, DC power adapter. It switches to the enhanced mode when connected to the power adapter and drives the insanely full power to the headphones. My Planars were definitely happy to have the power to shine.
Still exploring the sound from different sources and the other bells and whistles of this M17 Alien gadget.

 

[monkeyboy]

A refurbished LG phone is less than $200...A Cowon D3 or R2 are on the order of $300-500...the M17 seems like a crazy value proposition...

 

[nickmas0n29]

Question! Which way I will get the best sound out from my FIIO M17 to Gustard x16?
USB out, Coaxial/Spdif?
Is USB out bypassing the M17's internal DAC? Coaxial is too, because it's digital?
Thank you, friends.

 

[Rix403]

I just got the M17 and I’d like to ask if anyone would understand why the M15 brings out more bass and attack on the Focal Stellia.

The M17 is certainly better resolution and stage size, but the bass is noticeably less with less impact.

Thanks!

 

[AnalogSteph]

I just got the M17 and I’d like to ask if anyone would understand why the M15 brings out more bass and attack on the Focal Stellia.

Let's see... both have low enough output impedance, so unless the headphone jack on the M15 is tarnished or the M17 has an issue with the ground return ring (which would widen stereo and reduce bass), it's probably not that.

The M17 seems to go much louder than the M15. Matching levels between them accurately (within <0.3 dB) may be a bit tricky (even if there are no differences in processing, say volume levelling and whatnot), and as long as that's not the case you'll be prone to fooling yourself into hearing differences that don't actually exist.
I'll go out on a limb and say that if you can afford $3k headphones, you can probably afford a decent multimeter (ideally TrueRMS up to 1 kHz+, but anything with a mV AC range should do in a pinch) and a 3.5 mm (1/8") cable plus adapter to 6.35 mm (1/4") to investigate the matter. Audacity or REW will generate sine test tones for absolutely free.

 

[Rix403]

Let's see... both have low enough output impedance, so unless the headphone jack on the M15 is tarnished or the M17 has an issue with the ground return ring (which would widen stereo and reduce bass), it's probably not that.

The M17 seems to go much louder than the M15. Matching levels between them accurately (within <0.3 dB) may be a bit tricky (even if there are no differences in processing, say volume levelling and whatnot), and as long as that's not the case you'll be prone to fooling yourself into hearing differences that don't actually exist.
I'll go out on a limb and say that if you can afford $3k headphones, you can probably afford a decent multimeter (ideally TrueRMS up to 1 kHz+, but anything with a mV AC range should do in a pinch) and a 3.5 mm (1/8") cable plus adapter to 6.35 mm (1/4") to investigate the matter. Audacity or REW will generate sine test tones for absolutely free.

I appreciate the response.

I agree volume matching is tricky. Actually, when close to matched, the units are more similar than different. Likely because Stellia’s are not difficult to drive in the first place. My basic approach was to increase the M17’s volume to perceptibly well above the M15’s on a few tracks to see if the bass quantity difference was there. It seems the M15 can dig deeper for some reason and that may come down to a defect, perhaps. Defects are bound to happen.

I could afford it, but this is not my expertise and I find consulting those like you far more efficient and often the answer is simple and I learn a bit. I’ll take a look at the tones.