FiiO/Snowsky Tiny Portable DAC & Headphone Amplifier

[Brian Hall]

I ordered one of these from Amazon and received it today. There are two versions, one with a USB C power input and a 3.8mm jack (Tiny A) and one with both 4.4mm and 3.8mm jacks (Tiny B). I ordered the black Tiny B version with both jacks.

Sounds great as expected. The Fiio control app can change the EQ and other things. It has plenty of power to drive all the headphones and IEMs I have. Tried it with my phone and all the tablets and Chromebooks I have. Works with all of them. Both the Hiby app and UAPP recognize the DAC and output bit perfect to it.

I'd say it is worth $22. No cable needed.

 

[respice finem]

Interestingly it only has 2 stars in the reviews. Competition "black PR" at work?

 

[Brian Hall]

Interestingly it only has 2 stars in the reviews. Competition "black PR" at work?

There were no reviews when I ordered it. I have several devices from Fiio and all have been good.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Looks interesting. My on line search didn't turn up the DAC chip.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Interestingly it only has 2 stars in the reviews. Competition "black PR" at work?

The negative reviews were about Apple support. Nothing to do with SQ or build quality.

 

[LTig]

I'd say it is worth $22.

Certainly.

No cable needed.

That's the no go for me. I fear that if the DAC is subject to some physical force it may destroy the USB-C port of the phone. Since my phone is expensive I've decided to never ever connect anything to its USB-C port without a short piece of cable in between - not even the USB-to-go adapter delivered together with the phone. But that's just me.

 

[respice finem]

Certainly.

That's the no go for me. I fear that if the DAC is subject to some physical force it may destroy the USB-C port of the phone. Since my phone is expensive I've decided to never ever connect anything to its USB-C port without a short piece of cable in between - not even the USB-to-go adapter delivered together with the phone. But that's just me.

OTOH, it's easy to add a USB-C extension, and the "combo" would still be cheap.
Anyway, I would wait for the ASR review.

 

[Sofakinpunkrock]

So I have heard about other fiio products that you can save the PEQ to the device. Is this a thing or do you always need the fiio app?

 

[Brian Hall]

So I have heard about other fiio products that you can save the PEQ to the device. Is this a thing or do you always need the fiio app?

I believe the settings are saved to the device after being set with the app.

 

[Brian Hall]

Certainly.

That's the no go for me. I fear that if the DAC is subject to some physical force it may destroy the USB-C port of the phone. Since my phone is expensive I've decided to never ever connect anything to its USB-C port without a short piece of cable in between - not even the USB-to-go adapter delivered together with the phone. But that's just me.

The device is very small. What forces do you think would affect this DAC that wouldn't otherwise damage your phone if the DAC wasn't there?

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Fiio says that the chip is an SPV4040

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I got a model A, the one that's supposed to be able to charge and play simultaneously. The one I got could charge and it could play but not at the same time. I tried it on a tablet and a phone. Both of them work with an OTG pigtail that will charge the device while it's putting out data. I returned it. The audio worked fine. I wanted the charge and play because I'm using the kind to the battery mode on my tablet where the charge level is kept between 40% and 60%. I spend too much time consuming content.

 

[fws]

Errr, the spec for this is 1Vrms, -89dB THD+N, 105dB SNR from 3.5mm and -80dB THD+N 100dB SNR from 4.4mm... for $20 that isn't too amazing imo. I understand that someone might want build in EQ and secondary output in that exact fixed adapter construction, but unless it has to be that exact combination of features then there are cheaper alternatives. JCally JA3T is also a 90 degree solid adapter, but is half the price, smaller, and CX31993 has the smallest known battery drain I think. Hi-Max CB1200AU is $3 when purchased in Joint Offers on AliExpress, and while it is a "cable" type it has PEQ (wasn't CB1200AU the same chip as SPV4040?).

btw. there used to be JCAlly JM11 running on SPV4040, I've noted down price of $8 with 23% VAT and shipping included, but doesn't seem available anymore

JM11-JCALLY杰仕声

There is a box in upper right corner to change language to English which will change the graphics with specs as well
SNR 100dB
DNR 100dB
THD -85dB
Power: 10.5mW@32Ω

 

[villagera]

Since the JCally JM11 uses the same chipset as the Snowsky Tiny, wouldn’t it be possible to flash the JM11 with the Snowsky Tiny’s firmware to get a 10-band hardware PEQ at a low cost — similar to how you can flash the JCally JM12 with the FiiO JA11 firmware to unlock a 5-band PEQ?

 

[CedarX]

A picture of FiiO Snowsky Tiny B (left), Fiio Jiezi (4.4mm version) and, for reference, CIXUN USB-C to XLR cable (reviewed by Amir a few weeks ago) internals:


Tiny B and Jiezi use a SpaceTouch SPV4040 USB bridge/DSP/DAC/Amp.
Tiny B:

Jiezi:


The CIXUN cable is one of these, now common, TTGK CB1200AU. I included it here as it is allegedly a custom version of that SPV4040 (Side note: the CIXUN cable is WalkPlay-enabled, offering 8x PEQ filters).
Perhaps more interesting (at least to me! ) is Tiny B little IC on the left of SPV4040:

Difficult to read, but I believe it's a HT97220 from "Heroic Technology". I didn't know this chip, it's a very-compact low-power, single-ended amplifier with integrated charge pump—see attached datasheet (pdf, in Chinese). I'm not sure if it feeds both the 3.5 and 4.4mm outputs on Tiny-B (haven't checked the ports wiring), but you can use both 3.5 and 4.4mm ports at the same time (this, I checked with two headphones ).

Since the JCally JM11 uses the same chipset as the Snowsky Tiny, wouldn’t it be possible to flash the JM11 with the Snowsky Tiny’s firmware to get a 10-band hardware PEQ at a low cost — similar to how you can flash the JCally JM12 with the FiiO JA11 firmware to unlock a 5-band PEQ?

Most likely doable... as soon as FiiO/Snowsky publishes a firmware update for Tiny A/B... AFAIK, no FW update is available yet. Another approach would be to craft a Tampermonkey script to deceive the FiiO Control WebApp—making it think the JM11 is a Tiny A or B (see this post for an example with WalkPlay and NiceHCK Octave: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../nicehck-octave-dongle-dac.65535/post-2433992)

In the meantime, I checked JM11 with the SpaceTouch (production-intent) EQ tool, and yes, it has 8x PEQ filters available :

 

[fws]

I have HT4556 in my unbranded Behringer HA400 from AliExpress ($6.70...), I thought it was designation of Holtek Semiconductor from Taiwan, but I guess pdf clearly says Jiaxing Heroic Electronic Technology. The chip is clearly a copy of well known Maxim Integrated Max97220, not just designation matches, but the package, pinout, and all the base specs as well. It is known from a lot of audio gear, some consumer products would include the old SoundBlaster Z PCI-e card (2.5Vrms with CS4398, but 22.5Ohm output impedance), cheaper Audigy Rx (CS4382A) and a bit more recent JCAlly JM6 Pro (CX31993) dongle.

English datasheet for Max97220
https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/max97220a-max97220e.pdf

 

[villagera]

Is it just me, or does the Snowsky Tiny dongle (<0.5 Ω output impedance) sound noticeably sharper and have a wider soundstage—even with PEQ turned off—compared to my laptop’s Realtek ALC294 (2 Ω) and the FiiO JA11 (<0.5 Ω)? I’m using an EW300 with a 28 Ω impedance, so the rule of eight shouldn’t be an issue, and I suspect the Snowsky Tiny may have an additional digital filter enabled by default, since the FiiO JA11 sounds identical to my laptop.

 

[skris88]

OTOH, it's easy to add a USB-C extension, and the "combo" would still be cheap.
Anyway, I would wait for the ASR review.

Agreed, a male to female USB-C extension cord is a cheap and handy way to not damage an expensive phone's socket.

 

[skris88]

A picture of FiiO Snowsky Tiny B (left), Fiio Jiezi (4.4mm version) and, for reference, CIXUN USB-C to XLR cable (reviewed by Amir a few weeks ago) internals:
View attachment 489415

Tiny B and Jiezi use a SpaceTouch SPV4040 USB bridge/DSP/DAC/Amp.
Tiny B:
View attachment 489417
Jiezi:
View attachment 489418

The CIXUN cable is one of these, now common, TTGK CB1200AU. I included it here as it is allegedly a custom version of that SPV4040 (Side note: the CIXUN cable is WalkPlay-enabled, offering 8x PEQ filters).
Perhaps more interesting (at least to me! ) is Tiny B little IC on the left of SPV4040:
View attachment 489422
Difficult to read, but I believe it's a HT97220 from "Heroic Technology". I didn't know this chip, it's a very-compact low-power, single-ended amplifier with integrated charge pump—see attached datasheet (pdf, in Chinese). I'm not sure if it feeds both the 3.5 and 4.4mm outputs on Tiny-B (haven't checked the ports wiring), but you can use both 3.5 and 4.4mm ports at the same time (this, I checked with two headphones ).


Most likely doable... as soon as FiiO/Snowsky publishes a firmware update for Tiny A/B... AFAIK, no FW update is available yet. Another approach would be to craft a Tampermonkey script to deceive the FiiO Control WebApp—making it think the JM11 is a Tiny A or B (see this post for an example with WalkPlay and NiceHCK Octave: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../nicehck-octave-dongle-dac.65535/post-2433992)

In the meantime, I checked JM11 with the SpaceTouch (production-intent) EQ tool, and yes, it has 8x PEQ filters available :
View attachment 489431

I tried the DACs which offered the WalkPlay EQ app, but I got so many security warnings on my Google smartphone, I decided Yes, I can afford the extra $10 for a FiiO product. But is there a copy of WalkPlay available now that's "approved" somewhere?

Re sound quality at these prices, aren't we demanding too much from FiiO if the Snowsky Tiny isn't perfect though?

Lastly, yes. Once you've customised your EQ, there's no need for the app, connect to any device and get your perfect sound anywhere instantly.

I use www.autoeq.app info for my headphones, but customised; I don't like the +6dB bass shelf. I use +3dB. I think it was added as a way to try and balance the "too much treble" of the default Harman curve. So I add a -2dB 0.35Q peak cut at 2kHz, and that works for me (across several brands of headphones I use, Sennheiser, HIFIMAN, Soundcore and Superlux).

 

[skris88]

I got a model A, the one that's supposed to be able to charge and play simultaneously. The one I got could charge and it could play but not at the same time. I tried it on a tablet and a phone. Both of them work with an OTG pigtail that will charge the device while it's putting out data. I returned it. The audio worked fine. I wanted the charge and play because I'm using the kind to the battery mode on my tablet where the charge level is kept between 40% and 60%. I spend too much time consuming content.

My Tiny A accepts power and plays while my smartphone is being charged.