Fosi Audio S3….serious streamer?

[Schlippwhip68]

Fosi Audio S3 Balanced HiFi Streamer/DAC/Preamp

Fosi Audio S3: Wi-Fi 6 & Bluetooth 5.3 streamer w/ flagship chipset, balanced circuit. NAS/online, App control. streamer/DAC/preamp. Clean, detailed sound.

fosiaudio.com

Bells, whistles and polish?

 

[BlueTunes]

Is that really a streamer or a preamp with streaming capabilities?

 

[A Surfer]

If the information is accurate, supports only SBC and AAC codecs so rather limited there. I can't imagine they would limit Bluetooth like this so it must be poorly written marketing material.

 

[Schlippwhip68]

Is that really a streamer or a preamp with streaming capabilities?

To me personally, it’s the best solution I have seen in the last 5 years for my balanced power amp. Having Airplay is a bonus. Wiim negating that from the Ultra broke the deal for me personally.

 

[Joe Smith]

It looks very attractive...will be interested to read more. A tall order for me, as the WiiM mini satisfies my downstairs streaming need, upstairs I go directly from PC to standalone dac. The WiiM interface does everything I need it to do, and is seamless with Spotify Connect...

 

[Schlippwhip68]

If the information is accurate, supports only SBC and AAC codecs so rather limited there. I can't imagine they would limit Bluetooth like this so it must be poorly written marketing material.

I noticed too, AAC is good enough but it would be nice to have at least APTX. I have a Firestick 4k Plus which has Ldac.

 

[Schlippwhip68]

It looks very attractive...will be interested to read more. A tall order for me, as the WiiM mini satisfies my downstairs streaming need, upstairs I go directly from PC to standalone dac. The WiiM interface does everything I need it to do, and is seamless with Spotify Connect...

Doesn’t it just!

 

[Schlippwhip68]

Is that really a streamer or a preamp with streaming capabilities?

I think more a well equipped streaming preamp….

 

[Toni71]

I wonder how the volume control is integrated, since there’s no screen or level indicator.

 

[staticV3]

Just five filter bands and no configurable filter type or Q value makes this IMO a worse purchase than even the WiiM Mini, not sure if you can even configure the center frequency:


In any case, you can't do room correction like with a WiiM:

 

[Ropeburn]

If the information is accurate, supports only SBC and AAC codecs so rather limited there. I can't imagine they would limit Bluetooth like this so it must be poorly written marketing material.

I can perfectly imagine that. Wiim Streamers don't support aptX and LDAC either.

 

[staticV3]

I can't imagine they would limit Bluetooth like this

I totally can.

Bluetooth on this is surely an afterthought, home theater connectivity and network streaming are the main focus.

If Fosi are too cheap to include a USB bridge in this, then they're totally cheap enough to use a slightly older Bluetooth receiver for half the price.

 

[SlowJim]

Will withhold judgement until testing is done but the reason Wiim has been so successful is the fact that are constantly improving and supporting the app. If 5 years from now the app is buggy or abandoned then this is a waste of money

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

With 12V trigger out and eARC input, if this is priced reasonably inexpensively, and supports automatic power-on with signal over ARC/CEC, this would be a nice and inexpensive way to add ARC integration to systems currently lacking that capability.

 

[A Surfer]

I totally can.

Bluetooth on this is surely an afterthought, home theater connectivity and network streaming are the main focus.

If Fosi are too cheap to include a USB bridge in this, then they're totally cheap enough to use a slightly older Bluetooth receiver for half the price.

Sadly you are probably right. Bluetooth should never be an afterthought though, in my opinion. Absolutely love BT.

 

[Bleib]

BT remote, wonder if it goes to sleep like Topping D50 III remote, it's terribly slow to wake up

Where to read the volume? No display, are we supposed to check what the volume is on through the phone or tablet?

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

BT remote, wonder if it goes to sleep like Topping D50 III remote

Where to read the volume? No display, are we supposed to check what the volume is on through the phone or tablet?

Companies just love forcing users to the app for the most basic crap. It's so annoying.

 

[qirex]

BT remote, wonder if it goes to sleep like Topping D50 III remote, it's terribly slow to wake up

Where to read the volume? No display, are we supposed to check what the volume is on through the phone or tablet?

People harp on the Wiim Ultra because the screen is "too small" but volume display is non-optional, IMO. Wasn't that also Fosi's big problem with their analog preamp?

Linkplay had better settle whatever beef they have with Apple, though, since pretty much every competitor has AirPlay.

 

[Bleib]

People harp on the Wiim Ultra because the screen is "too small" but volume display is non-optional, IMO. Wasn't that also Fosi's big problem with their analog preamp?

Linkplay had better settle whatever beef they have with Apple, though, since pretty much every competitor has AirPlay.

Yes. With people not knowing how high the volume is and possibly destroying equipment and ears.
Not sure I'd want to for instance connect the mono amps to this

 

[xanalog]

Where is the USB-C I/O?