Introduction
In May 2022, I decided to buy my first pair of IEMS, my budget range was 50-100 dollars. I was looking for a long term solution. I know there are more expensive IEMS but I was planning to use them while I was commuting or traveling. I pulled the trigger with Fiio's FD1. My experience with FD1 has been great overall, the packaging, the accessories and the sound exceeded my expectations and I have not thought of an upgrade to be honest, Fiio had gained my respect. About 18 months later, I wanted to buy a DAP since my digital collection had increased dramatically and I needed a player that supported a wide variety of formats and streaming service support. My personal phone (Samsung S10e) worked decently as a DAP, but the driving power was very limited. I tried to DAPs before the M6 which I will use for comparison:
- LG V30 (Quad DAC): there are not a lot of phones with a dedicated audio section, but LG's V lineup impressed the audiophile community. Their phones worked with the latest ESS Tech SoCs providing new features, improved audio and efficiency. I could say the V30 is one of my favorite audio products, the sound was great and my only real complaint is the low impedance and line-out voltage output.
- Sony Walkman A55: I was really excited to test Sony's new walkman lineup. The A55 main feature was the build quality, although this should have been expected considering the high price tag in comparison to other DAPs with similar features. The sound was also excellent, it's the only time I have understood the concept of analog sounding. For example, paired with the HD560s which is a bright and revealing headphone, the sound was soft but detailed with little to no harshness; I couldn't achieve this with any other device. I have 3 problems with the device: the screen quality, the power output and the price.
The entry level DAP market seems to dominated by Chinese companies nowadays. They have been able to offer a ton of feature like MQA hardware decoding, balanced outputs and higher power outputs for as little as 150 dollars. This means you can get an excellent DAP for a low price. FiiO M6 is about 5 years old, released in 2019, its features are bit outdated and it's difficult to find but I decided to try this because it seem like a great product with the features I needed, a great design and just enough power f. Let's start with the review.
Packaging and accessories
Fiio doesn’t disappoint at all in the packaging. The box is very small, the printing quality is good as always. Inside, we find the M6, a USB C to USB cable, a screen protector, a hard case and some manuals. It’s always welcomed to get this type of accessory included.
Build quality and design
The chosen materials are awesome, the metal chassis feels good and the glass back give the M6 the feel of a high end smartphone. I like that it is just a rounded black box, keep things simple.
Setup
You can start using the M6 in just a few minutes, no account is required at all, you just need a WIFI connection to access updates and third party apps. Installing a MicroSD card was very simple as well and it read all my files with no issues (over 50 gb of music).
Screen quality
This screen resolution is 480 by 800 pixels (3.2 inches), just a bit higher than HD resolutions. In addition, it’s an IPS panel so colors and viewing angles are good as well. Contrast was pretty decent as well, resulting in a very good viewing of the menus and album cover arts. The screen got very bright as well, I never used above 25%.
Features
The M6 uses a 7270 Exynos processor and an ES9018C2M SoC. The processor gets the job done especially when the M6 is just doing tasks such as playing music, if we start downloading, streaming and searching music the performance drops but this is an uncommon scenario.
Battery life.
Battery capacity is 1200 mAh, this might seem huge but the device is very efficient. Using the line-out option, the player can last around 7 hours with a single charge. Using IEMs, you can probably hit 10 hours. Charging time is very short, about 1 hour to get from 20% to 100%. My only complaint here is that some cable I had didn’t work
the M6 so I suggest keeping the included cable.
Power output and driving capabilities
I could find the maximum voltage the M6 can output, I can say around 1.5 to 2.0 volts. This is relevant since the standard line-out voltage is 2 volts and this same voltage is the minimum I needed to power my HD 600 with all my library. I’m not sure it hit 2.0 volts but it’s pretty close. Using sensitive-low impedance IEMS such as the FD1, the experience is excellent, I would say any dynamic driver headphone with medium to high sensitivity will perform great with the M6.
Sound
There is not a lot to say about M6’s sound. It’s pretty clean and transparent but I never found bright or thin in any of the 3 scenarios. Don’t think this is a warm sounding source, but you are not not going to have any problem with pairing. There is no harshness or any other audible issue,
Final thoughts
To be honest, I can’t really recommend this DAP. Even though the software experience, the third party app support and Fiio music player are great, the limited features and below average power output reduce my excitement for this player. In addition, finding it brand new is almost impossible so you will have to look in second-hand markets such as Ebay. I would pay only up to 100 dollars for this device in 2024, in you have a bigger budget I could suggest an LG V30 or USB DAC.