M27 specs look awesome, however is there any chance of tubes being incorporated in it too, like in SP3000T or Cayin? Would love to have all-in-one DAP this year =)
For the M27, unknown, though I think unlikely. It's already going to be packed (as is the current M17), and considering power delivery and heat management, I'm unsure if any type of tube technology, even Korg's Nu-Tube or Nuvistor, could be implemented.
However (and just an idea of mine), an accompanying dock with a (tube) amplifier gain stage could be a potential solution, to piggyback off the M27 amplifier power!
Not necessarily ... I also have drifted mostly between AKM and R2R over the last years, but Cayin's ES9039PRO implementation in the N6iii E203 board has left me quite impressed with its organic and musical rendition ... So I am really curious to learn how FiiO ends up tuning the M27 ...
I'm more interested in whether the M27 user experience 'fine tuned to perfection' will include GAPLESS playback from day 1 (unlike several lamentable @FiiO products of late).
I'm also interested in the browing experience. Will it include browsing by 'Album Artist' as some FiiO products already do and some don't.
Replaceable batteries and optical out sounds really interesting for me (now if only someone would make an optical switcher that works and lasts for more than a month).
I hope the optical output will be bit perfect up to 192k and not resample everything to 44k1 like the annoying Cowon Plenue R2.
I'm more interested in whether the M27 user experience 'fine tuned to perfection' will include GAPLESS playback from day 1 (unlike several lamentable @FiiO products of late).
I'm also interested in the browing experience. Will it include browsing by 'Album Artist' as some FiiO products already do and some don't.
Have you used any of the modern FiiO DAP's, including M17?
Gapless playback was, as far as I am aware, available at launch of the (M17 and similar at the time) DAP's. However, even if I am mistaken on this, FiiO has numerous times updated the FiiO Music App (Android Play Store link here) and continue to do so even for some older DAP's.
Here's a list of the bear minimum of the features the app covers:
"For Android
* Supports playing all songs, playing by album (sorted by track no.),
artist, genre, folder, custom playlist, etc
* Supports playing Hi-Res music up to 384kHz/24bit and direct Hi-Res output
* Supports playing almost all the main-stream audio formats.
* Supports HWA (LHDC) Bluetooth codec, which allows you to connect almost any
Android phone to an LHDC enabled Bluetooth headphone to enjoy high quality music
* Supports WiFi song transfer, making transferring much easier
You can absolutely filter your local (or UPnP) music library in multiple ways too, including Album Artist.
To be honest, I'm unsure as to what you are critiquing or raising regarding the app, so my assumption is that you're referring to much older, and potentially unsupported, FiiO DAP's that cannot have app updates (due to the age of the FiiO tweaked Android OS and Google Play Store).
If that is not the case, can you elaborate on which DAP's do not have the current FiiO Music app features such as gapless playback and album artist sorting?
Replaceable batteries and optical out sounds really interesting for me (now if only someone would make an optical switcher that works and lasts for more than a month).
Both of these are very interesting indeed, and awesome!
Currently, the M17 has SPIDIF coaxial support alongside two USB-C outputs (v2.0 and 3.0), so I'm hoping this is replicated, or that the future M27 supports 2x USB 3.0 or higher. On the M17, both SPDIF and USB ports can be used as both input and output too!
Though I do not use the SPIDIF outputs, it has its benefits for versatility, including the option to run a disc transport or network streamer into the M17 via coaxial or USB. Or, use the M17 as a network player and/or line-out DAC to something else.
I believe that the M27 will also have these features based on officially released information of the development and plans of the DAP, but of course we need to wait and see the production-ready full official specs to know for sure.
As I haven't used my M17 SPDIF connection, I cannot say for certain if it can play native or resamples.
However, just basic searching of the M17 coaxial feature shows that it is designed to play natively, or allow DSD upsampling.
If so, I cannot see why the M27 won't also do this as well.
To be honest, I'm unsure as to what you are critiquing or raising regarding the app, so my assumption is that you're referring to much older, and potentially unsupported, FiiO DAP's that cannot have app updates (due to the age of the FiiO tweaked Android OS and Google Play Store).
If that is not the case, can you elaborate on which DAP's do not have the current FiiO Music app features such as gapless playback and album artist sorting?
The brand new S15 and the brand new K17. Both play local files so are DAPs but neither are gapless and as far as I could tell at Bristol, neither could sort by Album Artist.
Perhaps Android is the key here. The non-Android devices from FiiO seem to need a lot of work.
I've tried the R7 and R9 and those were OK. I believe those are both Android DAPs.
The brand new S15 and the brand new K17. Both play local files so are DAPs but neither are gapless and as far as I could tell at Bristol, neither could sort by Album Artist.
Perhaps Android is the key here. The non-Android devices from FiiO seem to need a lot of work.
Ahhhhhh this makes more sense, and important for future discussions, critiquing, and celebrating features!
Of course, my points were made only because of your comments for an upcoming Android-based DAP, for which FiiO have a good track record and do not have the issues you mentioned.
I have zero experience in non-Android based FiiO products, but I do agree that certain features, such as gapless playback, are very important (in my case, a deal-breaker). If FiiO can iterate these non-Android based gear, or firmware update, if possible, then that's good for everyone.
In this case, as the discussion and your concerns were in light of an upcoming FiiO Android DAP, then your earlier points are, unfortunately, moot, so long as FiiO continue to deliver on their apps.
So, let's look forward together for what FiiO is cooking!
According to What Hi-Fi, available in the UK as of April 14th 2025.
Also, FiiO have officially announced that the FX17 is released worldwide.
However, some retailers, such as Advanced Players Ltd (aka Advanced MP3 Players or AMP3), are still indicating preorder status, whilst others, such as Otic Audio, have a direct buy option.
The official FiiO EU distributor has the IEM's listed as in stock.
For the M27, unknown, though I think unlikely. It's already going to be packed (as is the current M17), and considering power delivery and heat management, I'm unsure if any type of tube technology, even Korg's Nu-Tube or Nuvistor, could be implemented.
However (and just an idea of mine), an accompanying dock with a (tube) amplifier gain stage could be a potential solution, to piggyback off the M27 amplifier power!
I have yet to listen to a sabre dac that I liked. I like the hiby's r8ii dac. the various ak4499 and ex. but for now every implementation of sabre let me down as a sterile sound. but hey maybe this time will be different
Unless Fiio can somehow get an exemption to the tariffs I doubt that anyone in the US will be able to buy their products at all once US inventory runs out to say nothing of upcoming releases.
Even if they do still sell their products they'll be so expensive that most people won't be able to afford them so there's no point in trying to sell them in the US at all. Here's an example of how bad it's going to be from a post I made on another thread:
Saw the worst example of how much Dumbledorf's idiocy will impact prices, as I found another item that I can still order. I paid around $140 for Cayin's RU6 last fall and the price has now jumped up to $280, but that's not even close to the actual amount US buyers would have to pay:
See that little notation next to the listed price? Nearly $500 Additional *estimated* fees!!!!! So they could be even higher than that! So your *minimum* expected total cost is $780!!!!! And their website says *nothing* about *any* potential additional fees an item would incur upon entering the US which they absolutely need to fix ASAP. Until this insanity is over *do not buy from AliExpress* and if you must *only use their app* to see that cost that you'll actually end up paying!
And that post doesn't even take into account the end of the de minimis exception which will add a $100 fee to every package entering the US so the actual price you pay could be upwards of $880. Granted this isn't a Fiio product but it's one of the few items I've purchased last year that I can still even view the product page for, as most items are completely geo-blocked in the US. So for all intents and purposes the US is a dead market for Fiio and most other Chinese companies unless the orange turd stops this insanity.
Unless Fiio can somehow get an exemption to the tariffs I doubt that anyone in the US will be able to buy their products at all once US inventory runs out to say nothing of upcoming releases.
Even if they do still sell their products they'll be so expensive that most people won't be able to afford them so there's no point in trying to sell them in the US at all. Here's an example of how bad it's going to be from a post I made on another thread:
And that post doesn't even take into account the end of the de minimis exception which will add a $100 fee to every package entering the US so the actual price you pay could be upwards of $880. Granted this isn't a Fiio product but it's one of the few items I've purchased last year that I can still even view the product page for, as most items are completely geo-blocked in the US. So for all intents and purposes the US is a dead market for Fiio and most other Chinese companies unless the orange turd stops this insanity.
Not necessarily ... I also have drifted mostly between AKM and R2R over the last years, but Cayin's ES9039PRO implementation in the N6iii E203 board has left me quite impressed with its organic and musical rendition ... So I am really curious to learn how FiiO ends up tuning the M27 ...
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