[FiiO BTR15/BTR5 2021/BTR5]Bluetooth DAC and Headphone Amplifier Discussion & Impressions Thread
Aug 2, 2020 at 1:03 PM Post #1,923 of 3,670
Just something I found out today: If you use Samsung phone and prefer not to use apps like Neutron; enabling UHQ upscaler brings the default 48K to 192K on USB mode. I'm not even sure if this actually does anything, just thought I'd share.
 
Aug 2, 2020 at 9:30 PM Post #1,926 of 3,670
Consensus so far is the Q5K is a bit better, both USB DAC and LDAC modes.

Especially with HPs connected from the balanced outputs.

Didn't find 5K to be better as USB DAC, and LDAC on 5K is better not because LDAC itself is better but because 5K has a working EQ over LDAC, which may or may not be a concern depends on whether you use EQ or not.

As for balanced output - they are about the same to be.
 
Aug 3, 2020 at 5:04 AM Post #1,927 of 3,670
what is the best case for this device? I've heard DD hifi case becomes loose after some time.
 
Last edited:
Aug 4, 2020 at 12:24 AM Post #1,928 of 3,670
Do you guy think the btr5 could drive a zmf Eikon/Verite sufficiently? I'm loving it so far and I've mostly used it for iems but I plan to get one if not both of those and I'd prefer to stick to one device in the long run.
 
Aug 4, 2020 at 3:23 AM Post #1,929 of 3,670
I love this cheap balanced amp

pros:
-tiny
-low impedance
-balanced out
-bt5+LDAC
-noiseless
-low crosstalk

minor cons:
-digital volume controls are really slow to adjust compared to knobs. especially how somewhat hard to press they are
-different volume levels memorized for both USB DAC and bluetooth, which can take you surprise if you switch over to the other and it blasts you all of a sudden
-gloss makes it easy to slip out of your hand or wherever you put it. i'd buy (or 3d print) a case for this
-it advertises an equalizer, but it doesn't work for LDAC, which Fiio says they'll try to implement by Sept '20, and it doesn't work at all for PC. Not a big deal for me since I can use a 3rd party PC software to EQ it.
-whats the point of turning off charging, to save charge cycles? the battery is constantly draining when hooked to PC, when it hits 0% it wont work until it gets some charge, so you still have to leave it on . i want to be able to leave it connected to the pc forever without degrading the battery health. That's how my topping NX4 died. I hope an update fixes this.
 
Last edited:
Aug 4, 2020 at 3:39 AM Post #1,930 of 3,670
-whats the point of turning off charging, to save charge cycles? the battery is constantly draining when hooked to PC, when it hits 0% it wont work until it gets some charge, so you still have to leave it on . i want to be able to leave it connected to the pc forever without degrading the battery health. That's how my topping NX4 died. I hope an update fixes this.

So people who use it mainly as smartphone's USB DAC won't drain the smartphone's battery.

Also, charging setting can be changed via either menu or app.
 
Aug 4, 2020 at 8:33 AM Post #1,931 of 3,670
I love this cheap balanced amp

pros:
-tiny
-low impedance
-balanced out
-bt5+LDAC
-noiseless
-low crosstalk

minor cons:
-digital volume controls are really slow to adjust compared to knobs. especially how somewhat hard to press they are
-different volume levels memorized for both USB DAC and bluetooth, which can take you surprise if you switch over to the other and it blasts you all of a sudden
-gloss makes it easy to slip out of your hand or wherever you put it. i'd buy (or 3d print) a case for this
-it advertises an equalizer, but it doesn't work for LDAC, which Fiio says they'll try to implement by Sept '20, and it doesn't work at all for PC. Not a big deal for me since I can use a 3rd party PC software to EQ it.
-whats the point of turning off charging, to save charge cycles? the battery is constantly draining when hooked to PC, when it hits 0% it wont work until it gets some charge, so you still have to leave it on . i want to be able to leave it connected to the pc forever without degrading the battery health. That's how my topping NX4 died. I hope an update fixes this.
I love the separate volume control actually. I watch movies on my laptop a lot, and listen to music on my phone, so It's nice to set a normalized volume for movies (sometimes too quiet) and music (if used the same with movies's volume, it's piercing). Just my experience so far :)
p/s: I use BT for movies, usb for music (sometimes BT as well)
 
Last edited:
Aug 4, 2020 at 3:32 PM Post #1,932 of 3,670
I love the separate volume control actually. I watch movies on my laptop a lot, and listen to music on my phone, so It's nice to set a normalized volume for movies (sometimes too quiet) and music (if used the same with movies's volume, it's piercing). Just my experience so far :)
p/s: I use BT for movies, usb for music (sometimes BT as well)

Is there a noticeable lag between what's on screen and what you're hearing when watching movies using the BTR5?
 
Aug 4, 2020 at 3:35 PM Post #1,933 of 3,670
Did anyone had a problem with BTR5 and Tidal Hi-Fi/Master? I installed USB2 driver for Fiio BTR5 (Windows 10) and I allowed for exclusive control both in audio settings in Windows and in Tidal. Unfortunately Tidal frequently fails to switch sample rate for given song and songs after the first launch of Tidal, plays too fast. Disabling and re-enabling exclusive control in Tidal temporally solve this issue but this is really annoying.
 
Aug 4, 2020 at 4:06 PM Post #1,934 of 3,670
Is there a noticeable lag between what's on screen and what you're hearing when watching movies using the BTR5?
The BTR5 works fine - stays in sync - on both USB DAC and BT on a Windows 10 PC using the Built in BT support (Gigabyte B450), same for BT on the Samsung S20 Ultra / Note 10+, and BT on the Samsung Tab S6 / Samsung TabA. I'm sensitive to this audio sync lag between screen movement and audio, I would have noticed.
Did anyone had a problem with BTR5 and Tidal Hi-Fi/Master? I installed USB2 driver for Fiio BTR5 (Windows 10) and I allowed for exclusive control both in audio settings in Windows and in Tidal. Unfortunately Tidal frequently fails to switch sample rate for given song and songs after the first launch of Tidal, plays too fast. Disabling and re-enabling exclusive control in Tidal temporally solve this issue but this is really annoying.
The BTR5 is stable for me on MQA. My BTR5 is on firmware 1.0.6 and using the Tidal App on Windows 10 with the BTR5 hooked up in USB DAC mode I'm not seeing any problems.

The BTR5 is connected to the PC using a 1m USB 3.0 cable plugged in to the back panel of the motherboard. My top panel USB's already have too much cable length internally and I do have USB dropouts with my FiiO M15 using that top panel USB, but the BTR5 has never dropped out plugged in with the same cable to that top panel USB.

You might try different USB ports, plug in with a different / shorter cable to the convenient port, or try plugging in to the back panel directly into the motherboard.

The driver is not not needed for BTR USB DAC mode - FiiO driver 4.47.0.0. I run without the FiiO control panel loaded (v0.2E) most of the time as it simply shows "ASIO not active". If you want to use DSD then you would want to install the driver / load the FiiO Control panel.

I have the Windows BTR5 device (FiiO Q Series) set for 384k and the FiiO control panel can be useful to see what the current sample rate is - 48k right now playing MQA, starting with playlist track 59 - raindrops (an angel cried) (live) :
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/17553b24-9a30-4516-b99c-914cc2370801
Tidal settings for btr5 btr3k.JPG

Updated to disable "Passthrough MQA"

I'm listening using a Sennheiser 598cs with a 4.4mm balanced cable + 4.4mm to 2.5mm balanced adapter connected to the BTR5 2.5mm balanced port - L Gain, Volume 30.

I got the balanced cable so I could use the higher power output of the BTR5 / M15 balanced output - compared to the 3.5mm SE output.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/low...ng-for-buck-cable-thread.891911/post-15783077

Here's a playlist of 192khz MQA's I enjoy:
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/bd51ad45-df8a-4333-8615-d7526b80b70a

BTW, the FiiO BTR3k plays the same MQA setup as above using the 2.5mm output to the Sennheiser 598cs's, and drives them much better on balanced 2.5mm than from the 3.5mm SE output.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top