[FiiO BTR17/BTR7] True Lossless Bluetooth, Portable Bluetooth DAC and Headphone Amplifier BTR17 Is Officially Released!

[FiiO-Yellow]

Can you please comment about availability in India

I am sorry that you can not buy it in aliexpress according to relevant law. We will push our local distributor to order and sell it.

 

[C4PPY]

@FiiO Does the BTR17 support in-line mic over USB?

 

[kalibri]

<deleted>

 

[OhmsClaw]

Out with the old, in with the new

 

[OhmsClaw]

Technically, the Q15 is a portable DAC/AMP. Bluetooth is not its main feature.

Yeah I was pretty excited about the flagship AKM pair in that unit but it was too heavy and the size of my S23 Ultra. It totally defeated the use case of something like the BTR series. I have a desktop set-up and a mojo2 for being that inconvenienced for iem's use

I bought the BTR7 the week it released and now I have the BTR17 the week of release a worthy successor.

 

[FiiO-Yellow]

@FiiO Does the BTR17 support in-line mic over USB?

Hi, BTR17 only support in-lin mic via Bluetooth. Not support it over USB.

 

[FiiO-Yellow]

Yeah I was pretty excited about the flagship AKM pair in that unit but it was too heavy and the size of my S23 Ultra. It totally defeated the use case of something like the BTR series. I have a desktop set-up and a mojo2 for being that inconvenienced for iem's use

I bought the BTR7 the week it released and now I have the BTR17 the week of release a worthy successor.

Yes, Q15 is primarily aimed at advanced audiophiles. There are two sides to everything.
After all, USB dongles are unable to meet the needs of advanced audiophiles due to their limited size and power supply. In contrast, the Q15’s performance and connector versatility are of a higher level than similar products, and the resulting enhancement in headphone potential is extraordinary.

 

[OhmsClaw]

@FiiO-Yellow Hey just wanted to point out some Bluetooth noise over sensitive IEM's on the BTR17 and CODEC instability (all codecs de-selected except for LDAC) causing me to drop and reconnect sometimes and go into the Samsung connection settings to select/de-select "use LDAC". Sometimes LDAC isn't available.

Just a heads-up for future firmware releases!
(of course there's still the developer settings requirement like with the BTR7 to go in and select "highest quality" playback bitrate every time you make a connection on Android)

 

[FiiO-Yellow]

@FiiO-Yellow Hey just wanted to point out some Bluetooth noise over sensitive IEM's on the BTR17 and CODEC instability (all codecs de-selected except for LDAC) causing me to drop and reconnect sometimes and go into the Samsung connection settings to select/de-select "use LDAC". Sometimes LDAC isn't available.

Just a heads-up for future firmware releases!
(of course there's still the developer settings requirement like with the BTR7 to go in and select "highest quality" playback bitrate every time you make a connection on Android)

Thank you for the feedback. Which IEMs you use?
(of course there's still the developer settings requirement like with the BTR7 to go in and select "highest quality" playback bitrate every time you make a connection on Android)
You mean you have to go into developer settings in your smartphone to set it to LDAC every time you connect it to BTR17? In my Xiaomi 14, it will choose high quality automactically.

 

[OhmsClaw]

Thank you for the feedback. Which IEMs you use?
(of course there's still the developer settings requirement like with the BTR7 to go in and select "highest quality" playback bitrate every time you make a connection on Android)
You mean you have to go into developer settings in your smartphone to set it to LDAC every time you connect it to BTR17? In my Xiaomi 14, it will choose high quality automactically.

I was doing my initial listening on my FiR Radon6 (26 Ohms, but very efficient. About to check out my EE EVO's on it at 4Ohms. I appreciate you guys lowering the noise floor and output impedance even further on the 4.4 connection for such low impedance units)!

Definitely a step-up from the BTR7, but there's totally nothing wrong with the BTR7.
I would just say to anyone thinking about upgrading, don't rush, but do it. Sell your BTR7 at a super nice price and help someone else get in the game (if you can afford to upgrade in such a situation). If you don't have a BTR7, then what are you waiting for

As for the LDAC, I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 1TB. Upon initial pairing you have to go to:
Connections > Bluetooth > *PAIR* > *Choose the BTR17's Settings Cog-Wheel* > "CODECS" swipe to enable LDAC

After doing this, it should default to LDAC, however the instability is in NOT un-checking the other "lesser" Codecs in the Fiio Control App. It kept wanting to choose SBC (Samsung's default Bluetooth Codec) or aptXHD even though the slider was previously chosen "LDAC". Once I had un-checked all the other Codecs and re-paired the device it went LDAC... however it tried to go SBC a couple times when I was messing about and accidentally un-paired and re-paired causing the "LDAC" slider in the basic Bluetooth settings to not even present itself as a supported option. I just re-paired once more, and it was good to go.

It seems to be solid now, but I haven't connected/disconnected as I was listening.

As for the highest quality bit-rate in Android over Samsung? Every time you make a connection (even with LDAC default) you must do the following (it's an annoying ritual but I do it every time).
Developer Options > *scroll down quite a bit* > "Bluetooth Audio LDAC Codec: Playback quality" > *Best Quality (force 990)*
The default is stability over quality at 660 rate.

Hopefully the next iteration of the Galaxy Ultra will support the lossless Codec!
Can't wait to check out the wired connection later tonight.

 

[OhmsClaw]

Here's the digital filter specs for anyone wondering on the BTR17 (from ESS's datasheet).
I'm sticking with Linear Fast (option 3) but I'm curious about other's measurements for "Fast R" Linear Fast Low Ripple (option 4).

Spoiler: Specs screenshots

 

[pacmanbr]

I was doing my initial listening on my FiR Radon6 (26 Ohms, but very efficient. About to check out my EE EVO's on it at 4Ohms. I appreciate you guys lowering the noise floor and output impedance even further on the 4.4 connection for such low impedance units)!

Definitely a step-up from the BTR7, but there's totally nothing wrong with the BTR7.
I would just say to anyone thinking about upgrading, don't rush, but do it. Sell your BTR7 at a super nice price and help someone else get in the game (if you can afford to upgrade in such a situation). If you don't have a BTR7, then what are you waiting for

As for the LDAC, I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 1TB. Upon initial pairing you have to go to:
Connections > Bluetooth > *PAIR* > *Choose the BTR17's Settings Cog-Wheel* > "CODECS" swipe to enable LDAC

After doing this, it should default to LDAC, however the instability is in NOT un-checking the other "lesser" Codecs in the Fiio Control App. It kept wanting to choose SBC (Samsung's default Bluetooth Codec) or aptXHD even though the slider was previously chosen "LDAC". Once I had un-checked all the other Codecs and re-paired the device it went LDAC... however it tried to go SBC a couple times when I was messing about and accidentally un-paired and re-paired causing the "LDAC" slider in the basic Bluetooth settings to not even present itself as a supported option. I just re-paired once more, and it was good to go.

It seems to be solid now, but I haven't connected/disconnected as I was listening.

As for the highest quality bit-rate in Android over Samsung? Every time you make a connection (even with LDAC default) you must do the following (it's an annoying ritual but I do it every time).
Developer Options > *scroll down quite a bit* > "Bluetooth Audio LDAC Codec: Playback quality" > *Best Quality (force 990)*
The default is stability over quality at 660 rate.

Hopefully the next iteration of the Galaxy Ultra will support the lossless Codec!
Can't wait to check out the wired connection later tonight.

Use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amrg.bluetooth_codec_converter&hl

 

[OhmsClaw]

Use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amrg.bluetooth_codec_converter&hl

Not too shabby. Costs 5$ but you can force all the settings automatically thanks for the heads up!

Edit: @pacmanbr I installed it BTW. Currently using it. Thanks! Even works in my car (even though Alfa only supports two lower Codecs)

 

[kalibri]

Got my BTR17 today and it's a pretty nice device.

One thing I noticed, it's noticeably quieter than the BTR7, on single ended at least.
Using my Dunu Glacier, on Bluetooth, high gain, 100% volume on my phone I can go all the way up to 60 volume and it's barely loud enough while on the BTR7 if I go above 30 it's blowing my ears out.

@FiiO what's happening here?

@FiiO also, any way to tell between aptX-LS and lower tiers of aptX-Adaptive? Will the display change?

Thanks

 

[OhmsClaw]

Got my BTR17 today and it's a pretty nice device.

One thing I noticed, it's noticeably quieter than the BTR7, on single ended at least.
Using my Dunu Glacier, on Bluetooth, high gain, 100% volume on my phone I can go all the way up to 60 volume and it's barely loud enough while on the BTR7 if I go above 30 it's blowing my ears out.

@FiiO what's happening here?

@FiiO also, any way to tell between aptX-LS and lower tiers of aptX-Adaptive? Will the display change?

Thanks

Idk about all these comments about vastly different power...

(All numbers on high gain, LDAC, 4.4 BAL except for CFA is 3.5SE which means they are even more sensitive than those numbers indicate)

BTR7:
CFA IEMS 18-19 is quite loud enough. If I go to 21 for some quieter tracks on Tidal... I will get a nasty surprise when the track changes.
Empire Ears 24-25 depending on recent environment.
Radon 6 21-23 depending on the track master (yay loudness wars)
MEST MK2 24-26 depending on the track master, usually 26.

BTR17:
CFA IEMS (haven't gotten there yet... just got the BTR17 today)
Empire Ears 17 is pretty loud
Radon 6 11 is solid 14 is LOUD
MEST MK2 16 good for youtube, 14 good for music. Quite loud.

[DESK TOP MODE]
I've only tried the RN6 on this mode, but holy smokes I had to turn it down from 14 to 9.

I'm not sure using ALL the opamps is totally worth it? Especially if IEM's aren't drawing the power demand? But totally cool to waste endless hours listening to gear Half the fun of a "new toy".