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

[kalibri]

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.

So your experience is the opposite of mine, in my case the BTR17 is quite less loud than the BTR7.
Edit: it gets louder when connected to the PC and PC mode is on., it seems to be quiet in BT mode.

@FiiO does the BTR17 output less power in BT mode than BTR7? Seems to be the case. Can you share what the power output is in BT mode? Thank you

 

[OhmsClaw]

So your experience is the opposite of mine, in my case the BTR17 is quite less loud than the BTR7.
Edit: it gets louder when connected to the PC and PC mode is on., it seems to be quiet in BT mode.

@FiiO does the BTR17 output less power in BT mode than BTR7? Seems to be the case. Can you share what the power output is in BT mode? Thank you

Yeah man, all those volume numbers are in BT mode sitting at my desk. I won't get around to wired until tomorrow. 2353 PST now T_T.

It might be a device-to-device firmware issue. I definitely scratched the silver off the back and verified the authenticity of my unit having ordered for the first time off Ali Express x'D. This thing doesn't go "on-sale" until the 22nd officially through all other vendors outside of China. I even got a solid discount keeping the total sale to $187 USD.

It's also worth noting, early review units had a rubberized back not the "real" leather back (the case is fake leather?). So this thing has been in circulation for at least a month with no firmware updates. The review units also did not have the nicer USBC data cable.

PS: As it's been pointed out above, the desktop mode totally dwarfs the BTR7, but the standard output is 330mW vs 300mW (in favor of the BTR7) for all other modes over 4.4 at 32 ohms... but with IEM's we aren't even approaching that sort of power demand.

 

[kalibri]

Yeah man, all those volume numbers are in BT mode sitting at my desk. I won't get around to wired until tomorrow. 2353 PST now T_T.

It might be a device-to-device firmware issue. I definitely scratched the silver off the back and verified the authenticity of my unit having ordered for the first time off Ali Express x'D. This thing doesn't go "on-sale" until the 22nd officially through all other vendors outside of China. I even got a solid discount keeping the total sale to $187 USD.

It's also worth noting, early review units had a rubberized back not the "real" leather back (the case is fake leather?). So this thing has been in circulation for at least a month with no firmware updates. The review units also did not have the nicer USBC data cable.

PS: As it's been pointed out above, the desktop mode totally dwarfs the BTR7, but the standard output is 330mW vs 300mW (in favor of the BTR7) for all other modes over 4.4 at 32 ohms... but with IEM's we aren't even approaching that sort of power demand.

Gotcha then. Looks like I will have to try some other IEMs, the Glaciers are 43 Ohms for reference.

My firmware is 0.41 and the package is impeccable, no reason to suspect anything. The device itself is flawless and it has the leather back and it came with the nice USB-C cable. It could be the firmware or maybe the output changes depending on the headphone's/IEM's impedance. I'll need Fiio to chime in.

Wired mode via USB the BTR17 is slightly louder at the same volume value and same gain, with desktop mode off.

It's just I'm bummed being able to have high gain on and volume at 60 and the sound being just louder than average (battery was at 80% so not low). I should not be able to tolerate this kind of output, I can't go past 40 with the BTR7 because my ears are getting blown off.

 

[ClieOS]

 

[BS5711]

Gotcha then. Looks like I will have to try some other IEMs, the Glaciers are 43 Ohms for reference.

My firmware is 0.41 and the package is impeccable, no reason to suspect anything. The device itself is flawless and it has the leather back and it came with the nice USB-C cable. It could be the firmware or maybe the output changes depending on the headphone's/IEM's impedance. I'll need Fiio to chime in.

Wired mode via USB the BTR17 is slightly louder at the same volume value and same gain, with desktop mode off.

It's just I'm bummed being able to have high gain on and volume at 60 and the sound being just louder than average (battery was at 80% so not low). I should not be able to tolerate this kind of output, I can't go past 40 with the BTR7 because my ears are getting blown off.

The glacier seems pretty typical in terms of sensitivity.

It seems apparent that something is amiss, minor differences in output power don’t account for what you describe.

If you are sure the bluetooth source volume is at maximum do you perhaps have EQ on with a large overall output reduction ?

 

[kalibri]

The glacier seems pretty typical in terms of sensitivity.

It seems apparent that something is amiss, minor differences in output power don’t account for what you describe.

If you are sure the bluetooth source volume is at maximum do you perhaps have EQ on with a large overall output reduction ?

I triple checked.

No EQ, source volume at 100%, same song, same timestamp, etc.

BT volume is lower on the BTR17.
USB volume is slightly higher on the BTR17.

I'll have to try a different device and some more IEMs tomorrow, too late today, have to go to sleep.

 

[amery]

I received my BTR17 some days ago with firmware 0.41 but it refuses to do LDAC where my BTR15 would work perfectly. I get a very quiet (compared to OTG) aptx-hd instead.
is there a newer firmware? anyone else experiencing something similar?

 

[domq422]

I guess I chose the damn snail mail option from HiFiGo for my BTR17 Mine is still no where near me it seems. It was making great progress at first but completely stopped on the 17th.

I'm getting crazy FOMO right now but it's okay... I can be patient haha

 

[bithalver]

What do you think: will the BTR17 be available on Linsoul for Black Friday sale ? I have nothing else to use LEC for. Yeah, new LEC, I like to buy if I see the BTR17 approaching.

 

[kalibri]

I received my BTR17 some days ago with firmware 0.41 but it refuses to do LDAC where my BTR15 would work perfectly. I get a very quiet (compared to OTG) aptx-hd instead.
is there a newer firmware? anyone else experiencing something similar?

Yeah mine is quiet on aptX- Adaptive too. I'll have to test LDAC.

You can disable other codecs in the Fiio Control app or on Android you can use Bluetooth Codec Switcher to change the codec on the fly

 

[amery]

Yeah mine is quiet on aptX- Adaptive too. I'll have to test LDAC.

You can disable other codecs in the Fiio Control app or on Android you can use Bluetooth Codec Switcher to change the codec on the fly

when I disabled them all but LDAP I ended with SBC :-/

Also, If I enable LE Audio on my Pixel 8a, it doesn't connect at all.

 

[kalibri]

when I disabled them all but LDAP I ended with SBC :-/

Also, If I enable LE Audio on my Pixel 8a, it doesn't connect at all.

Ok, hang on. Same thing happening with mine if I enable LE audio, I need to re-pair.

Edit: Switched to LDAC with Bluetooth Codec Switcher and same, it's quiet.

I'm listening at 40 volume in a quiet environment, this will not work outside at all (phone volume 100%, high gain).
I'm kind of disappointed, I hope this is fixable with a firmware update cause I will use this device 99% over Bluetooth not wired.

Also, it appears there's no AAC support from what I can see. I personally do not care but Apple users got screwed I guess.

 

[Hanesu]

Ok, hang on. Same thing happening with mine if I enable LE audio, I need to re-pair.

Edit: Switched to LDAC with Bluetooth Codec Switcher and same, it's quiet.

I'm listening at 40 volume in a quiet environment, this will not work outside at all (phone volume 100%, high gain).
I'm kind of disappointed, I hope this is fixable with a firmware update cause I will use this device 99% over Bluetooth not wired.

Also, it appears there's no AAC support from what I can see. I personally do not care but Apple users got screwed I guess.

Some of the commercial pictures have AAC on the display?

 

[kalibri]

Some of the commercial pictures have AAC on the display?

The Fiio Control app doesn't list AAC, neither can I switch to it via Bluetooth Codec Switcher, it's not in the list.
Maybe it only shows up on Apple devices.

 

[amery]

Ok, hang on. Same thing happening with mine if I enable LE audio, I need to re-pair.

Edit: Switched to LDAC with Bluetooth Codec Switcher and same, it's quiet.

I'm listening at 40 volume in a quiet environment, this will not work outside at all (phone volume 100%, high gain).
I'm kind of disappointed, I hope this is fixable with a firmware update cause I will use this device 99% over Bluetooth not wired.

Also, it appears there's no AAC support from what I can see. I personally do not care but Apple users got screwed I guess.

On Android, the Fiio Control app shows AAC for me.