[FiiO]

@FiiO - ping

Dear friend,
Here is the battery life and test condition for your reference:

Battery Life & Test Conditions (The test result is based on specified test conditions and just for referrence)
Battery Life	Low Power model：BAL &P about 11h High power mode：PO about 9.5H，BAL about 7.5H	Bluetooth Transmitter	iPhone （AAC）
Connected Headphones	M3 open earbuds（27Ω）	Volume	With set output at 40mV

Best regards

 

[darfk fear]

Dear friend,
Here is the battery life and test condition for your reference:

Battery Life & Test Conditions (The test result is based on specified test conditions and just for referrence)
Battery Life	Low Power model：BAL &P about 11h High power mode：PO about 9.5H，BAL about 7.5H	Bluetooth Transmitter	iPhone （AAC）
Connected Headphones	M3 open earbuds（27Ω）	Volume	With set output at 40mV

Best regards

well I can confirm that -at least for my device- this doesn't translate in real life usage. I'm getting less than half mentioned playback.
(40mV@27Ω = volume of 19/32 on my IEM)

 

[darfk fear]

Glad you like BTR3K's sound!

another thing I like about the sound is how much I can use EQ without distortion..!
I'm not talking about FIIO in app EQ .. that's not good and kills the sound for me. but in poweramp even if I raise bass frequencies by 15 db, it doesn't get distorted!! but when I try to add +4 using my dongle, it get's badly distorted!! I don't know why because I feel that dongle doesn't lack power since my IEMs can get even louder on it.. so.. I don't know the reason

 

[BenF]

another thing I like about the sound is how much I can use EQ without distortion..!
I'm not talking about FIIO in app EQ .. that's not good and kills the sound for me. but in poweramp even if I raise bass frequencies by 15 db, it doesn't get distorted!! but when I try to add +4 using my dongle, it get's badly distorted!! I don't know why because I feel that dongle doesn't lack power since my IEMs can get even louder on it.. so.. I don't know the reason

Dongles have no problem driving voltage, but driving current is a lot more difficult when drawing power from a smartphone.
BTR3K can drive sufficient voltage and current equally well, because of using its own battery.

 

[BenF]

Dear friend,
Here is the battery life and test condition for your reference:

Battery Life & Test Conditions (The test result is based on specified test conditions and just for referrence)
Battery Life	Low Power model：BAL &P about 11h High power mode：PO about 9.5H，BAL about 7.5H	Bluetooth Transmitter	iPhone （AAC）
Connected Headphones	M3 open earbuds（27Ω）	Volume	With set output at 40mV

Best regards

I have tested using DAC Work Mode in "Low Power", and here is what I've got:

LDAC 990 - 8.5 hours
LDAC 660 - 10 hours
APTX LL - 11 hours
APTX - 11 hours
AAC - 12.5-13 hours

About 50% improvement for APTX - from 7.5 hours to 11 hours!
I don't know if LL was actually ever used in my test, impossible to tell.

Here is what I have found about DAC Work Mode at https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/380487.html

50% in real life vs 20% in documentation.
Either the documentation is wrong, or there is a bug

@FiiO - how much lower is SNR in Low Power mode vs High Performance?

I measured AAC twice - first got 12.5 hours, couldn't believe it - so measured again. Got 13 hours...
Even considering that the rain sounds are much quieter than the max 96.75dB the app calculated, this is still very impressive.

 

[FiiO]

I have tested using DAC Work Mode in "Low Power", and here is what I've got:

LDAC 990 - 8.5 hours
LDAC 660 - 10 hours
APTX LL - 11 hours
APTX - 11 hours
AAC - 12.5-13 hours

About 50% improvement for APTX - from 7.5 hours to 11 hours!
I don't know if LL was actually ever used in my test, impossible to tell.

Here is what I have found about DAC Work Mode at https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/380487.html

50% in real life vs 20% in documentation.
Either the documentation is wrong, or there is a bug

@FiiO - how much lower is SNR in Low Power mode vs High Performance?

I measured AAC twice - first got 12.5 hours, couldn't believe it - so measured again. Got 13 hours...
Even considering that the rain sounds are much quieter than the max 96.75dB the app calculated, this is still very impressive.

Dear friend,

According to the parameter, the mode does not affect the SNR.
SNR:
PO≥119dB (32Ω A-weighted)
BAL≥122dB(32Ω A-weighted)

Best regards

 

[BenF]

Dear friend,

According to the parameter, the mode does not affect the SNR.
SNR:
PO≥119dB (32Ω A-weighted)
BAL≥122dB(32Ω A-weighted)

Best regards

If it doesn't affect SNR, which parameter does it affect?
The website clearly says that Low Power mode "will limit the dynamic range in a lower level".

Also, why is the difference so much bigger - 50% vs 20%?

 

[FiiO]

If it doesn't affect SNR, which parameter does it affect?
The website clearly says that Low Power mode "will limit the dynamic range in a lower level".

Also, why is the difference so much bigger - 50% vs 20%?

For example, the Noise Floor is affected:
High power mode& A-weighted
PO≤1.0uV BAL≤2.0uV
Low Power model & A-weighted
PO≤4.5uV BAL≤4.5uV
Different battery life testing condition may have diffenent result. You could try to test again?

Best regards

 

[BenF]

For example, the Noise Floor is affected:
High power mode& A-weighted
PO≤1.0uV BAL≤2.0uV
Low Power model & A-weighted
PO≤4.5uV BAL≤4.5uV

If the noise floor is affected, then should SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) be affected?
You can't have the same SNR with higher noise level.

Different battery life testing condition may have diffenent result. You could try to test again?

The only difference (other than the DAC Work Mode) was that the volume in 7.5H test was set to 20 and in 11H test was set to 19.
That changed V_out from 50mV to 39mV, P_Out from 0.077mW to 0.047mW, SPL from 98.85dB to 96.75dB.
Of course, all of these volume are theoretical maximums, and the rain sounds never reached these levels.
32Ohm/110dB earbud was used in all the tests.

Do you really think that lowering the volume just 1 step can account for an extra 30% of battery life?
If that's the case, I'm scared to think what would setting volume to 21 or 22 do to the battery life...

 

[BenF]

I have re-measured BTR3K in High Performance Mode with volume set to 19 - 7:31:58.
@FiiO - the question remains - why is there a ~50% difference in battery life, if the documentation states 20%?

 

[FiiO]

I have re-measured BTR3K in High Performance Mode with volume set to 19 - 7:31:58.
@FiiO - the question remains - why is there a ~50% difference in battery life, if the documentation states 20%?

So in low power mode, you could get 15hours?
In the FAQ, that value is just for reference. Different usage, different output port would also get the different result.

 

[BenF]

So in low power mode, you could get 15hours?
In the FAQ, that value is just for reference. Different usage, different output port would also get the different result.

Not 15, 11 - extending the battery life by ~50% instead of 20% as stated:

 

[darfk fear]

I've got question guys. comparing balanced vs SE output, assuming I'll use same volume on both (moderate to high - 80 db for example.)
how does sound quality compare? will there be more audible noise on balanced?
In other word, if I use an easy to drive IEM intending to listen at about 80db, should I use balanced or SE?

 

[BenF]

I've got question guys. comparing balanced vs SE output, assuming I'll use same volume on both (moderate to high - 80 db for example.)
how does sound quality compare? will there be more audible noise on balanced?
In other word, if I use an easy to drive IEM intending to listen at about 80db, should I use balanced or SE?

There is no audible noise on either.
Balanced sounds a bit more technical/clinical, with SE being the more lively one.
You should try both and use the one you like more.

 

[darfk fear]

There is no audible noise on either.
Balanced sounds a bit more technical/clinical, with SE being the more lively one.
You should try both and use the one you like more.

yes there is!! if I set it on more than 27/32 SE , I can clearly hear noise when connected as USB DAC.
though I can only hear it with one of my IEMs (34/105)
generally speaking , if I volume match both SE and balanced, which one has lower noise (on paper!!)