[Sonic Defender]

That makes perfect sense, actually. The battery saver mode most likely kills things like Bluetooth, wifi, apps, etc, that are running in the background, so that the musical signal path is "purer" and less noisy, which results in higher sound quality!

The HiBy R6Pro, as well as a few other DAP's, have a "music mode", that does the same thing, for better SQ. So it totally makes sense that the M11's "battery saver mode" has the best SQ, because it's most likely shutting down everything unnecessary for just listening to music, at least with a wired cable coming from the 2.5/3.5/4.4 outputs!!!

My Shanling Audio M5s DAP might be a mid-tier DAP, but it sounds heavenly right out of the box, without having to switch into a "music mode/battery saver"!!!

That said, I've been eyeing up the whole FiiO DAP lineup, to possibly replace my Sony NW-A35 Walkman as my car's Bluetooth source! I have a mint condition 2009 Lincoln MKZ, with an AMAZING sound system, so if anyone has any opinions for the FiiO DAP with the BEST Bluetooth sound, I'd greatly appreciate it!!!

That really isn't how Bluetooth works, not in a substantive way. The transmitting device should have the least impact on sound, mostly passively passing it along. It will be the receiving side with the final analog output and DAC work that matters most. So the system in your car is limited to whatever extent the Bluetooth quality is. Likely it will sound great, but even AAC can sound great, IMO.

 

[krumplib430]

Hm, does the All to DSD work on SD card files only or all music, ex: TIDAL online/offline?

EDIT: I think it works on TIDAL streaming/offline too. The imaging noticeably improves.

Maybe it is only my unit, but all to dsd adds very noticeable noise when I use tidal. The strange thing, this only happen with tidal, not the fiio app. And it is more noticeable with certain songs. Try to play the first 10 seconds of Patricia Barber Too rich for my blood. First without all to dsd and next with all to dsd enabled. The difference is very noticeable. I think I already mentioned this on this thread but got no response, so Im very curious if it is only me (in that case my unit is faulty). Im using FH7 and ier m9 balanced.

 

[exitfire401]

Mine doesn't get warm using single ended out, with easy to drive iems or bluetooth. That's how I use it so "not at all" is also accurate.

Yeah, I primarily use single ended or bluetooth with alltodsd off. With alltodsd on, it got ever so slightly warm and over balanced (when I tested on my coworker's DM6), it got barely noticeably warm. My OnePlus 6T operates on average warmer than my M11 does.

 

[Phil B]

HEY FIIO...!!!!

Excuse my caps but tech support has stopped responding after my last 3 follow ups for this issue!!!
I am an audio engineer for several record labels. I first used the X5II for headphone mixes and then upgraded to the M11. Using the Fiio player ONLY, the volume will just randomly drop to almost half of what it was initially. Happens with any file format and multiple songs. If I rewind the track the volume will jump back up and play straight thru where it initially dropped on the track, so again, it is definitely not the tracks.There is nothing on the display to indicate there is any issue and the volume slider does not drop when the volume cuts. FIIO asked me for a video of this which is almost impossible unless I pair it to a speaker and just let it randomly play until it happens only to show nothing!!

For the time being I am using Poweramp for playback and that has no issues. I also have tried Neutron, BBE player, Hiby player and 2 others. NONE have this issue except the Stock player! I do not want to use 3rd party players so what gives?? I was already embarrassed by Ibasso which made me switch to FIIO in the first place. Imagine the surprise of my clients when listening to a rough mix and have the volume drop thinking someone cut the master volume!!!
PLEASE ADVISE!!!!! I have given you all my settings in emails only for you to stop responding.. UNACCEPTABLE!
Thank you,
Phil B

Ok, so for anyone else who is interested I was able to make some progress on this volume drop issue by manipulating frequencies on the Fiio EQ I can make this happen pretty regularly now. Before FIIO tries to explain that is normal and the player will attenuate overall volume before distortion occurs, thats not the case here because as I am Exaggerating the EQ I am adding distortion, and when the volume drops it still has the distortion on the track. Spectrum analyzer confirms exactly that. So basically there is no cut in frequency, just volume drop. I figured this would mostly occur with frequencies below 500 but with 15k and 8k boosted almost to max it will happen almost every time.

Now OBVIOUSLY I highly doubt anyone would boost the EQ as I have here, But.. even at lower DB levels the volume will cut. The default EQ settings will also make the volume drop randomly. I am using these extreme settings to make it happen rather than waiting for it randomly. If anyone feels like playing around to see if they are having the same results feel free! Start with 15k and 8k and boost to about +10 or higher. Again, this is just to test..I really dont expect anyone to have to use these extreme settings on any finished and mastered product.

FIIO.... as an engineer I will sometimes need to EQ my tracks as needed before final mixdown. This problem really is unacceptable as I have said before, NONE of the third party players I had loaded did this. Hopefully there will be a fix forthcoming. Thanks!
Phil B

 

[Jujoe]

Ok, so for anyone else who is interested I was able to make some progress on this volume drop issue by manipulating frequencies on the Fiio EQ I can make this happen pretty regularly now. Before FIIO tries to explain that is normal and the player will attenuate overall volume before distortion occurs, thats not the case here because as I am Exaggerating the EQ I am adding distortion, and when the volume drops it still has the distortion on the track. Spectrum analyzer confirms exactly that. So basically there is no cut in frequency, just volume drop. I figured this would mostly occur with frequencies below 500 but with 15k and 8k boosted almost to max it will happen almost every time.

Now OBVIOUSLY I highly doubt anyone would boost the EQ as I have here, But.. even at lower DB levels the volume will cut. The default EQ settings will also make the volume drop randomly. I am using these extreme settings to make it happen rather than waiting for it randomly. If anyone feels like playing around to see if they are having the same results feel free! Start with 15k and 8k and boost to about +10 or higher. Again, this is just to test..I really dont expect anyone to have to use these extreme settings on any finished and mastered product.

FIIO.... as an engineer I will sometimes need to EQ my tracks as needed before final mixdown. This problem really is unacceptable as I have said before, NONE of the third party players I had loaded did this. Hopefully there will be a fix forthcoming. Thanks!
Phil B

Hi Phil B, sorry you are having these issues.

I have boosted the FiiO app in the 8k and 16k band and after 5 mins nothing no change in the volume sorry.

I tried for 40 mins longer and still no drops in volume.

 

[Vitandus]

Has anyone tried using Fiio FH7 with Fiio LC-4.4C ?

Yup, both 4.4 cables. Work fine.

 

[Phil B]

Hi Phil B, sorry you are having these issues.

I have boosted the FiiO app in the 8k and 16k band and after 5 mins nothing no change in the volume sorry.

I tried for 40 mins longer and still no drops in volume.

Hhmm.... that is a little disturbing.... But thank you for taking the time to try it though. After few resets and reloads of the newest firmware I seriously doubt its a glitch. That sure wouldnt make sense if its a hardware issue.... Oh boy..

 

[Jujoe]

Hhmm.... that is a little disturbing.... But thank you for taking the time to try it though. After few resets and reloads of the newest firmware I seriously doubt its a glitch. That sure wouldnt make sense if its a hardware issue.... Oh boy..

Is it via all three 2.5, 3.5 and 4.4 or is it just one of the ports?

 

[Phil B]

Is it via all three 2.5, 3.5 and 4.4 or is it just one of the ports?

Happens with 3.5 and Bluetooth as well. Have not tried the other ports.

 

[Jujoe]

Happens with 3.5 and Bluetooth as well. Have not tried the other ports.

Dose changing to line out do anything ?

 

[mattg3]

Just tried the battery saver mode on the M11 and I love it.Maybe its just wishful thinking but I swear sound is better in this mode. Treble seems to have smoothed out and soundstage has opened up a bit. Not sure if its actually adding more battery life but something is going on. I could do without the orange stripes that appear on the top and bottom of the screen when using this mode but Im loving the sound. Im also in the Pure music mode.

 

[Leetransform25]

Can someone explain how the All to DSD feature works? What exactly does it do and how does it make the audio sound better? I'd assume resampling a PCM file to DSD wouldn't do much but I ain't the most experienced here so what would I know

 

[Phil B]

Dose changing to line out do anything ?

I've not tried actually. I'll try either later or tomorrow and post the result.

 

[Phil B]

I've not tried actually. I'll try either later or tomorrow and post the result.

Well that didnt take long.... same result on line out as well.

 

[Colors]

Just tried the battery saver mode on the M11 and I love it.Maybe its just wishful thinking but I swear sound is better in this mode. Treble seems to have smoothed out and soundstage has opened up a bit. Not sure if its actually adding more battery life but something is going on. I could do without the orange stripes that appear on the top and bottom of the screen when using this mode but Im loving the sound. Im also in the Pure music mode.

That’s my conclusions as well...just seems cleaner and less congestion.

Also you save battery

All to DSD is so good...but a battery killer, easily 2-2.5x more battery consumption. But brings up the M11 another level.