it has SABRE9006A Premier Audio DAC. Thanks for the long informative answer, i just want to know the best way of hooking it up to play tunes, wether by 3.5 mm jack to rca inputs or the front panel usb.
You can go ‘either way’.
For some users, ‘wife acceptance factor’ or AESTHETICS, matters most, at which point you might choose a cable ‘style’ that looks good.
From a ‘technicality’ point of view, knowing
which DAC chip (sabre9006A) is in use is only a tiny part of the ‘whole sound’ story. What the amp does with the sound is likely to sound different to what the FiiO DAP does with the sound (even if both pieces of hardware, DAP and surround receiver, both used THE SAME chip(s)).
If you feel the ‘size of the soundstage’ you get from both devices is ‘the same’, then you could easily go ‘either way’.
From experience with ’a similar’ situation, feeding a FiiO X5(III) DAP into a range of ‘surround receivers’ (all bolstered with ‘higher quality’ power amplifiers, connected via esoteric cables etc)(a best case scenario for ‘sound quality’ from a surround receiver) the FiiO X5(III) ran circles around a Yamaha RXV2700 and RXV1900, also various ‘nice’ Onkyos (DTR70.4 and a DHC80.1), as well as other nice surround receivers like an older Marantz SR9300 through various Sonys (ES ??)1500, and Denons (like an AVR3806) .
Most of these are ‘mid fi’ (at best). The Onkyo processor, the DHC80.1, as well as my
ancient Proceed AVP2 processor actually could double as basic ‘half decent’ DACs. An Outlaw 990 processor was actually good in this regard due to having Dolby headphone etc.
but then all the other junk surround receivers I tested, such as a marantz sr6005, are just slush.. and certainly do not ‘recreate‘ CD quality sound (as it was heard in the nineties at least).
They all have great DAC chips, some ‘several of them’, a couple of units will do the cool ‘use multiple DAC chips for 2channel’ technique even.. and whilst they all have great reading spec sheets and ‘measurements’, the best thing a surround receiver does for the sound is the MultiXT32 or Audessey re-eq, that factors a listening spaces’ acoustic zone and can flatline the sound (and get critical subwoofer phase/timing done...)
It is true that when using offboard power amps, and using their ‘channel level adjusts’ to balance the speakers sound, the job that the front end processor has to do to volume match all the speakers can be mitigated to ‘a minimal adjustment’: in this case scenario, when using a decent (dedicated) processor, and feeding via reference amps, the sound from a surround amp can actually be ‘good’. (better than an entry level 2 channel/stereo amplifier even..)
So whether anyone wants to learn vicariously (via ‘others experience’) might gleam that mainstream surround amps aren’t ‘all that musical’ (nor are they designed to be, anymore, like they were in the early nineties when the format of surround sound was being widely adopted by the market, and had to at least EQUAL stereo sound parts)
But it is personal choice and many like to feed their music via 7 speakers (and multiple subs) etc, and so a likely usage scenario is to feed the DAP ( the FiiO M11+) into the surround and to
PROCESS the sound (eg upmix it to multiple speakers); if that is the intention- feeding digitally would make a logical sense, ass otherwise the audio would be Digital to Analogue (DA) converted only to be Analogue to Digital (AD) reconverted, for processing, in order to be DA converted again... (eeek!)
Feeding an M11+ via the analogue outputs, the D to A already done, i’d feed into an analogue input (those RCA/phono ‘left‘ and ‘right’ connectors), and I’d choose the ‘pure music’ mode on my surround amp (the one that bypasses lots of noisy circuitry, sometimes even defeating the video circuitry; allows for ‘cleaner power’), and enjoy 2channel ‘stereo’ sound.
Like what most of our digital files are actually
mixed and engineered to playback as...
so- to clarify, of all the processors and ‘preamps’ listed above; I’d feed a M11+ into ALL of them using line level ANALOGUE to get the ‘best sound’.
That being said, most of those DACs do perform noticably better, when fed from the M11+, than most dedicated CD transports and ‘really nice’ bluray/UHD players etc give, so hearing the M11+ feed digitally into the surround receiver is likely to be the best/cleanest/’most accurate’ source that the receiver will ever see...
The M11+ is
an excellent transport, and will let any digital input sound its absolute best... (try it, you may like it)
The problem with feeding via USB into the amp is that the Sabre, which will want the ‘converted to DSD feed’, will not see the FiiO ‘all to DSD’ via the USB cable (I think it has to be the COAX output from the M11+, a connection for which is likely to be found on the rear of the receiver.. (although newer receivers and ‘budget’ receivers seem to miss having a few digital inputs on the rear (that aren’t HDMI))
If I was feeding into a receiver digitally, it would be via COAX. (I’d move mountains to avoid USB as a transport line)
Now, having addressed the LAME quality sound as typically found in anything less than
flagship (surround) receivers, and having actually used a FiiO DAP to as a source; here were some of my expereinces: (using a X5 (version III) and ultimately a K5 dock)
The X5 was a good source (transport), it cleanly beat the Mac Mini output and nice ‘upper midrange’ CD players from days gone by. (I dumped a modern Denon CD transport as it was ‘junk’ by comparison). The X5(III) had a great, wide soundstage and sounded ‘very analogue’. IT could retrieve detail in complex passages from stringed instruments and did a good job seperating them. Fast transients and ‘phase shifting’ electric guitars all had requisite speed, but sound was ‘relatively flat’ compared to the X5(III) running through the (original) K5 dock.
The dock obviously bolstered the sound, giving it more power. The soundstage width increased, but more noticeably, a ‘front to rear’ sound stage
depth kicked in, revealing much better positioning of instruments, and a more sterile (rather than coloured) playback during complex moments with many overlayed instruments.
The X5(III) doesn’t hold a candle to the M11+
The M11+ is probably one of the planets
best doorways to a full ‘quality’ sound system.
It starts off as the TRANSPORT/DAC/AMP, quickly upgraded with a better amp, and ultimately a ‘future’ DAC, and will remain an exemplary source.
It is a great building block and has many and practical uses... (like BT in/out and airplay, and online sourced music programs run on it etc...)
TL: DR
The M11+ is a great source. one of the reasons it was factored as a purchase was
probably the DAC chips used and their circuit, as a whole. To use said DAC chips, an analogue feed will be required from the unit. It has several ports for accomodating this, either using balanced (eg 4.4mm to xlr plugs) or the standard 3.5mm to 2x phono plug cable (that even most supermarkets carry).
To be fair this discussion is all ‘theory’; real world testing in any given setup is ALWAYS required. I’d use whichever cable I lay my hands on first, and ‘be done with it’ (Music is greater than ‘talking about music’).
(so lets) enjoy!
and I see FiiO RM1 BT remote pilot is coming back to favor.
