Just a ‘little appreciation’ for
what the M11+
actually represents in terms of existing in the audio market;
FiiO give a LOT of ‘bang for buck’. It is no doubt how they thrive in a competitive market.
When we look at the ‘bill of materials’(BOM) for a turntable; for a small company to turn a profit, there isn’t much spent on the parts.
When we look at modern computing devices; be it a ‘laptop’, a ‘Playstation 5‘ console, or a
Digital Audio Player (DAP)- the parts cost is substantial; the BOM is ‘quite high’. When we factor, further, that the BOM is made up of chips that have all been sold into competitive market spaces:whether we are talking a USB controller chip, a central processing unit (CPU), or the DAC chips/THX modules etc, they are all ‘exceptionally cheap’ for what they are evolved from-
Laptop manufacturers admit that the BOM is exceptionally high and the ‘profit’ can only be made in a market where they can move
a lot of units.
DAPs do not have this going for them- they are not ‘in demand’ items the same way that the ‘latest phone’ may sell millions of units globally.
So the notion we are getting the evolution of technology (in each of the parts), each with their own Research and Development cycles, and manufacturing issues to circumvent (and more recently ‘crazy supply chain’ challenges) etc; what we get for our coin outlay, when buying one of these tech items is fantastic value.
More importantly - that these are not built to be ‘seasonal’ parts, annually replaced, means that the limited pool of consumers they are sold to, if sold a ‘good product’; do not need to buy ‘updates or replacements’.
Many manufacturers pass on firmware updates only to ‘future models’ to encourage new unit sales. This is unethical for the end consumer when the improvement could be passed on to present users of existing parts (sometimes ‘for close to nil cost’).
An easy example of this, that comes to mind- was for a camera I had a couple of years ago; the Sony A7 mk2.
The A7 mk2 has inbuilt ‘sensor shift‘ stabilisation. Some scientists came up with a way to ‘shift the sensor‘ and take multiple photos, and create a ‘very hi res’ shot. (this wouldn’t work for moving subjects, but had academic purposes, and might be useful to hobbyists and professional shooters (eg product photography etc).
The next Sony A7 camera included a firmware that gave this feature, and it was a legitimate reason to ‘upgrade’. It could have been made available to the older body, but that wouldn’t generate interest in the new product, or net sales from the existing market that clearly had lenses already for the new body.
From a corporate perspective, they did the right thing to gain ‘short term‘ sales success.
As a user I simply found another camera ecosystem, and traded my Sony kit away to a more ‘pro consumer’ company.
FiiO have been reconfiguring their parts for optimal sound for a very long time. (They even mention the generation of their mainboards etc in the marketing material cause these ‘subtle’ evolutions in design do effect ultimate sound quality; and is why many white sheet docs for DAC chips etc state the board layout, such as chip orientation & proximity to ancillary parts, that are necessary for ‘best quality’).
With each improvement FiiO make, their resultant sound quality has improved. The ‘trial and error’ of ‘changing things up’ has been aided by user feedback over an extended time period, and the resultant products, when we factor the parts cost and implementation, the testing and the evolution, means we get music players for ‘bargain basement prices’.
FiiO have probably realised that they should be climbing in this market, and have built products, such as the more ’desktop orientated’ M15 and M17 units as ‘higher priced point’ parts that will compete, very capably/‘
well’, in the higher tiers of the audio market.
When I look at the M11+ as a whole; the product
amazes me.
I might sound negative regarding the amplifier modules in some posts, but I am just acknowledging the parts ‘weakest aspect’.
If the amp modules were ‘slightly‘ more capable , the audio market for ‘high end DAPs’ would crash overnight. (all manufacturers would have to reprice and ultimately future DAPs would need be built cheaper in the competitive war that ensues.)
There is a lot going on in a DAP, and it starts, arguably, with the transport.
The ‘transport’ is essentially the part that gets the zeros and ones into the DAC.
To go back to the photographical parallel above; camera users know how important the lens is=> “garbage in equals garbage out”. The lens is, arguably, is more important than the sensor even...
A DAP needs to do a decent job of being a transport, or else falls prey to competing with phones for ‘sound quality’. -=ahem=-
The M11+ is a reference grade transport. (and the cheapest one I HAVE EVER SEEN)
The DAC section certainly benefits from evolution of the total design (aspects such as the shielding and isolated power delivery contribute, as they also do to other ‘subsystems’ in the player)
and to keep this post brief, I will not go to depth explaining just how insanely right and ‘evolved’ this DAP actually is..
True, the amp modules can be bested by outboard amps, but the three amps I have that show this are all worth
considerably more than the M11+ DAP (not really apples to apples comparison), and are either desktop class parts (benefit of ‘unlimited power’ in circuit design and implementation); which most ‘big evolution in amp circuits I can think of, is mostly to use ‘more power’ for ‘smoother sound’. (Quad 33 didn’t have ‘current dumping’, which was the ‘evolution’ to sound quality in later generation products, as an example)
Portables have to make some sacrifices, like ultimate power draw, or they wind up being poorly reviewed like the Sony PHA3 (that used the ESS9018Pro chip, a high power drawing part, with high heat output naturally). A half day + to charge a device for ‘FIVE HOURS RUNTIME’ was often picked on, in product reviews, as the battery life was ‘below expectations’.
Class A (top of the tree solid state(SS) amplification) and Valve (what solid state was trying to compete with when Quad entered the market with the Quadd 33 and stated that “any amp built before this (valve), or after this (SS), that sound different to this ‘are built wrong’!” (not verbatim)) both require ‘lots of power’.
Class D amplification existed for ‘car subwoofers’; an audio environment that wasn’t critical, had limited power, and subwoofers themselves not really covering the higher frequncies- class D suited them..
Sony evolved ‘class D’ amplification, around the year 2000, when tasked with building a flagship surround receiver using ‘class D’ amplfication (the head engineer saying ‘you are joking right?’); S-master circuit was born, and Class D was an audiophile phenomena.
Nowadays it is standard affair, and users think Class A and Valve purchasers are hosing money that could be better spent on actual headphones...
In the aforementioned garbage in(transport)=garbage out(DAC), things get more confusing when we start to rate the quality of the ‘walk to the bin’ (AMP) as well...
The M11+ nails, mostly perfection, for the trifecta towards great sound.
The amplifier aspect CAN BENEFIT from better amplification, but to do so ‘onboard’ would require much more battery and product size. (M17 anyone?)
FiiO products are moving upmarket cause they can easily compete in these sectors. The big difference is they give more ‘bang for buck’ and have decided to make the units ‘bigger’ to be more capable in the only area their smaller units may lack... (jack input/outputs and amp power)
FiiO isn’t doing product tuning for a small ‘local area’ market anymore.. they are building highly competitive devices to the best the world can offer.
Due to their established position in the market, they are in a very capable place to ‘call the shots’ and beautifully (to ‘we’ the endusers/consumers) they are not jacking prices up to follow suit (eg like the Questyle QP1R=.QP2R price jump; first product was ‘too cheap’, so subsequent products massively increased in price).
The M11 to the M11 Pro to the M11+ has had price hiking, but it looks like the extra money has gone into licensed chips (THX amps) and better quality parts (those AKM4497s are a ‘high end’ DAC chip, with the 4499 being the ‘high power’ version of the chip/Sabre chips latest evolution ‘sips’ power(look at the runtimes)..)
The M11+ is, I believe, one of the best purchases a ‘lover of music’ could buy if they are interested in great equipment to let their music shine.
Last year I replaced a giant ‘bedside’ stack that required ‘multiple jumps’ and was an eyesore. (and I didn’t want power cables in the bedroom)
The replacement to the giant stack, was using the same transport (the venerable QP1R) into an iFi Diablo. VS the ‘previous setup’ it was a true parallel, and reduced the size down to about 1/8th the space and probably would have cost a third as much (total rig cost). (I did lose some versatility that the Chord Hugo offered, but I didn’t need those features beside my bed at night, so of no value in this comparison).
Reducing the QP1r=>Diablo rig to ‘half the size again’ and down to 1/3rd the cost; I am giving up ‘a little‘ in the amplification aspect...
So at 1/6th the cost of a ‘high end’ rig from a few years ago, and at 1/16th the space requirement, I have a practically @ parity setup.
the few thousand $ I have saved vs the ’killer desktop rig’ can easily buy me a ‘nice desktop’ amp if I really want to drive ‘large over ears headphones’ (at home?) at a quality level that is equivalent to ’high end’ setups, and the M11+ remains infield usable in a way that the previous setups just are not.
Even vs the QP1r=>Diablo config (@3x the cost of the M11+), the size reduction is more useful than the ‘slightly better’ DAC/amp that the Diablo offers.
I do feel that an M11+
should be bolstered upwards with some ancillary kit; the transport is A+ grade and will upgrade many DACs to better output, especially if they do not have a ‘dedicated’ CD transport already feeding them.. but adding things to an M11+ is optional; and is what people who want to ‘grow their hobby’ down the track can do.
In that regard the M11+ is one of the best purchases a pundit can buy- it is a fantastic base to a future A+ system, it is portable and therefor useable in just about every situation (maybe not poolside); and what the M11+ gives ‘straight from box’ (/‘as a whole’) is enough for most to feel their journey is over. =>go focus on ‘other things’, such as ‘enjoying the music’ or ‘playing with cables’
Watching FiiO scale up in the present market is so rewarding to my spirit, as they have earned a place at the top (from humble ‘budget’ beginnings), through exceptional customer service and ’pro consumer’ dedication.
Shine on~
