[brsdrgn]

Thanks for the response--yeah, it's on Hi-Gain and All to DSD is off. Interesting because the LTD has lower rated pwr than the Plus ESS. My HiFiMans-- HE-X4 and Edition XS-- are in the lower 90's sensitivity-wise. I guess burgeoning hearing loss might be a factor...hopefully not!... When I run higher sensitivity cans the DAP seems loud enough, just looking for recs on what decent cans seem to be driven more easily with the ESS.

Honestly, that's one of the things making m11 plus inferior.

I switched to m11 from ibasso dx160 and it was clearly giving more juice than m11. Luckily most of my collection consists of the IEMs so didn't suffer much but I recommend you to look maybe for an upgrade.

 

[FidelityFreak]

Hi all

Firstly I was on this forum many years ago when I purchased my first ever FiiO E18 DAC which I then used with my iPod Touch when it had a 3.5mm headphone jack as it was well known the internal DAC's in these were pretty average at the time (Cirrus Logic). My headphones back then were the Sennheiser IE 80's (non-wireless), so that was my starting point. That device is still working and even powered the Sennheiser HD 25 II (Adidas Edition) and the Momentum 3's (I was a Sennheiser product tester back then). Now in 2023 I have decided to return to high end portable audio because in all honesty it appears headphone wise not much has changed, except features being pulled, and pot luck at codecs as each brand their own versions. In my mind all headphone brands should support all audio codecs. My current full size headphone selection is as follows:-

1. Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (can be used via 3.5mm output)
3. Focal Bathys (wireless but can also be used via 3.5mm output)
4. Focal Celestee (few weeks) - wired only.

My current primary music device is the new iPhone 15 Pro Max which I use to listen to Apple Music / Tidal / etc and it seems to do a flawless job however as with Apple they only support a small variety of codecs, and finding Hi Res audio is a bit of hit and miss due to the way the search system works - You have to hunt for them. The audio quality from Apple has been very impressive so far but I do feel the Apple hardware maybe the limiting factor. So today out of the blue I purchased a brand new FiiO M11 Plus ESS Portable High-Resolution Audio Player for around AU$1,000 on special and this will be my first ever DAP / DAC combo. Now I'm suffering buyers remorse because I feel as though I should have gone for the M15s instead so this new device has not been opened, but conflicting reports indicate the M11 Plus is newer and has better software and hardware, and eventually I want to use closed back Sennheiser headphones like the 600 series and maybe eventually the 800 series. I am also confused about this balanced / non-balanced connections. I'm worried about being stuck with something which may need to be replaced in future and cannot drive high end headphones without going the desktop route - I prefer portable. There is so much conflicting information and most of does not come from FiiO between both these devices and the pros and cons including the confusing price differences.

Therefore this is all new to me - hardware / software / features / applications, etc. My full size headphones do support 3.5mm (except for the Apple AirPods Max) so looking forward to hearing the other headphones at their best via bypassing the Apple hardware and hearing the difference, however bluetooth is also fine as well. I imagine this will be a bit of an upgrade over the FiiO E18. Therefore I will need some guidance no doubt to enjoy this new hardware with my headphones in regards to software setup / features / functions etc - its going to be a learning curve I assume, however I do believe it will be worth the effort.

 

[FidelityFreak]

$499 USD and you'd sell them like hot cakes (the aluminium version at least).

I'm tired of wildly unreasonable priced DAPs with low-mid end phone specs and measurable performance below other (much cheaper) DAC/AMP portable alternatives.

Really hope FiiO surprises and knocks out of the park making a new direction with this product...

My M11 plus cost me AU$990 and that's on special - usually AU$1,060 and pondering if I should have gone the M15s for an additional AU$459 and hard to find which is newer and has more features and more powerful.

 

[BobSmith8901]

M15S is newer.

Here's a couple of links to reviews of each player. I have Plus ESS and it's a fine sounding machine but I have found, a bit underpowered for harder-to-drive like planars and that's using balanced. Other than the power thing it's a great machine, fast and glitch free and you can pair it with a portable amp for more demanding cans. Bluetooth CODEC-wise, it does all of the standards, LDAC, APTX-HD, etc. If I was already spending $1K I would strongly consider biting the bullet and going for the M15S but only if you think you might need more power, different sound signature, and/or want its desktop mode (for even more power and saving battery). Both machines are at Android 10 which is OK for now will get outdated sooner or later. That may not matter to you if you don't stream or use Google Play Store much. Those with experience with both machines might comment on sound comparisons between the two; I'm not up on that.

M11 Plus ESS

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-m11-plus-ess.25730/reviews#:~:text=Moreover, it has a very,screen and almost any type

M15S

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-m15s.26483/reviews

Ichos full M15S review (mentions M11 Plus ESS in comparison and calls the M15S a "definite sonic upgrade" over the ESS and M15S compares closely to the M17)

https://ichos-reviews.com/fiio-m15s-review/

 

[skullo]

M15S is newer.

Here's a couple of links to reviews of each player. I have Plus ESS and it's a fine sounding machine but I have found, a bit underpowered for harder-to-drive like planars and that's using balanced. Other than the power thing it's a great machine, fast and glitch free and you can pair it with a portable amp for more demanding cans. Bluetooth CODEC-wise, it does all of the standards, LDAC, APTX-HD, etc. If I was already spending $1K I would strongly consider biting the bullet and going for the M15S but only if you think you might need more power, different sound signature, and/or want its desktop mode (for even more power and saving battery). Both machines are at Android 10 which is OK for now will get outdated sooner or later. That may not matter to you if you don't stream or use Google Play Store much. Those with experience with both machines might comment on sound comparisons between the two; I'm not up on that.

M11 Plus ESS

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-m11-plus-ess.25730/reviews#:~:text=Moreover, it has a very,screen and almost any type

M15S

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-m15s.26483/reviews

Ichos full M15S review (mentions M11 Plus ESS in comparison and calls the M15S a "definite sonic upgrade" over the ESS and M15S compares closely to the M17)

https://ichos-reviews.com/fiio-m15s-review/

M11 plus is already a brick , I only use at home , M15S is bigger , maybe you want to consider an external dac , I have a fiio- K5 Pro on my bedside table for my daps , don't use it much but it's there when I need it or you can buy the hd400se that's it's easy to drive and inexpensive

 

[Ichos]

M11 plus is already a brick , I only use at home , M15S is bigger , maybe you want to consider an external dac , I have a fiio- K5 Pro on my bedside table for my daps , don't use it much but it's there when I need it or you can buy the hd400se that's it's easy to drive and inexpensive

Not excaltly bigger.

 

[FidelityFreak]

I appreciate everyone's responses to my original post. I have come to the conclusion the M11 Plus will be returned unopened to the reseller and I will pay the AU$459 difference for the M15S. I also prefer the M15S's curved design instead of sharp edges and its more powerful hardware. This way I don't have to buy a secondary one in case I want to use higher powered headphones. I may as well get the M15S model while reduced and within the return window.

 

[AnandaHri]

Hi all,

I bought a few days ago a Fiio M11 plus ii. Overall I am quite satisfied but there is a problem that's very annoying: the sound quality through Spotify is pretty bad. From Spotify it sounds low in power, low in body and with some distortion. I have tried changing the Spotify settings as well as installing it both from Google Play and from the whitelist but the problem persists.

Has anyone been able to solve this problem?

Regards and thanks!

 

[m31asy]

Spotify has bad sound quality, and with higher an better sound gear it sounds more and more bad, because the sound processing is on a such high level that bad converted or streaming music sounds more bad as on low end gear. Switch to qobuz or tidal. Spotify sounds well on smartphones.

 

[AnandaHri]

Spotify has bad sound quality, and with higher an better sound gear it sounds more and more bad, because the sound processing is on a such high level that bad converted or streaming music sounds more bad as on low end gear. Switch to qobuz or tidal. Spotify sounds well on smartphones.

Hello,

I have other repros in the same price range and they don't have this problem with Spotify. Also listening on bandcamp (q transmits in lousy 128 kbps) this problem does not appear. By the way, on Deezer either. It only happens with Spotify.

Regards.

 

[kraywang]

Not excaltly bigger.

is the m11plus screen widths alot shorter than the m17 screen widths?

 

[Ichos]

is the m11plus screen widths alot shorter than the m17 screen widths?

 

[CrystalGipsy]

Are we getting a firmware upgrade to the Plus? Not been one for a year. The M11s recently had one that added PEQ.

 

[EdgeDC]

@FiiO, @FiiO Willson, @FiiO Kang, @FiiO Lee…

Is there any hope of the Stainless Steel variant M11 Plus (ESS) being made available in the USA, or at least sold on AliExpress where it can be shipped to the USA?

I’ve been keeping an eye out for it ever since your November 13 post on Facebook where it was announced… but only for Thailand, Hong Kong, Germany, and Singapore (for now). The post then says “shipping to other regions will also follow soon, and we will keep updating this post”, but there have been no updates to the post since then.

 

[ron spencer]

@FiiO

Any more development happening on FiiO M11 Plus LTD? Or is this end of product life cycle?

Thx!