[RONJA MESCO]

Yes and you’ll also be paying significantly more. I can’t justify paying more than $500 for a DAP, but that’s just me. No doubt the M11 Pro and M15 will have their advantages over the M11 and other DAPs, but they’ll both be well above the budget.

Yeah, I agree in part...but my Questyle QP2R sounds waaaay better than my old 100r , DX80 and other mid to lower tiered DAPS Ive owned. That said, I do believe that a good AMP/DAC can shorten the playing field if done correctly. I have seen much magic happen from excellent pairings...and I can easily see your point not going about $500 if gone that route or youre using IEMs specifically.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

Yeah, but if you do like me... Buy everything just released, but used slightly (from headfi) this point is mute.

I lost my ONKYO DP-X1 a few months ago, and bought a 1 month old (basically brand new) AK SR15 on here for $450 shipped. That's $250 less than retail. And I've seen the M11's going for @ $400 on here shipped just a couple of months after release.

If you have just a modicum of patience you can get top tier audio at a reasonable price.

YMMV

it seems to be that way right after release and a new buyer doesnt dig the SQ of a particular headphone or DAP. But as time goes on (past the release dates), I see some Headfiers get delusional and then maintain the retail price or even raise the price astronomically for some reason, as if its not used (you know the ones, where they say they've only used the damn thing for five hours to spice the point...c'mon?!!! ). That said, youre right, the deals happen right around release...

 

[lumanz]

Looks great. I’d love to try it.

 

[Tential]

Now that I see the r5 from hiby come out, I'm thinking of trying to talk to fiio about adding DTA tech into an upcoming dap(again) . It just seems like hiby will have an edge on fiio in that regard, and why not try to get fiio to improve the product to foster more competition. Currently, I like the r5 release by hiby, but hopefully fiio will understand what I'm getting at this time and when they update the m11 or add whatever new product, they'll consider adding that tech too.

Why's the power output of the m11 pro the same as the m11, if it's a different upgraded amp?

 

[revand]

Haha, apparently that’s what one of the FiiO guys said to someone at CanJam. “Most people can’t hear the difference.” Let’s wait and see.

There will be a huge difference!
I am just reviewing M11, which is an excellent DAP, however there is room for improvement, mainly in the amplifier section.
I compared the built in amp with my Vorzüge VorZAMP Pure II+ amp, and the Vorzüge improved a lot on the sound of the otherwise capable AK4493 DAC's performance. Otherwise the M11 functionally perfect!
AK4497 DAC can be found in Astell & Kern SP1000 and SP1000M and Cayin N8!!!
These players are playing in a completely different league! I haven't heard THX amp yet, but if it is just close to the level of my Vorzüge amp it means, that with the M11 Pro we will definitely have a High End DAP killer here!!!
Those who are hesitating buying an M11 I suggest to wait and get the M11 Pro! For USD 700 I suppose it will be clearly better than the pricier Hiby R6 Pro and Ibasso DX220...

 

[gazzington]

Yeah, I agree in part...but my Questyle QP2R sounds waaaay better than my old 100r , DX80 and other mid to lower tiered DAPS Ive owned. That said, I do believe that a good AMP/DAC can shorten the playing field if done correctly. I have seen much magic happen from excellent pairings...and I can easily see your point not going about $500 if gone that route or youre using IEMs specifically.

I agree I think the qp2r actually soundwise competes with wm1a, lotoo paw gold touch and sp1000. It's a bit of a gem and is quite cheap in the UK. In matter of fact I may get a qp1r too to see what it sounds like

 

[gLer]

There will be a huge difference!
I am just reviewing M11, which is an excellent DAP, however there is room for improvement, mainly in the amplifier section.
I compared the built in amp with my Vorzüge VorZAMP Pure II+ amp, and the Vorzüge improved a lot on the sound of the otherwise capable AK4493 DAC's performance. Otherwise the M11 functionally perfect!
AK4497 DAC can be found in Astell & Kern SP1000 and SP1000M and Cayin N8!!!
These players are playing in a completely different league! I haven't heard THX amp yet, but if it is just close to the level of my Vorzüge amp it means, that with the M11 Pro we will definitely have a High End DAP killer here!!!
Those who are hesitating buying an M11 I suggest to wait and get the M11 Pro! For USD 700 I suppose it will be clearly better than the pricier Hiby R6 Pro and Ibasso DX220...

I have no doubt it will be different, probably even better. But I don’t like to use words like “huge” when describing sound differences between amps, because in truth while differences are often very audible they’re also very subtle, and have much to do with the headphones/IEMs you’re using. $700 puts the M11 Pro in a different price segment, so the market for it and buyer profile will also be different to the more mainstream-priced M11. If the quality difference is worth the extra $300 or so (at what I presume will be ~$400 second hand prices for a used M11), then you’ll see a flurry of used M11s on the market very soon.

 

[KC33]

I recently bought the THX AAA AM3D amp module for my X7mkII and the difference in sound quality to my AM3A wasn't even subtle.

The first thing I noticed (hot swapping with the AM3A) was more sub bass, very nice sounding. And then detail, clarity, instrument separation and soundstage, very nice sharp attacks, it all improved noticeably. Songs I didn't really care about suddenly sounded impressive.

So the M11Pro sounds very interesting as well to me (from the specs I would expect it to sound even better than the X7II), though if there is to be another flagship player (preferably with amp modules, as that turned out to be a great idea now), I would prefer that.

Will the AM3D work with the original X7?

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Will the AM3D work with the original X7?

I think it should, X7 modules work on the mkII and it is just amplifying analog audio and identifying itself to the host (still only shows up as AM3 on the display).

 

[Turboturbo]

Tried out the M11 and M11Pro today at the Hong Kong audio show, with IMR R1Z (black filter). I personally found the Pro version sounds quite a bit better - much smoother and more musical. For me, the major differences were the bass & sub-bass. It was punchier and faster. However, the M11Pro demo ran out of battery in 5minutes that I couldn't test it further, but the differences between the two were obvious.

They said M11pro will be released in November, price TBC.

 

[taffy2207]

Damn, I hate it when manufacturers put PRO in the model number. It's worthless, means absolutely nothing and adds absolutely nothing.

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Tried out the M11 and M11Pro today at the Hong Kong audio show, with IMR R1Z (black filter). I personally found the Pro version sounds quite a bit better - much smoother and more musical. For me, the major differences were the bass & sub-bass. It was punchier and faster. However, the M11Pro demo ran out of battery in 5minutes that I couldn't test it further, but the differences between the two were obvious.

They said M11pro will be released in November, price TBC.

The first thing I noticed when I tried my AM3D module was sub-bass. And the bass does have a nice punch to it.

 

[KC33]

Tried out the M11 and M11Pro today at the Hong Kong audio show, with IMR R1Z (black filter). I personally found the Pro version sounds quite a bit better - much smoother and more musical. For me, the major differences were the bass & sub-bass. It was punchier and faster. However, the M11Pro demo ran out of battery in 5minutes that I couldn't test it further, but the differences between the two were obvious.

They said M11pro will be released in November, price TBC.

I thought FIIO confirmed the price is $699.00?

 

[Tential]

I thought FIIO confirmed the price is $699.00?

At that price, I don't understand why you would go with this over the hiby R6 PRO. It's a more powerful amp, powerful cpu, both dacs on either product are stellar enough, there isn't a good reason to go with the m11 pro unless you think thx amp tech is magical although the r6 pro has more power.
$600 is the top most they should charge, and I think even that's too expensive.

Just my take, I'm not sold on all of the "magic" each manufacturers claim that the dac /amp /fairy pixie dust they use makes each product that unique. But a good processor, screen, amp power, special features, the obvious....
At that high of.a price I couldn't justify it given the r6 pro

 

[Leetransform25]

At that price, I don't understand why you would go with this over the hiby R6 PRO. It's a more powerful amp, powerful cpu, both dacs on either product are stellar enough, there isn't a good reason to go with the m11 pro unless you think thx amp tech is magical although the r6 pro has more power.
$600 is the top most they should charge, and I think even that's too expensive.

Just my take, I'm not sold on all of the "magic" each manufacturers claim that the dac /amp /fairy pixie dust they use makes each product that unique. But a good processor, screen, amp power, special features, the obvious....
At that high of.a price I couldn't justify it given the r6 pro

Well to be fair if we're going by only those aspects you could argue that the M11 is an even better deal at near half the price