[PopZeus]

I agree

I think the best type of product should be Q5s-type DAC/AMP with an SD card slot. Smartphone controls the device via bluetooth. Audio is not being transferred via bluetooth, phone just controls the audio playback of the device. Audio is being played from the SD card with full quality.

100% agree. There's no reason why an iOS or Android app couldn't control the hardware remotely, when in DAP mode. Then, when you want to use it in DAC/amp mode, the audio gets streamed to the device via BT from whatever app you prefer to use. Then, the device maker could devote more resources to making their app as great as possible, not worry about maintaining an entire custom OS in addition to their music app. That would be a huge win for consumers, and would probably allow FiiO and other hifi makers to focus on areas that would provide the most bang for their buck.

 

[Nayparm]

You didnt get my point. Of course its always down to person preference, but my point was that when u announce something and u are not up to peoples expectations in the end thats a disappointment. Of course you can make up 1000 reasons and excuses why they didnt go that way, but it doesnt matter in the end. And by full android experience, i dont only mean google services, but also the screen, memory and other things that you would expect from a flagship android device. Otherwise, using android just doesnt make sense to me. Probably R8 will be different in that regard.

I still dont get your point ? Thay have never promised google services. They announced that way back with the M11 and said the following M11Pro/M15/M15Pro would all use the same soc and not support google services.

p.s. What are you wanting to run on your dap that the screen ram and rom are not adequate to do?

 

[Nayparm]

I am probably the wrong person to reply here as I only listen to Music stored on my microsd, so the audio hardware is my main interest

 

[Cat Music]

The M15 seems to me an interesting product, it becomes more interesting when there are competitors in that price range in the market, the one that comes to my mind right now is the N6ii (E01), will the M15 be at the height of an N6ii in sound quality? Only time will tell ...

 

[CobraMan]

Looks to me like a very interesting and capable device and good competition for other high-end DAPs we are all so passionate about...

Couple of observations and comments based on what I have read here:
1) Any device without a display is a non-starter for crying out loud - do we really need to explain the need for a decent human interface in this day and age? I don't think so.
2) The design of AK devices = no-go for me - I just simply don't care of all the bizarre angles, strange/Picasso-like shapes, and extreme pricing. For those that think they are brilliant, great - enjoy!
3) Like others have said, let's see how the M15 sounds before sending it to the slaughter-house. Definitely curious about what the Pro version might offer over the standard version but who knows when those details might be revealed...

I am loving my DX220 with the AMP8EX but do also enjoy following other offerings as I am sure most of you do as well.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[chidmas]

100% agree. There's no reason why an iOS or Android app couldn't control the hardware remotely, when in DAP mode. Then, when you want to use it in DAC/amp mode, the audio gets streamed to the device via BT from whatever app you prefer to use. Then, the device maker could devote more resources to making their app as great as possible, not worry about maintaining an entire custom OS in addition to their music app. That would be a huge win for consumers, and would probably allow FiiO and other hifi makers to focus on areas that would provide the most bang for their buck.

There are plenty of reasons including not having a screen would mean you couldn't search for your music and tell me which audio player doesn't have a screen even Sony CD walkmans gained screens and the progenitor the iPods and mp3 players had screens. The reason for using Android is because it's a pretty polished OS with huge amount of customizability where companies like Fiio don't have to spend huge amounts of money creating from the ground up. Ask yourself how much money do you think Apple spent to design the iPod UI. This is not cheap and it is not easy. What you're all asking for is for a company to either throw all their money on a totally new UI or make a dumb OS which doesn't differantiate their product and probably make it harder to use. DAPs are a tiny market and high end DAPs even smaller so any software that increases ease for manufacturers to bring product to market is a good thing. It's clear some of you haven't really considered cost or difficulty.

 

[Sp12er3]

Other than the weird, more "amp-like, less dap" placement of the volume control.
The gold rings around the outputs, slightly recessed playback controls etc

It just looks like a slimmer WM1A.

Thats a huge battery, surprised it doesnt actually have more playback time. At that size the fast charge feature is simply a must. If its not there its gonna take like 4 hours to charge to full.

 

[Dixter]

can you opt out of the wooden box and the M15 would cost $800... I'd go for that....... I sure hope it sounds great and no constant firmware updates like fiio is famous for...get it right when it comes out...

 

[Chris Johnson]

Discussion thread of the upcoming FiiO M15 digital audio player

What we know so far (announced by Fiio) :

Update: RELEASED !
https://www.fiio.com/m15

- Dual AK4999EQ DAC
- 7300 mAh Battery
- 64 GB internal storage
- Samsung Exynos 7872 processor
- Will be released in December 2019

Have a look at Fiio's Facebook Page, M15 has been announced with full details, plus a new IEM and New Neck sports Bluetooth with LDAC

 

[470221]

Then thats down to preference, maybe just choose a dap with playstore out of the box? and regard the fiios as like a Lotoo, Cowon, hifiman or WM1A/Z etc and even colorfly u6/u8, an OS to allow the hardware to function. A full open android experience doesn't mean google services at all, thats the app developers choice of store / payment and copy protection, Chinese users have a full open android experience and dont have or want google. To be fair most of fiios sales will be in china so why would they pay more and choose a soc just to suite the smallest market share (and not everyone in this smallest market share wants google)

FiiO is master of whispered marketing. They put lot of graphics and renders, but at the end we receive faulty devices, like X-5 III with not really working amplification section. So, yes, I'd rather buy WM1A without Android - having LG V40, I do not need another Android based DAP. And for such price - two V40s i.e. Besides, as allways in Fiio, software will we wroking next year in autumn, after many incarnations of betas

 

[jmills8]

FiiO is master of whispered marketing. They put lot of graphics and renders, but at the end we receive faulty devices, like X-5 III with not really working amplification section. So, yes, I'd rather buy WM1A without Android - having LG V40, I do not need another Android based DAP. And for such price - two V40s i.e. Besides, as allways in Fiio, software will we wroking next year in autumn, after many incarnations of betas

You feel better after posting this ?

 

[DarginMahkum]

100% agree. There's no reason why an iOS or Android app couldn't control the hardware remotely, when in DAP mode. Then, when you want to use it in DAC/amp mode, the audio gets streamed to the device via BT from whatever app you prefer to use. Then, the device maker could devote more resources to making their app as great as possible, not worry about maintaining an entire custom OS in addition to their music app. That would be a huge win for consumers, and would probably allow FiiO and other hifi makers to focus on areas that would provide the most bang for their buck.

For a small company with a niche market it is difficult to keep up with the SW development efforts and stay on the latest and greatest OS updates. It is reinventing the wheel again and again. Especially with the Android mess.

 

[musicday]

Checkout how many GB lotoo gives you for twice that price. A whopping Zero GB !

I agree, but I prefer to have 1 SDXC rather then 64 GB internal and 1 micro SD slot.
Just me.

 

[davidmolliere]

I don’t get all the aggravation over internal memory... it brings the cost up usually in a big way so putting this kind of hardware at 1300$ you have to do compromises. Micro SD card are so cheap at least up to 512GB... No USB 3.0 is more puzzling really.

I think it’s good that any brand releases a DAP with such hardware specs (2xAK4499, who has this aside from SP2K?) and also quality and costly components like tantalum capacitors and thin film resistors... now I have been more of a iBasso and Cayin customer and I didn’t like my time with FiiO (the original X7) but I have to say, they have my attention.

Obviously implementation and tuning will also be key to me, so I am not saying it’s the best DAP ever but it sure is going to rock the higher end segment a bit with such spec at this price. I’d be surprised if FiiO has big margins on this one, really. The goal seems to clearly put them on the map of the higher end segment at what some brands ask for mid tier speced DAPs (AK SA700 for example...).

 

[TheUnknow]

Personaly I don't want any google spying bloat crap anywhere near my daps. Why is nobody moaning in sony wm1a/1z, Lotoo, hifiman, cowon threads that they dont have google playstore lol. Its just an OS to run the DAP. Colorfly u6/u8 are hidden/skinned android based, boots straight to its music player so most people wont even know android. No one complaining they dont have playstore there either. Cowon says linux, but extract some of the roms and inspect some files and you find bits of android, don't think i've seen twister6 moaning he cant install angry birds

Looking forward to trying an M15 out, M11 and M11Pro punch way above their cost and are fantastic daps.

P.S. Lurker provided google services as custom roms for years on dx150/200/220 not ibasso. I think they have only just got round to it and they use a 1960s soc and they cost more than fiios !

You can uninstall anything you want with adb (Android Debug Bridge) and just leave Google Play Services.

What is the target of all those Android DAP popping these 2 past years ?

Streamers.

If you are a streamers , you need a device with durablitiy ,excellent reliability and full compatibility with any streaming apps available (so you don't depend on the DAP manufacturer's will to white list your app ...)
And so , recent software and hardware are essential, especially for running an OS such as Android.
If not , expect bugs and all kind of glitches / compatiblity issues.
Because if you have problems with Amazon Music or any other streaming company ... Guess what ? This company , they don't care.

Android DAP are nothing in the Android market , so why bother correcting bugs or issues by spending time and money for devices that have washed spec ?

A phone with 7872 SoC , 3 Gb of RAM & 64 Gb of storage (Meizu M6s) : 150 $ .