[Nomax]

To the In Ear and headphone owners...where the tonality (Frequency Response of the Model ) has an overemphasis between 100 to 400 Hz...I would take the Fioo

The models which have none....to the Sp3000

NOMAX

PS.an Example...EMPY/ELITE/Liric for the Fiio...the Focals for SP3000 (but not Stellia or Radiance )

 

[e-dub]

Picked up a battery pack I can use to charge my notebook on the go... and spent a few bucks extra to get a DC out to be able to power my M17. Giving it a go tonight, and I'm looking forward to some better listening through chemistry.

 

[cosie]

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/astell-kern-a-ultima-sp3000.965000/page-108#post-17346491

NOMAX

PS.lol

Hi Nomax,
just curious in what power mode m17 was during the comparison?

 

[molokovellocet]

Can anyone check if the android accessibility setting for mono audio is in the settings options? Also do you think this DAP is worth it if I am mostly going to listen with just one ear with an iem- since I listen to music while playing poker.

 

[Nomax]

Hi Nomax,
just curious in what power mode m17 was during the comparison?

In High Gain Mode with PL50

NOMAX

PS.DC MODE (enhanced headphone mode)

 

[koledoff1986]

Warranty just pass 16 days and this happened. Hong Kong distributor - Carvelink asked for $1000HKD to repair. @FiiO do you have better solutions?

under which use case did the battery bloat?

 

[newworld666]

I just got the new FIIO power supply PL50 ... I was quite doubtful it would bring some real improvement, like I was thinking after a while with the iFi iPower Elite 12V (I didn't do any more some A/B comparison for a long time, I am just using the iPower Elite at home or an external Monolith Thx887 amp)...

Last year, when I bought the iPower Elite, I made some short A/B comparison with the Fiio standard power supply when activating the Headphone Enhanced Mode, I was feeling it had some small enhanced impacts without being totally sure it was not just in my brain like a pure placebo effect...

So this time, in my office, I tried for a longer time to switch between the standard power supply and this brand new PL50.... Though it can still be a placebo effect, this time, I feel quite easy to find some enhancement in low /ultra low frequencies .. maybe deeper in ultra lows and in lows, kicks seems really more pronounced/faster.

Though I still don't trust my "listening brain" so much , as the demanding price is not crazy at all, I would say, it seems rather worth to give a real try to such bulky and heavy power supply, particularly with Headphones like DCA Stealth which are almost distortion free in lows and ultra lows.

It's far more than a full year now that I use the DCA Stealth and the FIIO M17, and I still feel this combo is really enjoyable to listen music with the best possible sound quality and comfort anywhere we want to do it at home, and even get some enhancement when plugged to an external power supply like PL50 and maybe the iFi iPower Elite too.
I didn't make some A/B comparison with my little external amp monolith THX887 (2x6W), but I am not sure with the PL50, the gap is almost filled now.

Actually, I have to say that my "going outside home" reference is not really the M17, but with the DCA Stealth, I mainly use my modded old Sony NW-WM1A (by Nayparm with a load of huge capacitors) and a Centrance Ampersand (2x3W), this hotel combo, can be easily switched to a truly pocketable standalone WM1A + a tiny Planar IEM Tangzu Zetian Wu to walk in the street/metro/trains..

So in short, it's rather difficult to compare directly and avoid totally some placebo effect, but, I would rank my combos in this order :
1) Elite ipower or PL50 (not really tested) + Fiio M17+ Monolith THX887 (XLR balanced input and output) + DCA Stealth
2) PL50 + Fiio M17 + DCA Stealth
3) Elite Power + Fiio M17 + DCA Stealth (can be probably on par with PL50, but I just felt the gap between PL50 and Fiio standard power supply was quite clearer than with iPower Elite when I compared last year)
4) Standard 12V Power supply + Fiio M17 + DCA Stealth or the surprising combo WM1A(Nayparm mod) + Centrance Ampersand + DCA Stealth (my best "still portable" combo)
Then, with a significant step behind
5) Fiio M17 + DCA Stealth (but need some PEQ to compensate the loss of low frequencies under 30hz, though it can't help for speed impacts feeling in mid lows/lows).
and even more behind
6 A&K Kann Alpha or Centrance M8V2 + DCA Stealth (both can clip easily with too much low frequencies like in Cradle to the Grave of Max Richter) but can be quite enjoyable most of the time at a moderate Sound Pressure Level.

 

[e-dub]

PL50 is for sale again directly from Fiio for $130 with free shipping:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165727304353

 

[mflgrmp]

I may be a bit late to the party, but I would also like to register my interest in an M17 with some type of modular/replaceable batteries and possibly alternative hardware like AKM DAC chips.

However I do have some concerns about how that would affect battery life, and I didn't see the full details anywhere. The original post about it just said "The battery capacity will be reduced from 9200mAh to 7000mAh, i.e. a 30% shrinkage of the battery life." That seems to be based on the total current capacity of two 18650 cells at 3500mAh per cell, but it's not an apples-to-apples comparison unless the voltage is the same. If my math is correct the total power capacity would be much less.

This page (https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/626094.html) indicates that 8.5V is available to the hardware on battery power. Using that gives us an estimated total power capacity of 8.5V x 9200mAh = 78200mWh (milliWatt-hours). That seems reasonable for a high capacity battery while still fitting under the FAA limit of ~99000mWh to take on a plane.

While 18650 cells have a maximum current capacity of about 3500mAh, the nominal voltage is only about 3.7V, giving 3.7V x 3500mAh = 12950mWh per cell or 25900mWh for two cells. That's 33% of the estimated capacity of the built-in battery, a 67% decrease.

If you could manage to squeeze in two 21700 form factor cells, that would bring the current capacity per cell up to about 5000mAh, but the voltage is the same. That gives 3.7V x 5000mAh = 18500mWh per cell or 37000mWh for two cells. That's 47% of the estimated built-in capacity, a 53% decrease.

I do still like the idea of replaceable cells, but the impact on battery life is likely to be worse than was suggested.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

I may be a bit late to the party, but I would also like to register my interest in an M17 with some type of modular/replaceable batteries and possibly alternative hardware like AKM DAC chips.

However I do have some concerns about how that would affect battery life, and I didn't see the full details anywhere. The original post about it just said "The battery capacity will be reduced from 9200mAh to 7000mAh, i.e. a 30% shrinkage of the battery life." That seems to be based on the total current capacity of two 18650 cells at 3500mAh per cell, but it's not an apples-to-apples comparison unless the voltage is the same. If my math is correct the total power capacity would be much less.

This page (https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/626094.html) indicates that 8.5V is available to the hardware on battery power. Using that gives us an estimated total power capacity of 8.5V x 9200mAh = 78200mWh (milliWatt-hours). That seems reasonable for a high capacity battery while still fitting under the FAA limit of ~99000mWh to take on a plane.

While 18650 cells have a maximum current capacity of about 3500mAh, the nominal voltage is only about 3.7V, giving 3.7V x 3500mAh = 12950mWh per cell or 25900mWh for two cells. That's 33% of the estimated capacity of the built-in battery, a 67% decrease.

If you could manage to squeeze in two 21700 form factor cells, that would bring the current capacity per cell up to about 5000mAh, but the voltage is the same. That gives 3.7V x 5000mAh = 18500mWh per cell or 37000mWh for two cells. That's 47% of the estimated built-in capacity, a 53% decrease.

I do still like the idea of replaceable cells, but the impact on battery life is likely to be worse than was suggested.

if the battery can be easily replaced, what stops you from swapping them out?

 

[mflgrmp]

There's nothing to stop you from doing that. The question is more about how long one set of cells will last, how frequently the M17 will need to be shut down to swap them out, and how many extra sets of cells you will need to carry (and keep charged) to get the total amount of battery life you want. Depending on the answer, it could be more practical to just carry a USB-C power bank to run the M17 off of instead.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

There's nothing to stop you from doing that. The question is more about how long one set of cells will last, how frequently the M17 will need to be shut down to swap them out, and how many extra sets of cells you will need to carry (and keep charged) to get the total amount of battery life you want. Depending on the answer, it could be more practical to just carry a USB-C power bank to run the M17 off of instead

in any air travel i have my battery pack, so i'd rather lose capacity for ease of fix.
hell, the HiBy RS8 has screws on the backplate and intructions to change easily the battery than you can buy for 20 bucks. Why can't, at least, fiio put screwed in backplate easy to open with an internal battery that you can remove at home and replace? That is literally the easiest thing with no need to reshape the internals!
glue and snap in plastic are literally the devil, and the EU is making sure to kill the non serviceable electronic devices ASAP. And i'd say good riddance.
Also, good luck reselling now that the cat's out the bag about batteries killing themselves after a year or so, no one would buy something just to have to ship it to china for repairs, while also paying ALL the shipping and repairs.

 

[jonmec]

New user here. I am currently. using. LCD XC and a new M17. Loving it so far, but have an issue with logging into Tidal. I have searched the Web and this forum for an answer without success.
I am running the latest firmware and version of Tidal. The app recognises my log in details as I get the " tick" but comes up with an unspecified log in error.
I have tried all available previous firmware's and versions of Tidal, have cleared the cache etc, but no joy. Have even tried making a new account but nothing works.
I have also emailed both Fiio and Tidal but as yet have no reply.
Would be grateful. for any help before I return the unit to Amazon.
Pat.

 

[gc335]

New user here. I am currently. using. LCD XC and a new M17. Loving it so far, but have an issue with logging into Tidal. I have searched the Web and this forum for an answer without success.
I am running the latest firmware and version of Tidal. The app recognises my log in details as I get the " tick" but comes up with an unspecified log in error.
I have tried all available previous firmware's and versions of Tidal, have cleared the cache etc, but no joy. Have even tried making a new account but nothing works.
I have also emailed both Fiio and Tidal but as yet have no reply.
Would be grateful. for any help before I return the unit to Amazon.
Pat.

Maybe try a factory reset and try again. I remember having the same issue with a AK player and that solved it. I think it’s a Tidal issue and not Fiio.

 

[BobSmith8901]

New user here. I am currently. using. LCD XC and a new M17. Loving it so far, but have an issue with logging into Tidal. I have searched the Web and this forum for an answer without success.
I am running the latest firmware and version of Tidal. The app recognises my log in details as I get the " tick" but comes up with an unspecified log in error.
I have tried all available previous firmware's and versions of Tidal, have cleared the cache etc, but no joy. Have even tried making a new account but nothing works.
I have also emailed both Fiio and Tidal but as yet have no reply.
Would be grateful. for any help before I return the unit to Amazon.
Pat.

Not that this is a solution for the Tidal app itself but curious if you installed USB Audio Player Pro and see if you can log-in to Tidal from it. The Tidal app is problematic with hardware at times. I have the Shanling M6 Pro 21 and for over a year and a half, thru many Tidal updates and firmware updates of the player, I still have an issue with the player scroll not working or starting halfway into the song.