[xxx1313]

I am not in a comedy to make a picture of all cables ...the M17 offers also 2 Usb Outputs ports
And both do not work....3.0 and 2.0

NOMAX

PS.it looks also not the K9 PRO and next to my others DAC/AMPS

I was really interested in the M17 because it seemed to be a highly capable DAP with ample output power and I still hope that I will have the chance to try it sometime. But to be honest, problems with flawlessly pairing it with USB DACs are a deal breaker for me. It is good to know that pairing via USB seems to work with Neutron Player, but imo any flagship DAP ought to be able to work natively as a transport via USB with any DAC/headamp you throw at it, without the help of other apps and software. By the way, Neutron Player is not for free, is it?

The M17 now is available for about 6 months or so and there have been a few firmware updates already. How can it be that there still are such fundamental technical teething troubles, even when pairing it with the K9 Pro and FiiO's own OTG cable? I hope that this problem can and will be solved with firmware updates soon. Maybe FiiO can keep us updated on how this matter evolves. Until then, I will not consider buying the M17, because I would like to use it with different DAC/headamps occasionally, without having to fear dropouts or any troubles.

Cheers,
Bernie

 

[Nomax]

I was really interested in the M17 because it seemed to be a highly capable DAP with ample output power and I still hope that I will have the chance to try it sometime. But to be honest, problems with flawlessly pairing it with USB DACs are a deal breaker for me. It is good to know that pairing via USB seems to work with Neutron Player, but imo any flagship DAP ought to be able to work natively as a transport via USB with any DAC/headamp you throw at it, without the help of other apps and software. By the way, Neutron Player is not for free, is it?

The M17 now is available for about 6 months or so and there have been a few firmware updates already. How can it be that there still are such fundamental technical teething troubles, even when pairing it with the K9 Pro and FiiO's own OTG cable? I hope that this problem can and will be solved with firmware updates soon. Maybe FiiO can keep us updated on how this matter evolves. Until then, I will not consider buying the M17, because I would like to use it with different DAC/headamps occasionally, without having to fear dropouts or any troubles.

Cheers,
Bernie

No problem......I'll be near you on Saturday....then you can put your own Sd Cards into M17 and perhabs you can show me how you play
flawless your own tracks via usb into your HE 1 DAC or into your other dac amps

NOMAX

PS.see you on saturday

 

[xxx1313]

PS.see you on saturday

The headphone guru is always welcome

No problem......I'll be near you on Saturday....then you can put your own Sd Cards into M17 and perhabs you can show me how you play
flawless your own tracks via usb into your HE 1 DAC or into your other dac amps

NOMAX

PS.see you on saturday

The headphone guru is always welcome!

Yeah, you are right. Let us try the M17 with a second HE 1 (and the CMA 12 Master), just to be sure, because you also tried two different M17 and with two different K9 Pro.

Cheers,
Bernie

 

[DarginMahkum]

I am now listening :
-> some playlist mixing some DSD files in native, mode hires 24/96 flac files in bit-perfect mode and even 16/44.1 lossless CD ripped files on a 1Tb Sandisk micro SD in the FIIO M17
-> the M17 is linked with a proper USB-C to USB-C thunderbolt 3 cable to a recent SMSL SU9 DAC,
-> this DAC is connected with 2 XLR cables to a Monolith THX887 2*6W@32 ohms amp
-> a HEDDphone One is plugged on XLR4 output of the monolith amp
The player used is the last version of Neutron Player => I can say, it's 100% flawless and switching between hires format almost without any clicks, (I could catch one click between 2 DSD files in one hour time).. and of course 100% Gapless even between large DSD files.

I don't have FIIO Player on my M17, as I uninstalled it ! It was really annoying that I could not avoid this player to take control of the USB port every time I connected the USB-C cable to the DAC. FIIO player can't be a proper DLNA renderer, so it's a too limited player and can't manage properly multiple libraries (on various microSD, SSD or Upnpservers) like Neutron can do.

Edit... strangely between 2 DSF files a little brief click can be heard .. not between flac files or flac <->DSF files

@Nomax, I would also recommend completely disabling the FiiO player and using a different application. It is possible that the FiiO application is messing up things and there is a resource contention, etc.

 

[Nomax]

@DarginMahkum

Lets see what @FiiO tell us and if they can solve this bug in the near term future

NOMAX

PS.what i can really not understand how is this possible since many months after the release and few firmware updates?
And why the dropouts only at beginning of the track?and also why after press pause/play?
(there are many players under 1000 usd which can play flawless via usb fresh out of the box)

 

[newworld666]

I just activated again FIIO Player on my M17 .... and it's playing in Music pure mode 100% flawless/zero drops from my 1Tb micro SD card to my SMSL SU9 even DSD in DSD native mode... though, I still have some clicks between DSD tracks, but not hires/lowres Flac Tracks.

I am almost sure USB-C Cable is the main limitation between M17 and external DACs...
It's a real jungle in the USB-C world as there are many power and transfer options/protocols in those cables ...Electronic components included in the cable plug can be irritating.. Last, supported Power voltage and communications protocols with the supply can go till more than 100W from 5V till 20V and be also an annoying issue, so there are sames issues to drive properly most of the usb-c SSD drives on the M17 .. Cables are hard to find and often only working on one direction from usb-host.

Definitely, price of a cable can't help at all to determine the capabilities of the cable (Supported Power, Communication and transfer protocols).
Only a very few capabilities of this list, are included in USB-C cables. And this list is even incomplete (missing Gen3.2, Thunderbolt 4 specs)

It takes time to find the proper USB-C cable..

I can just say that my M17 is working 100% flawless with FIIO player & Neutron Player (transfer set in bitperfect and DSD native mode to my external DAC). But, one annoying click can still be heard between DSD files in Native mode from a playlist.

 

[Nomax]

Do not worry..i was trying also two different thunderbolt 3

NOMAX

PS.it has nothing to do with the Usb cable

 

[Nomax]

We will see what @xxx1313 says and means tomorrow

NOMAX

PS.we will try tomorrow also some tracks from the internal storage..who knows..perhabs the dropouts/cracking noise via usb is only when you play tracks from sd card
But i have no hope because the epic trailer theme makes the same dropout/cracking noise via usb when i press pause/play

 

[newworld666]

A last external USB-C DAC test ,
This time between FIIO M17 and a Centrance Combo with a M8V2 set as USB-C DAC and Ampersand Amp (2x3W at 32 ohms) .... again no issue and flawless playing from my 1Tb sandisk micro SD card. There is still a tiny click between DSF files .. and not flac files.
I used this time another USB-C cable which is a verified Thunderbolt 3 Cable usually used between my Windows Surface and a 15" portable 4k monitor

I am not sure as it is really tiny, but I think there is also sometimes an audible very tiny click between DSD files in native mode when using the M17 from micro SD Card to the balanced 2.5mm output (Vision Ears EXT IEM). But difficult to be sure.

I tried also again FIIO player to access by WAN my upnpserver .. and with this player, there is a clear short white noise between DSD tracks in native DSD mode...
With Neutron player accessing to the same server and same playlist by WAN in bitperfect mode and dsd native mode=> 100% Flawless .. no white noise but one clear little click between DSD tracks too (though not really annoying if I am not concentrated to catch the clicks).

I wonder if some other users have the same issue as Nomax with their external DAC ? Maybe I am just lucky that my sample of the M17 is working like a charm with my 2 external DAC's (SMSL & Centrance) and Neutron player.

 

[Nomax]

For me its easy to open a third M17 box in Vienna...and i am sure this third will have also the same issue
(You can ask the owner of the shop,he says the same.....there is something that works not correct via usb)

NOMAX

PS.i was trying few Dac amps....a lot of usb cables...different sd cards....allways the same
Only the Coax Output works flawless without this cracking noise/dropouts

 

[newworld666]

So I am a lucky owner ...

Though, I am still convinced it must be an usb-c cable issue, as it was so tricky to find a short one to drive my SSD's WP P50 4Tb and Samsung T3 2Tb ... I bought probably around 10 versions, before finding a proper short one (and it is operational only in one direction and not operational with the A&K Kann Alpha, and the one working with the Kann Alpha is not operational the with FIIO M17 and I have same type of troubles with my Galaxy Z fold 3 and my usb-c SSDs).

 

[smuldge]

Not sure if it will help, but M17 connected to Fiio Q5s, playing DSD on the SD card has no issues with audio cut-off at the beginning of the song.
Only the very very slight click iwhen changing tracks.

 

[Bramard]

Just few words about PU.
After days and days of listening A/B between PU stock and ifi ipower elite+ ifi supernova, i have to say that a sonic difference is really felt. I really wanted that it doesn't (to save money lol) but there is something "more".
To avoid any placebo impression, I did real blind tests with my wife switching PUs on same tracks i was listening eyes closed. I recognized ifi PU on each test!
Just wanted to feedback my own experience here. It is NOT a huge gap. But this is an audible "enhancement" that i can't explain...

 

[newworld666]

Just few words about PU.
After days and days of listening A/B between PU stock and ifi ipower elite+ ifi supernova, i have to say that a sonic difference is really felt. I really wanted that it doesn't (to save money lol) but there is something "more".
To avoid any placebo impression, I did real blind tests with my wife switching PUs on same tracks i was listening eyes closed. I recognized ifi PU on each test!
Just wanted to feedback my own experience here. It is NOT a huge gap. But this is an audible "enhancement" that i can't explain...

Same here... though I couldn't make any real A/B test, and I still suspect some placebo effect.
But I decided to keep the iFi Ipower Elite Power supply, (without iFi Supernova). I could just feel/imagine some clearer/faster impacts with low frequencies between 10hz to 150hz... not a huge gap too, but a strong "feeling" enough not to return to amazon the supply.
It seems others here didn't have the same feeling, so I wouldn't recommend it without trying such expensive power supply.

 

[Quadfather]

If I ever get the M17, I will not stream. Hearing of all these USB cable/pairing issues makes me happy about that.