[mekap]

Well I am a bit surprised but pleasantly so. I got the PL50 and not only is the build quality through the roof good but there is a discernible difference in sound quality (for the better). I was truly skeptical but after a quick A/B test there is a difference. Can someone explain to me why a power supply makes my M17 sound better. I am at a loss.

Oh, this news makes me happy. I also ordered PL50 and the parcel is very close, I will receive it soon.

The PL50 is a linear power supply, and the power supply that comes with the M17 is a switching power supply, and switching power supplies are not often of very good quality and reproduce a lot of noise and interference, unlike linear power supplies such as the PL50. These noises are bad for audio equipment, as all connoisseurs and audiophiles say.
There are good switching power supplies like iFi, Burson, etc. , they are specially designed for low noise, but they are sold separately and they are more expensive, although they have another advantage - they are compact and do not take up much space.

 

[EdgeDC]

Well I am a bit surprised but pleasantly so. I got the PL50 and not only is the build quality through the roof good but there is a discernible difference in sound quality (for the better). I was truly skeptical but after a quick A/B test there is a difference. Can someone explain to me why a power supply makes my M17 sound better. I am at a loss.

<grabs popcorn and waits for retired engineer skeptics to retort>

Sounds to me like you are at a gain, not a loss!

 

[FiiO]

About the Battery Design of the Portable Desktop-Class Player FiiO M17
Some users have always suggested that we apply the replaceable 18650 lithium battery to our products. However, we found that it can only be accommodated in the existing M17 and Q7. Here are two obvious issues the product would face if using a 18650 lithium battery.
1) The battery capacity will be reduced from 9200mAh to 7000mAh, i.e. a 30% shrinkage of the battery life.
2) The replaceable battery design needs a battery cover for protection, which means it would take up the original standard coaxial output port on the M17. In this case, the coaxial output has to move to the top and share the 3.5mm headphone output.

By the way, the M17 has a desktop mode. When working under the desktop mode, the built-in battery will be disabled. This helps to protect the battery and thus achieve more durable battery life.

Do you think it is necessary to change the battery design? We would love to know what you think.

 

[alexdemaet]

I can use multiple hard drives! I use one for Qobuz (offline music), I use one with Sacd Iso's and I got a 1 TB sdxcard with flac files . I formatted the Qobuz hard disk as Fiio partition. It is nice to see that I can keep on using the Fiio music app for every hard drive. Well done!

 

[adubkov]

About the Battery Design of the Portable Desktop-Class Player FiiO M17
Some users have always suggested that we apply the replaceable 18650 lithium battery to our products. However, we found that it can only be accommodated in the existing M17 and Q7. Here are two obvious issues the product would face if using a 18650 lithium battery.
1) The battery capacity will be reduced from 9200mAh to 7000mAh, i.e. a 30% shrinkage of the battery life.
2) The replaceable battery design needs a battery cover for protection, which means it would take up the original standard coaxial output port on the M17. In this case, the coaxial output has to move to the top and share the 3.5mm headphone output.

By the way, the M17 has a desktop mode. When working under the desktop mode, the built-in battery will be disabled. This helps to protect the battery and thus achieve more durable battery life.

Do you think it is necessary to change the battery design? We would love to know what you think.

With normal use lipo will survive several years without significant degradation of performance. And then, if by un-gluing the back panel I can replace the battery - that is fine to me.

 

[koledoff1986]

About the Battery Design of the Portable Desktop-Class Player FiiO M17
Some users have always suggested that we apply the replaceable 18650 lithium battery to our products. However, we found that it can only be accommodated in the existing M17 and Q7. Here are two obvious issues the product would face if using a 18650 lithium battery.
1) The battery capacity will be reduced from 9200mAh to 7000mAh, i.e. a 30% shrinkage of the battery life.
2) The replaceable battery design needs a battery cover for protection, which means it would take up the original standard coaxial output port on the M17. In this case, the coaxial output has to move to the top and share the 3.5mm headphone output.

By the way, the M17 has a desktop mode. When working under the desktop mode, the built-in battery will be disabled. This helps to protect the battery and thus achieve more durable battery life.

Do you think it is necessary to change the battery design? We would love to know what you think.

I would be happy to see a version of the M17DC without a built-in battery)) portable stationary player powered from a wall outlet

 

[MusicalDoc8]

About the Battery Design of the Portable Desktop-Class Player FiiO M17
Some users have always suggested that we apply the replaceable 18650 lithium battery to our products. However, we found that it can only be accommodated in the existing M17 and Q7. Here are two obvious issues the product would face if using a 18650 lithium battery.
1) The battery capacity will be reduced from 9200mAh to 7000mAh, i.e. a 30% shrinkage of the battery life.
2) The replaceable battery design needs a battery cover for protection, which means it would take up the original standard coaxial output port on the M17. In this case, the coaxial output has to move to the top and share the 3.5mm headphone output.

By the way, the M17 has a desktop mode. When working under the desktop mode, the built-in battery will be disabled. This helps to protect the battery and thus achieve more durable battery life.

Do you think it is necessary to change the battery design? We would love to know what you think.

SO MUCH YES.
I would literally buy a M17S just for this single reason!!!!!
User replaceable battery is a UNIQUE FEATURE. There is not a single other player offering such a feature.
Also, It would be awesome if the player can work with DC power even when there is no battery inside. This would make it the ultimate player to slay all the other players. Literally endgame both in music AND features (and the double USB charge/host is a stroke of genious, keep it!)

 

[duffer5]

If this is something that Fiio is really thinking about doing don't forget us early adopters and PLEASE provide a reasonable upgrade path to the M17s. Once the M17s is announced the M17 (OG) resale values will plummet because as @MusicalDoc8 said, "This would make it the ultimate player to slay all the other players. Literally endgame both in music AND features (and the double USB charge/host is a stroke of genius, keep it!)"

 

[MusicalDoc8]

If this is something that Fiio is really thinking about doing don't forget us early adopters and PLEASE provide a reasonable upgrade path to the M17s. Once the M17s is announced the M17 (OG) resale values will plummet because as @MusicalDoc8 said, "This would make it the ultimate player to slay all the other players. Literally endgame both in music AND features (and the double USB charge/host is a stroke of genius, keep it!)"

I think all makers ought to give upgrade paths, as they also can use it to resell as "B stock".

 

[MusicalDoc8]

If FiiO makes a M17S with replaceable battery, watch as every other maker scrambles to either make upgraded players with user-replaceable batteries or outright lie about how their batteries are "different". AKA "sour grapes".

 

[Ben86]

Ok...and where should I put my OG M17 if I will be interested in the new version? Should I sell it and loose third part of the original price? No, thank you, that would be to expensive for me going that way, just because of battery upgrade...

 

[MusicalDoc8]

Ok...and where should I put my OG M17 if I will be interested in the new version? Should I sell it and loose third part of the original price? No, thank you, that would be to expensive for me going that way, just because of battery upgrade...

Keep enjoying it since it's a battery upgrade and because it's 2yo more or less?
Or should FiiO not create a killer device to be "kind" to the competition?

 

[MusicalDoc8]

Also, now that the cat is out of the bag, how long till someone from the other makers catch the wiff of a great idea and steals the thunder of being the first on the market that allows replaceable battery?
If i were in FiiO, i'd start planning and executing for it right away, or they might be robbed of their brilliant idea by someone else who stumbled upon the discussion.

 

[EdgeDC]

I would be happy to see a version of the M17DC without a built-in battery)) portable stationary player powered from a wall outlet

I might be wrong, but I suspect the upcoming FiiO R7 might end up meeting this criteria for you (well, maybe not the portability - but without the battery, why does it need to be portable?). Specs have not been published yet though (that I have seen), so we'll see!

 

[DarginMahkum]

I don't think any company that sells for reasonable prices should provide upgrade paths (e.g. buying back old and used devices for an over the used market price) so that the buyers can avoid losing money.