The
FiiO M17 is
very relevant.
I find questions like this saddening, considering that good audio gear ought to last, yet sometimes communities like this consider audio gear as throwaway commodities, and chase the next newest thing and ignore well made pieces of gear for marginal differences (in general of course).
The
M17, for example, has two flagship DAC's. Those DAC's did not suddenly get superseded, nor are they obsolete; they are still in production and TOTL, with only a sibling version also TOTL as well.
Both
ESS Sabre ES9038PRO and
ES9039PRO are
dual flagship chips. The M17 has two
ES9038PRO chips, with eight-channels on each chip dedicated for each stereo channel, which allows for supreme noise floor reduction and decoding.
Similarly, the
THX788+ Class A amplifier chips* are TOTL as well, and FiiO has exclusivity to these amp chips, currently residing in the
M17,
Q7, and
R7 devices (and more too). *No official link, but overall link of the technology can be found
here.
The
M17 has two of them, making it the second most powerful amp on battery (1.5W), only beaten by the limited edition and discontinued
iBasso DX300 Max. However, the
FiiO M17 in DC mode (bypassing battery) makes it the
MOST powerful digital audio player ever created (3W in balanced mode).
The
M17 has had both rave reviews and stellar specs, objectively and subjectively.
It is still in production, and FiiO has already announced that they will not create an update to the
M17 for another year at best; please see
here.
Nothing has changed regarding the
M17 (and also the
Q7 and newly released
R7).
You can certainly wait for an update, but it would be a long while. More likely a competitor could theoretically create a competing product, but it would be difficult for them at the
M17's current RRP, never mind that
M17 can be found for good deals too as time marches on.
In my opinion, the
M17 is only worth it if you wish to have a device that you would also like to transport as well, and use standalone as a single all-in-one unit.
If that is not the case and you want an all-in-one for desktop only use, consider the
FiiO R7 instead, or go further up and take a look at
Astell&Kern ACRO CA1000T. Or, if you, again, want to use a computer or digital device as your transport to an external DAC/amp for desktop setup, consider the
K9 Pro ESS as well
.
If you rather save a bit but still have most of the
M17's TOTL specs, but don't mind tethering to a laptop or phone or tablet,
Q7 is great too.
Q7 differences are no Android (no streaming), no interactive screen (just a basic information display), and only one
ES9038PRO DAC. Most other features are present between the two devices.
Q7 is vastly cheaper to the
M17, but still itself expensive in general.
Please do research on whether the
M17 suits your needs, however, to summarise again, it is
VERY VERY relevant!
Edit: added links and made some clarification edits