[pythagore]

A few other things that are worth mentioning - I have set the DC/BAT switch to DC, and I have disabled battery charging when the unit is in the ON state. Battery charging only takes place in the OFF state. I set the maximum charge for the battery to 90%. I very rarely used the unit on battery.

 

[sabloke]

That's right, NEVER charge the battery while using the M17 plugged in! Also, make sure the fan is on if you are listening and feel that the unit started warming up. Two simple rules that will maintain your M17 in perfect shape for many years to come.

 

[mekap]

A few other things that are worth mentioning - I have set the DC/BAT switch to DC, and I have disabled battery charging when the unit is in the ON state. Battery charging only takes place in the OFF state. I set the maximum charge for the battery to 90%. I very rarely used the unit on battery.

I do this too, I never listen to the M17 on battery power, because I only listen to music at home.

 

[plumpudding2]

I always listen on low gain even on my Susvaras, plenty of volume for pop music and it stays nice and cool. I only use the higer gain for high dr classical.

 

[zeroshiki]

mine on desktop mode(plugged in on DC), even on low gain has the high temperature warning if the DAP is not placed on the cooling stand.

used aida64 to check the batt temperature and it is usually 41-43C with cooling fan/stand.

while without the fan it can go up to 48-49C with battery overheating warning coming out.

the m15s runs a lot cooler, 42-43C without fans, and 36-39C with.

 

[kelly200269]

I don’t think the M17 is designed to be used in 12DC mode without utilising the stand/fan. On the very odd occasion I’ve used it in DC mode without using the stand/fan (albeit for short periods) it got very warm.

i gave up with the hassle eventually, and bought an R7 for static/bedroom listening

 

[ccrys]

Why can't play none of 75 tracks downloaded for offline mode?

The Tidal app is latest version.

 

[Ben86]

@FiiO please make an upcoming this year DAP "M27/M23" with a type of easy swappable AA or AAA batteries, so that would be a "killer" long lasting DAP with absolutely no competition on market!

I have sold my M17 last year just because of battery was getting extremely hot inside. I suspected that it could cause a serious problems and it would be just a matter of time when the back plastic cover popps off because of swollen battery.

It would be much more reliable if anyone could easely replace his unit batteries at anytime.

One more thing that I didn't like with my M17 were four black plastic audio jack connectors on top of the device. All of my headphones plugs felt "too loose" inside when inserted, and pulled out too easely. I wish that all audio jack connectors were made of metal material instead of plastick.

 

[Gymboy]

I am soo happy with M17 I have nothing to complain, mine is not getting hot in headphones mode and if used in over head hp mode goes on active cooling stand.Yesterday was listening some trance music as Forbeur, Charlotte, etc on YT while screen being on,using Cascade (give them a run after a while), man what a sound, tightness of bass giving details to pop up in non offensive way but being so slammy and brutal. Best DAP I have heard and it stays.

 

[TheOneInYellow]

I think that a small portion of people who buy the M17 genuinely are either unaware, oblivious, ignorant, or simply do not care for what the device does nor what specially the designed and significant (strongly manufacturer recommended) accessory comes with it.

These small number of people who are unsure regarding the M17 due to overheating at the highest DC input/Enhanced Over Ear Mode when NOT using the included FiiO DK3 fan stand baffles me to no end.
It's included with a purchase of an M17 at retail, the clue is RIGHT THERE.

Yes, it is an awkward engineering solution, but also the M17 is the only (transportable) DAP of its type to deliver full desktop power- via both desktop grade DAC and amp chips- at full current via DC input.
NO other DAP does this. All other monster power DAP's on the market (as of this post) rely solely on internal battery power only, and such DAP's are starved for full current deliver across power output, due to battery protection measures.
Until there is a better engineering solution that won't cost the Earth, and is within a brands' goals and target demographic, M17 is the best solution we have right now. If we wanted high-end ultrabook or gaming laptop style cooling in a DAP, it would be extremely expensive and/or ungainly more so than the M17 and similar beast DAP's on the market currently.

If that small subset of prospective, current, or previous owners continue to complain of heat issues with the M17 when used at max (or near max) output power and without using the included fan, then this device was never going to either be used in the correct way by you, nor was is it ever suitable for your usage.

Either carefully read up on what you are about to spend a significant amount of money into, or find an appropriate alternative.

Sorry for the rant to those who are very aware of what the M17 is and how to safely operate it with recommend, included accessories, but it is getting very tiresome to read either pseudo passive aggressive, feigned commentary that's actually nonconstructive/unproductive, or outright wrong and misinformative.
To those who are behaving this way, stop it.

Please note, this is not targeted to those who have genuine concerns or issues.
This post is directed to those who are deliberately or ignorantly misuing the FiiO M17 (in relation to high output power and cooling), and then complaining.

Edit: fixed errors and clarified parts of the post. I just got really annoyed at the frequency of misinformative posts by those who simply do not understand how to safely use the M17 and continue to post their experiences, even when others and the manufacturer have tirelessly explained the reasons for the issue. Such users are simply using their M17 outside its intended functions, but are ignoring advice and manufacturer information.

 

[FiiO]

@FiiO please make an upcoming this year DAP "M27/M23" with a type of easy swappable AA or AAA batteries, so that would be a "killer" long lasting DAP with absolutely no competition on market!

I have sold my M17 last year just because of battery was getting extremely hot inside. I suspected that it could cause a serious problems and it would be just a matter of time when the back plastic cover popps off because of swollen battery.

It would be much more reliable if anyone could easely replace his unit batteries at anytime.

One more thing that I didn't like with my M17 were four black plastic audio jack connectors on top of the device. All of my headphones plugs felt "too loose" inside when inserted, and pulled out too easely. I wish that all audio jack connectors were made of metal material instead of plastick.

Dear friend,

Hi, thanks for your suggestion. We will consider about that in our later products.

Best regards

 

[plumpudding2]

Small PSA: I was using my m17 in usb dac mode fed 768khz PCM from HQplayer. I was using the m17 In low gain at 120 volume and used HQplayer digital volume control. Suddenly the music became full volume and horribly distorted and I had to quickly take the headphones off.

You might think this is a problem with HQplayer but it's only happened with the m17 so far (3 times) and never with other dacs.

I'm glad I had the m17 in low gain otherwise I might have had serious hearing damage. So be careful with the m17 + HQplayer.

 

[TheOneInYellow]

Small PSA: I was using my m17 in usb dac mode fed 768khz PCM from HQplayer. I was using the m17 In low gain at 120 volume and used HQplayer digital volume control. Suddenly the music became full volume and horribly distorted and I had to quickly take the headphones off.

You might think this is a problem with HQplayer but it's only happened with the m17 so far (3 times) and never with other dacs.

I'm glad I had the m17 in low gain otherwise I might have had serious hearing damage. So be careful with the m17 + HQplayer.

Perhaps the HQPlayer app bypasses FiiO's custom Android solution for volume control and sampling, and that's not good at all.
If it does and uses Android's substack audio playback chain, you might also suffer Android's default resampling of music too.

I would use another app for now, and contact HQPlayer of your observations (take screenshots to but don't plug a headphone in, to demonstrate the problem or generate logs).

 

[plumpudding2]

Perhaps the HQPlayer app bypasses FiiO's custom Android solution for volume control and sampling, and that's not good at all.
If it does and uses Android's substack audio playback chain, you might also suffer Android's default resampling of music too.

I would use another app for now, and contact HQPlayer of your observations (take screenshots to but don't plug a headphone in, to demonstrate the problem or generate logs).

To clarify, HQplayer runs on an external PC (not on the m17) and just sends the M17 PCM data like any other music player app. The m17 is in dac mode so there is absolutely no way for the data to bypass anything on the m17 side. My hypothesis is the m17 decodes the PCM signal improperly for some weird reason.
But yeah I'll contact the HQplayer dev too and ask if there's ever been reports of this happening with other dacs.

 

[TheOneInYellow]

To clarify, HQplayer runs on an external PC (not on the m17) and just sends the M17 PCM data like any other music player app. The m17 is in dac mode so there is absolutely no way for the data to bypass anything on the m17 side. My hypothesis is the m17 decodes the PCM signal improperly for some weird reason.
But yeah I'll contact the HQplayer dev too and ask if there's ever been reports of this happening with other dacs.

Ah OK, and that's very interesting; I wonder then what is causing the break in the decoding chain when supplying 768kHz from your computer?

Also, according to FiiO's M17 official DAC mode guidance (here), you may need to use their Windows driver as the interface for correct functionality.

Perhaps @FiiO can shed some light too...