[JuanLuis91]

The sound across the boards is the best so far from FiiO's M series. I prefer to take full advantage of the balanced out.

The improvements are remarkable with their balanced output? And as for noise, is it quieter than the x5iii?

 

[steelgtr]

Guys, How would the M9 compare to the Pioneer XDP-30R? I ordered the Pioneer for $139 on a whim but was really looking at M7 or M9?

thx

bob

Anyone? I feel invisible around here lately

 

[JuanLuis91]

Anyone? I feel invisible around here lately

The pionner dap’s seems to be undervalued. There is a new model (xdp-02u) with dual sabre for $ 300, but almost no reviews anywhere.

 

[steelgtr]

The pionner dap’s seems to be undervalued. There is a new model (xdp-02u) with dual sabre for $ 300, but almost no reviews anywhere.

Thank you, Juan

Do you think the one i ordered for $140 is a good value, then?

thx

bob

 

[JuanLuis91]

Thank you, Juan

Do you think the one i ordered for $140 is a good value, then?

thx

bob

I think so. It has very good features for that price. I hope your impressions soon =)

 

[Daiyama]

Anyone? I feel invisible around here lately

This is probably because this thread is about the FiiO M9 and not about pioneer DAPs.

 

[steelgtr]

This is probably because this thread is about the FiiO M9 and not about pioneer DAPs.

Yes, but I was considering the M9 and got impatient and ordered the Pio Wanted advice on comparison. I did start another thread about comparing and no response

 

[Dobrescu George]

Here are my first impressions of FiiO M9!

I may also do a short video of the unboxing and first impressions soon

Anyways,

- The Build Quality is quite nice, metal with a soft touch coating (matte)
- The display covers a good portion of the front, but not all of it like it would with a smartphone. The logo below lights and it is colored.
- Jacks feel pretty solid on my unit, pretty tight
- Comes with a Silicone case, Coax cable (nice addition), Good USB Cable (USB is Type-C, which is really nice)
- One microSD slot
- The microSD card goes the other way around now, with the golden pins facing down, if you're seeing M7's display. Most Chinese DAPs go with the golden pins facing up, curious change
- There is a solid glass screen protector installed ex-factory.
- There are sharp corners on the right side, and a rounded smooth margin on the left.
- At max brightness, the display is adequately bright.
- The logo only lights up while music is playing. I mean, this is a good reminder that you have music playing, I appreciate it.
- The display is fairly sharp in detail (good enough resolution, I can't see individual pixels up close with the naked eye)
- UI is pretty intuitive, I mean, after just one minute, everything felt intuitive. No need for a navigation bar if the design is intuitive
- UI is fluid, quick, responsive
- There are some Apps installed, including Tidal. For Streamers, I wonder if future upgrades will also bring other apps, this is something @FiiO can confirm
- The DAP gets slightly warm in usage, but that's all.
- I would consider the display small for typing , but it is adequate even for my thick fingers for typing one song name and a wifi password from time to time
- Once you click the volume wheel once, you can adjust the volume via touch screen
- It took M9 about 3 minutes to fully scan my entire 900 song library in one microSD card 256GB of mostly flac files.
- There is a black theme, that one looks fantastic.
- Clicking on Ablum will reveal all albums, with their cover art, if they are tagged properly, and you can freely scroll through them, the album art loads in about 2.5 seconds after you reach a zone with no album art yet loaded.
- All music browsing is reading my tags correctly, mostly English, Romanian and Japanese characters.
- SingleEnded port: The sound, so far, with no burn-in and such, sounds pretty neutral, with a very slight touch of warmth. The soundstage and instrument separation are really good (Before testing it, I had xDSD plugged in, so you know what this one may compare to a bit)
- The battery indicator barely moved in the time I had with it, so I'll need more time to drain, charge it, then test its actual real world capacity with my typical usage (loud listening, lots of music switching, etc)


Overall, I find it to be a really nice DAP at 250USD, I do not think it really replaces X5 or X3 as a series, but it is more the flagship of the M series. This is made to be portable, light, accessible, from my testing the wifi seems to work well, but I really need more time and to do more testing now

Sorry, we had terrible weather in Romania, so some photos will be inside, like this one.

 

[doowap]

Just got mine in the mail today, first impressions are very good! This is a big upgrade from my Cayin N3 both in terms of sound quality and features. I find that compared to the N3 the soundstage is more open, but at the same time it has a more "planted" sound, if that makes sense. Maybe its a little warmer, a little less analytical than the N3. Sound signature wise, it's more like my Fiio X3ii but more refined. I think I also like it better than my Fiio Q1mkii, but I'm pretty stoked on it so take that with a grain of salt. The killer features for me are Tidal offline, power output (especially balanced), full 2Vrms LO, and good standby time. I also like all the bluetooth options. Looking forward to LDAC bluetooth receiver mode in future updates. UI is smooth and easy to get used to, no issues so far. The Fiio music app is quite good. I'm feeling like I got a lot of DAP for the money. If you are on the fence about this DAP, I'd say go for it. So stoked on my new toy! By the way, this stacks very well with the Fiio A5 and that combo easily drives my 600ohm beyers. I'd say excuse the ramble but... this is head-fi. Y'all are probably used to it

 

[ASpencer]

The M9 with its hardware side buttons being active is literally the most annoying default feature of the device. It also requires the user to develop a special light claw grip on the device when holding it with the screen on so as not to accidentally push the button either.

The good folks at FiiO directed me to this page:

https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/91563.html

 

[Ultrainferno]

The Fiio M9 -> Nano reports about it in a detailed 4-page article and he can only conclude it's a player most consumers will love. So to the recommended buy list it goes! Full article now on Headfonia.
https://www.headfonia.com/review-fiio-m9/

 

[stemplar]

A question .!!
Why is nobody making it? 4,4 mm female >> 2,5mm male balanced translator ??? There are a couple of cables that have 4,4 pentacones with a factory-balanced cable. (Senn HD660S / Sony MDR-1AM2) It's so difficult to launch ??? since the reverse is available.
(Fiio does not make, only 2.5 female 4.4 balanced male jacktranslator (BL44) )I do not understand this well ... if we are mixing here with pentaconne 4,4 / Trrs 2.5 outputs ...

 

[froes]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bal...8-Core-Silver-Audio-Cord-2-5/32930917477.html

The variant 4???

 

[stemplar]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bal...8-Core-Silver-Audio-Cord-2-5/32930917477.html

The variant 4???

Thanks, this looks good. Unfortunately, I have no good experience (made by China handmade). The FiiO BL44 is very good quality, so I can produce it.

 

[Daiyama]

The Fiio M9 -> Nano reports about it in a detailed 4-page article and he can only conclude it's a player most consumers will love. So to the recommended buy list it goes! Full article now on Headfonia.
https://www.headfonia.com/review-fiio-m9/

Nice review thanks.
One point, the volume nob on the left side makes totally sense for touch screen device and right-handed people as you will hold the device in the left hand and navigate on the touch screen with your right hand.