[studiorat67]

Really? I have to admit that I am surprised, I find it sounds really quite good. I am surprised, but we all hear what it is we hear. I like the M9.

I'm an Audio Purist... As I'm an Audio Engineer for 30 years strong, and while its not transparent, and colored in the 180-300Hz Range, My inEarz are a little Cut there so It makes for a nice flat response And enjoyable

 

[Sonic Defender]

The M9 Amp stage is Good very good actually, ut a little Dark for me.... The Q1 is a little brighter fo me.....

You should try the Q5 as I find the M9 not massively, but I feel audibly darker than the Q5 with the stock A3A amp module. So if you enjoy the M9, like to stack gear the Q5 may float your boat as it slants closer to neutrality.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I'm an Audio Purist... As I'm an Audio Engineer for 30 years strong, and while its not transparent, and colored in the 180-300Hz Range, My inEarz are a little Cut there so It makes for a nice flat response And enjoyable

Nice, I have been an audio indulgist for more than 30 years now! I started off as more of a fan of neutrality but as I am aging I tend to prefer some tasteful warmth in my audio chain (not exclusively so as I do like well done transparency at times). So as an audio engineer what do you think of Steely Dan recordings in general? I have actually become a fan of electronica and find some of it can be very satisfying even if a bit repetitive at times.

 

[gLer]

You should try the Q5 as I find the M9 not massively, but I feel audibly darker than the Q5 with the stock A3A amp module. So if you enjoy the M9, like to stack gear the Q5 may float your boat as it slants closer to neutrality.

Or get the M11 and have the best of both worlds in one device. That's exactly what I did, and it's turning out to be one of the best daps on the market by all accounts (mine included)...

 

[Sonic Defender]

Or get the M11 and have the best of both worlds in one device. That's exactly what I did, and it's turning out to be one of the best daps on the market by all accounts (mine included)...

Yes, that is a viable option as well that I would consider. I am looking forward to the THX amp module on the Q5 mind you.

 

[studiorat67]

Nice, I have been an audio indulgist for more than 30 years now! I started off as more of a fan of neutrality but as I am aging I tend to prefer some tasteful warmth in my audio chain (not exclusively so as I do like well done transparency at times). So as an audio engineer what do you think of Steely Dan recordings in general? I have actually become a fan of electronica and find some of it can be very satisfying even if a bit repetitive at times.

Steely Dan's Recordings were sooo Far ahead of their time..... Listen to the Drums in specific... The impact and punch of the kick drum and snare drum..... And listen to other recordings of the Era.... And then check it against a modern recording.... Very Similar..... I use Aja to calibrate my Room whenever I do Live Sound it's very True representation of Flat

 

[studiorat67]

You should try the Q5 as I find the M9 not massively, but I feel audibly darker than the Q5 with the stock A3A amp module. So if you enjoy the M9, like to stack gear the Q5 may float your boat as it slants closer to neutrality.

The Q5 I was looking at it But opted for M9 and Q1 But I have an A5 coming as well as a Kunlun E18..... We will see which works better than my Ray Samuel's Shadow... Lol

 

[Sonic Defender]

Steely Dan's Recordings were sooo Far ahead of their time..... Listen to the Drums in specific... The impact and punch of the kick drum and snare drum..... And listen to other recordings of the Era.... And then check it against a modern recording.... Very Similar..... I use Aja to calibrate my Room whenever I do Live Sound it's very True representation of Flat

I hear you, pun mostly intended. I have played drums off and on for about 30 years and I agree about the treatment of percussion in Steely Dan material. I use Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go as my comparators for recording fidelity. Aja is well done, but a little flat for my love of a well done contemporary mix where warmth and a little forwardness is utilized.

 

[studiorat67]

I hear you, pun mostly intended. I have played drums off and on for about 30 years and I agree about the treatment of percussion in Steely Dan material. I use Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go as my comparators for recording fidelity. Aja is well done, but a little flat for my love of a well done contemporary mix where warmth and a little forwardness is utilized.

Everything Must Ho is Brilliant..... Thats why I use Aha in a live situation.. Its flat yet delightfully Not ostentatious as It could have been with Copius Reverb and oddly Placed Delay tails... Lol

 

[Sonic Defender]

Everything Must Ho is Brilliant..... Thats why I use Aha in a live situation.. Its flat yet delightfully Not ostentatious as It could have been with Copius Reverb and oddly Placed Delay tails... Lol

Reverb and delay tails, so prevalent but I never think about them. Why are reverb and delay tails used so much in a mix? I would be curious to hear what you think about the album Anian from 9Bach. It seems to have a decent balance between naturalness and deliberately processed elements. If you can't find it and would like it let me know and I could Dropbox it for you easily enough.

 

[studiorat67]

Reverb and delay tails, so prevalent but I never think about them. Why are reverb and delay tails used so much in a mix? I would be curious to hear what you think about the album Anian from 9Bach. It seems to have a decent balance between naturalness and deliberately processed elements. If you can't find it and would like it let me know and I could Dropbox it for you easily enough.

Dropbox would be great.... I'd love to hear it..... Reverb and delays are primarily used as Spatial FX.... To give a sense of depth to dense mixes.... On more sparse Music they are used to fill space with Ambience and they honestly if used properly can portray a emotion like a big reverb on the vocal on a Ballad adds a sense of Loneliness and a delay on a certain worded placed correctly adds an exclamation point almost a Finality.... Maybe I'm being to metaphoric, I've even a mixer 28 years and have worked on lots of stuff on the radio and lots for smaller artists... I like tk look at my self as a silent member in the Band.... After all I'm responsible to help then see their Vision for the music DM me I'll give you my email for the link to Dropbox

 

[winterhalter]

I can't get the M9 to send LDAC reliably to my 1000MX3 at anything other than "Connection First" which is 330k and sounds substantially worse than aptX/aptX-HD/AAC. However, aptX-HD works fine and it's not like these are audiophile cans anyway but I was hoping to get the whole 990k. A little disappointing.

Also trying to figure out why AirPlay to SPDIF sounds so bad. According to FiiO (above) the M9 should be able to do 16/44.1 AirPlay over WiFi.

 

[Pesplayer]

I can't get the M9 to send LDAC reliably to my 1000MX3 at anything other than "Connection First" which is 330k and sounds substantially worse than aptX/aptX-HD/AAC. However, aptX-HD works fine and it's not like these are audiophile cans anyway but I was hoping to get the whole 990k. A little disappointing.

Also trying to figure out why AirPlay to SPDIF sounds so bad. According to FiiO (above) the M9 should be able to do 16/44.1 AirPlay over WiFi.

Personally I find ldac on highest settings to be inherently unstable on any device. Technically superior but in reality apt x hd my preferred choice. I don’t think it’s an issue with the M9,more with ldac itself.

 

[Blazer39]

is there big improvement from fiio m6 over m9?
is it worth the extra 150$?
or perhaps should just buy X5iii used?
looking for best value fiio DAP

 

[dharmasteve]

I can't get the M9 to send LDAC reliably to my 1000MX3 at anything other than "Connection First" which is 330k and sounds substantially worse than aptX/aptX-HD/AAC. However, aptX-HD works fine and it's not like these are audiophile cans anyway but I was hoping to get the whole 990k. A little disappointing.

Also trying to figure out why AirPlay to SPDIF sounds so bad. According to FiiO (above) the M9 should be able to do 16/44.1 AirPlay over WiFi.

I can't get the M9 to send LDAC reliably to my 1000MX3 at anything other than "Connection First" which is 330k and sounds substantially worse than aptX/aptX-HD/AAC. However, aptX-HD works fine and it's not like these are audiophile cans anyway but I was hoping to get the whole 990k. A little disappointing.

Also trying to figure out why AirPlay to SPDIF sounds so bad. According to FiiO (above) the M9 should be able to do 16/44.1 AirPlay over WiFi.

Mine does highest rate LDAC only with WiFi turned off. Otherwise it stutters. With WiFi on it's only 'connection first' that works stutter free. I find LDAC, in any format, sounds better than APTX-HD and in fact sounds almost as good as pure WiFi transmission to my Arcam WiFi receiver. But...as long as I don't sit and compare, APTX-HD to LDAC, using my 'BluDento' aptx-hd receiver, APTX-HD sounds great and is good enough. Highest quality LDAC through the FiiO BTR3 sounds stunning, whatever headphones I use in the BTR3 or if I connnect the BTR3 to my HiFi, but WiFi has to be turned off on the M9 to use the highest LDAC rates with no stuttering.
Steve