Chapter Ten: Q1MKII
Today we would come to the second new product in 2017, i.e. the Q1 Mark II (Q1MKII). Our old users may know that although our first product was a speaker, it is actually the portable amps that help us make money. This is the reason we have never stopped the introduction of new amp products.
The Q1MKII is somewhat of a pioneer in terms of the ID design in 2017. The one who has watched the Launch Event and series stories of the M15 may notice that the flagship M15 has inherited the exterior style of the Q1MKII, especially details of the top and bottom part which has a similarity of 90%.
From the name, Q1MKII, we can easily get that the Q1MKII is the upgraded version of the Q1. But what are the other differences apart from the obviously similar looks?
The most important thing is that the Q1MKII supports iPhones by wining the MFi certification. In fact, we had announced our product strategy at the 2016 Guangzhou Headphone Expo, one of which was the MFi strategy. In short, we wanted to develop a series of audio accessories for iPhones. By the way, for iPhones which build connection through the Lightning port, be sure to check the MFi certification. Otherwise, connections may fail once the iOS is upgraded.
Secondly, the Q1MKII is equipped with a 2.5mm balanced output which you might be more familiar than ever before. In fact, the balanced output on the player/amplifier/headphone has not been introduced very long, but the popularization is quite fast. So our Q1MKII would not go far behind.
Furthermore, most of the amplifier products like the headphone amplifier, uses a potentiometer to control the volume, which is efficient combining with the volume indication itself, and easy to grip. However, it also has quite a few shortcomings. One is that the channel imbalance at low volume because it is difficult to do well. The second is that problems due to long-time using such as noise and other credibilities when adjusting the volume may happen to it. Therefore, for the Q1MKII, we have adopted a new type of ADC volume adjustment technology, on which the audio signal does not go through the volume knob, so there will be no problems such as noise and channel imbalance yet meanwhile the advantages of the volume knob can be kept. Later, this kind of technology is widely applied to many FiiO products which has formed a characteristic of FiiO audio products.
Last but not least, FiiO's DAC/Amps had always been using the USB decoding chip that is with relatively bad poor extensibility and lower supporting formats. However, starting from the Q1MKII, we have adopted the XMOS scheme with the best performance and function ability recognized in the industry. Therefore, the supporting music format of the Q1MKII has soared to 384K/32B, and it also supports native DSD256. This was a great progress based on the Q1.
As for other aspects that were developed and optimized on the basis of the Q1, I would like to rule them out. I believe that from the introduction of the Q1MKII, you can see some of the designs began on the Q1MKII, including the ID design, function, and exterior style, have been continuously applied to FiiO's subsequent new products. This also fully proves the success of the Q1MKII on designs.
To conclude, the Q1MKII is not only a pioneer in technology, but also in the market. Since its listing in 2017, it has continued to sell well in domestic and overseas markets, creating good economic benefits for us.