[FiiO UTWS5 2025/UTWS5] True Wireless Bluetooth Amplifier Is Officially Released!

[pervysage]

Also, when ambient mode is on does it constantly cut in and out as you navigate apps on your phone? It is driving me nuts. Not sure if expected or unexpected behavior

Yeah this happens whenever I am pausing/unpausing my music on the Spotify app on Android. Also plenty of other scenarios when playing/stopping YouTube videos or other sources of audio.

Really annoying to hear the ambient mode cutting in and out. It's only for a brief second or so but still annoying and wish it didn't behave that way.

Also, if LDAC is truly coming that would be amazing

 

[Nick24JJ]

@FiiO , @FiiO Willson

Can you explain the horrible synergy between the UTWS5 and the Tansio Mirai Sands, as expressed here and here?
Why does the Tansio Mirai Sands sound so bad on the UTWS5?

 

[Dsnuts]

I doubt they know anything about the Sands. It is simply a matter of synergy. Something about the UTWS5 does not match up well with the Sands If I was a guessing man. It almost sounds like an impedance mismatch to me.

Like using an overly sensitive IEM plugged into a higher end amplifier where it has something like 10 ohm out. In fact this is exactly how that sound.. Overly bright, thinner note weight leaning out the bass end. I have a source on hand that actually has 10 ohm out from its single ended out. No way would I even attempt using the Sands on that. In this case I don't think its an impedance mismatch but more synergistically not there.

I have plenty of IEMs that does work extremely well with the UTWS5. There was bound to be a few that dont sound right or not match well with them.

 

[Nick24JJ]

I doubt they know anything about the Sands. It is simply a matter of synergy. Something about the UTWS5 does not match up well with the Sands If I was a guessing man. It almost sounds like an impedance mismatch to me.

Like using an overly sensitive IEM plugged into a higher end amplifier where it has something like 10 ohm out. In fact this is exactly how that sound.. Overly bright, thinner note weight leaning out the bass end. I have a source on hand that actually has 10 ohm out from its single ended out. No way would I even attempt using the Sands on that. In this case I don't think its an impedance mismatch but more synergistically not there.

I have plenty of IEMs that does work extremely well with the UTWS5. There was bound to be a few that dont sound right or not match well with them.

Thanks for your reply

Yes, it's logic that a few IEMs won't sound right with the UTWS5 but I happen to own 2 of them, the Sands and the TRI I3.

The reason I asked the FiiO reps about the match, the synergy, is because, maybe/somehow, an experienced person, like their engineers, would be able to tell the mismatch by looking at the Frequency response graph? I cannot interpret them, I don't know how to read them, but maybe their engineer(s) could tell? That's why I asked them.

What I would like to kindly ask you is, please since you own the UTWS5 already, test the IEMs you're reviewing and speak about the UTWS5 synergy, as well, in your great reviews. The UTWS5, as well as the Qudelix-5K, are very popular, affordable, devices and it would be great for the rest of us to know how well they match, or not, with the various IEMs. Additionally, my personal opinion is that it would be best if you'd edit your Sands review and mention the UTWS5+Sands mismatch.

Thank you.

PS: what's your opinion about the FiiO R7?

 

[Lightspeed12]

Thanks for your reply

Yes, it's logic that a few IEMs won't sound right with the UTWS5 but I happen to own 2 of them, the Sands and the TRI I3.

The reason I asked the FiiO reps about the match, the synergy, is because, maybe/somehow, an experienced person, like their engineers, would be able to tell the mismatch by looking at the Frequency response graph? I cannot interpret them, I don't know how to read them, but maybe their engineer(s) could tell? That's why I asked them.

What I would like to kindly ask you is, please since you own the UTWS5 already, test the IEMs you're reviewing and speak about the UTWS5 synergy, as well, in your great reviews. The UTWS5, as well as the Qudelix-5K, are very popular, affordable, devices and it would be great for the rest of us to know how well they match, or not, with the various IEMs. Additionally, my personal opinion is that it would be best if you'd edit your Sands review and mention the UTWS5+Sands mismatch.

Thank you.

PS: what's your opinion about the FiiO R7?

I can tell you that the sony m9, Sennheiser ie300 & Shure 846s are great on the utws5.
Maybe if we all get together and make a list of what we have tried will help others.

 

[Nick24JJ]

I can tell you that the sony m9, Sennheiser ie300 & Shure 846s are great on the utws5.
Maybe if we all get together and make a list of what we have tried will help others.

Thank you, good idea!

I have the 7Hz Timeless and the RAPTGO HOOK-X, both of which are an excellent pair to the UTWS5
The Tansio Mirai Sands and the TRI I3 are not!

 

[frnziii]

Hi,
I have the Shure SE535 which unfortunately don‘t make a satisfying combination with the utws5 for me. Noticeable hiss at higher tones which almost sound someone kind of overdriven.

 

[C4PPY]

Do we know more about LDAC and the feature set from the FW5 to the UTWS5?

 

[O11111]

LDAC

There is no LDAC on FW5 yet. However, some progress was made very recently (on Friday and Saturday), so it might come soon to FW5. No idea when UTWS5 will follow.
Anyway, unless you have very recent Qualcomm smartphone, you're not getting stable 990 kbps.

 

[C4PPY]

There is no LDAC on FW5 yet. However, some progress was made very recently (on Friday and Saturday), so it might come soon to FW5. No idea when UTWS5 will follow.
Anyway, unless you have very recent Qualcomm smartphone, you're not getting stable 990 kbps.

Agree, LDAC is not on FW5 yet and for getting 990 kbps you need a good transmitter.. But this is all doable, just wanted to know if someone had heard anything but takes this as no.
Thank you.

 

[O11111]

good transmitter

It's going to be problematic. Having 990 kbps requires Qualcomm Bluetooth High-speed link (QHS). And there are no LDAC transmitters with QHS on the market yet.
DIY might be the solution, but it's definitely not the easiest. Some smartphones support QHS (at least 6/7/8 gen 1 or later) tho.

 

[Spektykles]

It's going to be problematic. Having 990 kbps requires Qualcomm Bluetooth High-speed link (QHS). And there are no LDAC transmitters with QHS on the market yet.
DIY might be the solution, but it's definitely not the easiest. Some smartphones support QHS (at least 6/7/8 gen 1 or later) tho.

There is no standalone LDAC transmitter with QHS yet. But on PC you could make one. My laptop have Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 card (WCN6856 chip, rebranded QCA6490 8 Gen 1 smartphone).

 

[O11111]

There is no standalone LDAC transmitter with QHS yet. But on PC you could make one. My laptop have Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 card (WCN6856 chip, rebranded QCA6490 8 Gen 1 smartphone).

That's really cool. The only problem would be to buy such a wifi/bluetooth card. I can't find WCN7851 (FastConnect 7800) and/or WCN6856 anywhere.
Also might require custom drivers to support QHS. Also LDAC on Windows is less than ideal. Linux might be the only way to go. Besides, such a card ain't gonna be cheap. And it's possible to get QCC5171/81 module for like 15$. If someone could find a way to use them as USB-HCI Bluetooth adapter, it would be ideal for that. QCC308x might be even better because of lower price.

 

[DeJaVu]

Having 990 kbps requires Qualcomm Bluetooth High-speed link (QHS). And there are no LDAC transmitters with QHS on the market yet.
DIY might be the solution, but it's definitely not the easiest. Some smartphones support QHS (at least 6/7/8 gen 1 or later) tho.

Codecs are software, you dont actually need anything special for LDAC, just a dongle with EDR support(which is practically any available on the market) so it has enough bandwidth for high bitrate codecs. Not including certain codec with a device most probably has to do with licensing.
Been using CSR8510 BT4.0 dongle($2-3) on Linux for more than 2 years now, and you get support for practically every codec. And a Windows 10/11 solution got introduced few months ago, its called "Alternative a2dp driver" and you get LDAC support with it.

 

[Spektykles]

That's really cool. The only problem would be to buy such a wifi/bluetooth card. I can't find WCN7851 (FastConnect 7800) and/or WCN6856 anywhere.
Also might require custom drivers to support QHS. Also LDAC on Windows is less than ideal. Linux might be the only way to go. Besides, such a card ain't gonna be cheap. And it's possible to get QCC5171/81 module for like 15$. If someone could find a way to use them as USB-HCI Bluetooth adapter, it would be ideal for that. QCC308x might be even better because of lower price.

"NFA765" on Taobao for WCN6856. 7851 will come out later (NCM865)