FiiO x Jade Audio JM21

[FiiO-Yellow]

@FiiO-Yellow Hey, and the pause button is also faulty.

Hi, yes, if your JM21 firmware is 1.0.2 and pause button still can not work even the screen is unlocked, you can consider return. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience

 

[hifigeek2023]

Hi, 1. other app works well? 2. yes, JM21 can not work as dac to iphone now. Can only work as DAC for windows and Mac OS.

@FiiO-Yellow

1. Yes. I've mainly use Tidal and YouTube Music and they seem to be working fine!
2. Sorry for the ambiguity with my word choice but when I mentioned hotspot I was referring to connecting the JM21 to internet using my iPhone's cellular connection.

P.s. Here's a more formal definition of hotspot: "A mobile hotspot, also known as a portable hotspot or a personal hotspot, is a wireless access point typically created by a dedicated piece of hardware or software on your smartphone." - from howtogeek

source: https://www.howtogeek.com/795007/what-is-a-mobile-hotspot/

 

[Joster Rojad]

Hi, yes, if your JM21 firmware is 1.0.2 and pause button still can not work even the screen is unlocked, you can consider return. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience

but aliexpress support doesn't answer me??

 

[FiiO-Yellow]

@FiiO @FiiO-Yellow do you know anything about this?

Thanks

Hi, yes, we already confirmed this issue. We will fix these issues in the future firmware.

 

[FiiO-Yellow]

@FiiO-Yellow

1. Yes. I've mainly use Tidal and YouTube Music and they seem to be working fine!
2. Sorry for the ambiguity with my word choice but when I mentioned hotspot I was referring to connecting the JM21 to internet using my iPhone's cellular connection.

P.s. Here's a more formal definition of hotspot: "A mobile hotspot, also known as a portable hotspot or a personal hotspot, is a wireless access point typically created by a dedicated piece of hardware or software on your smartphone." - from howtogeek

source: https://www.howtogeek.com/795007/what-is-a-mobile-hotspot/

Oh, i see. i think It's a compatibility issue. I will forward to our team. About the hotspot issue. I am sorry for misunderstanding. We test our iPhone 15 pro and it works well for the hotspot. You turn on the maximize compatibility in your iphone?

 

[Lu88]

Oh, i see. i think It's a compatibility issue. I will forward to our team. About the hotspot issue. I am sorry for misunderstanding. We test our iPhone 15 pro and it works well for the hotspot. You turn on the maximize compatibility in your iphone?

Hi, I also have a WiFi connection issue with the iPhone 15 Pro Max's Hotspot. JM21 fails to connect, regardless of whether the Maximize compatibility setting in iPhone is turned on or not. I have reported via online feedback with logs.

FYI: I encountered the similar issue on iBasso DX180, and it was fixed by the firmware update.

 

[Vitor Valeri]

Unboxing of the FiiO JM21 Digital Audio Player (DAP)

 

[hifigeek2023]

FiiO JM21 vs. Hiby R4

Hi there! I've been looking for a budget DAP to mainly use in my car and scrubbing through music on my network streamer. I narrowed down my selection to FiiO JM21 and Hiby R4. I experienced lots of difficulty when researching these DAPs and it seems like I'm not alone in the journey. So I wanted to write a quick comparison between the DAPs in hopes that others will find this useful.

From this point and on, I'll refer to FiiO JM21 as JM21 and Hiby R4 as R4.

Disclaimer: I bought both of these DAPs with my own money and I wasn't influenced in any way to provide this feedback. Also, I am a beginner audiophile so my impressions and sound descriptions might not be accurate so please bear with me.

Amplification (Loudness)
Although JM21 lists its output power to be 245mW at 32 ohms compared to 165mW on R4, I got the impression that R4 sounds about as loud (or maybe very slightly louder) when connected to my car audio via 3.5 mm aux (auxiliary) port (I raised the device volume to max on both devices). I think the output power level is comparable between both devices.

I ran a CRUDE test and my findings seem to align with my listening impressions.
Test method
- measure decibel using a decibel meter in between a Sennheiser HD 6XX and play different frequencies (20 Hz, 100 Hz, 1 kHz, 10 kHz, 15 kHz) using a frequency generator app
- both DAPs were at maximum volume at high gain modes
- I didn't touch any other settings that might affect the sound output level (at least to my knowledge)

Test outcome

• the ambient room sound level was about 48.1 dB
• JM21 3.5 mm output
  • 20 Hz: 49.1 dB
  • 100 Hz: 59.8 dB
  • 1 kHz (1000 Hz): 89.4 dB
  • 10 kHz (10000 Hz): 74.0 dB
  • 15 kHz (15000 Hz): 49.4 dB
• R4 3.5 mm output
  • 20 Hz: 49.1 dB
  • 100 Hz: 60.8 dB
  • 1 kHz (1000 Hz): 90.3 dB
  • 10 kHz (10000 Hz): 74.8 dB
  • 15 kHz (15000 Hz): 49.4 dB
• JM21 4.4mm output
  • 20 Hz: 49.1 dB
  • 100 Hz: 66.1 dB
  • 1 kHz (1000 Hz): 96.9 dB
  • 10 kHz (10000 Hz): 82.2 dB
  • 15 kHz (15000 Hz): 49.4 dB
• R4 4.4 mm output
  • 20 Hz: 49.1 dB
  • 100 Hz: 65.4 dB
  • 1 kHz (1000 Hz): 95.3 dB
  • 10 kHz (1000 Hz): 79 dB
  • 15 kHz (15000 Hz): 49.5 dB

Sound
I played 5 songs on both DAPs using two listening devices to test the sounds.

• I did have to set volume level (as in percentage of maximum volume) for JM21 a bit higher to get to comfortable listening level of volume which I will list below.
• Listening Devices: Sennheiser HD 6XX, DITA Audio Project M
• Streaming Service: Tidal (Max audio quality playback)
• Song Selection
  • Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
  • You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
  • The Mother We Share - CHVRCHES
  • Can You Feel the Love Tonight - Elton John
  • Someone Like You - Adele
• I used balanced 4.4 mm output on both DAPs

DITA Audio Project M Listening Impressions (R4 volume: 40 out of 100 | JM21 volume: 60 out of 120)
1. Some of the hi-hat(?) (the tick tick sound occuring every other second between 2:44 - 3:04 of "Don't Stop Me Now") sounded harsh
2. JM21 sounds cleaner and colder compared to R4
3. R4 has louder, fuller sounding lows and highs with more reverberations.
4. JM21 sounded more neutral and flat.
5. Sound stage is pretty narrow on both devices. My impression was that R4 was ever so slightly wider than JM21.
6. There were rare occasions when there was a slight delay when starting music on R4. When I start playing "Don't Stop Me Now", I would first hear "--night--" instead of "Tonight--" (if you will lol). I didn't hear this on JM21.

Sennheiser HD 6XX Listening Impressions (R4 volume: 60 out of 100 | JM21 volume: 85 out of 120)
1. I heard the #6 glitch(?) on the "DITA Audio Project M Listening Impressions" section again (i.e. "--night--" instead of "Tonight--")
2. I didn't find the hi-hat(?) (#1 in the above section) to be shrill
3. For the most part, I had similar impressions on Sennheiser HD 6XX compared to DITA Audio Project M


User Experience
- JM21 has way brighter screen than R4
- I might be stating the obvious but... JM21 is much lighter than R4 and I can feel significant difference in weight on my hands. Also, JM21 is noticibly thinner than R4. JM21 is a bit easier to use only one hand to use the device.
- R4 seems to last much longer in terms of battery. After doing sound impressions (starting from 100% battery on both devices), JM21's battery was at 89% while R4 was at 93%
- I like the JM21's playback button placements much better. I often find myself accidentally pressing the wrong button when I'm not looking on R4 since the playback buttons (previous track, play/pause, next track) are grouped together with the on/off button.
- JM21 has max screen timeout of 30 minutes whereas R4 has an option of "never"
- JM21 buttons are easier to press (more sensitive and have better touch feedback) compared to R4.
- I can tell that JM21 is slightly faster but both devices are very comparable performance-wise (especially if you only plan to use these as audio playback devices).
- R4 has system-wide parametric EQ settings whereas it's currently in development for JM21 (as of November 29th, 2024).

Here are some bugs I found (as of November 29th, 2024) while testing JM21. Hopefully these issues will be addressed in the upcoming firmware updates
1. JM21: I am unable to connect hotspot internet using my smartphone (iPhone 15 Pro Max)
2. JM21: I am unable to change the playback speed when listening to audiobooks on Audible (it'll always play back at 1x speed)

Overall, I think both of these devices are very comparable in terms of sound quality. Purchasing one or the other will depend on the use cases. Thank you for reading this post and please let me know if you have any question. I'll try to respond to them before I end up returning one of the devices. lol

 

[alexwise]

Another bug with hardware skip forward/backward buttons: they stop working when using app pinning

 

[SilicaGel]

JM21 Leather case is now available at $4.99 from FiiO Official Aliexpress store.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_oCt533L

 

[pmichaelro]

JM21 Leather case is now available at $4.99 from FiiO Official Aliexpress store.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_oCt533L

But with no tracked shipping?

 

[anli]

JM21 Leather case is now available at $4.99 from FiiO Official Aliexpress store.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_oCt533L

Ugh... Blue... I would pay to avoid using of the case with such color.

 

[pmichaelro]

Ugh... Blue... I would pay to avoid using of the case with such color.

I’m open to receiving offers

 

[Archer1254]

How to add a Icon to the homescreen (of an newly installed app)

 

[Vitor Valeri]

@FiiO @FiiO-Yellow

I received the FiiO JM21 yesterday and I have a few bugs to report.

1 - The Nintendo Music app plays music, but there is no sound (the playback time changes, but I don't hear any sound).
2 - When switching to Pure Music mode, the quick access menu does not disappear, and you have to swipe up to display the FiiO Music app screen.
3 - When switching from Pure Music mode to Android mode, the FiiO Music app remains open, and you have to close it manually.
4 - The FiiO Music app crashes several times, and you have to press the "play" button again to play the music again.