Introduction to FiiO's Product Line and Update Plan in 2021--From James

[FiiO]

Foreword

2021 will be a particularly memorable year for FiiO for whose new product plans in 2021 were all disrupted by the epidemic and chip shortage. In fact, we have to redesign almost all other models except wired headphones that don’t use chips. Thus, besides our new product, I’ll also take this opportunity to briefly introduce the main features of the new and old models, the usage scenarios and explain who they are appropriate for. The reason why I do this is that I discovered that we have some old products that have been sold for ten years while many users have never heard of them. PS, let me introduce to you guys our new image spokesperson--FiiO Space Sheep. Sheep is used as our mascot for that FiiO is located in Guangzhou, which is also known as "Yangcheng" (the City of Rams, if translate literally). In addition, this animal image are harmless and well-behaved that we all love them. After a long period of internal discussion, we decided to make a unified upgrade from brand to product ID design towards a greater sense of science and technology in the future. To show this vision, we thus switched to a sheep wearing space suit that fully represents high technology.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 1 Digital Audio Analog Converter D03K

The D03K is the oldest model in the FiiO family that is still under production and active on the market. Its predecessor D3 was launched in April 2011, and later it was upgraded to the D03K with a 3.5 LINE OUT (LO) port added. In terms of product life, the D03K can be described as the GOAT (the greatest of all time) in the FiiO family.

The D03K has way simple functions- it can covert PCM digital audio signals input through the optical/coaxial port to analog signals and then output them through the RCA/3.5mm port. Besides, it supports up to 192kHz/24bit in an aluminum alloy body, providing excellent audio performance. Therefore, those competing products supporting 96kHz/24bit in a plastic shell with 50% higher price, were quickly kicked out of the market right after the launch of the D03K.

The D03K is mainly sold on the foreign market. It is commonly used to connect to the optical/coaxial output port of LCD TVs and then output analog audio signals to old power amplifiers and speakers. In addition, there are other special applications. Let me give you an example. A famous American company, Dolby Laboratories, had once purchased thousands of the D03K successively from our company, but we had no idea where they would use these units.

Appropriate usage scenarios
For those old audio devices that only have an analog input port, or have a digital input port that does not support high-definition audios (192kHz/24bit), the high-quality digital-to-analog converter D03K will be the right choice.

I think the main reason for the hot sale of the D03K is that it is armed with excellent quality and simple functions. This brought it a high repurchase rate, a good reputation and countless accumulated praise. In addition, even at its peak selling period in history, it has ranked in the top 100 among hundreds of thousands of electronic products on Amazon. In a word, the D03K will never be out of date thanks to its simple and practical functions.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 2 Mini Desktop USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier E10K

The reason why I write this series is actually the E10K. This is because I found that many users have not heard of some of our old and classic products, for example the E10K. The previous model was born in 2011, and it is the model that enjoy the second-most longest lifespan currently in the production of FiiO.
E10K is also a product with simple function and excellent quality, like the D03K I posted last time. To put it simply, E10K serves as an external sound card that connects to a computer/PC or other devices via USB, and then drives the headphone through the headphone jack.
Many of you may wonder, why do we need this device since our computers already have headphone jacks? In fact, the main reason is that the quality of audio sound from ordinary computers is too poor with large noise and large distortion to drive our headphones, and it’s inconvenient to use. Thus, users who have certain requirements for sound quality will choose a good external sound card. What is more magical is that there are some professional e-sports players abroad who use E10K to compete

.
The commonly used scenario of E10K is to put it on the desk at home or in the office, and connect it to the computer to drive our headphone for a better sound quality. It is an excellent companion and best choice for the users who get tired of the poor sound quality from the computer’s 3.5mm headphone jack.
Owing to chip shortage, the E10K has to be changed to E10K-Type C version which we just launched recently. As the name implies, we replace the old Micro USB with Type C that widely used nowadays. By the way, from E10 - E10K - E10K TC, the USB port has similarly undergone the change of Mini USB - Micro USB - Type C. I’m also looking forward that the original model E10 will last and continue to provide you with beautiful music constantly in the future.
At last, we welcome users of E10/E10K to share your story with it.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 3： Getting Impressive first by the "Core"--Desktop DAC and Amplifier New K3



The K3 is a mini USB DAC/Amp launched in 2018, intended to replace the “elderly” E10K. But we failed to do so since the E10K is super cost-effective and worthy of its excellent performance, plus the K3 is more expensive. So, it eventually became a situation of them sharing the market on a fifty-fifty basis.

Due to chip shortage, we have to upgrade the K3 with the familiar ESS9038Q2M DAC. It was only in the last 2 days that we could finally resume the supply of the K3. 2021 is a tough year.

There is little difference between the E10K and the new K3. Like the E10K, it is often put on the desk at home or in the office, and connected to the computer as an excellent headphone driver to improve the sound quality. It is especially suitable for users who are fed up with the poor sound quality of the computer with the 3.5mm headphone jack.

So how to make a decision between the E10K and the new K3? My suggestion is that if you have enough budget, choose the new K3. After all, it is stronger in all aspects- supports 2.5mm balanced output and native DSD256, yet with higher SNR and lower distortion. If you have a limited budget and have no headphones with a balanced output port, the E10K is also a classic good choice.

For detailed information about the new K3, please check:

https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/545640.html

With clear positioning, useful functions and simple operation, I personally believe that the K3 has the potential to become a long-lived product in FiiO's history. Maybe after a few years, when the 2.5mm balanced output is eliminated, the K3 can still be upgraded with a 4.4mm output to extend its lifespan.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 4 BTR5 2021, the GOAT!

Since the BTR1 was launched three years ago, FiiO has started its plan of conquering the bluetooth amp market. From BTR1, BTR3 to μBTR and BTR5, each of them has become a hot cake in the market. This production line can be praised as a success with hot sales and good reputation at home and abroad. What’s more surprising is that the BTR5, with higher price than BTR3, has managed to increase sales volume significantly.
The chip shortage has become more and more serious since 2021, the production of BTR5 hasn’t become an exception even if it doesn’t use chips from AKM . The supply of the chip that BTR5 used was promised by ESS Technology before, so we even placed an order for over hundred thousand Yuan. However, due to the limited capacity of production, ESS Technology can only prioritize the production of the chip with higher price, the ESS9219C, instead of the ESS9218 for BTR5.
In light of this, we had to start the BTR5 revision plan three months ago. Since the BTR5 is our main force in great market demand, we can only make as few changes as possible in order to resume supply as soon as possible. Other plans, for example extending battery life and adding 4.4mm port, are thus failed to proceed but to be delayed until 2022.
Compared with the old BTR5, the BTR5 2021 is mainly upgraded by a better DAC and support for MQA, which contribute to greater performance. In addition, conforming to the rising tide of Apple's high-definition lossless, we have specially introduced the BTR5 2021 L-C. It comes with a Lightning to Type C data cable in order to facilitate the users of Apple mobile phone.
At the same time, a convenient charging shutdown function has also been added for mobile phone users to avoid charging the device’s battery when the mobile phone is connected.
Appropriate usage scenarios
There are many occasions that we can make use of the BTR5. For one thing, it can serve as a bluetooth amp when connected with a mobile phone and play music via bluetooth. For another, it can connect to the mobile phone through a wired way as a dongle to provide higher-quality music. Besides, it can also be used as a mini portable amp, and to connect to PC/notebook and other digital devices.
The BTR5 2021 is suitable for users who have higher requirements for sound quality and portability. It is usually used with mobile phones.
For detailed information, see https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/545273.html

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 5 M11 Plus LTD, LTD for Real

For special situation this year, you can see many devices are tagged LTD. FiiO, for example, has Q5S TC, M11Plus LTD, K9Pro LTD, FDX LTD and so on. Of course, this tag has also exerted negative influence. Because the so-called limited edition does make the customers feel “being ripped off" sometimes, and it is usually used as a marketing tool after all.
However, the LTD tag on the M11 Plus is not marketing this time, it is indeed a limited supply caused by various factors such as the fire broke out in the Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) and chips discontinuation. The aftermath of the fire occurred at AKM semiconductor plant has created supply chain interruptions for many products including AK4497, the chip that the M11 Plus used.
Therefore, in order to remind customers to purchase in time and distinguish it from the future version with different DAC, the currently on sale version is named M11Plus. It is a honor to say that M11 Plus LTD has become the last glory of the 4497 chip. Because FiiO gets 4497 more than 70% of the total amount that AKM produced, and we use all of it for M11 Plus.
At present, Thousands pieces of M11Plus have been sent and sold around the world, except for hundreds pieces among them still waiting to be put into production for the lack of display screens. Even so, we still bear the blame from distributors and consumers for failing to provide enough goods. So I sincerely hope you can understand our difficulties.
M11 Plus LTD can be considered as a re-design based on its successful predecessor M11 Pro with a new display screen and CPU model. Its operating experience is greatly improved while retaining the excellent sound quality of the M11 Pro. The main vision of M11 Plus LTD is to provide users with a good experience and excellent sound quality anytime and anywhere, as well as a portable music player capable of driving almost any earphones and most over-ear headphones. This device is aiming at those who think highly of both sound quality and portability.
We have started currently the research and development of M11 Plus that using ESS 9068AS DAC. And it is planned to be launched by the end of this year. So, if you are interested in the M11 Plus and prefer the sound of AKM, go and buy while the few amount available now.
For official introduction of M11 LTD, see: https://www.fiio.com/m11plusltd
The picture below shows the situation of chip supply in AKM downloaded from its official website. EOL refers to END OF LIFE, and the affected models of FiiO are also marked below.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 7 Following Plan for Portable Players in 2021- M11Plus and M11/M15

Let me talk about the follow-up of M11/M15 that some of you care about. I’m sorry to tell you that the successor models of M11/M15 will not be launched this year. Because we have “re-designed” almost all the old products this year, and the requirement of resources for the research and development of player is quite demanding. Therefore, the player section can only rely on M11 Plus and M17 to support our sales in the short term.

In addition, some audiophiles are concerned about whether we will launch a pure music player. Personally speaking, I think pure music players may be prevalent in the future, while Android HiFi players may disappear. This is because it is difficult for the HiFi player industry to keep up with the fast development of Android software and hardware, and the investment cost is getting higher and higher. But for now, due to the development of online music, the market left for pure music players is indeed small. Therefore, we can only focus on Android music players ranging from 400 to 2500 USD for the time being.

As I mentioned before, since the AK4497 has been discontinued, M11 Plus has become a LTD version. These thousands of units are failing to meet the needs of users around the world and thus cause complains. Our Korean distributor had to cancel consumers’ order because of the limited quantity. The Japanese distributor sent gifts to every member in our company to show gratitude for our allocation. And some netizens on Head-Fi tried their best to purchase devices from other countries.

Of course, we are also clear that this doesn’t mean how excellent M11 Plus is, it is indeed caused by our insufficient supply. Therefore, we are expected to launch the M11 Plus with the ESS9068AS X 2 version in December. This version is currently only planned for the aluminum alloy version, while the stainless steel version is unlikely to resume because of its complicated process.

The appropriate usage scenarios of the new version and the audience it aiming at are exactly the same as M11 Plus LTD. You can refer to my previous post: Chapter 6
If Qualcomm 660 can continue to be supplied normally and there is no problem with the display screen, the next generation of M11 Plus may be updated in 2023.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 8 Tempered into masterpiece, K9/K9Pro/K9Pro LTD

The K9 series was destined for its extraordinary journey from the very beginning. In light of the hot sales of K5Pro, we started the design of K9 in 2019. The initial plan was to go public in the fall of 2020. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the epidemic and the shortage of global semiconductor chips had brought our plan stagnated for a long time. Now the whole project is going on for almost a thousand days, and the products are finally about to go on the market.
It should be noted that there are different product lines in our company and I did not pay much attention on the K9 series. Even so, I know that it took a very long time on the research and development of this series. This is closely related to the strict requirement of product managers, project managers and the whole team for excellence and perfection.
In the very beginning, we found that the officially recommended design THX788 failed to pass our rigorous tests, and the circuit design was thus overturned and started over again. Then we managed to develop THX 788+ together with THX. Throughout the whole process, the indicators are carefully measured, the subtle details are hammered out and revised, and the components are dedicatedly selected. Perhaps the K9 series is not the one with the best-looking ID design, the finest workmanship, the best performance, and the most excellent sound quality, but I do believe the K9 series will surely be an outstanding masterpiece at its price. I’m also looking forward to the product manager sharing with you later this difficult process and how we overcome them.
The K9 series will include three models. According to the time to launch, there are K9Pro LTD (4499 version)with a total amount of 2000pcs due to chip shortage, K9Pro (9038*2 version), and K9 (9068AS*2 version) . They are expected to release in September, December, and spring of 2022 accordingly.
Appropriate usage scenarios
The K9 series are commonly used in desktop scenarios- put it on the desk and connect it with a computer/mobile phone. It can be placed horizontally or vertically with its relatively small size, which can effectively save your space. It is suitable for users who need a high-performance decoding amp, and those who have a need to drive over-ear headphones and prefer faithful and high-fidelity sound.
I believe that the K9 series will live up to the expectations of many audiophiles and cut a figure in the market of mid-to-high-end desktop HiFi product. Hopefully, it will also bring you some new ideas/designs/functions at the same time, pleasing every users with its excellent performance, cost-effective price and perfect experience.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 9 The Surprising K5 Pro, Keep Striving with New Chip

In the previous post, I said that the reason for the research and development of K9 series is owing to the hot sales of K5Pro. In fact, the popularity of K5 Pro can be traced back to E9, E09K and K5. These three models were both worked as a docking headphone amplifier at that time, with only the headphone amplification function. Using with FiiO’s portable decoding amp/player plugged into the dock, the two devices were soon combined into a desktop DAC headphone amplifier.

Therefore, these docking headphone amplifiers before K5 Pro can be seen as an accessory of our portable products, with limited functions and applicability of course. Later, Since many of our products has canceled the docking design, the K5 thus has no market naturally. We feel it would be a pity to discontinue a product whose design, appearance, and sound quality have been recognized by many users.

In light of this, we added decoding function and upgraded it to the K5 Pro. It soon achieved huge success the moment it hit the market. Each batch of K5 Pro was ordered by the distributors before it was produced. If we think it over, it is not surprising to find that K5 Pro is widely praised by users. With its simple functions, precise positioning, exquisite workmanship, beautiful sound, small size and strong driven capacity, you can hardly find any competitors on the market within the price of 1,000 yuan.

Appropriate Usage Scenarios
The K5 Pro is commonly used in desktop scenarios- put it on the desk and connect it with a computer/laptop. Especially suitable for users who have higher requirements for sound quality and need to drive over-ear headphones.

Due to the discontinuation of DAC chip, the K5 Pro has been out of stock for some time. As a result, we have to replace the DAC with 9038Q2M from ESS Technology. Hopefully, the new version of K5 Pro will catch up with the peak season at the end of this year and satisfy everyone's needs. We believe that the K5Pro will become an unfailing model with a long lifespan cycle in the FiiO family, just like the E10K. Maybe it is not so shining nor trendy, but it meets the most basic needs of users with its simple function, solid performance and affordable price. In one word, it is a classic!

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 10 BTA30/BTA30 Pro
Actually, I’m nearly falling apart when I review our product line and write down this chapter. 2021 is an extremely tough year for FiiO, and many products have to be revised because of chip shortage. The hot-selling BTA30 could hardly escape the fate of revision.
The main reason why the BTA30 Pro was launched is owing to chip shortage. And we have to change the original chip into other chip from ESS Technology. Based on the feedback from users of BTA30, we dedicatedly equip the new version with a XMOS USB decoding chip for supporting higher specifications of USB audio formats. In addition, there are some subtle details improved for better user experience. For that it integrates various improvements in terms of function, performance and specification, we naturally update this model as BTA30 Pro.
Appropriate Usage Scenarios
BTA30/30 Pro is suitable for indoor scenarios, and is mainly used with audio equipment that do not support LDAC/aptX HD high-spec Bluetooth format. It is appropriate for users who have special requirements for high-quality Bluetooth audio.
BTA30 is small in size and powerful in functions, especially supporting the transmit and receive LDAC/aptx HD. After upgrading to the Pro version, it is an even better desktop decoder with excellent performance. It can be used with active speakers after connecting to a computer, or being connected to K5 Pro to drive over-ear headphones.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 11 UTWS3/5 -TWS Solution with the Best Sound Quality.


There is one rule remaining unchanged for the many years I spent in the audio industry. That is, what drives the development of the product is not the performance, but the user experience. From reel to reel tape recorders, turntables, tape cassette players to CD players, MP3 players and TWS earphones, there is no denying that the sound quality has been improved constantly, but the main change of these products was providing a more comfortable and convenient experience.

When most people tend to listen to music via mobile phones and TWS earphones, the HiFi earphone market was sharply hit, especially for the famous brands such as BOSE, Sennheiser, Beats, and Audio-Technica. From the sales rankings of audio products in some promotion activities in 2020 and 2021 in China, we can see the top brands have become Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, EDIFIER and other brands that mainly sell TWS earphones.

Therefore, these HiFi earphone brands shall either sit idle, or follow the market trend and meet user needs in order to survive in this giant-dominated TWS market.

The UTWS series was our attempt to adapt to the market. Here is a brief introduction to what determines the sound quality of TWS earphones.

1. Bluetooth codecs

You may be familiar with this point. At present, TWS earphones mainly support Bluetooth codecs including SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC and LHDC. It is widely considered that aptX HD/LDAC/LHDC have better sound quality. However, limited by the bandwidth of Bluetooth transmission and signal power, the experience of these codecs at high bit rates has yet to be improved. Therefore, the more mature codecs should be aptX and AAC.

2. Digital-Analog conversion and analog amplification

At present, since TWS earphones are restricted by power consumption and size, we usually adopt a single chip, where D/A conversion, analog amplification, Bluetooth reception and decoding are all integrated into one piece.

3. Acoustic design- earphone cavity/unit

At present, TWS earphones have a relatively small size. Even if we use a good earphone driver or even multiple drivers, it would still get much worse performance than that of traditional wired earphones because of their tiny bodies.


The UTWS3 with such a TWS design happened to be the best solution that can solve the above No.2 and No.3 limitations that most TWS earphones have.

In fact, the UTWS3 is meant to separate the circuit part of the TWS earphones and put it inside the earphone unit while adding an independent amp chip. This helped to effectively improve driven capacity, SNR and distortion that have a great impact on sound quality. Users can freely use the UTWS3 with their favorite MMCX or 2-pin earphones, which is totally different from those typical wired earphones in terms of the acoustic part.

Thanks to its feature of retaining the convenience of TWS earphones while having great sound quality similar to traditional wired HiFi earphones, the UTWS3 is warmly adored and praised by consumers once launched.

Of course, both the TWS sound quality and ear hooks are improving as technology develops. In order to further enhance the sound quality, we will introduce the UTWS5 around October, a more powerful TWS ear hook model with better audio performance and more capable Bluetooth functions, which features an independent DAC chip and shares basically the same look and structure as the UTWS3.

Appropriate Usage Scenarios

The usage scenarios of the UTWS3/5 are mainly outdoor scenes. They are suitable for traditional HiFi earphone enthusiasts who want to enhance the experience of their existing wired earphones. In addition, you can turn your idle interchangeable cable earphones into more convenient HiFi TWS earphones.

 

[Tex Irie]

@FiiO It's cool that you actually provide proper explanation to consumers about changes to your product lines.

 

[FiiO]

@FiiO It's cool that you actually provide proper explanation to consumers about changes to your product lines.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 12 Is it possible for HiFi brands to survive in the TWS market?



I believe that the brand owners and sellers are more curious about this answer than the customers. But to be frank, I have no idea on it, and we are all looking for the answer.

Different from the traditional HIFI market, a large amount of money needs to be invested in the development of TWS earphones. A set of molds for TWS earphone costs hundreds of thousands. While the main body of the normal HiFi earphones is either 3D printed or carved out one by one in a CNC machining center without any molds. Only splitter may cost a little for making molds.

In addition, TWS is a precision product with high integration of sound, light, electricity and magnetism. It seems difficult for TWS to improve sound quality by using different DACs, operational amplifier, power supplies, and crystal oscillators, which are the keys that traditional HiFi brands rely on. And if there is no difference, how does the HiFi brands differentiate their TWS products?

Finally and most importantly, the TWS chip manufacturers, such as AIROHA, Qualcomm, Bestechnic etc.,mainly serve some large solution providers, foundries and famous brands like Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, VIVO and Sony. Therefore, it is particularly difficult for small brands like FiiO to develop TWS products on their own and try to differentiate their products, because these chip factories only serve major accounts.

In light of this, Some HIFI brands only mainly focuses on the acoustic part in terms of TWS products, even the earphones and charging cases are all common molds. For example, the first TWS of FiiO's subsidiary brand is actually a third-party product made by OEM. Though the charging case of the first TWS FW1 of FiiO molded by ourselves, the earplug body is also made by a third-party.

Therefore, even if we make TWS with driver hybrid/ multi dynamic drivers, it is not promising that the sound quality can be greatly improved and the product stands out from the TWS made by major mobile phone manufacturers. Considering these situations, we only released two TWS products to make an attempt.

However, the fact is that TWS will be the trend of headphones, and the "real" high-quality TWS should win a place in the TWS market. It is the exact project that FiiO has been investing dollars in research and development.

Unlike before, whether the software, hardware or electroacoustic, including ID and structure, they are all independently developed by FiiO this time. And this is what we are doing right now. I believe that the new FiiO TWS to be launched at the end of this year will truly provide a TWS product with excellent sound quality and experience for users, a product completely different from the mainstream TWS product. If it goes smooth, we may dive ourselves in this market later on to provide more people with better acoustic products.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 13 The Late Dongle

People have always asked me, when will FiiO make its own dongle? My answer has always been that FiiO has no plans yet. The main reasons are:

1. We have limited development resource, which fails to fulfill our needs of product development. And unlike other brands, our product line is well-maintained by upgrading each product per a half year or so. Besides, considering the problems occurred in the supply chain in the past two years, all the old models in production have to be revised.

2. FiiO can be seen to be the first company to make products that are similar to dongles, which can be traced back to the oldest E1, E02i, i1, K1 etc. Even the current hot-selling BTR3K/BTR5 can also be used as a dongle. Not to mention those decoding amps like Q1MKII/Q3/Q5s, as well as the mobile phone decoding amps E18 special for Android phones. It can be said that we are no strangers to this market.

However, due to the limitations of Apple, dongles are mainly used with Android phones. But in this case, there are many compatibility issues occurred. So, it will be better to wait and see before we set to solve the problems.

But now, things have changed. On one hand, you can see that many of our old models have completed the revision of DAC. On the other hand, with the popularity of dongles, consumers have a better understanding of the compatibility of dongles. More importantly, Apple Music has been officially upgraded to support Apple’s lossless and digital music, and Apple iPhone has good support for dongles. As a result, we decide to initiate the dongle project.

Dongles can be simply used with mobile phones, and can also be worked as an external sound card for notebooks/tablets. Suitable for users who have special requirements for portability and sound quality.

At present, FiiO's dongle has basically completed the development section and is undergoing intensive tests. It is expected to be mass-produced and launched in November. FiiO can be regarded as the forerunner as well as the late-comer in terms of the market of dongles. I believe that we will show you our unique insights on the positioning of products by innovations and original designs. The only problem is that the supply of chips has resulted in too little production capacity this year.