Verdict

Yes , it ’s expensive and unwieldy – but the FiiO M17 is a great reservoir of medicine , an excellent screen background DAC and amplifier and a straight pleasure to take heed to in any circumstance .

Pros

Cons

Key Features

Introduction

Be admonish : the parole handsome is live to be appearing more than somewhat during the course of this revaluation . The FiiO M17 is , by the standards of portable music player , big in every regard : size of it , spec and price .

Of course , what that big price rather insist upon is a large functioning . Being pricey , lavishly specify and sizeable enough to ( in the run-in of Laurie Anderson ) stun an wild ox is all well and good . But ultimately , it ’s performance we ’re interested in here . Does the FiiO M17 have it where it look ? Or is it all ( big ) mouth and pant ?

In the UK , the FiiO M17 portable euphony participant will set you back £ 1,499 . It sell for $ 1,799 in the US and for AU$2,699 in Australia .

It almost goes without saying that this is quite big money for aportable music player . Still , the M17 is by no means the pricey around – theAstell and Kern Aultima SP2000TI review at the end of last twelvemonth run low for £ 1,999 , and it ’s not even A&K ’s most expensive model . Nevertheless , it ’s fair to say the M17 ’s asking price has raised expectation around here .

Design

The give-and-take portable , as it ’s commonly translate to employ to digital audio frequency player , is a strictly relative terminus here . Yes , the M17 can be clean up in one hand and well taken from place to space . But by prevail standards , it ’s big and heavy – and it basically demands a backpack or other purse as a means of transportation because no one will have a pocket adult or robust enough to take it .

Mind you , the fact that this player ’s atomic number 13 CNC - finished unibody is so extensive imply it can be fitted with a nice big filmdom . Both its front and seat are made of glass , but the front is a 6 - inch touchscreen with an 18:9 facial expression ratio and 1080×2160 solvent . It ’s crisp , clear and responsive – all the thing you desire from your interface .

The M17 is supply with a smart , robust leather face . It ’s useful for keep the cultivation of the player pristine as well as defending your property from the impact of those hefty aluminium corners . The case grant access to all the physical controls we ’ll be discussing ( along with a quite a little of other stuff and nonsense ) in the next section .

Features

Yes , the M17 is a big twist . It ’s not as big as a kitchen sink , however – you’re able to be sure of this because if it were , then FiiO would have belike fitted it with a kitchen sink as well .

It ’s a generously specified machine , to the point in time that this boast section might end up read like a list of bullet power point . But it ’s important to touch on every aspect of the spec because FiiO has pulled out pretty much all the stops here .

As far as physical controls and connexion go , they cut across all four edges of that atomic number 13 inning . On the top , there ’s a 120 - step illuminated intensity dial plus 2.5 mm , 3.5 mm , 4.4 mm and 6.3 mm headphone outputs .

Along the bottom , you ’ll find an input for a 12V briny top executive supplying , an RCA socket that functions as a digital coaxial in- or production , and twoUSB - Csockets : one is a 3.0 port used for exponent and Indian file conveyance , while the other is a 2.0 that allow for external DACs or severe - drive computer memory to be connected ( the M17 ’s internal storage is 64 GB , of which around 46 GB is available to the user ) . There ’s also a microSD slot here , which can support board of up to 2 TB .

The correct - hand side features strong-arm omission forward , play / pause , vamoose backwards and best-loved buttons ( all covered by the leather case but operable nevertheless ) . There ’s also a hold slider and some rather ostentatious lights announcing that the M17 is powered up and work . Meanwhile , over on the left , you ’ll find power on / off , volume up and down buttons . Again , they ’re covered by the event but easygoing enough to use irrespective . That bold lighting is duplicate here , too . And there ’s a slider to flip between direct current and battery index .

When the M17 is attach to the mains , the battery is disconnected from the audio racing circuit . The M17 can present with child free burning tycoon when using briny power , which means even the most truculent headphone can be ride without a problem . It does n’t saddle the bombardment , though – that ’s only possible via the USB - century embrasure . Using battery might gives four levels of amplifier gain , one of which should be desirable for driving all but the most problematic earphone .

Wireless connectivity is viaBluetooth 5.0,and the M17 is bidirectional , so it can receive or transmit digital audio Indian file via Bluetooth using SBC , AAC , aptX HD , aptX Adaptive orLDAC codecs .

In increase to play only as a author of music , the FiiO can also serve as an external DAC or amplifier using its USB - vitamin C or digital coaxial sockets . As far as digital - to - analogue conversion go , the M17 utilise an eight - channel ESS Sabre ES9038PRO DAC chip for every stereo channel . This means each sound recording transmission channel has eight parallel output strive to deliver low distortion and gamey faithfulness .

For amplification , FiiO collaborate with THX on a refinement of the latter ’s AAA-788 op - amp – and the result is AAA-788 + , an upgraded version with not bad output and lower yield impedance . This sort of hefty power yield give a fair moment of heat , though – so the M17 ships with the FiiO DK3 fan - equipped wharf . If you utilise your M17 as a background amp , you’re able to stand it on the dock and permit the USB - C - ride two - pep pill lover to disperse the heat the histrion mother .

As far as resolution is concern , the digital coaxial is restrict to DSD64 and 24bit/192kHz when used as an stimulus , and DSD128 and 24bit/384kHz when used as an output signal . It does n’t supportMQAin either direction . The USB - C , meanwhile , go as far as DSD512 , 32bit/7678kHz and full ( 8x ) MQA .

These , of course , are just stipulation headline . FiiO has cash in one’s chips to remarkable lengths in a drive for optimum performance . From 17 PCBs with gold immersion finish , and the separation of digital and analog department on freestanding boards to minimise incumbrance , to using seven high - conduction bull alloy shields to reduce electromagnetic interference , and a whacking groovy 9200mAh battery that ’s undecomposed for between eight and 10 hours of playback ( depending on which earpiece end product you ’re using ) , the M17 is as uncompromised as they come .

The Android - based interface is clean , comprehensive and , thanks to a well - follow through touchscreen , responsive . FiiO could have been a little more strict where proofreading is concern ( endeavor to add an already - favourited song to your tilt of favorite and you ’re greeted with “ songs has exsist [ sic ] in pet ” ) . But , in universal terms , the user interface here is well gain .

Sound Quality

Try as you might , it seems hard in the extreme point to make the FiiO M17 sound anything less than an realized euphony musician . Use it as a source of euphony , or as a DAC to apportion with digital audio salt away elsewhere , ask it to play 128kbps poverty - spec files from Bandcamp.com or DSD files running 1bit/2822.4kHz ( 5644kbps ) – it ’s all the same to the M17 . In any and every context , it ’s never less than thoroughly enjoyable to listen to .

Naturally , it does its good work when give some half - comely clobber to work with . Plug in a couple of Sennheiser ’s IE 900 in - auricle monitors via their balanced TRRRS 4.4 mm line , send away up a 2.8MHz DSD data file of Stevie Wonder ’s Innervisionsand the FiiO will let you fuck just what it ’s adequate to of –   which turns out to be plenty .

The printing of blank space and position it creates – and the soundstage on which it creates it – is explicit . It trip from the bottom of the frequency range of a function ( where it ’s punchy and curb , detailed and convincingly form ) to the top ( where it set on with frosty determination , never letting bite turn into hardness ) wholly smoothly .

In the midrange , it tolerate voices to pass articulately – the song in the Stevie Wonder recordings is pushed well forward , but it ’s controlled and integrated with real assurance . Detail story are sky - high , dynamic headroom is apparently limitless , and the M17 ’s ability to place and mix transients with just the good amount of weight is very gratifying too .

It ’s firmly - hitting when the material demands it but also just as capable of bringing closeness to a Nick Drake voice - and - guitar FLAC data file . Its key is convincingly musical , and its ability to peer deep into a admixture and fall with entropy regarding the most minor sympathetic variation is impressive .

The M17 displays winning rhythmical incontrovertibleness , welcome disinterest where recording quality is concerned and at no point confuses aim with inexorability . Naturally , a 128kbps file of Junior Dell & The D - Lites frisk version of I ’m A Mangoes without a degree of subtlety , just as switch over headphone to the rather tricky - to - driveAudeze LCD - Xplanar magnetic over - ear result in a need to up the FiiO ’s amplification . But in either showcase , the unsubtle strokes of the way the M17 performs are unaltered : it ’s always a musical , piquant and energetic listen .

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Should you buy it?

: The M17 ’s prodigious list of talents include the strong-arm as well as the sonic .

This is not , I repeatnot , a gaffe - into - your - jacket crown - pocket equipment .

Final Thoughts

The hurdling you need to bring in are considerable – this is an expensive twist , after all , and far from the most portable digital audio histrion around . But if you have the wherewithal ( and a tough bag in which to pack it ) , the FiiO M17 has an awful lot to recommend it . In short , there is more than one make that can lead you to part with a lot of money for an exquisite ( portable - ish ) digital audio frequency experience .

Trusted Score

How we test

We prove every portable music player we review thoroughly over an extended period of sentence . We use industriousness standard examination to equate feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we line up . We never , ever , take money to refresh a mathematical product .

Find out more about how we screen in ourethics policy .

FAQs

The M17 supports micro - SD circuit board up to 2 TB .

Full Specs

Sustainability

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As part of this mission , whenever we review a intersection we send the fellowship a serial publication of interrogative to help us guess and make transparent the impact the machine has on the environment .

We currently have n’t received answer to the head on this Cartesian product , but will update this pageboy the moment we do . you could see a detailed equipment failure of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability info page .