Over the past year, my relationship with music has changed quite a lot, and DAPs have played a big role in that shift!

At some point, I realised that my phone was literally killing the magic of listening to music, and it was happening subconsciously. Here’s a typical morning: I wake up, go to the kitchen to make myself a coffee, put in my earphones… and before I know it, I’m checking my missed messages or reading the news. That moment of solitude vanishes. The music turns into mundane background noise, a soundtrack to scrolling through my phone.

That was one of the reasons I decided to go back to a standalone player just like I used in the 2000s. I bought the Tempotec Variations V1 and really liked it - convenient and functional. But after a while I understood: it’s still a very modern device. It solves the phone problem, but it doesn’t fully recapture the feeling of mid-2000s MP3 players.

So I was especially curious about the Snowsky Echo Nano. Full disclosure: FiiO sent me this unit for review, but everything below is my own honest experience.

Visually and to the touch, it perfectly captures that very aesthetic of the 2000s. I’m going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment; I’m spending a lot of time at home, and it turns out that holding something like this in my hands, loading it up with my favourite music from back then – Linkin Park, Nirvana, The Rasmus – and completely switching off from the outside world to lose myself in the music is incredibly therapeutic for me

What stands out (Pros)

• Aesthetics & build: Made with soul. Excellent design and quality materials
• Tactile feedback: Physical buttons have a fantastic click
• Performance and sound: A very snappy interface and impressive sound quality for such a tiny device
• Can be used as a DAC with a PC
• Resume playback: If you power off mid-track, the player starts in the main menu, but resumes the track from the exact same position when you start playback again

Trade-offs (Cons)

• Quite awkward to control one-handed.
• No gapless playback - there are noticeable pauses between tracks.
• No Bluetooth
• Battery life is around 5–6 hours (due to the tiny size)

The paradox of the small screen (subjective)

The interface is actually well thought out and pleasant to use, but the tiny display makes navigating a large library painful compared to the Tempotec.

Strangely enough, this “flaw” became one of its biggest strengths for me. The Echo Nano is breaking my habit of constantly skipping tracks. I just load a full album, put it in my pocket, and forget about the device while I lose myself in the music.

Mostly tested with the Snowsky Oak Nano headphones and an exFAT microSD card

Final thoughts

The Snowsky Echo Nano is not a do-everything modern player. If you want streaming, Bluetooth, a big screen and tons of features - look elsewhere.

But if you’re tired of constant information noise and want music to stop being background filler, the Echo Nano delivers a genuinely unique experience.

The most interesting thing is that the Echo Nano hasn’t replaced my Tempotec Variations V1. They simply offer different experiences. While you might want to use the Tempotec as a modern DAP, with all its features, the Echo Nano feels like a time machine - something you slip in your pocket, start your favourite album, and simply disappear into the music.

Hello, Reddit!

A week ago, I wrote about my first impressions of the pre-release Snowsky Oak Nano, which FiiO sent me to test. Since then, I’ve had a chance to listen to them carefully, get used to their sound a bit, and form a more comprehensive opinion.

Let me make one thing clear straight away: FiiO did indeed send them to me for testing, without specifying any requirements or technical specifications. So all the impressions below are entirely my own.

The first thing that surprised me was the feel of the earphones themselves. They looked interesting in the photos, but when I first opened the case and saw them in the flesh, my first thought was: "Wow, they feel like a piece of jewellery" because of how beautifully the titanium and copper accents shimmered. Overall, in my opinion, the design turned out to be quite minimalist, yet interesting.

That said, they don’t feel "weightless". They sit well in the ear, but my main pair of Letshuoer S08, made from aluminium, are noticeably lighter for very long listening sessions. And yes - like any metal IEMs, the Oak Nano constantly makes me a bit anxious about condensation, so I’m currently storing them in a case with silica gel.

They also get noticeably cold when it’s chilly outside, though not quite as much as the S08.

Now for the most important part - the sound

I’m certainly no professional reviewer with measuring equipment and "golden ears" - these are my subjective impressions after a week of everyday listening. I tested them paired with the Fiiо QX13. My library covers a lot of ground, but it mainly consists of a wide range of rock (from indie to metal), pop, rap, instrumental, soul, and electronic

I would describe the overall sound character as neutral-energetic with a slight U-shaped curve. They are very detailed, yet they don’t slip into sounding dry and clinical. The sound remains lively and emotional.

The bass is one of the model’s strong points. The sub-bass goes deep enough to convey a pleasant, slightly perceptible rumble. The mid-bass has superb texture and excellent resolution - every detail is audible. Personally, it took me a while to get used to the speed, as the attacks and decays here are fast and crisp, but they retain a natural weight without veering into that lightning-fast yet sometimes dry speed characteristic of planar drivers, which I’m used to in the S08.

The midrange is clean and well-defined, but the vocals, in my opinion, are slightly pushed back. It’s as if the singer is standing a couple of steps behind the instruments. On good recordings, this sounds very atmospheric, but I came across a couple of poorly mixed tracks where this characteristic becomes more noticeable, and I even felt the urge to slightly boost the midrange on the equaliser.

The treble is sparkling and very rich. It’s a relief that there is no sibilance - the high frequencies don’t ‘cut’ the ear with unpleasant peaks on the vocals or cymbals. However, the overall amount of high-frequency detail and energy can cause slight fatigue during prolonged listening. This is most likely down to my own personal preference, as I haven’t yet fully adapted to headphones with a higher level of resolution.

I’d like to highlight the soundstage separately. The semi-open design really comes through – the soundstage is wide and natural.

At the same time, the presentation itself is quite intimate: the music feels much closer to the listener compared to the more detached sound of the S08. The sound envelops you completely, creating an excellent sense of presence.

But there is a downside to the semi-open design: the sound isolation is far from ideal. Because of the sound leakage, if you listen to music loudly, those around you will be able to hear it too, as I’ve been told a couple of times already.

To sum up after a week’s use, the Snowsky Oak Nano offers a nice balance between analytical detail and musical drive, though with its own nuances. Switching to them from planar drivers required a bit of getting used to the decay speed and abundance of high frequencies, but this energy definitely has its charm

What are your thoughts on semi-open IEMs like these - do you enjoy the wider stage, or prefer better isolation?

Hey Reddit!

I’m a music lover from Ukraine. Less than a year ago, I discovered IEMs, and this community became my guide. Thanks to your engagement on my previous posts, something surreal happened: FiiO reached out to me.

They sent over their QX13 DAC, and a pair of unreleased IEMs - the SnowSky Oak Nano. No scripts, no requirements. Just a chance to test them.

The unboxing itself was also surprisingly nice. FiiO included a ton of accessories: multiple sets of eartips (ten* different types/sizes from what I counted), a leatherette carrying case with a soft velvet-like interior, interchangeable nozzles, detachable plugs (balanced by default, but you can swap to a standard 3.5mm jack), a USB-C adapter, and even a small cleaning brush.

I’ll be honest: I’m not a professional reviewer. But I really wanted to 'play the part' this time. I started listening to the Oak Nano and taking notes: "Spacious sound, nice textured bass,but not as technical as in my planar IEMs, plenty of treble... definitely leans more towards a fun V-shape than dry analytics."

Another one thing I noticed is that these have a semi-open design. This means your music will be slightly audible to people sitting right next to you if you’re cranking the volume. But I totally get why they did this - the trade-off is worth it. It vents the air pressure so you don't get that "vacuum" fatigue, and it makes the soundstage feel way more open and natural than your typical closed-back IEM titanium shell felt light and premium, though I did find myself worrying: will these get freezing cold in a Ukrainian winter? Will the temperature swings cause condensation inside?

Then, my girlfriend stepped in

If you've seen my older comments (link), you know her struggle: standard IEMs simply don't fit her ears. She’s been stuck with flathead earbuds for years. But as we unboxed the Oak Nano set, she saw the massive variety of eartips and asked, "Wait... maybe one of these will finally fit me? I want to hear what you’re always talking about."

A miracle happened. The smallest tips fit her not perfectly,but bearable. I plugged the Oak Nanos into her iPhone via the QX13, and she just... disappeared into the music for hours.

I know what you’re thinking: "Is this guy just going to give every pair of IEMs to his relatives now?" Trust me, that wasn't the plan. I wanted to do a proper technical comparison with my S08. But life (and my girlfriend) had other ideas.

At first, I wanted the gear back. I had a "job" to do! I wanted to check soundstage and check separation. But then I remembered a comment from my post yesterday: "Loving music is what matters... all this audiophile crap is missing the forest for the trees."

It clicked. I’ve been so obsessed with DAC chips and micro-details that I forgot the "magic." Watching her hear things she never knew existed in her favorite songs was better than any spec sheet. She didn't care about the ESS Sabre chip (until the QX13 drained her battery, lol) - even though she said it wasn't quite comfortable, but she was just catching a vibe.

So, to hell with the "charts" for today. The review can wait. For now, I’m just enjoying the fact that she finally "gets it."

Love the music, not just the gear

P.S. Has anyone here spent time with the older FiiO FD series (especially the FD7)? I’d love to hear your long-term thoughts on what to look out for!

Hey Reddit,

I didn’t expect Reddit to actually change anything in my life. But it did

After my previous posts, two pretty crazy things happened:

1)A kind stranger from Reddit sent my dad his own Sennheisers.

2)FiiO noticed me and sent me their flagship DAC and an unreleased pair of IEMs to test. No requirements, no script, no demands for a positive review. So I agreed.

So here’s what happened. The first thing I got my hands on was the FiiO QX13. When I first fell into the IEM rabbit hole, reviewers kept talking about how important the source is and how it affects the sound. But here on Reddit, most people told me not to overthink it with cheaper gear.

So I didn’t. I paired my Letshuoer S08 with a $30 JCally JM30 dongle. Later I added a Tempotec Variations V1 DAP.

And honestly?

I was completely satisfied. I thought my setup was done. Then the QX13 arrived. First off, I was surprised by the size of the QX13. "So much power in such a tiny body," I thought. The carbon fiber finish looks incredibly premium, but here I met my first bummer. FiiO included a warning that the body scratches easily and should be kept in its included leather case. So basically, all that visual beauty has to stay hidden. I connected it to my phone and decided to compare it with my previous sources — both the JM30 and the Tempotec V1. On paper, it already felt like overkill for my setup.

So I tried to be fair. Same IEMs. Same tracks. And I tried to volume match as closely as possible. And this is where it got weird.

What actually changed My old sources were never "bad". Music sounded good. Clean. Enjoyable. But with the QX13… It wasn’t one big change. It was dozens of tiny ones. And together… they changed everything: Wider, more three-dimensional soundstage Better separation and more “air” between instruments Tighter, faster, more controlled bass Overall cleaner, more effortless presentation And all these many "just a little bits" add up to a very positive picture, making me want to go back and re-listen to all my old tracks. Comparing it directly to my old sources made me truly understand the difference a high-end DAC can give.

So… was Reddit wrong? Is it really worth buying a $200+ DAC for $100 IEMs? Honestly? No. For me, if you’re running IEMs under ~$100–150, a $30–50 dongle is still more than enough.

But now I understand what people mean when they say "better source". If I were buying expensive headphones, I’d absolutely look into a proper DAC. It’s not about volume. It’s about control… and how much the music pulls you in.

Biggest downside for me Battery drain on the phone is brutal. And living in Ukraine, where power outages still happen, this becomes a real limitation. That’s actually why I bought a DAP in the first place.

What’s next The unreleased SnowSky OAK Nano still hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m really curious how a beryllium alloy dynamic driver will pair with this setup.

Do you think sources are overrated?Have you ever had that moment where you upgraded something and only realized the difference after going back?