r/FiiO

Hey folks….Well, my FiiO M21 came in today! This is my first experience with a DAP. Before the M21, I was using an iPhone 17 Pro Max, CrinEar Protocol Max DAC, and CrinEar Daybreak IEMs.

So far so good! Overall I like it; however, I feel like I’ll need to “tweak” it some. At first impression, I was expecting a huge improvement in sound over the iPhone and CrinEar Protocol Max. While I think it’s good, I think I’m gonna need to really play with the settings and EQ.

BTW, I’m using the CrinEar Daybreaks with the 4.4mm jack. Also, I primarily streaming all of my music…..either with Apple Music or QoBuz.

Can anyone give me suggestions? Maybe alternative EQ apps, etc. Or maybe some EQ setting suggestions.

I really want to LOVE the M21….but I’m just not feeling it right now. Again, this could all be me being new to DAPs and hi quality audio…..and just need give it time. What I feel I’m missing with the M21 is the soundstage doesn’t feel as “spacious” as the iPhone and CrinEar Protocol Max.

Thanks everyone!!!! Any suggestions or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Queria poder aumentar a qualidade da minha biblioteca em questao de audio, queria uma dicas pra isso

A colleague gave me this device for free, but the battery was swollen, so I bought a new one and replaced it myself. Now it's working perfectly again! 🤩🎶😌

FiiO launched a new power supply today (August 17), the FiiO DARKSIDE MINI. Its main highlights include active noise cancellation and modular connections with multiple adapters, allowing it to be used with a wide range of audio equipment. Check out all the details below.

• English text: https://www.hifihub.com.br/en/product-launches/fiio-darkside-mini-debuts-with-active-noise-cancellation
• Portuguese text: https://www.hifihub.com.br/lancamentos/fiio-darkside-mini-e-fonte-com-cancelamento-ativo-de-ruido

El dia de hoy recibi los nuevos fiio fh3 lummi. Solo puedo decir una cosa.... wooooow !!!!

Unos iems enfocados 100% en las voces, nítidas, cero sibilantes, pareciera que te esta cantando el artista en el oído. Con voces de mujer suena fenomenal.

Tiene un excelente detalle técnico, puedes escuchar claramente donde esta cada instrumento.

Los probe con pop americano, pop latino, rock, reggaeton, salsa y corridos tumbados.

Lograron hacer un excelente iem por el precio. Deberia costar mas.

El bajo pega con fuerza cuando debe, pega y se va, no queda retumbando. No es basshead en absoluto pero si lo eres, no te arrepentirás si los compras.

Estan ya dentro de mi top personal.

Si has escuchado o tienes los intuaura impact, bien podrian ser su evolución. Excelente si eres treblehead,

Ademas son muy comodos a pesar de que pesan bastante. No se caen de las orejas.

Cuentan con 2 tipos de eartips.

A) las negras: dan un bajo mas potente pero no enciman ninguna de las otras frecuencias

B) las rojas: a pesar que ya la voz esta muy adelantada, estas eartips te adelantan mas la voz y la escena sonora se amplia mas. El bajo pierde un poco de pegada pero es muy bueno aun asi.

Mis preferidas: las negras.

Hello everyone,

I was struggling with the DM13 with not producing sound through my wired headphones. It seemed random, sometimes it would prop up and nothing I did worked. Cycling through the output methods (usb, Bluetooth, etc) to the right one (PRE) also did nothing. Until I found the solution today. And it is stupid but still nice to know.

The solution: the DM13 (at least mine, software version 25) has problems with the old 'enhanced' cd's of yore. It seems like it plays the tracks but because of the digital 'enhancement' it does not produce sound...

So if you're struggling with some cd's, check if they're 'enhanced'. Pic included.

Hope this helps, I couldn't find threads describing this issue.

Ive been enjoying it so far after getting it, I like how they look like one of those headphones you'd wear boarding a helicopter lol.

Hi, everyone!

For me, just like for all of you, headphones have been and continue to be constant companions throughout my life. A long time ago, I had various over-ear headphones, the coolest of which were probably the Sennheiser HD 206 (my uncle gave them to me as a gift). I still remember putting them on, launching CS: Source, and being absolutely blown away by the sound quality. What am I getting at? I haven’t owned over-ear headphones for about 15 years, maybe even longer. I’ve mostly been using various wired earbuds and TWS earbuds, and for the past year, I’ve completely fallen down the IEM rabbit hole

The idea of trying over-ear headphones again had been floating around in my head for a long time. And here in front of me lies a new release from FiiO - the budget-friendly Snowsky Nature. I wanted to share the initial impressions of someone who’s used to high-quality in-ear monitors but suddenly put on over-ear headphones again.

(Full disclosure: FiiO sent me this unit for testing, but as always, all thoughts are entirely my own).

First Impressions
The headphones look nice, but, alas, they’re made of plastic, not wood. All my friends who’ve seen them ask, “Wow, are they actually made of wood?” and I constantly have to say, “No.”

But the first thing that really struck me was just how different the sound perception is! And no, I’m not talking about the frequency response or tuning right now. With IEMs, the sound feels much closer - it’s as if it’s playing right inside my head. With over-ear headphones, you can feel the distance between the driver and your ear, which creates a completely different soundstage and sound presentation. The soundstage is finally wider than my head! I’ll admit, I even had to get used to this all over again: because of that distance, the sound initially seemed more muffled to me, so my first reaction was actually rather negative. Although, perhaps it’s not about the distance, but rather the damping or the acoustics of the ear cups, I can’t say for sure.

I haven’t decided yet which one I personally prefer. As far as I’m concerned, these are simply two completely different, equally valid approaches to sound.

Comfort and Fatigue
When I put them on, I immediately realized just how unaccustomed I’d become to this format. The headphones are quite light and comfortable. No matter how cool my IEMs are, after about four hours of listening, I still start to feel discomfort. I think this is due to the physical pressure on the ear canal (and it’s not about the ear tips, I’ve tried different ones). I can comfortably listen to over-ear headphones for much longer… but man, do my ears get hot in the summer! It’s just indescribable.

The Sound of Snowsky Nature
I’ve never considered myself a “discerning” audiophile, so I’ll just share my subjective impressions. The Nature’s sound leans toward naturalness. The headphones sound great even without external DACs, which made me incredibly happy. There are times when the power goes out (which, unfortunately, happens quite often in the country where I live right now), so I really don’t want to drain my laptop’s battery even further by using an external DAC dongle.

You can feel a subtle but pleasant sub-bass in them. It was a new experience for me to feel the bass physically vibrating around my ear at high volumes! The mid-bass is well-controlled and doesn’t bleed into the midrange. The midrange is clear and up front, though I felt it lacked a bit of “body”and there’s a lack of certain micro-details in the vocals. I can say the same about the highs: they’re energetic yet not tiring, though I also felt there wasn’t enough detail in the instruments. The soundstage is probably their strongest point, but that came at the cost of ventilation holes. As a result, people around you can hear your music veeeery clearly.

To sum up, I’d say the sound neither impressed nor disappointed me, it’s just good. But I realized that someday I want to buy myself a pair of over-ear headphones in a different price range.

Final Thoughts
Of course, IEMs will remain my top choice for detail and portability (at least for now).

But now I’ve been given a massive reality check that reminded me just how much the form factor matters. No matter how cool my earbuds are, they’ll never provide the same sense of physical volume and relaxation that large over-ear cups do.

What type of headphones do you prefer? After this experience, I think I finally want both!

I've been cycling gear and locations for a bit trying to find what works best for me. Finally landed on this quiet end-table in a not too heavily trafficked area of my house. With some gear that's not crazy expensive and doesn't take up all the space. First, what’s not seen in the photo: I have a Lyrion Music Server set up with piCorePlayer endpoints on my home network. If you don’t know what it is, go check it out. It's a very simple, free, multi-room streaming setup that can all be done using cheap Raspberry Pis or old smartphones—delivering my local FLAC library and my Spotify account to any room in the house.

The main part of the setup is the FiiO K13. If you are on a super tight budget, you could just stop there and save your money for headphones. LMS + the K13 will get you going and drive most headphones. But since the K13 has both RCA and XLR outputs that are active at the same time in Line Out or Preamp mode, you can easily add an amp or two for your own flavor. In my case, I’ve gone for the Schiit Valhalla 3 over the RCA output and an Apos Gremlin on the XLR.

The logic of this setup is:

• High-impedance dynamic headphones go to the Valhalla.
• Low-impedance planars go to the Gremlin.
• Anything else (or music that just doesn't need or sound right on tubes, i.e. audiobooks) stays with the K13 in PO mode.

In the photo, I have a FiiO M21 DAP running Squeezelite to control it all. It also holds my audiobook library—like most music players, LMS doesn't handle the extra features needed for audiobooks well, so I just use my DAP for those. This could easily be replaced with any old Android device. I could inject them into the K13 but 9/10 I just use the DAP directly for books.

The great part of this layout is how flexible it is. Pretty much any one part can be swapped for something you already have. The main DAC/Amp is the key piece—being able to function as a quality DAC as well as a solid amp, while having both single-ended and balanced outputs, makes the K13 a really good choice here. Not to mention the onboard PEQ that you can access right from the same Android device you’re using to control the music. Something like a Schiit Jotunheim with the DAC module would be an excellent choice as well, though I’m already pushing “crazy expensive” with the Valhalla 3.

Anyway though I’d just share and solicit opinions.