FiiO M11 Pro Review

Specifications

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For the nit-pickers and nerdy ones here, I’m giving the specs and technical sheets. For all the others, you can just go to the next page to see how the DAP performs.

DAC

So, the FiiO M11 double AK4493EQ DAC was not enough for you? Have no fear, here come the dual AK4497EQ in the M11 Pro !

It’s still a chip from Asahi Kasei or AKM, still from the same Velvet sound family, but it can now reach 128dB of dynamics, which is a good +5dB compared to the lower-tier DAC ! They are fed by an FPGA chip, and pulled in a dual-mono setup, for a fully balanced circuitry.

FiiO M11 Pro THX-AAA Circuit

But, the real wonder comes from the new amplifier section, provided by no less than… THX! Yes, your FiiO M11 pro is now THX certified, as a deluxe home theater. This comes in the form of two fully balanced THX AAA-78B amplifiers, from the AAA Vanguard series.

The promise? More power and less distortion with the same power supply. FiiO says that the M11 Pro THX AAA amplifier enjoys :

– 0.5% high precision thin film resistors,
– 4-way independent power supply,
– 6 layers of gold-plated PCB
– 8 stage amplification

A lot of promises, that we’ll need to confirm through the listening session. The numbers are not very different, but that’s only half of the truth.

CPU and RAM

If you expected the FiiO M11 Pro to get a faster CPU and more Ram, you will be disappointed.
The M11 Pro kept the same SOC, which is… pretty good actually.

The CPU is a full-fledged Samsung Exynos 7872 with six cores and true multi-app support. This means the player is more powerful and less power-hungry, all for your aural pleasure. Add to that 3Gb of LPDDR5 RAM and, the FiiO M11 Pro will be ready to face any audio app you throw at it.

Only two core works at 2Ghz, the four other cores max out at 1.6Ghz, but that’s still more than enough for everyday use. The FiiO M11 Pro won’t replace your Samsung Galaxy or Apple iPhone in terms of speed, but that’s not the point.

It is, at the moment, the fastest DAP I ever used on a full-android platform. (Yes, the M11 and M11 pro are equally fast, but you get the point)

WiFi

The FiiO M11 Pro is exactly the same regarding the wireless connection. It supports 2.4Ghz as 5Ghz bands for faster and steadier connection. DNLA, AirPlay, UPnP are all there and of course, you can access a wide range of high-definition streaming platform :

Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, Deezer, Napster, TuneIn, etc..

Thanks to the Samsung CPU and the 3 Gigs of ram, Netflix and Youtube are definitely usable on the M11 Pro. The screen is sharp and sound is leagues beyond your usual phone, so give it a try !

Do you still want the full specs? Ok, here they are for you.

Full specs

• Type : Digital Audio Player
• OS : FiiO OS
• CPU : Exynos 7872
• RAM : 3 Gb LPDDR5
• Rom : 64 Gb (2Gb for the system)
• DAC : 2x AK4497EQ
• Sample rate : PCM : 8Hz – 384kHz (8/16/24/32bits) native – DSD64/128/256 – MQA
• System clock : Full synchronization technology with FPGA processor
• Outputs : 3.5mm headphone out – line out – coax out / 2.5mm TRRS / 4.4mm Pentaconn
- Input : USB Type-C
• Screen : 5.5″ 1440×720 IPS Screen from LG
• Micro SD : SDHC / SDXC (single slot)
• WiFi : 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz support
• Streaming supported directly
• Bluetooth support : SBC, apt-X, apt-X HD, LDAC, HWA
• Duplex Bluetooth : player can emits and receive music
• Battery : 3.8V 4370mAh Li-Polymer
• Quick Charge : yes, QC2.0/3.0, PD2.0, DC12V/1.5Ah, 9V/2A, 5V/2A
• Battery life : 10h with wired headphone, 30h with a Bluetooth headphone
• Charging time : around 2h
• Size : 70,5mm*130mm*16,5mm
• Weight : 232g

Line Out

• Frequency Response : 10Hz – 90kHz
• THD : 0.0006%
• SNR : 119 dB
• Crosstalk : 108dB
• Line Level : 1.95V

3.5 mm Headphone out

• Output power : 294mW @16ohm / 200mW @32ohm / 22mW @300ohm
• Frequency Response : 10Hz – 90kHz
• THD : > 0.00084%
• SNR : > 118 dB
• Crosstalk : > 72 dB
• Output impedance : < 1 ohms (32ohms)

2.5mm / 4.4mm Headphone out

• Output power : 460mW @16ohm / 550mW @32ohm / 88,5mW @300ohm
• Frequency Response : 10Hz – 90kHz
• THD : > 0.00108%
• SNR : > 119 dB
• Crosstalk : > 108 dB
• Output impedance : < 2 ohms (32ohms)

The article continues on Page Six, after the click here