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5stars
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Good sound quality94% agree
Easy to use87% agree
Long battery life75% agree
16 reviews
Excellent multi-purpose portable player
Pros:
- Strong, detailed sound
- Fast bootup/shutdown
- Good balanced output
- Very good Bluetooth output
- Large and sharp screen (for a DAP)
- Responsive touch control
- Precise 120-step volume knob
- 6 digital filters for sound tweaking
- Massive storage capacity (dual microSD slots)
- Decent WiFi performance
- Good battery life
- Good build quality
- “All to DSD” is nice bonus feature for audiophiles
Cons:
- Tray-style micro SD slots may be a nuisance for some
- Weight and bulk may not appeal to those used to slim smartphones
- Will need to use balanced out or line out for best sound
- M11 Pro and M11 Plus Ltd exist
I bought the M11 as an upgrade over my X5 3rd Gen. The M11 is basically everything that the X5 III was, but on steroids - bigger, faster, and more grunt. Bigger, more responsive screen. Bigger, longer lasting battery. Much faster startup and shutdown times. More functions. And better sounding.
The M11 has all the lowpass filters from the X5 III, but adds a new one called “low dispersion short delay filter.” To my ears it subtly flattens low frequencies. This may help to tame overly aggressive bass.
The M11 has dual microSD trays (like the X5 III) and supports microSD cards up to 2 terabytes, so you could have 4TB of storage in your pocket. (Weirdly, the M11’s step-up model, the M11 Pro, reverts to a single microSD slot.)
The M11 produces very good sound. It brings out greater musical detail than my X5 III could. I am assuming this is mostly due to the M11’s better DAC (it uses the AKM 4493, whereas the X5 III uses the AKM 4490), though I understand that the quality of the circuitry around the DAC plays a part too.
The balanced output is a big improvement over the X5 III. I had been disappointed by the X5 III’s relatively weak sound from its balanced out, but the M11 has rectified that. However, for the best sound I still use the line out and feed it to an external amp. My favorite portable headphone amp is Monolith’s THX AAA 124460 unit.
The M11 has an “All to DSD” function which upconverts all audio to a DSD sample rate of 2.8 MHz, as compared to 44.1 kHz of CD audio. I’m willing to say I heard a difference between FLAC files and the DSD upconverted file, but that difference is very subtle – generally a slightly more spacious sound and slightly better definition in the treble region. With All to DSD turned off, I compared some FLAC encoded albums to their actual DSD mastered versions. There was a more obvious difference this time around: the DSD version had clearly greater presence and detail, while at the same time sounding smoother than its regular FLAC counterpart. So for me the moral is that an upconversion trick is not a substitute for the real thing. But All to DSD is still a nice little bonus that Fiio throws in, so there’s no harm in trying it for yourself. It might actually make lower quality audio sources sound a lot better.
Bluetooth sounds very good. Maybe it’s the quality of the connection, but whatever the reason, Bluetooth audio on my M11 sounds clearer and stronger than on my phone. The M11 does support the higher spec wireless codecs, namely aptX-HD and LDAC, but I have no way to know if the M11 actually hits those higher bitrates in use.
WiFi performance is basically on par with my phone. I can freely browse the Google Play Store and install apps from it, though I prefer not to clutter up a dedicated music device like the M11 with more bloat. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. While the M11 does its best to imitate a smartphone, it isn’t as powerful as one. Certainly not against the latest and greatest ones out there. Therefore it will take slower to process all the apps that you may be tempted to throw at it. Just use the M11 for its intended purpose as a portable music player that can rival the sound from any phone, and you shouldn’t be disappointed.
The only real mark against the M11 in its field is that it’s competing against newer siblings, the M11 Pro and the M11 Plus Limited. Fiio may have released them too close to each other. So the plain M11 might no longer be desirable for those who want the M11 in its “final form.” However, I can still recommend the “vanilla” M11 as an excellent portable player that nearly rivals my desktop PC for audio fidelity.
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Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: helloimlouis
Nice high end player
This is my second Fiio player after using my X5II for quite a few years and it a very nice upgrade. It took some time to get used to the fact it's an Android player since it's my first but once I did I really starting to enjoy it. The balanced output is great and does add something to the SQ though I don't think it's better than my desktop amp/DAC combo but it does have a different overall feel to the sound signature. The fact it can hold so much music using SD cards is great, I believe it can hold up to 4 gb. Battery life is good and charging is pretty fast but not as fast as my phone. All in all its a great dap and for the price is well worth it seeing as other daps with the same kind of specs can cost as much as twice what the M11 does.Read full review...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: thecamerabox
Great for what it does
I got mine a little broken (I knew what was wrong with it before I bought it.) but it still worked great. It has awesome sound, both through Bluetooth and wired, great screen resolution, and the touchscreen really works. It's a little big, it gets hot sometimes, and it's battery life isn't that great but it's really easy to use when it's charging. Read full review...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: syncelec
Outstanding, Amazing, Class of it Own
The Fiio M11 is am amazing sounding masterpiece....Period!!..
I own Sony's NW-A45 Hi player..an entry level player which in it's own right is an amazing device for the price and man does it have a punch. I was comparing the sound quality of the Sony to the Fiio. Right out of the box I was disappointed with the Fiio M11... the sound quality was just way off...the Sony max out volume is like 120.but never went pass 90 driving cans like 1More, Sony MDR-1AM2 and Grados SR225...with the Fiio I had to crank it all the way up almost maxxing out just to hear it..it just didn't have the punch or the liviness of the Sony.(this was only one night listening to the Fiio)..I decided that the Fiio didn't sound as vibrant as the Sony so I decided to request a refund...got shipping label, boxed everything up but decided to give the Fiio another try,,after all this is a beautiful device and I paid a great price for it so I gave it another listen...so glad I did...This Fiio literally had me in tears...this device is in a class of it's own...if there is a device that sounds better than this then I will need more Kleenex.Read full review...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: krommstore
Absolutely love it!
Super easy to use and excellent sound quality. Paired easily with my Jabra 65t active
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: topproductsworl...
Battery life is not great
M11 is a great DAC amp but battery life is just alright. I try to use it sparingly to get more time to play. I may replace the battery soon.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: herve_marcellini
Audio file dream
Incredible sound quality. Fantastic battery life.
Worth every penny.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: viva-japan
Great streamer and very user friendly
Great portable music streamer with a good user front end which shows many of the actual album covers. The sound is amazing in balanced mode. I have not tried it in unbalanced.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: born4music
FIIO M11
Excellent player. My old FIIO x5's battery died. This sounds better. Nice unit.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: born4music
So so sounds a bit awkward to use
Sound is harsher than other DAPs I have used. Android OS makes for an unnecessarily involved UI for a DAP. I returned it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: hitexstore