Today, at the famous personal audio exhibition CanJam, held in London, the company Fiio has presented a number of its new products. Of course, other companies also demonstrated their products for the first time at this exhibition, but the Fiio event was clearly the largest. What did they prepare?
In general, it is worth noting that Fiio is good at playing in its segment a role similar to Apple, thanks to a balanced model range and competent marketing, the company is the leader in sales and, perhaps, the most famous brand in personal audio. Somewhere by the end of 2015, Fiio reached an incredible speed in the development and demonstration of new products, which they are trying to adhere to until now. Faithful to their traditions, Fiio does not change the model indexes, simply adding to them a new figure of the "generation". The novelties of today's presentation were no exception.
The slogan of this presentation was "Let's make America dreams ...", sorry, "We'll make a balanced output standard", in Fiio they continue to do their best to promote the connection of headphones with separate ground, and all 4 products presented today contribute to this.
The first and main number of the program was the flagship player Fiio X7 of the second generation. The first generation X7 pleased the buyers with a number of nice features: replaceable amplifiers, Android OS and a number of others. The fate of the flagship was not cloudless: problems with software, caused by the transition from outsourcing to internal development, spoiled sales, however, the model still became successful. The second generation was intended to consolidate this success.
One of the main accents in the new X7 was the design. The success of the Fiio X5-3, presented earlier this year, showed the company in which direction they need to move, so the new "seven" has a side panel similar to the "five" with buttons for navigation and volume control.
The player was slightly smaller (literally a millimeter in length and thickness) and 10 grams lighter (not that it changed the case much, but it's still nice that it's not harder).
Slots for cards are now also made with trays, as in X5-3. In general, the memory of the new flagship is quite a lot. In this age of DSD and other not very useful ultra-high-resolution formats, equipping the player with two microSD card slots supporting up to 256 GB and 64 GB of internal memory - the idea is more than good. 576 total gigabytes will please anyone. RAM also became 2 times more, 2 GB will please fans to run background processes and in every possible way to mock the OS.
Changes have undergone and the insides. The EAP Saber 9028Pro (not S version) now acts as the DAC, the digital signal is processed using FPGA, three different master oscillators are used for timing, providing minimum jitter.
Considered in Fiio and claims to the complete amplifier X7 AM1, the second generation will immediately be equipped with a modified version of AM3A, first having a balanced output, and secondly, thanks to a thoughtful scheme offering a good working time combined with high power (more than 400 mW at 32Ω).
Not forgotten and various "nice little things": optical and coaxial digital outputs, Bluetooth with AptX support, fast charging with support for Quick Charge and Pump Express technologies, 5 GHz Wi-Fi, asynchronous DAC via USB and much more.
In the role of OS, the same Android 5.1 is used, first, because of the use of the same processor RK3188, and secondly, because of the company's enough successful developments for the two previous players. I think the firmware will be updated for all three models almost simultaneously. The interface was slightly redesigned and got a fairly fresh theme.
By tradition, the player will be released all the necessary accessories such as covers and stacks of whales, and it will be compatible with existing amplifiers and docks. Immediately in the package are promised two covers (of leatherette and transparent silicone) and protective glass, immediately glued to the factory.
The price will remain the same, the recommended retail price of the X7-2 in the US is $ 650, in other countries it may be more expensive because of taxes and other overhead expenses of distributors.
Of course, on one flagship the company will not last, the severe laws of the market dictate their demands, so everyone was eagerly awaiting and updating the budgetary Fiio X3. If you remember, it was the X3 that started the history of the players from Fiio, that's why X3 is one of the "main" models of the company. Introduced in the spring of 2015, the second-generation X3 remained for a very long time without updates, which did not stop him from being one of the leaders in sales, but today the player received a worthy change.
Of course, the player received a new, significantly modified design. Aluminum frame, a panel of tempered glass, a touch wheel, the player instantly began to look like it should look modern devices in 2017. The proportions of the case have changed, the player has become longer, but already, that in combination with 125 grams of weight makes it a handy pocket device. For connoisseurs of aesthetics there is a variant of red color.
I can not fail to note the positive moment with the transition to the touch wheel - no more problems with the encoder, pollution, jamming.
Changes have not bypassed the interior of the player (remember the same about the balanced output?). In the role of DACs now use 2 chips PCM5242, the gain is provided by OPA2140 and OPA1622.
There were also a number of additional opportunities. Bluetooth (apparently without AptX codec), an asynchronous USB-DAC, a multifunction side button - that's what will be bribing potential owners of the new X3.
The price also remained at the same level, in the US the player will appear at a price of $ 200, in other countries the price tag will probably be higher (especially at the start).
But all this balanced joy would not be complete without suitable headphones. Of course, fresh Fiio F5 immediately released with a balanced wire (which could not help hinting), but the company decided to stake out a more expensive segment, introducing headphones that received the index F9.
Aluminum enclosures with an unusual wave-like design conceal a dynamic and dual reinforcement emitter with a special "mixing" sound module.
A dynamic radiator with a diaphragm from PEK (I suspect that it is polyether ketone) in combination with a pair of "armatures" and a reasonably thought-out scheme of a physical and acoustic crossover offers a fairly good frequency response.
The headphones are equipped with a replaceable cable with MMCX connectors, the kit will include a normal wire with a 3.5-mm plug and a headset, and a 2.5-mm balanced cable from silver-plated copper. In addition, buyers will receive a plastic case and 6 pairs of baits offering two different sound options.
Well, the most surprising thing about these headphones is probably the price, which will be only $ 100. The model will be available in black and red colors.
Well, "to polish" the presentation in Fiio decided with the help of another budget device. As I expected in the review, the Lightning DAC Fiio i1 was a "test ball" before releasing a more adult model. It was the second modification of the budget DAC + amplifier Q1.
Judging by the presentation, in the second modification of this portable harvester there was nothing left from the first. A fresh, very stylish design reminiscent of Sony's solutions, a well thought-out analog-to-digital volume control, a high-quality balanced amplifier with two outputs (3.5mm normal and 2.5mm balanced) - all this makes Q1 one of the most advanced solutions for iOS.
Of course, the device works not only with the iPhone, as well as computers and solutions on Android, as the source of the figure, but the presence of MFI certification and Lightning wire in the kit clearly make it clear that Fiio made friends with Apple in earnest.
The DAC supports up to 384 kHz / 24 bit and DSD up to 256 inclusive. There are gain switches and a bass boost function.
The operating time is declared more than 10 hours in DAC mode and more than 20 hours in amplifier mode. Q1 Mk2 itself "understands" to what and how it is connected, and in accordance with this switches inputs.
Well, a nice cherry on the cake is the price, for the new Q1 it is only $ 100, which also can not but rejoice.
In general, I would not like to say banalities, but some conclusions need to be summed up, so I'll say briefly - all 4 presented models look incredibly interesting, and I'm looking forward to them for tests.
The article is based on materials .
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