FIIO M11S REVIEW

>>I am brazilian and I speak portuguese, so forgive my english, I’ll use translator tools to help<<

INTRO:

Thinking about new horizons in my journey in the world of audio, I decided to navigate in the world of DAPs – Digital Audio Players, and then I arrived at the product that caught my attention among others I researched: the FiiO M11S.

DAPs are very complete equipments, they aggregate several audio products in one, and for those who want a more compact setup, the DAP comes as an excellent solution. In the timeline of FiiO’s DAPs, the M11S is like a younger brother of the M11 Plus, as the Plus being a DAP with some more advanced features than the M11S.

This review can be a little different from the others I usually do, first because isn’t possible to explain all the functions and settings of the DAP, and second because I tried to do something new for this type of equipment, instead of just photos, I decided to put a video to show the operation of the product.

Price: $499,99 USD
Colors: Titanium or Black

FiiO reviews: FH3, KA1, HS18 (in portuguese),  JD7, KA5, FD11, Q11 (in english)

FiiO store:

https://www.fiio.com/

https://www.fiio.com/m11s

https://amzn.to/46R9iEI

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDUeKzz

SPECIFICATIONS:

General introduction
Name / Model No.	M11S	User Interface	Android/Pure Music/USB DAC/Bluetooth Receiver/AirPlay mode
CPU Model	Qualcomm Snapdragon 660	No. of cores	8
CPU operating frequency	8*Kyro 260（up to 2.2GHz）	DAC	ES9038Q2m× 2
Hardware used	Soc: Snapdragon 660, DAC: ES9038Q2m * 2, AMP: OPA926 * 2, crystal oscillator: NDK femtosecond crystal oscillator * 2	Special Features	High performance dual ES9038Q2M DACs |  670mW output power | 14 hours battery life Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 | 5.0 inch/720P bezel-less display | Android 10, SRC global bypass
Connectivity
USB	TYPE C Two-way USB3.0	WiFi	2.4GHz/5GHz
Bluetooth Transmit	SBC/AAC/APTX/APTX-HD/LDAC/LHDC	Bluetooth Receive（5.0）	SBC/AAC/LDAC
AirPlay	Supported	DLNA/NAS	UPNP protocol supported
FiiO Link	Supported	WiFi music transfer	Supported
Roon Ready	Supported
Display screen
Display size	5.0 inches	Display type	IPS Hi-Res incell screen
Resolution	1280×720	Touchscreen	10-finger multi-touch
Storage
RAM	3GB	ROM	32GB
Storage expansion type	Micro SD（TF card)，Hidden TF slot	ROM available to user	About 16G
Maximum storage expansion	2TB (theoretically)
Buttons and ports
Buttons	Physical buttons	USB	Two-way TYPE C USB3.0（Charging/Data transmisson/USB DAC/USB Audio)
USB DAC	384kHz-32bit/DSD128	USB Audio	768kHz-32bit/DSD512（Supports DoP/D2P/Native）
Headphone Out (PO)	3.5mm single-ended	Line out（LO)	3.5 mm port（shared PO）
COAX Output	3.5 mm port (shared with PO port. Supports up to 384kHz-32bit/DSD128)	Balanced line out	4.4 mm port（shared with 4.4mm balanced PO））
General
Color	Black	Dimensions	Approx. 125.2 x74 x18.5mm
Weight	About 271g	Volume control type	Button control
Recommended headphone impedance	16~150Ω (3.5mm headphone output)	Equalizer	10-band EQ (±12dB), 8 presets+custom preset, custom EQ supported，PEQ supported
	16~300Ω (2.5mm+4.4mm balanced output)
Gain control	L/M/H	L/R channel balance adjustment	L20~R20 (0.5dB every level）
Power specifications
USB power adapter	QC4.0/ PD2.0 quick charge	Battery capacity	5300mAh
Charging time	About 3h (QC4.0 quick charge)	Deep sleep time	＞1000h
Battery Life & Test Conditions
3.5mm headphone output：＞14h
Volume	48	Gain	High
Screen	OFF	Test File	MP3 44.1kHz/16bit
EQ	OFF	Load	32Ω
2.5mm+4.4mm balanced output：＞14h
Volume	37	Gain	High
Screen	OFF	Test File	MP3 44.1kHz/16bit
EQ	OFF	Load	32Ω
Others
Firmware Upgrade	Supports via zip file + TF card + OTA	All to DSD	Supported
MQA	Supports 8x MQA	Navigation control	Gesture control/2-Bottom navigation/3-Bottom navigation
Dark theme	Supported	Night Light	Supported
Double click to wakeup	Supported	Power-off timers	Supports sleep/Idle poweroff
In-vehicle mode	Would power on/off automatically when vehicle engine starts/stops
Screenshot	Screenshot by three-fingers swiping down and pressing both the power and the volume – button	Locate Currently Playing Track with One-click	Supported
Custom playlist sorting	Supported	Third-party apps support	Supports any app
Headphone out specifications 1（3.5mm port, A-wt.）
Output power 1	≥300mW（16Ω / THD+N＜1%)	Output impedance	≤1.5Ω
Output power 2	≥200mW（32Ω /THD+N＜1%)	THD+N	≤0.00066%（1kHz/32Ω）
Output power 3	≥23mW（300Ω / THD+N＜1%)	Separation	≥79dB（1kHz/32Ω）
Noise floor	≤ 1.8 μV (A-weighted)	SNR	≥ 123dB (A-weighted)
Line output specifications(A-wt.)
THD+N	＜0.00054%（1kHz/10kΩ）	SNR	≥ 121dB (A-weighted)
Frequency Response	20Hz~20kHz（-0.5dB）20Hz~50kHz（-2dB）	Noise floor	≤ 1.7 μV (A-weighted)
Balanced out specifications 2（2.5mm+4.4mm balanced output, A-wt.）
Output power 1	≥550mW（16Ω / THD+N＜1%)	Output impedance	≤2.6Ω（32Ω）
Output power 2	≥670mW（4.3V）（32Ω /THD+N＜1%）	THD+N	＜0.00043%（1kHz/32Ω）
Output power 3	≥90mW（300Ω /THD+N＜1%)	Separation	≥112dB（1kHz/32Ω）
Noise floor	＜3.1μV	SNR	≥123dB
Balanced line output specifications(A-wt.)
THD+N	＜0.00034%（1kHz/10kΩ）	SNR	＞125dB
Frequency Response	20Hz~20kHz（-0.5dB）20Hz~50kHz（-2dB）	Noise floor	＜2.2μV
Channel Separation	＞105dB（1kHz/10kΩ）

File format support
Lossless files:	DSD：DSD64/128/256（“.iso”,“.dsf”,“.dff”)，DST iSO DXD：352.8K/24bit APE FAST/High/Normal：384kHz/24bit（MAX） APE Extra High：192kHz/24bit（MAX） APE Insane：96kHz/24bit（MAX） Apple Lossless：384kHz/32bit（MAX） AIFF：384kHz/32bit（MAX） FLAC：384kHz/32bit（MAX） WAV：384kHz/32bit（MAX） WMA LOSSLESS：96kHz/24bit（MAX）
				Lossy files:	MP3, OGG, WMA, AAC, etc

VIDEO SHOWING THE SYSTEM:

PHYSICAL ASPECTS:

The video above has already advanced me to say a lot, so I will only point out what I find most necessary. The construction is what you can see in the video, a product of extreme quality, and of extreme beauty too, of course, to my taste. The M11S doesn’t have sharp corners, and all buttons are firm (they don’t make noise as if they were loose). Of the attributes that made me choose this DAP, certainly the design counted a lot, in addition to the cost-benefit that this equipment has against its competitors in the price range, and I believe that also having the 3 outputs – 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and 4.4mm – helped in the decision. For my use DAC/AMPs are better when they come with at least two outputs, preferably 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced.

I confess that I found strange the weight of the DAP at first, but mostly because I’m used to a smartphone that is very thin and light, so when I started using the M11S I could feel this weight difference. Now, possibly the weight of the M11S in relation to other DAPs on the market ends up being something more equal. Note that this is the first more expressive DAP that I have the opportunity to test, until then only the Hidizs AP80 Pro, which is a much smaller DAP, without all the features that the M11S offers here. Still about the weight, over time we get used to it, however, if I could choose, I would like it to be a little lighter.

The M11S runs on Android version 10, and we know that for the year 2022/2023 (currently), this version of Android has already been updated, however, I think that FiiO will not update the operating system for this DAP. We would all like to have a more up-to-date Android version, but I understand that being a customized Android, it would be difficult for the company to update the version and perhaps run risks of generating some incompatibilities, which could affect the operation of the product (in my opinion). For those who aren’t so interested in the operating system and just want to have a music player, the M11S has the option to use the “pure music” mode, which is basically to enter the company’s music application and run files coming from the MicroSD card. You can easily return to Android by opening the notification bar and changing the current mode, or trying to minimize FiiO Music directly, and then you will receive a message if you want to return to Android.

I like Android because you can find various applications available on the Google Play Store, it’s open for people to install other music players, music streaming services, or other customization and personal use apps (digital banks, messaging app, etc). At first I installed the VLC Player on the DAP but ended up preferring to use the FiiO Music App itself. I only use Spotify and Flac 16bits/44.1/48kHz files. Let’s say that the M11S is a hybrid DAP, it can play streaming services (Deezer, Tidal, etc) and also supports input for MicroSD card up to 2TB.

If you noticed, the DAP has a button on the left side, just below the volume button… this button is a kind of shortcut, a facilitator for you to access a certain function more quickly. Unfortunately, isn’t possible to place the button to perform any customized function, it has options defined and within them you can choose one to be the shortcut. You can see the options in the video starting at minute 10:10.

Display (screen/touch). I found the Touchscreen to be very responsive, and remember that the DAP already comes with a screen protective film installed on the screen, but in the end the film didn’t reduce the touch sensitivity. The only two things that I found most different in relation to a smartphone was that in the DAP there is the sensation of having more space between the Touchscreen and the circuit, which creates a feeling that the touch is a little softer, “fluffy”. And the other thing is also the double tap to wake up the screen, sometimes it went at first, sometimes at second time, it even appears in the video, but I confess that the position in which I recorded the video wasn’t very comfortable for me to handling… I don’t have much experience in recording this type of video.

Bluetooth. The DAP also has the option of connecting TWS earphones via Bluetooth signal (version 5.0). I used a TWS Earbuds here to do the connectivity test, and I thought the performance was great. Fast and accurate pairing, perfect signal stability, no cuts up to 7-10 meters away from the TWS to the DAP. The test was done here at my residence, walking between the rooms, so the signal passed through some walls. For the delay test, I watched some videos on YouTube, and my conclusion was that the synch between the audio and the image was perfect, with no delays (in fact, this depends more on the TWS than on the DAP). The M11S also has the option of receiving the Bluetooth signal, and not just transmitting, as was the case mentioned before. I didn’t particularly use this receive function.

Battery consumption on the 3.5mm output. Using the FiiO FH3, the battery consumption was 6%. The test was carried out during 1h of playback with the screen off and WiFi off. The volume was set at level 70 out of the 120 available by the DAP. High Gain mode activated. The battery consumption on the 4.4mm output, using the Tin HiFi P1 (OG), was 7%. The test was done in the same way as the previous one, the only difference was the volume at level 80 out of the 120 available by the DAP. I considered the performance to be very good, the consumption was very low, and sometimes I left the DAP on stand-by and it didn’t even drop 1% of battery.

Heating test. When I recorded the video, with just the screen on, it got slightly warm, it was playing music but there were no headphones connected. When I did the test with the FiiO FH3 connected to the 3.5mm output – with the screen off – the DAP had no signs of heating. With the Tin HiFi P1 on the 4.4mm output, the equipment had the same temperature as in the 3.5mm output test mentioned above, that is, without showing any heating. It is clear that environmental conditions interfere in this regard, so this is just a report of experience, isn’t a scientific data. In the test I used Flac 16bits/44.1kHz files. What I think is that with the screen on the M11S is slightly more heated than with the screen off.

As soon as I turned on the M11S and connected it to the WiFi network, a Firmware update appeared available to be installed. I didn’t have any work, I just pressed “download” and DAP did everything for me. You can find information about updates on this page: https://forum.fiio.com/firmwareDown.do

This other page can clarify some recurring questions about the equipment (in English): https://www.fiio.com/m11s_faq, or the DAP manual here at this link.

PS: If you liked the FiiO Mousepad that appears in the photos and video, here is the link.

SOUND ASPECTS:

It must be remembered that this analysis is subjective, based on my experience with the product and also on the synergy with the other equipment I used here. I also already inform you that the more objectivist part of the hobby isn’t really my beach, so it may be that some information can be limited, I don’t have much knowledge about the technical side of this type of product.

As expected, the FiiO M11S has audio quality at the excellent level, just like the other DAC/AMPs from the company that I was able to evaluate. Now, unlike the FiiO KA5 and FiiO Q11, the M11S DAP came with the implementation of the DAC chip from ESS company, model ES9038Q2m. High performance DAC chip with low power consumption, which is great for equipment that uses battery as the main source of energy. The M11S was implemented with the DAC chip in a duplicated way to support the balanced system.

The FiiO M11S, throughout all my listening so far, has proven to be a DAP with excellent performance, presenting a transparent, clean, defined, and high-resolution sound. I didn’t notice any distortion, coloration, noise floor or strange sound during the time that I was testing the equipment. Generally, products that have an internal battery are devices that have the advantage of having “clean energy” to power the circuit.

The DAP has the adjustment of 3 levels of gain: Low, medium, high gain. As everyone knows, roughly speaking the function of changing the gain is to increase the power of the equipment. My experience with the DAP was to always set the equipment in High Gain mode. At first, I thought that putting it in High Gain would be something that I would almost never (or never) use with IEMs, especially with a DAP that reports having 670mW on the balanced output, however, the practice here with the M11S proved to be something different. It is evident that there is a difference between the 3 gain modes, but I thought that High Gain would already be the “normal” for me. Other M11S users also set the DAP already in High Gain, according to reports.

Amplification. In terms of power, as you already know, I only do tests with IEMs. On the 3.5mm output, I used the FiiO FH3, it’s an easy-to-drive IEM and it played easily here, volume 70-80% and it was already at a very good level for me, a very energetic sound. On the 4.4mm balanced output, I tested with the TinHiFi P1, in my opinion, the IEM also played appropriately for my ears, volume at 85% and the sound presented itself with life and vigor. Always remember what I said before, High Gain here always activated. I did the maximum volume test with the P1 and the sound didn’t distort, but it was very loud and I didn’t stay more than 10 seconds at this volume, dangerous to health. One of the big eye-catching of the M11S is the power of 670mW on the balanced output, I personally think that the P1 wasn’t able to receive this mentioned power, this is because if you see there in the product specifications, different powers will be applied to different impedances. Thus, at 16 ohms there is a number of 550mW, which is almost double the power of the dongles that I tested throughout this journey.

Remember that the volume scale of the M11S goes up to 120 steps, it may seem that these numbers I mentioned above are high, but if you consider up to 120% then things become more balanced. In the “Global>Volume Settings>” tab you find two functions, the “Max user-defined volume”, which is a volume limiter, like, out of 120 you can set it to 90 and the volume won’t go beyond that. It should be noted that in this case the equipment will not distribute the power of the 120 steps within the 90, it’s not like that, it will simply limit up to 90, from then on you simply cannot reach more volume. The other function is the “Power-up default volume”, which is basically a volume that you would like the DAP to remember every time you start the equipment.

About the Lowpass filters, here once again it’s just a confirmation of what I have already experienced with other equipment, although I tested this feature again on the M11S… I still can’t hear any difference between the filters. I’m not saying that there’s no difference between them, even because I’ve seen measurements on the internet that show a change, however, I’m just reporting my auditory experience of the feature, and so far I continue without noticing variation in the sound.

Finishing my words about the M11S here, I believe that with the product specifications and the video showing the system, many of the questions are already self-explanatory, there’s no need to go into details, and thus, the DAP is also a very complete equipment, It has many functions, many of which I can’t even test, for example “AirPlay mode”, it’s a function to receive audio from Apple devices, and I don’t even have any equipment from the brand.

So that’s it, I conclude that the M11S becomes the new source to test the IEMs here on the website. In addition to streaming services, many people like me still have their music libraries in downloaded files, and nowadays smartphones that no longer have a headphone output, now also no longer have a MicroSD card slot, so the journey then led me to the M11S.

Thank you so much for being here!

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