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FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player - Pocket Desktop-Level Machine

Even though the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is a so-called DAP, i.e. a digital audio player for mobile use, according to FiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. it is also excellently suited as a desktop audio solution. This is referred to as a pocket desktop-level machine.

Story Highlights
  • More than just a traditional DAP, the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is said to be able to function as a desktop audio solution, according to FiiO Electronics Technology Co Ltd.

FiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. now refers to the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player as a so-called Pocket Desktop-Level Machine, which is actually designed as a DAP and thus, in principle, as a digital audio player for mobile use. However, the latest offspring of the Chinese specialist for personal audio devices has such powerful features that it appears to be ideally equipped for use on the road, but also at home and thus as a desktop audio solution.

With the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player, FiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. introduces another device that is no longer, or no longer only, designed for mobile use, i.e. the company is increasingly expanding its desktop audio range.

FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player – Not the first of its kind…

FiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. has been carrying out this outlined development from purely mobile solutions to solutions designed more and more for desktop audio for several months now, for example the FiiO M17, which the manufacturer calls a portable desktop-grade player, or the FiiO Q7, which is called a portable desktop-grade amp.

Both of these systems have so-called desktop/portable dual-power supply modes, which means that their power supply is designed to deliver the best possible results for use on the road as well as on the mains, as the manufacturer itself describes it. And this is exactly the feature that the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player has. Compared to the FiiO M17, however, it is supposed to offer a much more ergonomic design and thus prove to be the ideal combination of portability and high-performance.

Outstanding performance thanks to solid equipment

The heart of the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is a Qualcomm 660 Snapdragon platform with Google Android 10 as the operating system, which ensures sufficient performance and also provides essential components such as a graphics processor and interfaces for data exchange.

The FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player has a 5.5-inch 18:9 HD display with 1,440 x 720 pixels, which functions as the central user interface, but there are also separate controls for all essential functions, such as volume control and playback control. Incidentally, the aforementioned volume control, designed as a rotary encoder, has an RGB LED display that is used to indicate the operating status.

The memory is equipped with 64 GByte, for AUdio data a microSD card slot is available, which supports storage media with up to 2 TByte storage capacity.

The FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player has WiFi, which not only allows access to streaming content via various apps, but the DAP itself can be used as a dlna-certified UPnP streaming client, it also supports Apple AirPlay and is designated as Roon-ready.

Bluetooth is also included, with a Bluetooth 5.0 transceiver from the specialist Qualcomm Inc., namely a Qualcomm QCC5124, which supports signal transmission with the codecs SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX LL, aptX Adaptive and LDAC as well as LHDC.

The FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player can also be controlled directly via FiiO Link using the corresponding app for Apple iOS and Google Android. On Google Android, WiFi and Bluetooth are available, on Apple iOS it is WiFi only.

There is also a USB 3.0 interface, which is designed as a USB-C and is not only used for data transfer and power supply or charging the battery, but also ensures that the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player can function as an external D/A converter.

Sophisticated signal processing

At the heart of the signal processing is a so-called 4th Gen FPGA+NDK Femtosecond Crystal DAPS Digital Audio Purification System, i.e. a platform specially developed by FiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. for signal processing of the highest quality and with outstanding performance, as the manufacturer itself states.

High-performance DAC and output stage with particularly high performance

The ESS ES9038PRO DAC from ESS Technology Inc., which offers eight independent channels, is described by the manufacturer as a particularly sophisticated solution. In concrete terms, this is used to ensure that each channel uses four D/A converters in parallel and to realise fully balanced signal processing.

The FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player can process signals in Linear PCM with up to 32 bits and 384 kHz, supports content encoded in lossy MQA and is equipped for DSD up to DSD256. If desired, any audio signal can be converted to DSD, as the manufacturer explicitly points out.

Five gain levels

The output stage of the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is also said to be particularly elaborate, built around the TI OPA926 from Texas Instruments, with no less than five gain levels. Low, medium, high and over-ear headphone gain are offered for use on the move. When the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is used as a desktop audio solution and therefore connected to the mains, an enhanced over-ear headphone gain level is available, with an impressive 1,200 mW per channel.

For connecting headphones, there is an unbalanced 3.5 mm stereo mini-jack, but also a 2.5 mm jack and 4.4 mm Pentaconn for balanced headphones.

In addition, behind the 3.5 mm stereo mini-jack is a so-called combo connection, which can also function as an optical S/PDIF interface if desired.

Six operating modes

The new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player has no fewer than six operating modes, making it ideal for a wide variety of tasks. First of all, there is the Pure Music Mode, in which everything is hidden except for the FiiO Music App.

The opposite of this is the Android Mode, which is used when you want to use various apps for streaming, for example.

AirPlay mode is also self-explanatory; it is used to access the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player via Apple AirPlay.

The same applies to Roon Ready Mode, where the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player functions as a device certified by Roon Labs LLC.

Then there is the USB DAC mode, which is designed to achieve the best possible quality when the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is connected directly to a PC or Mac and used as an external D/A converter.

In Bluetooth Receiver Mode, audio data is transmitted wirelessly to the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player, whereby, as already described, in addition to SBC and AAC, all codecs relevant for “CD quality” or even Hi-res audio such as aptX, aptX HD, aptX LL, aptX Adaptive and LDAC are supported. The FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player therefore deserves not only the Hi-res Audio logo but also the Hi-res Audio Wireless logo.

Powerful power supply for best quality

A solid power supply is also of utmost importance for portable devices when it comes to the best possible sound, but even more essential when using a solution in the classic hi-fi segment, for example in the form of desktop audio. And all this applies to the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player.

The power supply of the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player was designed accordingly, starting with the fact that separate power supply units are always provided for the relevant components, while also using different technologies that are optimal for the respective task.

The fact that the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player comes with a separate power supply in desktop audio mode, completely bypassing the integrated battery, is another point that must be mentioned.

Another point to mention is that this is a particularly powerful battery, namely a 6,200 mAh battery that offers a playing time of at least over nine hours with balanced, and over ten hours with unbalanced connection of the headphones.

Charging is, of course, via USB-C, which is supposed to be done within around three to three and a half hours thanks to the support of Quick Charge 3.0 and Quick Charge 4.0 as well as PD2.0 and PD2.0.

Elaborately designed housing

Once again, the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player presents itself as a very elegant solution, but with a special design. The manufacturer refers to Graphene Heat Dissipation Technology, for example, in order to ensure optimal operating temperatures in the very slim housing of the DAP, especially in desktop use, but also when charging the battery.

Incidentally, the FiiO DK3S Heat Dissipation Dock is part of the scope of delivery, which on the one hand also helps to effectively dissipate the waste heat when used as a desktop audio solution, but on the other hand also guarantees an elegant, practical set-up.

By the way, it should be mentioned in this context that the sensitive signal processing of the FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is separately shielded in order to prevent sound-damaging influences from the outset.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player weighs 345 g with dimensions of 140 x 80 x 18.9 mm.

Pricing and availability

The new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player is expected to be in stores soon. The manufacturer lists the recommended retail price at US$ 999,-.

Getting to the point

With the FiiO Q7 Portable DAC and Amplifier and the FiiO M17 Portable Desktop-Class Player, FiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. presented solutions that were designed as portable, mobile systems, but are also suitable for use as desktop audio systems. In particular, the power supply was taken into account for both systems and now does so once again with the new FiiO M15S Portable Hi-res Lossless Music Player. Here, too, the manufacturer speaks of a pocket desktop-level machine, but it is also designed for mobile use as an outstanding DAP.

PRODUCTFIIO M15S PORTABLE HI-RES LOSSLESS MUSIC PLAYER
PriceUS$ 999,-
BrandFiiO
ManufacturerFiiO Electronics Technology Co. Ltd.
DistributionNT Global Distribution GmbH
More about this manufacturer at HIFI BLOG
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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