Hi, I’m about to get the fiio fh7, ill most likley use it at work and was wondering if i should also pick up the fiio btr5 or just use my phone, or if i should get a different DAP that has an sd card to import all my music to it.
im planning to listen to flac files and tidal
should i also get a 3.5mm to 2.5mm balanced cable or will that not be needed?
thanks.
I have the btr5 and really have no complaints.
Depends on your budget though I’d say. Not a lot of options out there around the btr5 price that has the same features. Think fiio released a new DAP and maybe some hibi products.
If you are mostly going to do FLAC, a DAP would make more sense. BTR5 is nice when streaming and also works as USB dac so you can still use it while charging.
In terms of balanced, I definitely heard a difference when I used my Phantoms on balanced compared to SE on my desktop. Not sure how much of that attribute to different DAC/AMP though. Try single ended first and see if you want more. I would rather buy another IEM though so you have more variety.
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I like my Shanling UP4, closest competitor to the BTR5 but I think you would be happy with either. The Shanling app isn’t great, people say the BTR5 is better. I like the volume control on the Shanling though and don’t really need to use the app except to check battery level.
How much are you willing to spend if you go the dap route?
shanling has better batterry life sounds warmer and not as resolving as the btr5 but has more power unbalanced than the btr 5. the btr5 performs better balnced and is better than the up4 when plugged in.
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prob up to 200$
Q. What phone do you have?
If your phone has a decent onboard DAC, great
Also my recommendation would be that you wait till you get the FH7 first, and see how it sounds with your phone. If you notice unwanted noises, then start thinking about upgrading. You don’t need to cash all your money in at the get go.
If you find that the sound from your smartphone isn’t enough, AND that you don’t like using your phone to listen to music, consider a DAP ( that’s when you have to make the choice of balanced or not)
Hope this helped you out!
I have the oneplus 3 currently
I think ill follow your advice for now and think about getting a dap later
thanks
also thanks anyone eles who helped.
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Ended up getting the ifi hipdac coz i dont need bluetooth, and i ordered 4.4mm cable
thanks for the help
I bought recently the btr5 and I have to say I am a bit disappointed.
Maybe it’s my set (iPhone with AAC only bluetooth) which does not allow to get the best from the btr5 device… but comparing iPhone with btr5 vs iPhone with wired Apple dongle, I can tell you that btr5 is clearly below (whatever I use equalizer or not)…
Also considering the fact that bluetooth connection of the btr5 is quite poor and does not allow to have more than 2m distance between phone and btr5, at this point I don’t see any added value using the btr5… or maybe as a DAC connected to my computer…
Did someone get the same outcome?
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