I received my FIIO BTR7 this past Friday. I have to say it’s very Impressive.
I own the BTR 5 and the 7 is definitely a worthy upgrade. It has more power, however the BTR 5 was not lacking in power in my opinion. It has sound quality equal to or slightly better than the BTR 5, but the biggest thing for me is the vast improvement in Bluetooth Range.
The BTR 5 would suffer drop outs at 15-20 feet for me and would often drop in sound quality if near the edge of that range. The BTR 7 has fixed this and that alone for me makes it worth the price of admission.
There is also a noticeable improvement in the way it connects to the FIIO APP. I always had issues with the BTR 5 achieving that initial connection. The BTR 7 connects every time without fail.
I use this at work with many different IEM’s. It is as clean as anything I have at home on my desk.
I’m really surprised this isn’t getting more Reviews. The only one I’ve seen on Youtube is Zeos.
I hope this can start a bit of a discussion and hype train rolling. For 200 dollars this is really a bargain. If anyone has any questions about The 5 or 7 and how they compare please feel free to ask.
As a little side note seeing as Fiio did not include any clip or easy way to carry the BTR7 I found a simple solution.
You can use a fork to push a chain or cord of your choosing through the folded over top of the included leather case. Makes it easy to wear around your neck.
That is great to hear. The Bluetooth range was about my only complaint on the 5, and I use the BTR5 at least 5 days a week, so it wasn’t that bad. I have always liked the sound of the 5, so a bit more power, BT range, so that seems like a worthy upgrade.
I also think the portables are getting to where desktop gear was a few years ago, which is fantastic for IEM users.
Interesting that there is still no official BTR7 thread, BTR5 was so popular.
ASR measurements are here.
TLDR:
3.5mm: 98dB SINAD, 2.3V out Max, 18mW at 300 Ohm, 124mW at 32 Ohm
4.4mm no boost (App setting): 101dB SINAD, 3.5V out Max, 10mW at 300 Ohm, 72mW at 32 Ohm
4.4mm boost on (App setting): 104dB SINAD, 5.8V out Max, 83mW at 300 Ohm, 215mW at 32 Ohm
Little bit disappointed by the power output. The biggest upgrade over the BTR5 / Q5K seemed to be the claimed power output with 320 mW at 32 Ohm. Now it is just as much as the BTR5 / Q5K.
I’m surprised that you are not happy with the Power Output. I own both the BTR5 and BTR7 and the jump in power is quite noticeable going from the 5 to the 7. Could it be that you have a defective unit? Perhaps one that is stuck on low gain for some reason? Mine is a little powerhouse.
Maybe disappointed was the wrong term. Had the Qudelix 5k some time ago and thought it powered Arya V2 just fine. I meant more that I don’t like when they lie on the power specs (L30 mk1, Xd05 balanced…) or are given at like 10% distortion. Even though I know a 50% power increase from 200mW to 300mW is <2 dB gain.
Today I found the measurement from L7 audio lab. Here it measures with 300mW…
What headphones are You using with the BTR7 that You clearly notice the extra power?
I mainly use the 5 and 7 for IEMS at work. 7hz Timeless, Ikko OH 10, Etymotic Er4Xr and Er2Xr. I also directly A/B tested my Sundara’s on both units with Single Ended and Balanced. The difference is audible.
Have you done any A/B testing with both?
I don’t have any measuring equipment or any claim to having golden ears, but the difference in overall volume between the two is easily noticeable.
This lil device is a heck of an upgrade from the btr5 or even the btr3k for that matter. This dongle is expensive at 200 bucks but it is worth every penny. 4.4 balanced is the main upgrade on this aside from the thx amps in here. Which are super clean. Wireless charging and parametric EQ are also another plus. Yes it’s a bit chonkier of a unit, but worth it to have a full fat 4.4 balanced connector. I have my moondrop aria’s on here currently and I’m on high gain and anything above 35/80 is too high on the volume. Just in the little time I have had it I can say this is a worthwhile upgrade and well worth the money. The only downside is the screen doesn’t tell you what is playing which is not a huge deal with smart watches being a thing. also the case does not have a clip on it like the btr5 did. Come on fiio I need my belt clip so I can have access to the controls, but again my galaxy watch does this as well but I would like a clip. Otherwise this unit is wonderful and it sounds wonderful. It is a 9/10 would buy again
Beautiful design. Plenty of power. Works flawlessly in car mode and during regular BT use. I’d like to see a gain switch next to the charge switch in a future version.
Balance mode boost is real. Drove Sundara 4.4mm, but at a high cost to the battery.
However, mine had a big problem when wired with the supplied (and very nice) lightning to usb-c cable. Kept garbling playback, then playing at higher pitch and 1.25x speed. Would garble when switching gain levels too (wired mode). Fiio support logged my feedback but didn’t have a timeline for a fix. Battery indicator levels were all over the place, but that could’ve been from wide use of different headphones/IEMs, etc.
Returned it because of that major garbling issue and playback controls only work in Bluetooth mode. As an Apple guy, I don’t have access to LDAC. My Fiio M11 Plus ESS won the battle in every way except for size, and checks more feature boxes for me anyway.
This little reactor will be perfect for so many people though, issues aside.
I don’t have any local audio stores that do headphone/IEM gear closest one is like a 6 hour drive I think
I got an email saying my order should ship next month so probably be the end of September I get it at best