Hey everyone, I think I have finally decided to buy the M11 over the ifi xDSD.
Now, do you think it is worth saving up a tad more and buy the M11 Pro over the M11? If so, why?
THX is being hyped up and of course, the Pro has a longer battery life as well as a THX amp, whilst the M11 doesn’t. There are also other changes such as the different DAC implementations.
Do you think the THX amp is worth the £120 ($150) or so cost hike? It is terribly expensive for a student like me, but the longevity of the product will make any purchase worthwhile as it will be a daily driver for the next few years with multiple hours of use every day, including connection to a laptop.
regardless of what I buy, it won’t be for a few months at least.
Sidenote, I need new IEMs, as well as my Shure se425’s have died, so I might join the BLON BL-03 hype train.
I would actually route you to another player now, as the Hiby R5 might be the better idea if you went with the non thx fiio.
The thx vs non thx does make a difference, the thx is going to be cleaner sounding, and imo that’s mainly what you are paying for, is the thx. I would say most people would not be able to tell the difference between the different dacs, and the regular m11 already has good battery life
Own the M11 and am very pleased with it. I would say that the m11 is more “future proof” than the pro version due to the fact that the pro only has one sd card slot. But I would say wait until 11/11 before you decide anything and maybe by then there will be more reviews that compare those two.
I would also take the m11 over the Hiby R5 if future proofing is important since it has a 2,5/4,4 and a 3,5mm connector making it very versatile. And the screen looks much better (very small edges) and the scroll wheel is heavenly.
But I think having Google play and a fairly up to date Android experience, and a more powerful amp might make sense over the m11. I also think the r5 will have better software support in the future
You could always just adapt the 4.4 to a 2.5 if needed also
So regarding app support, google play is like the ios app store, and it is an easy way to get apps that are both free and paid, and can auto update, and the store has a huge catalog. For a device with no google play, you have to download packages called apks which you can then install on your own. You are mainly limited to free apps and might have to do some searching online to try and download apk packages for the apps you might want. The fiio and Ibasso do include a small app store, but it does not have as many features as google play does. The thing that kills me about the m11 is that I really want to use a music player app called Usb Audio Player Pro, but since there is no google play store, there is not a way to pay for it and download it on the m11, so I cannot use it.
I think the sound quality on the m11 and everything else is great, but the no google play store bothers me on the fiio and ibasso, but it might not be an issue for everyone.
I would say all of these players are fast and have great features and sound, but the hiby is the only one with google play support.
Edit: think of Google play as a huge supermarket where they have almost everything, and the smaller app stores (and potentially browser app stores) that come with the ibasso and fiio as something like an Aldi or gas station where they have the essentials, but might lack variety or higher end products
Another thing is that you can’t just install the play store on your own like how you can’t build your own supermarket. You can try and cheat the system (that can get complicated) and it might work, but that requires Android development knowledge and in fiios case they just lock you from doing it, so you would have to exploit the system to try and break in and modify the system (haven’t really had the time to try and find an exploit, also pretty much kisses your warranty bye bye)
I was lerking and had to say thank you m0n! never even heard of the r5 before you mentioned it. I need something to run all these IEMs i’m buying because all i hear is hiss on my phone lol.