Thoughts?
Seems like a good update for the legendary BTR7. So far the only price I found was some random website and it was $199.
I guess that’s not bad for what it is and capable of, but you can get a great DAP in the Hiby R4 for only $50 more or less when Amazon has it on sale. So I don’t really know how I feel about the pricing on it.
idk about R4 but a lot of cheaper DAP’s are super slow/hardly usable with certain apps (even my R6 gen3 struggles with Tidal sometimes)
BTR from a phone removes the bottleneck lol
My brother uses Tidal and he says it’s not bad but I haven’t tested it.
I personally use Amazon music HD for the lossless offline functionality. I have Spotify installed too (only 2 apps I’ve installed)
No complaints, but I have the neon Genesis special edition which is the same processor, ram and base storage as your R6 gen 3.
My wife has an R6 gen 3 and I will say I don’t know why but it feels smoother than my R4. That said it has never been slow or cumbersome enough to bother me in day to day usage.
My brother uses his R4 at his desk plugged in as a DAC amp when gaming and even has the Tesla app to open his car just because.
I’ll have to get his Tidal login to test it. But if you think it’s slow on the R6 it will be the same or worst on the R4
About the BTR7, I like it but there is something to me about the stand alone DAP that I just like.
The easy of swapping gain, and PEQ from the drop down feels good as I carry 3 sets of IEM in my back pack that I switch between. When I’m home I often grab headphones when I’m taking the dog out and I have PEQ set for all of them.
probably doesn’t help my playlist is 2000+ songs lol
Yeah, I noticed the longer the play list the more it lags a little. It’s not unusable at all and if I wait a second when I load the play list it scrolls a lot smoother, but my largest play list is only about 200 songs right now, and I’m using Amazon Music HD.
It’s got to be the processor though because my phone blows thru play list like it’s nothing.
I am seriously looking forward to the BTR17.
I loved my BTR7 and I got a few solid years out of it, it still works but sonically, it doesn’t match the Muse M4 to my ears. I’m really hoping the BTR17 can take it up to the next level when it comes to dynamic range and bass performance specifically.
Why is there so little talk about BTR17?
Also there are still relatively few videos on youtube
I remember when BTR7 came out there was an abundance of reviews.
I´m about to sell BTR7, mainly because I can´t use the Equalizer anymore
I can connect with it via bluetooth and play music but can´t connect with it in the fiio control app which is weird and nothing seems to help.
Actually the same is true for my BTR15 and this happened after an update of my phone, don´t know how to solve that
Such a good point… I honestly have no idea. Could be that we reached a peak for portables back when the BTR7 came out and lots of people don’t feel the need to upgrade or buy the BTR17.
To be fair, it isn’t a huge leap at all. The 17 has a bump in overall resolution and bass character over the 7, but imo, the 7 has better timbre with a smoother playback. I don’t think either one is better than the other, unless you’re specifically looking for the better transparency in your sound at the expense of timbre.
seemed like a pretty silent launch, I didn’t know it was available elsewhere than ali until I randomly found it on amazon a couple days before Xmas lol
Thanks for your impression 
I probably found someone for my BTR7 so I´ll probably snack the 17.
How´s the battery life so far? Is the first bug wave over`? 
I haven’t had a single software bug on mine so I’m pretty damn lucky.
Battery life is extremely good for my use case. I have multiple sources I take around with me, but when I do have the 17, I probably only have to charge it every 3 or 4 days.
I’m using it in Low gain most of the time, anywhere from 20 to 35 volume level using the 4.4 output. I’m probably getting 10-11 hours or playback using BT. In my opinion, that’s pretty damn good.
Just checking, as it took me a while to work out that the BTR7 has a default of 60 steps not 100 - what is your BTR17 set to?
I got a Gryphon coming for a very good price, and despite being chonkier will be trying it out as a BTR7 upgrade. If I don’t find the extra power makes a difference, or don’t use xBass, I can see it not lasting as a meaningful upgrade.
If your BTR7 hadn’t eaten pavement, would you say the BTR17 makes much of an audible upgrade?
EDIT: Oh wow, I assumed it floated around $150-170, maybe 11.11 bias. New it’s the same cost as the used Gryphon I’m getting.
Aaand… one for $140 on H-Fi. I’ve sent a PM, it’s a definite buy at that price! Uncanny timing.
I’d prefer blue but it’s a pocket-based device anyway and a deal’s a deal!
EDIT: Just bought. So in other words I’ll probably be selling the Gryphon on when it arrives 
I have my BTR17 set around 20-35 out of 60 (I think, I actually haven’t checked yet) volume level most of the time, that’s at Low gain out of the 4.4 output.
If I have it set to the Desktop mode, I’m below level 20 most of the time. The only outlier in my collection that requires a weird amount of power is the Titan, even in desktop mode I’m hovering around level 30 in desktop mode which is nuts.
I would say the added resolution and bass tactility of the 17 has convinced me that the 17 is a worthy upgrade to the 7, but that’s just my opinion.
Ps. Saw the 2nd edit, that’s a steal! Congrats
Noobish question also not quite related to the topic, but:
Some IEMs are fairly easy to drive but still profit from a bit more juice in order to shine.
Is there a difference If you use 30/60 volume level in Low gain (where there is still plenty of headroom) compared to let’s say 15/60 in high-gain?
BTR7 is sold and I am now also awaiting a black BTR17…was too impatient to wait for the blue version to be in stock again
Try the following to get the timbre closer to BTR7 
It still needs further investigation from my side but first try sounds promising
PS: I changed it to 2 for now which is just a bit warmer but enough for me to make it sound more organic and less sterile/lean.
Hmmmm I never heard a difference when it came to changing the distortion compensation on the 7 but I can try it on the 17 for sure. To me, the Distortion compensation was like the different PCM filters on some other DACs, it was just not audible most of the time. But hey, I appreciate the tip. I will try!
I was also never able to hear a difference between those filters but the distortion compensation is quite obvious, especially when maxed out.
I did not even know that this was a thing therefore did not try it with the BTR7.
There is still a bug which changes the values but it has been already reported on Head-Fi and will hopefully be fixed with the next update.
Well damn, I’m going to give it a shot tonight if I get some listening time for sure now!
