Meet Fiio’s New Products – X7ii, X3iii, F9, and Q1ii
The day has finally arrived, and Fiio has announced a number of new arrivals to its portable audio family.
1. Fiio X7ii
First up is the widely anticipated revision/update to the X7. The X7ii carries over a lot of its aestethitc design from the X5iii, with the addition of the amp modules that can be swapped out.
Interestingly enough, Fiio opted not to incorporate a dual DAC setup, but rather went for a single yet top-of-the-line ES9028PRO DAC chip.
Compared to the first X7, the X7ii is both shorter and thinner, as well as being 10g lighter.
Digital output options also include a shared Line/COAX/Optical output.
Performance-wise the X7ii has a RAM bump to 2Gb, and apparently the X7ii scores 40% higher in Antutu than what the first X7 did.
Suggested pricing in the US is $649.99
2. Fiio X3iii
The 2nd updated product for the day is the latest iteration of Fiio’s famous X3, and a much welcomed overhaul of the X3ii. This is the 3rd generation of the X3, and features some much needed updates and improvements. Aesthetically the front of the X3iii looks rather similar to the X1ii, including the touch scroll-wheel.
For the first time, however, the newest X3 features dual PCM5242 DAC chips from Texas Instruments for greater channel separation and and improved signal-to-noise ratio.
The X3iii also boasts “dual Bluetooth” functionality, which suggests that the X3iii is capable of both transmitting and receiving a Bluetooth signal (for using the X3iii as a Bluetooth DAC). We’ve seen this functionality from the Hidizs AP60, Shanling M1 and M2s, as well as the Cayin N3.
Output options include 2.5mm balanced output, as well as a shared-port for standard 3.5mm analogue, Line out, and COAX.
3. Fiio F9
A brand new addition is the F9 IEM. It certainly is a good looking IEM, featuring a fully CNC’d metal exterior housing, and what Fiio calls a “Metal Ripple” design. Colour options will be available in black and red.
The F9 is a 3 driver hybrid configuration, which, in theory, should provide the articulating detail retrieval of a BA setup, along with the down-low reach and impact of the 9.2mm dynamic driver.
The dynamic driver they’ve opted to use is of particularly interesting design as it uses a PEK polymeric nano composite diaphragm. This PEK material boasts several supposed advantages over PET, Beryllium alloy, and even Titanium alloy diaphragms.
The F9 is also designed with the MMCX connection for its removable cables, which would make “upgrading” to an aftermarket cable a breeze. But more importantly, the F9 comes with 2 cables; a 3.5mm single ended cable with inline control, as well as a 2.5mm Oxygen-free silver plated copper balanced cable.
The F9 has an impedance of 28-ohm and a sensitivity of 106dB/mW, which makes the F9 perfectly suited for portable and other low-power-output devices.
US-pricing for the F9 comes in at $99.99.
4. Fiio Q1ii
The next addition is the all-new Q1ii portable DAC/AMP, an update to the original Q1.
The Q1ii is MFi certified, and was created especially with iOS devices in mind (considering that the latest iPhones no longer have headphone sockets). Since Apple released iOS 10.3.1, non-certified Lightning products could not be recognized, but the Q1ii will not be hindered by this limitation.
Fiio has opted for the AK4452 DAC chip for the Q1ii, which allows for sampling-rates of up to 384kHz/32-bit for PCM, and up to DSD256.
Just like the X7ii and X3iii, the Q1ii also features a 2.5mm balanced output.
As for power output, oddly enough the Q1ii will be significantly less powerful than the original Q1. Where the first Q1 was able to output up to 190mW into 32-ohm, the Q1ii’s power output is down to 75mW into 32-ohm.
Suggested pricing for the Q1ii is $99.99
