If you enjoy listening to music on the move using a great pair of wired headphones, you will know how frustrating it is that most smartphones no longer have a 3.5mm headphone socket so you are forced to use a pair of wireless earbuds. However, if you use the new FiiO BTR17 you can go back to those favorite wired headphones or in-ear monitors.
Ever since smartphone makers ditched headphone jacks, we’ve been forced to use wireless earbuds to listen to our music when we are out and about. Wireless listening is handy, but it’s nice to have the option of using a favorite pair of wired headphones or in-ear monitors, especially if you have Hi-Res music stored or streamed on your phone.
The new FiiO BTR17 is a compact DAC and headphone amplifier that has outputs for 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphones. The BTR17 can connect to a smartphone or computer using USB or Bluetooth. Thanks to premium digital-to-analog converters and a THX AAA 78+ amplifier, the BTR17 can provide audiophile-quality playback on the move.
With a size similar to an old-school cigarette lighter, the FiiO BTR17 is based around Qualcomm’s flagship QCC5181 Bluetooth chipset and uses the latest Bluetooth Version 5.4. It also supports the new Bluetooth LE Audio standard, making it future-proof.
The FiiO BTR17 offers LDAC, aptX Adaptive 96kHz/24bit, aptX Low Latency audio codecs, as well as the usual AAC and SBC protocols. When combined with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound technology, the BTR17’s Bluetooth performance can finally match the kind of sound that a wired pair of headphones can provide so it’s a wireless upgrade for many smartphones.
A dedicated D. Mode switch on the BTR17 invokes Desktop Mod so that, when connected to an external independent power supply, users can connect the BTR17 to a smartphone using a USB cable and then it becomes a high-powered DAC and headphone amplifier. In desktop mode, the BTR17 has a powerful audio output that can drive power-hungry headphones without gobbling up the battery of the host smartphone.
Multi-Function Switch
A three-position switch on the side of the BTR17 can put the device into one of three playing modes: PC / BT / PHONE. The switch can move between the three operating modes while optimizing the power supply status depending on the kind of device that’s connected.
In PC mode, the BTR17 is powered by the host computer through a USB cable. When switching over to BT Mode, the BTR17 can receive audio wirelessly from a smartphone or a computer and its internal and rechargeable battery can be charged and powered using the BTR17’s USB port. Finally, in Phone Mode the BTR17 uses its internal battery to help lower the battery drain on the host device while the BTR17 is functioning as a DAC and headphone amp.
At the heart of the BTR17 is the flagship XMOS XU316 chip, with low latency and more stable transmission with better compatibility than most USB controllers. With the ability to handle audio files up to 768kHz/32-bit, DSD512 native and MQA full decoding, the XU316 chip can cope with almost any audio stream.
10-Band Lossless PEQ
FIIO has made a big effort to integrate the software and hardware inside the BTR17 and it has also developed a user-friendly smartphone app and web interface for controlling things. The refined proprietary PEQ adjustment algorithms let users fine-tune EQ frequency points, gain, levels, bandwidth and Q value of the BTR17. This feature can simulate or correct the frequency response curve of various headphones. It’s even possible to import, export and share custom EQ curves.
Inside the BTR17 are a couple of ESS ES9069Q DACs, based on fourth-generation, 32-bit, HyperStream architecture. These chips can provide high performance decoding while consuming less power than previous-generation DACs. The architecture also helps to reduce digital noise, enabling the DAC to hit 130dB dynamic range and -120dB total harmonic distortion.
THX AAA 78+ Headphone Amp
The BTR17 uses a THX AAA 78+ headphone amplifier, which was previously used in FiiO’s M23 digital audio player. The amp’s four-channel, fully balanced design has eight op-amps that work in parallel for a robust and controlled power, that FiiO claims produces a clear and natural sound.
When the BTR17’s Power input is connected to a USB power supply and is in Desktop Mode, the THX headphone amp uses four op-amps in parallel for current amplification, resulting in a balanced output power of up to 650mW+650mW. That’s the sort of figure that’s equal to some high-end desktop headphone amplifiers.
Digital signals in the BTR17 are handled by a dual digital clock and DAC. In addition, the LPF pre-amplification and multi-stage analog audio processing can boost details as well as the dynamic range.
With an eye-catching volume knob featuring a double-sided and engraved 3S design, the BTR17 looks sophisticated. It has a pressable volume knob which can be rotated for scrolling and selecting from the BTR17’s menu which is displayed of the player’s 1.3-inch IPS screen. The knob has a strong tactile feel for definite control while font colors on the display change depending on the audio codec being used.
Pricing and Availability:
The FiiO BTR17 is available now and is priced at $199 / £199 / €199 from FiiO and various retailers.
Tech Specs:
- USB chip: XMOS XU316.
- USB DAC: 768kHz-32bit, DSD512 native, MQA full decoding.
- USB DAC driver-free mode: Supported.
- Bluetooth chip: Qualcomm QCC5181.
- Bluetooth: Version 5.4.
- Supported audio codecs: AAC / SBC / aptX / aptX LL / aptX Adaptive / aptX Lossless / aptX HD / LDAC.
- DAC: ES9069Q x 2.
- Display: 1.3-inch 240×240 color IPS.
- Battery life: About 8 hours (LDAC).
- Charging time: ≤2H
- Headphone outputs: Single-ended 3.5mm + balanced 4.4mm
- Signal-to-noise ratio: ≥126dB (UAC decoding, desktop mode, A-weighted)
- THD+N: ＜0.00035% (UAC decoding, desktop mode, balanced output)
- Dimensions: 16.3 x 41.2 x 86.6mm.
- Weight: 73.4g.
- Colors: Black/Blue.
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