Fiio S15 - The streamer you need maybe - But can you AFFORD it?

[@baritonfelix]

Big fat volume knob that's disabled by default ... bass and treble controls reset to fully anticlockwise. This thing needs at least a firmware upgrade.

[@cristianmicu]

i'm sure DEEP SEEK will be able to make a new firmware for them, after it is calibrated properly for the job. he is 100% capable to do that. GO CHINA lol.i still hate CCP but in face of what trump is i lean towards china's CCP

[@jkwhtsll]

Tip. When using a box cutter to open a box, grab the blade with your thumb and first finger so that only enough of the blade tip is exposed to cut through the tape. Been doing this for 30+ years and never cut either myself or the contents of the box.

[@AudioMasterclass]

OK I’ll try that with the rusty razor blade I was actually using.

[@jkwhtsll]

@ works with single edge blades but certainly wouldn’t try it with DE blades, especially as they break in half way too easily.

[@BlankBrain]

The real skill is getting blister packs open. I use the sheepsfoot blade on my pocket knife.

[@rhodaborrocks1654]

My old CA Stream Magic 6 recently packed up, one of these would be an ideal replacement, nice review, thank you.

[@BlankBrain]

Approximately 1,100 FLAC albums takes about 360 GB storage on my NAS. So 4 TB will store about 12,200 FLAC albums. A wild guess is that the average album is about 48 minutes long. So there are about 585,600 minutes of music on 4 TB. 585,600 minutes / 60 = 24,400 hours. 24,400 hours / 24 hours/day ≈ 1,017 days. 1,017 days / 365.25 ≈ 2.78 years. If albums are 40 minutes long, ~2.32 years. If albums are 60 minutes long, ~3.48 years.

[@iyerviking]

If you don't mind my asking, where did you get all the FLAC files from?

[@BlankBrain]

@iyerviking I go to Goodwill and buy CDs for $1.99. I polish scratched discs with felt wheels on an old grinder converted to a polisher. I rip the CDs on an old Windows 7 laptop using EAC and search for cover art while waiting. I've been doing this for about eight years. It's slowed down because I have many of the albums that show up. I've been expanding the types of music that I listen to, so keep buying them. Sometimes I have to look up albums on my phone to see if I already bought them.

[@davidspendlove5900]

Indeed more is in fact less.

[@BlankBrain]

@iyerviking My response doesn't show. Here's a shorter second try. I buy CDs at Goodwill and rip them.

[@stevewoodhouse621]

There are two products which need mentioning here. The first is the WiiM Ultra. The second is the WiiM Ultra. A third of the price, has the added bonus of a sub out and bass management, and constant upgrades, including room correction, smart presets (lets you select input, output, eq, sub on/off, volume, etc.). Did I mention the WiiM Ultra?

[@Roof_Pizza]

Its competition is more in line with the Eversolo A6 ME or even the A8 not the Wiim.

[@Hottiger1818]

You did, wiim ultra. And I have it too,...quite an amazing addition...it sounds sublime....and very affordable....it begs the question, why spend more...I know I won't get double the performance or sound improvement.... The only reason to spend more is for the looks.. possibly longevity....but if all you want is great sounding streamer, ultra is hard to beat ...and I got mine with discount in black Friday deals.

[@stevewoodhouse621]

@ no the WiiM has no competition. As per the video, sound quality is all about frequency, noise and distortion, and the WiiM is beyond human audibility on all three. So it's down to feature set, where the WiiM wins hands down, with the exception of balanced outs. You can't release something that's not as good, charge more, but then say it's not competition because they're in different price ranges.

[@prinsbrins]

I know it's gonna sound like mumbo jumbo to u guys but I tried the wiim pro and it's a great user Friendly box. Didn't really impress me sonically though. I have a smsl sd-9 streamer with horrible software, I mean just terrible but it sounds great via i2s just playing local files of an SD card. I want i2s. Wiim doesn't offer that. The DMP-A8 has it for 2x the price of this unit. In that landscape this unit seems really good

[@MrTonyMF]

hi, does it read SACD by iso files thanks

[@Brett1334]

Is there anyway I could connect my turntable to this? I’d rather everything be on the same component and with the equaliser, if I used a rca to xlr or something? Would that work?

[@AudioMasterclass]

Yes, you need an RIAA preamp then you connect to the analogue inputs. I didn’t test this functionality so the question would be whether you can go through the EQ. Fiio’s FAQ may hold the answer.

[@Brett1334]

@@AudioMasterclassthanks!

[@pablovi77]

This is exactly like the fiio R7 but in a n Eversolo DMP A6 form, without the headphone amplifier. So, they change the form, take away things and want to charge you a lot more?

[@stuartmitchell1908]

The DMP A6 doesn't have a headphone amp either

[@pablovi77]

@ I know it doesn’t have one, the R7 and R9 do. That’s why I say this is exactly like an R7 in the form of the DMP A6. But more expensive and wihtout the headphone amplifier

[@stuartmitchell1908]

​@@pablovi77I see what you mean now. I was thinking you were comparing both

[@一条輝-r4r]

His rival should be the A8.

[@JeeYong-c1s]

Yeah, you lose the headphone aspect but gain additional stuff more suited for speaker settings. I think It makes more sense when you look at who it's for (still it's a pity they didn't leave the headphone section but that would probably made it more expensive).

[@jas.oncroft]

I fully get why you like a knob more. Me too. I'm old school. Give me a knob anyday. :)

[@BlankBrain]

I like lots of knobs. Switches are okay too.

[@davidspendlove5900]

Careful !

[@michal7x7]

ARC on a DAC. Time for graphics card manufacturers to learn this trick.

[@Boney-UK64]

I want one, just need to find a spare 1k now so off to look under the mattress. The word I would use to sum it up is 'versatile'. Thanks for another informative and funny video!

[@ConorHanley]

We actually got the price at the end and it is too expensive for my meagre wallets. Not that it matters much as I don't think I need a streamer as I don't use streaming services though I do stream my own music over the network. Been able to do that for a couple of decades already without one of these though it does seem good for what it is and if I had tons of money I'd probably get one just because.

[@MaxQNik]

I think the volume control should be little easier, let's say with just one call to the customer service to do that.

[@rabit818]

I had plastic speakers that weighed a ton, I dropped it and metal bars came out of the broken plastic. I prefer buttons and sliders on my gadgets You need a master’s in engineering to control that thing I’m old lol

[@BlankBrain]

Epoxy is your friend. Sliders are too prone to dust intrusion for me to enjoy them. Knobs don't have as much of an issue. That gives me an idea though. I'd go for an optical slider, though it would cost more.

[@pretoria701]

I like the music track too. I wonder what it would sound like played forward instead of reverse?

[@AudioMasterclass]

I come here for the humour.

[@pretoria701]

@@AudioMasterclass As weak as it is, best I can muster! I come here for the great reviews.

[@marxman00]

Careful with that unbox muzak.. You genie .. almost untied my shoe laces !

[@davebullard]

By far my fave unboxing track. The stereo chirp is worship worthy

[@earthoid]

I ran through the unboxing at 2x speed.

[@teamkar25]

They already make a great streamer Fiio SR11 with USB out, for the price of a burger and fries. Just add a dac

[@Hifihound-o8u]

US$99. That better be a really, really good burger and fries! :)

[@cunawarit]

My streamers are all Raspberry Pis, some using USB DACs, others with DAC hats... but all Pis.

[@Roof_Pizza]

RN it has more bugs than a termite nest but it does sound lovely.

[@AG-bp3ll]

Nope. Sure can't and wouldn't spend it if I could on something like that.

[@billmilosz]

I thought MQA was going away...? No?

[@nabman_]

I like full form factor hifi gear for the aesthetical value. But unless there's a 50W+ amp in it (or a turntable), the weight is not justified. All its functionality and good sound can be engineered in a 1.5Kg 10x30x20cm box. Anything else is marketing nonsense to shoot the price up (and wasting material).

[@darryl_UK]

Wow it really is a beast of a thing and much grander than the media streamers I used to test back in the day... Get yourself an NAS, connect it to your network, upload some lossless audio files, maybe some blu-ray disc back-ups too and enjoy it David...

[@jasejj]

A grand for a "kitchen sink" ChiFi special? God no. Using a screen on the front of a stereo component like that would be an utter pain as well. BubbleUPNP and something that can do DLNA rendering is more than enough. You get the screen on your phone for controls and an OS that doesn't take 30 seconds to open an app.

[@stuartmitchell1908]

You are missing out. 'Chi-fi' as you and others call it is shaking up the market. It's also great sounding and reasonable in price.

[@kenabi]

fiio's been doing some good things for the better part of 20 years. and they aren't just ridiculously expensive stuff, some of their portable audio gear is sub $20. they go the full range of price brackets, but manage to shy away from true snake oil pricing.

[@mikeg2491]

I love my “kitchen sink” FiiO R7 because I can install all the 3rd party equalizers, Audio enhancers and visualizations I like. I can even install tracker software to play Commodore 64 or Sega/Nintendo midi files. You’re only as limited as any Android phone. I’m kind of disappointed this one is more locked down, I hope it can be jail broken. Also the screen does come in handy when you’re puttering around the house and don’t want to go unlock your phone or tablet just to change a song, that is actually MORE time consuming than a slow app.

[@jasejj]

@@stuartmitchell1908 This product is neither of those things.

[@schemkesa]

Who needs another streamer??😅

[@AudioMasterclass]

Someone with a grand to spare.

[@TheCompton2010]

heads up - you have "s16" in the video description. "I take a good long look at the Fiio S16 audio streamer "

[@AudioMasterclass]

I like to be ahead of the game.

[@TheCompton2010]

@@AudioMasterclass that would be great content to review products of the future :)

[@MrSlipstreem]

No. I already have a streamer.

[@cosbro5389]

And really ...who wants another screen in there line of sight even if it can be turned into moving meter needles

[@BlankBrain]

I covered the bright green LED on the surge suppressor for my heat exchanger with tape so it's not so obnoxious when I sit on my patio at night. It would be nice if it had a dim out feature after a configurable number of seconds.

[@fredashay]

I have a gazillion video game consoles and need way more HDMI inputs than that!

[@pauledwards2817]

I have to look at all of these expensive streaming audio boxes and think the manufactures must be loving the profits. Good DAC and pre-amp are of course critical but as for the streaming section they can just as easily be a raspberry PI and a web interface on your phone for a good deal less, DAphile for example which I have on a number of old Mac minis. with a separate DAC.

[@thomaslutro5560]

That EQ function could probably make a perfectly good speaker sound like something from Børresen/AGD. Or possibly, twiddled with sense, do some room correction. Love it!

[@MrEnEffet]

Can you buy some real music please, we will pay, ok ?

[@psysword]

Ha ha

[@AudioMasterclass]

You jest, and it is a good one. What I’ve learned over the years though is that it’s a lot easier and a lot more practical to use my own music. So, perhaps unfortunately, there will be more of it coming.

[@psysword]

It's a fabulous price point for almost everything on my wishlist. The only thing is that the app sucks eggs. A new app from Fiio please.

[@cosbro5389]

wiim mini =$140 Aud weight 48g along with the wiim app for phone and windows computer which works perfectly and has a great EQ.....Plugged into my Rotel amp (via cheap topping dac)which drives my B&W 706 and PMC twenty .23 sounds great...How much better will a machine like this improve sound ?? See (listen) I dont think it will by a large enough noticeable difference ...I cant help but feel that these streamers that all seem to start on average from a Thousand pounds are exploitation of the poor person with a bit too much money

[@Hottiger1818]

I agree, the world of hifi is a mythical thing...a loudspeaker can cost 200 to 200,000 but do you get 1000 times better, no... I recently needed a streamer, needed because I "discovered" Spotify...and streaming from phone to my amp was excellent but inconvenient....I added the wiim ultra, and I couldn't be happier...why spend more. Unless I can get significantly better sound or convenience or looks, why.... Enjoy the music 😌

[@defyiant]

Music with unboxing was unbearably

[@AudioMasterclass]

Success!

[@Popecody55]

J buy a wiim ultra😂🎉

[@reindeer8890]

$1000? cough sputter. Why not just buy a cheap laptop? Maybe a DAC if you're feeling frisky.

[@cristianmicu]

fiio used to be an american company 10 years ago. it is not american since, it is Chinese. even make the egregious error to show to the entire world on you tube the Chinese characters shot in the video post pre-presentation proudly showing on the product's digital display. i still have an american fiio music player still working with the american dac chip inside. dump trump, what is his problem? chinese top end products pushing past his 100% tarrifs into american market? you bet itis not cheap after price doubles in us stores after passing us customs.. now the dump americans will get the sweet taste of trump 'fixing' everything and what tarrifs mean FOR THEM who elected mr. Trump