M11S Hi-Res MP3 Music Player with Dual ES9038Q2M, Android 10 Snapdragon 660, 5.0inch, Lossless DSD/MQA, 5G WiFi/Apple Music/Tidal/Amazon Music 4.4mm 2.5mm/3.5mm/4.4mm Black

Looking back to little over a decade, we knew FiiO for high quality budget cables of any kind for portable audio, but not much anything else. After the iPod Era ended, iBasso came to the rescue for me with their DX50 / DX90 to save the day, when time came to replace my ailing iPod classic. I was very skeptical about the first FiiO DAP line when they appeared on Amazon, and opted for Onkyo's offerings instead, owning both, the DP-X1A, and the much more portable Rubato (DP-S1). The boxy little Rubato while small, it was too square for convenience, it kept falling out of my pockets and hitting the ground, one too many times. It was discontinued, so I had to look elsewhere for a replacement, and I paused at the M9 back than. The price and it's size made it very attractive, so I gave it a try. FiiO had realized they shot themselves in the foot with the M9, under $250 it was a steal, so they promptly discontinued it. Now time came to replace my Onkyo DP-X1A as well, which was used mainly for streaming. As I was looking through the list of current offerings, FiiO once again grabbed my attention with the M11S. Looking through the specs, I couldn't resist to try it for the price. Compared to the Onkyo DP-X1A, the M11S is space technology. Boots up fast, snappy to access just about anything, managing and accessing my music content is a breeze. Same goes for streaming, using mainly Tune-In. Charging the battery happens fast, the USB-3 interface is a welcome change from the old interface of the Onkyo. I never use my DAPs directly from a computer to load new content, I always remove the SD-card from the players and use adapters to manage the storage, so the speed of the USB interface on the player is irrelevant to me. I mention this, because others complained about the speed of the M11's USB interface. The audio performance is impeccable, I can't see or hear absolutely anything to complain about. I find the sound signature very similar to the DP-X1A, no surprise there, similar basic components, but the implementation by FiiO is a vastly improved version. Velvet smooth texture, very neutral; sparkling treble, well balanced bass, focused on details and resolution of the low end of the spectrum like the rest, as opposed to bloated, sloppy bass. Some reviews mention relatively narrow sound stage, I can't confirm that. I use this DAP for the most in a stationary setup, feeding its signal to a Valhalla-2 headphone amp, which is driving a pair of Sennheiser HD650 cans. So far the only complains I have that I find the gear too addictive, so buyer beware! A second micro-SD slot would have been a welcome addition, but not a deal breaker! FiiO, congrats to your team of engineers, in my book, now you dominate this segment! Coming from cheap cables, you managed to build space shuttes, Kudos!

I wanted one thing for Christmas a few years ago. This was it. I use it with high end streaming services and a pair of FiiO headphones. I have been listening to music for 40 years that I have never heard more clearly. FiiO makes wonderful products that are my first choice to purchase as well as recommend to my friends.

If you want a portable device to take with you anywhere and listen to your favorite music anywhere, in the highest quality, DON'T BUY THIS. It is huge. It is as long as a cell phone and as thick as an old skool cassette walkman. You can't throw it in your pants pockets along with your wallet and cell phone. It's TOO BIG! On top of that, for $400, you get a player that skips every time it changes tracks - skips at the very beginning of each track, and sometimes just randomly skips, as well. The sound quality is not even anything to write home about. It has very weak bass. I am using Beyerdynamic Dt 770 pros in 32 0hms and the bass is very weak. I also have to turn any headphones I use with it up really loud for them to be loud enough, and none of them are high impedance headphones. I can use the same headphones on Fiio's M3K player (originally a $50 player, but discontinued now) and get great bass and volume. That's ridiculous. This is unacceptable performance for a $400 device. I sent it back. If you want the most portable player ever, with great sound, for a great price, try Shanling's M0 Pro. I sent the M11s back and ordered the M0 pro instead. It's only $120, sounds great, is TINY for ultimate portability, and accepts up to a 2TB sd card. It has more bass than either the M3K or the M11s, and a nice, balanced sound overall. It's like a high fidelity Sansa Clip. Awesome. I wish I'd have seen it first, and I wish they would make it clear in the pics for the M11s how big it is. I wouldn't have ordered it. I considered keeping the device as just a home player and not using it for portable use, but the skipping and generally unimpressive audio performance made it not even worth keeping for that. I don't feel like anything about it is worth $400 besides that it is big and has a huge screen, but to me that's not a good thing, and nothing I need for listening to music. Unless Fiio starts making smaller/better quality players like the M3K again, I will not purchase any more of their products. I don't want a big brick for an audio player.

After Apple discontinued its iPod - which I think was a stupid decision - I was hard pressed to find a new player. This is a little different from the iPod. However, what sold me was the ability to put in a sd card to store tons more music than an iPod. I had to find a different way to get my music on the machine - but after figuring it out, it really isn't that hard. Plus, I got an app that makes it sound great as well as playing my library. So this is something that if you were a former iPod user - you should look into to see if it's right for you.

When working properly the FiiO M11S checks the boxes for someone looking for a decent mid-range music file player. It's physically solid, organizes files nicely and fairly easily. The sound is decent; The critiques of others with more discerning ears are all probably right, but I found the songs played with expected clarity. After a few months my unit started randomly stopping play then restarting. The issue continued after doing a factory reset which is the only thing the help desk could offer. I pursued additional help and a contact with the company in China offered a process where I could ship it to the manufacturer in China - at my expense - and they could check it out, advising the process could take several months. I declined the offer. I would like to recommend this product, but at $500 and very limited, though gracious, support, I cannot.

This is a great device for music-lovers! The M11S employs the best-quality DACs, with one DAC for each channel (left and right). This provides far better sound quality than your phone could possibly do. The user documentation is poor however and that can make it hard to use.

I went on a whole journey of different DAPs. I started trying cheaper ones because I didn’t think I needed to spend 500 dollars on a music player. I was wrong, you may get great sound out of them but they all are compromising in a significant way. For example compatibility with certain apps, user experience and build quality. The M11S is worth every penny. I only use IEMs at this point so I can’t speak on cans but I am sure you could drive most. Volume goes to 120 so you may need to turn it up louder than you realize due to the amount of steps. The m11s has been the smoothest experience I’ve had till this point. All apps I’ve tried work, build quality is top notch and of course the sound is great. If you are on the fence and trying to decide if you should spend a little more or get one a bit cheaper. Remember you get what you pay for. 100% recommend the M11S.

I have several. Fiio daps, a couple of A&k, a Pioneer, etc. I wanted the in-car features to replace my Fiio M11 plus. The sound is similar, which is to say excellent, but the android os is dramatically improved. Now, downloading Amazon Music, Pandora and other apps is simple from the App Store. It’s a bit large, but it has great battery life and excellent depth of sound. I am really happy with the Fiio M11s.