FiiO has over the weekend announced the FiiO M3K DAP and BTR3 Bluetooth receiver at the KL International AV Show (KLIAV) 2018.
M3K DAP
Dubbed as the most cost-effective Digital Audio Player (DAP), the M3K succeeds the M3 in FiiO’s line of DAPs and is an entry-level product which does not have any wireless capabilities.
For those of you who are familiar with the M3, the M3K is completely redesigned and does not bear any resemblance to its predecessor. Measuring at 90.8 x 44.2 x 12mm, the M3K weighs in at 77.5g. It is encased in aluminium alloy and spots a conductive touch panel beneath a full laminated tempered glass for user interactivity.
Below is a comparison table between the M3 and M3K, shared by FiiO.
With a battery life of 26 hours from its 1100mAh built-in battery, the M3K succeeds its predecessor as the offering with the longest battery life in FiiO’s DAP product line. FiiO also added the standby functionality which allows the player to operate in an ultra-low-power idle state for up to 38 days without having to switch the player off, a functionality previously not available on the M3.
Spotting an AK4376A DAC from AKM, the M3K adds playback support for AIFF, ISO and DSD (DSD64) formats with a maximum sampling rate of up to 384kHz/32-bit, up from 96kHz/24-bit offered by its predecessor.
FiiO’s technical capabilities are demonstrated by the audio performance improvements it has achieved with the M3K over its predecessor, most notably increasing the SNR to 117 dB from 95dB which is key to reducing the noise floor from just 10uV to 2uV as well as a reduction in distortion from 0.008% to 0.004%.
FiiO has added a built-in microphone to the M3K with a recording function, allowing the DAP to also function as a digital voice recorder.
The FiiO M3K is expected to be available in by end of August 2018 and is priced at USD 69.99.
BTR3 Bluetooth receiver
The FiiO BTR3 is the company’s latest and most advanced Bluetooth receiver, adding to FiiO’s line of Bluetooth receivers which include BTR1 and μBTR.
Measuring at 58mm × 25mm × 10.4mm (without clip-on), the BTR3 weighs in at 26g. The BTR3 is encased in an aluminium alloy shell with a 2.5D glass front panel. The built quality is one of the best that I have seen for a Bluetooth receiver.
The FiiO BTR3 is the first Bluetooth receiver to support all the Bluetooth codecs available in the industry today, these include ACC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX LL, HWA, LDAC, and SBC.
Below is a comparison table between the BTR1 and BTR3, shared by FiiO.
With the BTR3, FiiO addressed one of the commonly cited criticisms of BTR1 being underpowered. While 24mW is not a lot of power, it is 60% higher than that of BTR1 and should suffice to power the earphones and IEMs that will be used with a Bluetooth receiver, which is designed for portability in the first place.
The BTR3 features volume adjustment that is totally independent of that from the mobile phone as well as a battery system featuring a battery that’s twice the capacity of the BTR1 and offering a longer battery life of 11 hours and a shorter charging time.
The device also included an independent pairing button as well as one-touch NFC to facilitate more convenient pairing of the BTR3 to the mobile phone.
Incorporating the same AK4376A DAC chip as the M3K DAP, the BTR3 features a USB-C port which allows one to use the BTR3 as a USB DAC.
The FiiO BTR3 is expected to be available in by mid of August 2018 and is priced at USD 69.99.
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