Your Next Upgrade? (Part 1)

Indeed, why wonder if you enjoy what you have. Trying to find the holy grail or end of rabbit hole is not necessarily the definition of an audiophile.
I prefer following definition: Somebody who enjoys listening to music by means of audio reproduction equipment.
At the time we had small children I was no audiophile. No time, mindset and money to invest into that hobby.

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How about vs. the XA-160.8?

This thing arrived today, FIIO M17. It’s a total brick!
1.375 thick, 3 3/4 wide, 6 3/8 tall. It weighs 5 pounds.
Portable? Hmmmmm. It sounds really good though.
There was a seller offering it as “used, like new” on Amazon and of course it came all factory sealed and brand new. Fun!

The left and right audio channels each contain a desktop-class, 8-channel ES9038PRO flagship DAC. This means that each audio channel has 8 parallel outputs summed together for superior resolution and minimal distortion for extremely pure audio reproduction.

Same DAC chips that are in my Gryphon Ethos!!!

It works as a Roon endpoint, using it that way at the moment. It’s pretty fun.

I have never seen “MQA full decoder” before.

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Man, that thing is awesome. Unfortunately, at 5lbs, I think it’s officially a component.

I have been looking at DAP’s lately because my travel schedule is about to pick up with several trips up and down the Wes coast, two to WI, and several to India. I don’t want something that weighs almost as much as a laptop. There are so many choices in the DAP space it’s pretty much paralysis by analysis.

I do want something android based so I can use Qobuz and Roon Arc. But I also would like something that has its own decent app.

So many current DAP’s are Android 10 or less, which for me is a no. I want something much more current. Android 12 is my cutoff. I also don’t want to spend more then $1500.

So far I like the Hiby R6 III, but I still have a lot of reading to do.

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This thing lets you get away from Android mode, it has a Music Only mode. I think the trick with this is it can do anything and everything. I’m going to feed it into the BACCH just for giggles. It even has a 12 volt port for people with decent 12 volt power supplies available. Like me! Battery mode as well.

This is all your fault Vince, you re-awoke my long sleeping lust for FIIO.
Thank you!

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Is the MQA all you thought it would be and more? Lol

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Whoa. It’s my cake day! Lol

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Anytime, glad to be of service.

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No it isn’t!

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Maybe not in the Pacific Northwest. Give it a couple hours. It’s still Saturday by you.

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Happy Cake Day Buddy!

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Thanks Al!

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Happy cake day Paul (EU time is cake time for you, too)

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Thanks Luca! I can celebrate in Italy! :+1:t2:

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happy cake day @paul172

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Finally! Happy Cake Day Paul!

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Thanks Paul!

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Happy Cake Day Paul!!

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Happy cake day @paul172

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Okay, one more - happy cake day, Paul! :smile:

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