A new toy has been added to my audio equipment collection: the FiiO M33 R2r Digital Audio Player.
Early last year I started on my R2R DAC journey by picking up the inexpensive FiiO K11 desktop DAC/headphone amp. which I found myself enjoying enough to buy the larger and more expensive FiiO K13 desktop DAC/headphone amp upon its release last summer. While the sound of the K11 is very good, in spite of its low price, the sound of the K13 (and its greater power output) takes the sound quality to much more refined level than the K11. Okay so now I found myself enjoying the lush and warm sound that is typical of R2R DACs so much that I purchased a Gustard R30 DAC for my main audio system, which I’m enjoying immensely.
At the CanJam NYC show earlier this month I got the chance to listen to the new FiiO M33 R2R and I was hooked. I managed to find the M33 (with a decent discount) on AliExpress and less than a week later I now have my very own M33 to enjoy.
To those of you who have one of the other FiiO DAPs, the M33’s form factor is very similar to the M11Plus since the M33 is basically the same size and weight as the M11 Plus. The layout of the buttons, controls and ports is somewhat different but the basic operation of the device is very similar.
And of course the M33 does present that smooth, velvety R2R DAC sound perfectly but now in a portable package. If you are curious about what all the hype about R2R DACs is about then the M33 R2R might be your best entry into the R2R world. The M33 features a “desktop mode”, so it can operate as an all in one desktop unit: streamer, desktop headphone amp and even a preamplifier.
FiiO achieves Roon Ready status by implementing the FiiO Roon App. When using the DAP to implement Roon, this app needs to be launched, and then the Roon App can be started. This emulates the needed code to identify itself as a Roon endpoint or capable device on the RAAT utilized network protocol. So, even new FiiO devices are quickly “deemed” Roon Ready, since it’s not dependent on waiting for the hardware to be reviewed and certified.
So, long winded response to indicate that, Yes, the FiiO M33 R2R DAP is a currently an “unofficial” Roon Ready device. But it does work as as reliably as other certified Roon Ready devices.
I should clarify that I also own one of these devices. It’s an engineering and software harmony that really takes advantage of FiiO IEMs and Headphones with software DSP equalizer auto EQ selections of FiiO’s own engineered Frequency Response curves.
This is as close to Apple ecosystem harmonization as it will ever get in the Audiophile realm. Since it’s arrival, I have listened to the M33 R2R DAP with the FiiO FH-19 IEMs every night and have not been happier about sonic bliss in decade or more!!
I have ordered an M33 and waiting delivery for tomorrow. You mention Fiio Roon App but I can’t seem to find it. Do you have a downlink link available or is it pre-installed on the M33?
I am hoping to be able to use the M33 Bit perfect with Roon. Is this feasible? My M11 1st generation can’t do it.
There are two slightly different “Roon” apps you need to use on the M33 to get bit perfect playback when listening to Roon.
The first Roon app is preinstalled on the M33 and it’s called “FiiO Roon”. Once started this app turns the M33 into a Roon endpoint. You will need to go into Roon’s settings (using a Roon Remote with a bigger interface, such as a Mac or Windows desktop) → Audio → “Roon Ready” devices and enable the FiiO device. Please note that the exact name of the FiiO device will most likely not be called “FiiO M33” but something else, like “FiiO M11 Plus”, but don’t worry about the name, just rename it to whatever you like.
Then you will need to download and install the “Roon Remote” from the Play Store. Once both the FiiO Roon and the Roon Remote are running, using the Roon Remote app select the newly enabled FiiO M33 as the playback zone. This will give you bit perfect Roon playback.
Another thing that you should be aware of is that if you have the M33 R2R set to oversampling mode that all the audio files will be resampled to the higher bit rate. Using non-oversampling mode will provide bit-perfect playback at the sampling rate of the audio file.
You can also take a look at the “Fiio M11Plus ESS and M11S with Roon Ready is fanatasic!” thread for additional information and perhaps better instructions on the whole FiiO/Roon bit perfect playback than I’ve provided above. I have both the M33 R2R and the M11 Plus and Roon works the same on each one.
Yep! Exactly what Jazzfan_NJ stated would be my reply too. Official Roon App may be pre-installed under the FiiO Applications section, but it won’t be the latest release, so I usually just use the Play Store and grab the latest from Roon.
Thanks. Will do. I got the K13 recently and was blown away.. I have a pair of Beyerdynamic T1s and FA19 Fiios, and they both sound amazing with the K13; both have never sounded better. I’m hoping the M33 will give me the same “sauce”. In fact the K13 got me back into Roon after a longish hiatus.
Ok… I’m not disappointed, lol. It’s all I could have hoped for, the M33. It’s given me pretty much the K13 in portable form, with a DAP front end. Brilliant. The sound is great. Plenty powerful enough, incisive and punchy, but smooth and layered at the same time. Works brilliantly with my FA19s and is no slouch with my 600ohm T1 Beyerdynamics, either.
I’ve waited since Roon came out to get the ability to use a portable bit perfect end point. Hurrah, I’ve arrived!!
For anyone interested…. I spent a couple of hours this morning doing some direct comparisons between the K13 and the M33, using both the FA19 iems and T1 overears and Roon as a player. Both of these monitors are very capable, very incisive and can reveal shortfalls in recordings and are demanding of systems (especially the T1).
Using the T1 (600ohm) single ended, with the M33 in desktop mode, the M33 lags very slightly behind the K13 in terms of layering and “air”, I can focus on microdetails better and hear more within the mix with the K13, it’s a little more engaging. Using the easy to drive FA19, balanced, and with the M33 out of desktop mode, the difference is very hard to discern. Indeed I’m finding the M33 maybe a tad more engaging than the K13 with the FA19… maybe, but I would say they are on a par. I think in a blind listening test with FA19 i wouldn’t be able to hear a difference. This is all with classic rock and jazz tracks, a range of well recorded stuff I know intimately. All the settings on both devices are neutral, NOS, and no equalisation on either, no enhancements.
Thanks for the comparisons. I would venture a guess that differences heard between the K13 and the M33 when using the Beyerdynamic T1 are due to the power required to properly drive the very difficult to drive and power hungry T1s. Since I have all three of these devices I will try this comparison out for myself and report my findings.
Yes I think so too. I might crank up my trusty K7 pro which has around the same single ended power as the K13 albeit using THX circuitry and run it as a power amp for the line out of the M33 and see how that compares. That might be an interesting experiment. TBH, I find A/B comparisons very hard. I prefer to listen to the music and see how engaging a certain piece of kit makes it. But that needs a different mindset to A/B comparisons.
Let us know how your comparisons go. I am very interested to hear if you agree with my findings or have a different take on things.
I did a few comparisons this morning of the M33 R2R (in “desktop mode”) versus the K13 R2R (with the FiiO Darkside Pro power supply).
First and I believe very important: when using the M33 in desktop mode please be sure that you are using a USB connection with enough power so that the M33 indicates that “super high gain mode” is enabled. At first I had the M33 connected to a low power USB charger and super high gain mode wasn’t enabled, i.e. the pop-up message asking if I wanted to enable super high gain mode never appeared. I then changed to higher power USB charger and the enable super high gain mode pop-up message appeared (and I enabled it). So I suggest that you check whether or not super high gain mode has been enabled when using the M33 R2R in desktop mode.
Okay now that is out of the way, what I did find is that even with super high gain mode enabled the M33 R2R does not have enough power to properly drive the Beyerdynamic T1s. Sure the M33 does drive the T1s to reasonable listening levels but when doing so the volume is nearly maxed out (over 95%) which means that there is very little headroom available for driving transient peaks and this robs the music of some of the dynamics. Which is rather ironic for headphones from Beyerdynamic.
And, of course, the K133 R2R had no issues or problems driving the T1s to ear splitting volumes with plenty of headroom and power for any transient peaks.
The T1s are well known for being very difficult to drive and are not recommended for portable use. If you like the sound of the T1s and want headphones with a similar sound for portable use then try the Beyerdynamic T5p headphones.
Thanks for your trials! I upped the ante yesterday and whacked the line out of the M33 into the K7 pro, which has near as dammit the same output as the K13, and found that it’s not just about the power. I was getting more texture, better timbre out of the K13 than the M33/K7 combo, and interestingly I could discern little difference dynamically betweeen the M33 only and the M33/K7 combo. I didn’t push any device particualarly hard. That was not my goal, but to test at good listening volumes. Ultimately the timbre and definition of the K13 wins out for me with the T1s 1st gen. I’ve NEVER heard them sound like this. They’ve always played 2nd fiddle to good IEM’s and now the K13/T1 1st gen combo is wholly intoxicating. Having said that, the M33 is no slouch. It works perfectly for my use-case which is with the FA19s as a portable rig.
Very interesting. Since I also own the Beyerdynamic T1 (1st generation) and the FiiO K13 (with the new FiiO Darkside Pro power supply), I will give this combo a listen. The T1s are much maligned over at Head-Fi, an opinion that I don’t share.
It seems like forever that I’ve had my T1s 1st gen (bought them back in 2012 or so when they were the alt-option to the HD800s) and I’ve never really thought they were giving what they could give. I always invested in iems from then on. Now they make sense! Again, interested to hear your thoughts.
Okay the “test” results are in and things are not looking good for the Beyerdynamic T1s.
Using the single ended output of the FiiO K13 (with the FiiO Darkside Pro power supply) I compared the T1s with the Sennheiser HD800, the Focal Clear MG and the new ZMF Tessidera, all open back, dynamic driver (except for the Tessidera, which is an open back planar magnetic over ear). I also used Opra presets when available and when no presets are available (I’m looking at you, Tessidera) I just use a little crossfeed.
All three headphones are clearly better sounding than the T1s. The T1s bass response is just pure MUD and makes the sound overly thick and robs the midrange and treble of any clarity. With so many much better sounding full sized, open back headphones now available I would say that it is a good time to rethink your “commitment” to the T1s and consider replacing them. Yes the T1s were/are that bad.
As for the sonic benefits of the FiiO Darkside Pro power supply, I would say that they are at best very subtle and I could easily live without the Darkside Pro. In other words, save your money or put that money towards some new headphones. For example at $700 The FiiO FT7 headphones are a great match for the FiiO K13, as are the other three headphones I used in my testing.
