From Twitter or X or whatever it is called these days
Congratulations to
who dominated the audio awards at
with a win for best wired headphones and best hi-fi!
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Been listening to the R7 for a couple of months using it as a roon endpoint -the internal dac is good probably in the $400 range however when I connected to my musician Draco via USB C the results were outstanding. Coming from a Zen stream the R7 is about 2 grades higher and I am guessing you would have to spend twice as much to better it as a streamer.
The optional LPS upgrade is also a worthwhile upgrade for the price.
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What is it that you find better than the ZS used a Roon End Point? I use a ZS and like it very much, but I’m curious about the FiiO (btw, I couldn’t care less about screens in streamers, my question is about sound). Thank you
Don’t get me wrong the Zen is a great product and probably the best sounding streamer under 600.
The R7 has a richer, warmer sound that suits my system which is a bit bright.
Soundstage is deeper and it handles faster music with better precision and pace such as percussion and electronic.
It also presents music with a darker background.
My impression is that this just makes music more coherent and involving.
None of which detacts from the Zen which is a significantly cheaper product.
Thank you. That’s a detailed description. Cheers
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Detail for my taste ears: single DAC sounds more natural. I have FiiO X3ii, X3iii, X5iii, M11 Plus ESS and now R7. R7 remind me the warm and beautiful sound of old X3ii and iii under the K5 amplifier. M11 have a sibilant, crispy sound. R7 with single DAC, no battery-life concerns and 12V PL50 add is a must for a longg time. Alexandre
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Is anyone aware of any Black Friday deals on the R7? I couldn’t find anything here in the UK but I did find a very interesting and long thread about the R7 and some of the issues it has. I would start at the end and work back…ARC gets a mention or two. Apologies if someone has already posted the link.
However ‘capable’ my FiiO M17 may be, my favourite Roon endpoint is by-far the R7.
I think this tells you something about the quality of this device 
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Even when
…it makes the R7 sound like a circa-2000 MP3 player
?
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There is always some one on headfi with an agenda.or beef on a product. I saw posts about them saying that about my Hiby R5 which really was so untrue. No one would ever sub to Roon reading all the support posts on here. If an issue is supported by lots and lots of users then take more notice. There wil always be some faulty units out there mind nature of the game. I’ve had my M11 Plus coming on a year been faultless and sounds amazing.
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I’m sure @Martin_Kelly recognises the quote, as he was comparing it to the M17.
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lol. He quickly changed his mind with it and it won him over.
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Hahahaha!! I just love it when this happens 
OK. Some context. Yes, the M17 does sound better than the R7, without a doubt. And so it should too, if you look at the specs. Interestingly, it would seem that the new R9 will be based on similar specs to the M17, but in desktop form.
But for me at least, the R7 makes a ‘better’ Roon endpoint, and is my go-to headphone solution for several reasons.
When listening on headphones at home, I’m usually sat in one position. I’m not moving around, and I prefer the desktop form of the R7, rather than the small form factor of the M17.
With increased size, comes more outputs. I use the 4-pin XLR output of the R7 a lot, which is missing from the M17. Plus the R7 has more power. Even on ‘Enhanced over-ear’ mode, the M17 can’t drive my HiFiMAN He6 V2’s to satisfactory levels. The R7 can. With headroom to spare.
Now on to SQ. And this is where it gets interesting. The R7 is simply ‘good enough’. To be fair, it’s actually bloody good. Especially when powered with the PL50 LPS.
Oh, and did I mention price? At roughly half the price of the M17, the R7 is a relative bargain.
So there you have it. My ideal Roon endpoint for headphone listening. So much so, I’m probably gonna pass on the R9.
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I am using the R7 with LHS 50 as a roon end point only to external DAC (Musician Draco) using USB C.
It seems like a waste using less than half the function but coming from a Zen Stream(which was astep up from bluesound node) it just sounds so much better and I can’t think of anthing better for the price.
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G’Day all. Thinking of expanding the duties of my R7 with powered speakers for small bedroom listening. R7 with my headphone rig is bedside, speakers will be 2.4m around 8ft away.
Have we any experiences and recommendations from the community so that I can start researching.
Thanks in advance
Stuart (Lincolnshire UK)
These are made specifically for the R7:
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Hi.
I don’t recall anyone discussing using an R7 to drive speakers. It’s certainly capable of it.
It’s difficult to make a recommendation without additional parameters including size of room, budget, volume listening level, and your expectations around sound quality, bass, etc.
The SP3s that @Martin_Kelly recommended are marketed as “Desktop” speakers. The reviews I read and watched were mixed. Some positive comments but “staging” was consistently an issue - If you’re more than a meter or so away, they’re likely to sound like two independent, small sound sources. They might be an option for a desk, but I wouldn’t personally consider them for room listening.
Since you’re looking for powered speakers, I’ll mention KEF. Depending on the factors I mentioned, either the LSX II or the LS50 Wireless II might be an option. Both are powered though they don’t have analog inputs so you’d have to connect with via USB or optical if you wanted your R7 to act as source. However, they are also Roon Ready so can act as the streamer which means that you wouldn’t need to use the R7 to drive them. You could, but you don’t need to. You would also be able to install and run the Roon app from the Play store in your R7, if you haven’t already, and could use that to control them.
KEF has a pretty good holiday promo going in both the US and the UK (possibly elsewhere). They also extend nicely with KEFs small sub, the KC62, if you later find that you want more at the low end.
Maybe this gives you an idea or two 
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Acoustic Energy AE1 active. Currently to be had for £849. Fully active speakers without all the streaming gubbins, which you won’t need with the R7.
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I own a pair of the HD6 powered speakers from Audioengine currently being used in a guest bedroom and they are quite nice. There are also other less expensive powered speakers from Audioengine available.
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Thanks Martin, Lee and Jazz fan these suggestions will prove very useful.
Came across this from iloud and Tom Lord-Alge
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