[alwass89]

I have had the FiiO X5, then upgraded to the X5ii and then to the X5iii. I am now looking to upgrade again. I feel like the next logical step would be the FiiO M11, I am just deciding if I want the regular or the Pro, as both are within my budget.

Can anyone with experience with both of these DAPs give me their input if they think that the upgraded sound quality of the M11 Pro is worth the extra $220, losing 1 micro SD card slot and 3.5 hours of battery life?

I know that with the M15 you get upgraded battery life and sound, but that is well outside my budget, so please don't suggest that.

Thank you for your help.

 

[pjones5]

Not super experienced with either, but I was in a similar spot last week. Ended up going for the FiiO M11 Pro for a couple of reasons...
- I can put a 256 Gb SD card in that 1 Micro SD card slot and have enough space for about 21,000 FLAC files - not to mention that the FiiO M11 Pro also comes with a 64 Gb onboard storage. That, to me, is plenty of space. If I needed more, I could jump to a 500 Gb micro-SD card (or, if I wanted to spend a lot, a 1 TB card). So, while the 2 SD card slots sounds nice, I think the 1 will do. Plus, I've also heard rumors that on the M11 one of those SD card slots was super buggy anyways.

- The M11 Pro boasts of a somewhat minor upgrade to the DAC chips, but now includes a THX amp card. Most reviewers said that this does produce noticeably better sound than the M11. But, you do lose that battery life. I'm looking to run a pair of Drop x Sennheiser HD6xx, AKG N40, and (one day, hopefully) Sony MDR-Z7M2 with the FiiO M11 Pro - all of these really benefit from higher quality electronics. In my case, I took that higher price and cut to the battery life for that better sound quality.

- The battery life thing sucks. Almost made me go for the M11 instead of the Pro version. Here was my thinking though. I'll get better sound quality and, if it really bothers me, then I can just buy a $40 portable battery pack to charge on the go. Correcting battery life issues is easy, but you're stuck with the DAC/amp chipset you buy.

All in all, if you've got the money - I'd sway towards the Pro version for the above reasons. Like I said though, I haven't had personal experience with them yet (my M11 Pro should be coming in the mail any day now). Some guys really think that that upgraded DAC chip and THX amp is worth it. Others don't seem to care.

 

[pjones5]

Update!

I don't know if you've pulled the trigger or not, but I thought I'd share my actual experience with the M11 Pro. Go for the M11 and save your money!

Don't get me wrong, the M11 Pro was good, but I was a little underwhelmed with it for the $650 price tag - especially with the M11 only costing $400. I sat down with a cable running from the BTR5 and a cable running from the M11 Pro. Played the same song on each and just switched my headphones back and forth. The M11 Pro is more detailed and the mids and highs are somewhat more forward. Overall though, the sound quality was not a significant step up and there's a $500 price difference between the two.

 

[Thx1326]

I listened to both the m11 and m11 pro and agree with the previous post. I have almost my entire music collection on two 1TB cards (at least the tracs that matter) and love having it all available all the time. I listen to it alot and the battery life has not yet been a factor... and if it ever becomes a factor, I'll just get a portable battery pack - can't see that happening right now. The audio quality is so close that I don't know if I heard the difference at all or was it that I wanted to hear a difference to help me squeeze that extra cash out of my wallet - just couldn't do it. Having the two slots outweighed what I thought was better sound and then again... it all depends on what IEM's you are using and what your personal hearing curve it. Play a sweep of frequencies and you will probably find that in a flat, non equalized arena... your hearing may not be quite what you thought was. Again, forget the specs (they are good to a point) and pick out a good set of IEM's and then forget the specs, forget the hardware, forget everything and get lost in the music. It is so good that you do yourself an injustice by worrying about and trying to have "the best". Besides, next week something else will be "the best" and you know what? I will still be enjoying what I have while others are waiting for the latest and the greatest to arrive... only to be thwarted in the next month when that new pair of IEM's or player comes out. I set a personal limit on myself that I try not to upgrade within 2 years - in 2 years there will probably be a legitimate reason to upgrade.

Enjoy the music... with a good nightcap!

 

[Green Golden Retriver]

Has anyone ever compared Fiio M11 and M11 Pro to Cayin N3Pro yet?