Audiophilepure

. THX have achieved their goal with the THX AAA-78*2 amplifier architecture of providing a powerful dynamic low distortion and linear solution for portable devices, and FiiO’s implementation takes full advantage of its characteristics. Plus the AKM AK4497EQ is simply one of the most musical DAC chips available, and again FiiO’s utilization and support of this chip is completely admirable, wringing the best possible sound from it.

With its musicality, versatility, and power, it would not be a stretch to say that the M11 Plus LTD is the best portable solution in its price range, able to fulfill almost any use requirement whether as a DAP, a portable USB, or Bluetooth DAC/Amp or a music server for a Bluetooth speaker system. I would say that it would be of benefit to grab up the limited edition bit of magic while they are still available, a full wholehearted recommendation.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/astellkern-kann-alpha-portable-playerheadphone-amp

Nevertheless, not everything about the player feels quite so well thought through. Internal memory is fixed at 64GB, which frankly feels somewhat parsimonious. This can be expanded via a microSD card, with cards up to 1TB supported, but these, of course, will need to be budgeted for in addition to the player itself.

I also found the size of the KANN Alpha’s screen problematic [see boxout, p73] while the control interface threw up its own issues. At its heart, the interface used by all Astell&Kern products is a modified Android platform, but rather than allow apps to be installed via Google Play, they must be loaded via APK and transferred over USB – a process that was not always seamless under test. Meanwhile, the embedded Tidal app ceased functioning during review due to a login problem, although Astell&Kern says this is a temporary issue and would be fixed, around our publication date, via a firmware update for the player.

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/sony-xperia-1-iii

Bass notes sound a little tighter, meaning more control and agility, and helping tracks such as New Ferrari by Surprise Chef sound like they’re in a particularly good mood. Listening to Black Rainbow by Koreless, the brooding sense of tension is well conveyed and it’s clear the Xperia is capable of dynamics to rival any phone on the market and plenty of dedicated hi-res players.

the M3X is a compact and light device, measuring 109mm x 72mm x 15.9mm and 168g. As for the layout, both the unbalanced and balanced outs are located on the top of the device and the USB-C charging port is located on the bottom along with the SD-card slot. On the left side of the device, there are three navigation buttons. Via those, you can skip tracks and pause or resume the playback. On the right side of the device, there is a volume pot that can be pressed on. It acts as a power button and looks very elegant with the notched design. Under the volume pot, there is a single LED that lets you know about the power status. It is really easy to use the device with one hand and it seamlessly fits into my jean pockets.

To ensure the best performances, FiiO developed a fourth-generation FPGA chip with “more advanced algorithms, more accurate clocks, and even further reduced jitter”. Add a set of two custom Japanese NDK femtosecond crystals, and here you have your full DSD512 / PCM 32bit/768kHz support.

And to top of all that, the M11 Plus LTD continue to use THX-AA78 amps, the same found in the previous M11 Pro. Glorious amp chips even if a bit less powerful than the one found in the M15. In fact, the M11 Plus LTD output the same level of power as the M11 Pro, with a 1mW variance.

The brand also developed a new in-house FPGA-Master chip, working as the audio system controller. Working as the brain of the audio circuit, it receives the data from the CPU, synchronizes and generates all audio clocks at the same time using two Accusilicon femtosecond oscillators, then sends it to the quad DAC in I²S, or DSD.