The FiiO BTR7 is not your average portable DAC/amplifier. It’s super pretty – in fact, it’s designed to look a lot like the company’s newest portable hi-fi player, the M11S – but it also has a lot of features that most other portable DACs/amplifiers lack. It has a small screen to display bitrate and audio volume. It supports wireless charging like most smartphones these days. And it has built-in Bluetooth, meaning you don’t connect directly to your smartphone or laptop if you don’t want to.
FiiO BTR7 is designed to work best when used as a traditional DAC/amplifier: it plugs into your smartphone or laptop and makes audio on wired headphones sound much better. When connected directly to your device, BTR7 supports audio files up to 32-bit/384kHz (PCM) or DSD256, as well as Master Quality Authenticated (MQA). So if you’re paying for a lossless streaming service, the BTR7 will probably handle the most hi-fi tracks.
However, if you don’t want to connect your device, you can stream audio directly to the BTR7. It supports a variety of Bluetooth codecs, including aptX HD and LDAC, and can handle high-resolution tracks up to 24-bit/96kHz. It’s not quite as hi-fi as if used in a completely analog connection, but it’s a neat choice if you want to slip the BTR7 in your pocket and move it around. There are also buttons that allow you to quickly switch between these different modes.
As far as guts go, the BTR7 has two amplifiers (each a THX AAA-28) and two DACs (each an ESS9219 Sabre) to help balance the sound. There are two headphone inputs, 3.5mm and 4.4mm, so you can use multiple wired headphones. And it has a built-in battery, which it claims can last up to nine hours, so the BTR7 won’t drain power from your smartphone or laptop while in use.
If you’re someone who likes to change the sound of your music, the BTR7 also works with a companion app (FiiO Control) that has a 10-band graphic equalizer.
The FiiO BTR7 is available now for $199. If you have an iPhone, for an additional $10 you can buy a version that comes with a USB-C cable for lightning.
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