One MAJOR FLAW from perfection! FiiO R7 review

A review of the feature-packed FiiO R7 all-in-one DAC, amp, pre-amp and streamer including testing of its headphone amp, DAC stage and streaming quality.

My top recommended HEADPHONES (prices in USD)

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My top recommended HEADPHONE AMPS (prices in USD)

My top recommended DONGLE DACS (prices in USD)

My top recommended WIRELESS 'PHONES (prices in USD)

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00:00 Introduction
00:33 Glamour video
01:28 Specifications
02:44 FiiO R7 features
04:21 One major flaw
08:29 Device tour
11:44 Sound quality - AC vs DC power
12:21 Device tour continued
14:10 Sound quality - via HP out
15:34 R7 amp test
19:55 R7 DAC test
22:48 R7 streaming only test
25:03 FiiO R7 vs FiiO K9 Pro ESS
26:13 FiiO R7 vs Matrix Mini-i 3 Pro
30:15 Final conclusions

#audiophile #audioreview #streamers

[Scrufboy]

Wow Lachlan.. You are really knocking it out of the park... Glad to see you so busy doing what you love & doing it well. Hats off mate!

[harisjaved]

Finally someone covered this issue! Because it is very annoying especially when you are playing games! No other audio reviewer covered it, and I noticed this issue since day one. It happens on windows and macOS

[aceofspades]

Fantastic review this may be in your top 3 thus far. So much to cover functionally and to describe from a SQ perspective. I know this one took an incredible amount of time and effort. Clearly showed on this one!

[Frootopia]

Yet another superb review, Lachlan! How on earth do you find the time to make these great reviews and reply to so many of the comments? Astounding! I suspect you might be utilizing a clone or two!
I've had my R7 for a couple of months now, and I think it's fantastic. Practically perfect for a recently retired fella like me who is just starting to invest time and effort into a new (and expensive) hobby. While now having the means to indulge myself, I still like to find value in what I get. Fiio's products are definitely that and more. I have a couple of their IEMs, the UTWS5, and the FT3. Heck, the FT3's Furukawa cable alone is a fantastic value: I even use it with my Hifiman HeKse!
I've also added a couple of hybrid tube amps on the cheap and the results have sounded pretty darn good with the R7. I've decided I like a bit of tubeness with my cans. I'm quite sure I will be upgrading my tube amps in the near future. I like what I've seen and heard about the Woo Audio Fireflies gen 3. What do you think? Any other suggestions to pair with the R7? Keep the faith, brotha!

[padde]

I recently purchased the LPS for the R7 and IMO it makes a significant difference to the sound, the sound is fuller and more effortless, definitely worth it for the extra AUD$200.

[josephsmith]

What a great review! I just bought one and your video is informative. Subscribed

[psysword]

Just ordered. Waiting to see how it runs

[Mike_rem]

If your PC has optical out, use that instead so you won't have that USB delay. Many higher-end motherboards have optical out.

[kamerafi]

I'm genuinely worried if whatever Android version is in the R7 is too old to be supported by third party apps or even Fiio themselves stop supporting it.

My audio gears can easily last over 10 years.

I have my HD650 since 2008, I think.

[danab]

I’ve had my R7 for a couple of days and I think it sounds fantastic as a hifi component feeding a preamp. Super clean and tidy presentation with admirably restrained and refined bass. It replaced a Yamaha WXC-50 and there is no comparison. The R7 is a system lifter no question.

[-ANJ.]

Great review. Thank you for the comparisons for all aspects of the unit.

[redjr]

Great, thorough review of the R7. I've been a sucker for all-in-one devices for a long time. My first computer audio device was an RP-U100 and RP-200 digital receivers from the early 2000 era. I was certainly intrigued when I saw the release of the R7 by FiiO. It seems to be a very versatile audio device and checks all the boxes for connectivity. Too bad about the lag on the USB input though. While not a show-stopper for myself, I can see where it can be a serious concerns for others. I own a FiiO K9 Pro (AK4499) variant, and absolutely love the sound. I don't 'need' another DAC/streamer, as I build most of mine now, but the R7 is certainly a fitting companion for the summer home, office, or bedroom - especially if you use roon as your whole-home digital eco-system. Well done review. Subed.

[DrGatling]

I was wanting to use the R7 EXACTLY for the reason you mentioned in your "One major flaw" section. The delay is definitely a deal breaker for me. Such a shame. Thanks a bunch for the info man, I appreciate it. Great video.

[joshp]

Picked one up recently. Im enjoying it.

[lancebrady]

Great review. I might plan on getting this and pairing it with an amp to make it an all in one solution for my needs. Maybe we get some competition with this device and we all win

[OzSteve]

I think it was me that requested the review of this and the Matrix 😆😆😆

Great review mate. I bought one (white) for my work desk. I never thought of using this for PC audio (as I use this as a Roon endpoint) But as I run some Logitech z623 speakers I run the 3.5mm and RCA's no issue. Also, the USB-C out you can attach a USB-C monitor for YouTube and the like. But I don't use it.
I do at times use my Chord Mojo 2 with this. But end of the day this is just for work, and does the job well.

I bought the R7 mainly so I didn't need my phone/tablet and use the touchscreen.

Looking forward to the next review 👍👍👍

[GGFEvents]

Great video. How did you test the latency for USB DAC mode? I watched your example and feel it's very very exaggerated. I have the R7 and have tested a few games (fps mainly shooting different weapons for any bullet fire latency) and honestly cannot tell anything difference between the R7 and 2 other Test PC's. One using the DX7 pro and another with standard onboard sound.

[johnmc]

It’s a great device. I use it purely as a DAC(connected to a REGA amp)and with an ipad pro as the end point. Interestingly the sound with the iPad(over airplay) is noticeably more powerful than with the r7 to an amp on its own.

[Techy]

What a fantastic review, really informative.

You clearly know your stuff!

Liked and subbed 👍

[michaelrobinson]

Thank you, Lachlan, for such a thorough review of the r7. One feature you mentioned that has great appeal to me is its versatility as a hub given its DDC capabilities. Were you able to evaluate the quality of its digital to digital conversion, by chance, primarily the quality/capability of the conversion from spdif in to usb out? Graz.