Congratulations, you finally found out how ancient Apple's technology is, while other Bluetooth protocol can transfer up to 1.2 Mbps, Apple stayed at MP3 grade transfer rate. And USB transfer rate is at minimum at 10 Mbps (USB 2.0).
This really helped as I'm not an Apple person but was gifted an iPad and just bought a Fiio DAC Amp for my Samsung phone. I thought my USB-C to lightning would work for my ipad, but it didn't. I am going to order one of those camera cables. Thank you so much!
Why I love the Samsung. Settings adjusted to DEV mode and LDAC is made available. Voila, LDAC with the BTR5. However, if I am bothered to go wired to the phone, then a dongle DAC suits me just fine (Abigail~$13 or CS Pro Audio CS43131 DSD256~$23). Most of the time I prefer using KZ AZ09 Pro BT 5.2 earhooks with a Let Shouer S12 or MP154 or HEXA, in AptX HD.
Fiio BTR5 is supporting LDAC and aptX which is far more superior than AAC. So if you have Android phone you can use LDAC and if you use PC you can use aptX. Unless you want to use MQA from provider like Tidal there's no reason to use cable connection for BTR5.
@@yovandra Well, that all depends on your source audio. If you have 256kbps AAC-LC files on your device, then AAC transmission is your best bet. In any other case, LDAC would indeed be better.
@@neutronpcxt372 hi can you please help with one question. I have iphone and will be playing music via usb and apply music play Hi res too will give the hi res output
You should get the Powered Apple “camera “ USB Adapter with the power in port right next to the USB port. It charges or powers both the BTR5 and the IPhone/IPad. It’s 40 bucks but it lets you plug anything into your iPad, even power hungry peripherals that have no battery. I have a usb powered DAC/headphone amp that I plug into my iPad that way. Sounds great, works great. It’s the day after Christmas and I’m still waiting for my BTR5 to come in the mail. Amazon says it might be lost! Great! I hope it’s worth the trouble.
The sound is outstanding wired on balanced output! Shame for the very poor battery performance in that arrangement. I now got the Fiio Hip Dac and I am very happy even if I have to put up with the bulk of it
@@SirMesko I like my hipdac but do wish it has Bluetooth or like the xduoo units a clip,on optional self powered Bluetooth module, of course they now have their btr5/quidalix competitor coming out, no built in EQ as ifi don’t like EQ so it has the xbass and 3d sound of the zen can etc.
@@adrianmorrish8494 may be u should switch to ifi go blu or fioo btr7... The last one already launched their commercial advertising... So sorryy about my bad English
mine sounds pretty good on AAC, that is AAC is not good but I mean compared to other bluetooth Dingles with AAC, LDAC sounds pretty good on the BTR5 and balanced can easily drive my Sennheiser 6xx's for wandering around the house
@@SirMesko I do than,s, compared to my Zen Can with topping e30 dac or my topping 30 pro stack or my 2w hybrid amp running of the topping e30 or d30 it sound fine although not as good
@@aadirao4169 both, my topping has since morphed into an ifi stack but the btr5 sounded good for casual listening on the btr5 run balanced and high gain with plenty of headroom. Sound better on entry level desktop stacks or combined dac and amp units though of a reasonable quality. You do need to run balanced on the btr5 though as if you work out the requirements you need more voltage than the single ended can deliver. On a desk dac and amp the voltage is plenty single ended from the topping e30/l30 for instance
Suggestion to drive hd650( 300ohms )at full potential currently running it on btr5. If u suggest me to buy a stack Give me good models names under 500 dollars
Also have it and sound great. Works better with android Bluetooth Codecs but also improves with cable and software to bypass android, check USB Audio Player Pro, wait think is only for android. Any way check out also lighting to usb c so less conectors. Njoy
Thank you for you comment. It’s my understanding that Android can be unfriendly to high quality sound in the way that it deals with processing audio signals. It’s good to know that there are apps to bypass Androids native processing. iOS I believe is much better natively, despite some drawbacks, such as codecs.
Thanks for recommending USB Audio Player Pro, I tried and bought it. I don't have great hearing but even I could hear the difference between LDAC, wired, and then bypassing Android with UAPP. It immediately became my favourite player in every way.
I bought the BTR5 on the back of this for my iPhone 15. Have seldom been so disappointed in a gadget. Terrible ergonomics ( buttons are too small, zero haptics,…). Once hooked up you can only change the volume using the DAC - iPhone and headphone volume control is disabled. I also have a Zen DAC and there is a huge difference in the audio quality from this compared to the BTR5. Needless to say I sent it back the same day. So still looking for a decent DAC…
i lost my btr5 and i was thinkin bout buying the dragonfly black instead of replacing the btr5 so looking forward to that comparison vid b4 i make my decision
I wouldn't get the black to be frank, it's low powered and old chips, red is another matter,remember there is no bluetooth so not comparing apples with apples
There a new model as well it has MQA for Tidal. I'm sticking with btr5 for now I use it on my laptop wired all the time. Now to sound using a iphone playing Tidal the difference is noticeable and ease of use balances that out quickly. I also have a Astell and Kern xb10 which I think is a little more clear than the btr5. Tidal updated thier software so my music player won't sign in to Tidal so now I have to use a camera attachment with a portable battery to my iphone least convenient still the best sound by far.
Hello. Thanks for your videos. Could you please clarify me some doubts? Is there any difference between Apple and standard edition apart from the wires incorporated?I also mean if you can use the Apple edition as well as a standard edition with a Windows computer. Can you hear a good difference listening to Spotify at highest quality (although someone think it’s not enough quality rate)? Thank you and regards.
Hi but for Android phone which has Aptx codec it will sound awesome...i njoy this with my op7t ...with Poweramp player and 24bit audio files it's a crazy combo...
Waiting to hear about the differences from the dragonfly.. after your last video I Seriously considered canceling my BTR5 order.. BTW there’s a Cable to connect the BTR straight to the iPhone Fiio’s Lt-Lt1 (what a classic name)
Thks… got the LT-LT1 cable and connected my IPhone directly to the Audeze Mobius with the USB-C connection and it works perfeclty… I can toggle between Stereo, 7.1 or High Res mode on the Mobius …waiting for the BTR5 now
I wish it was that simple too. Unfortunately, to communicate with external devices iOS requires the camera adaptor which has a chip inside for that communication to happen. The regular charging cable does not
I used my BTR3K as a wired dac and the sound it gave was nothing compared to using my Hidizs S9 Pro DAC AMP DONGLE . . . So is there something I'm missing as I was disappointed with what my BTR3K didn't give me compared to what my Hidizs did give me which was AweSomeNess PerSoNiFied
Thanks for helping with the wired setup for the iPhone. I have the Apple USB dongle with lightning power input so after 2 hours I can plug it into battery backup to charge. (EDIT) I can not make the BTR5 charge while wired connected to the iPhone. No matter what secondary cable I use, OTG USB cable into the Apple dongle with secondary power, it can't charge while wired to the iPhone. Turn on the charge and it stops working. Oh well...
Using my BTR5 over AptX HD or LDAC from my Android phone is far superior to the AAC from my iPhone. You need not be an audiophile to feel that. And using the BTR5 wired to laptop is far superior than any Bluetooth connection. But playing Spotify wired or Bluetooth with AptX HD doesn't make much of a difference. But playing lossless does make a difference.
@@Edwinvangent it's like LDAC in that it steps down based on signal strength, I believe you can lock it at the highest 192k, I'll check. Also I believe it still uses compression despite the bandwidth, this is the step change with LDAC losless that is based on LDAC adaptive. Best thing I guess is to try it, it's almost going to be the same argument as MQA compared to streaming native flac,alac etc., difference being is that bluetooth compression dosent include time domain correction like MQA "Claim" they do.
@@gilmartin3273 the normal charging cable doesn’t work. Fiio make a suitable cable though. Check the comments. Failing that you’ll need the camera adaptor cable from Apple
I’ve tried using an authorized lightning to camera adaptor, but when connecting to my IPhone the BTR5 would always connect to Bluetooth. Any ideas on how to avoid this.
It seems you have to go to the settings in your BTR5 and turn off the charging. If you do not, iOS does not allow the connection. Let me know how it goes
@@SirMesko My initial comment was said a bit tounge in cheek....and I have a hip dac too and yes it is very impressive. Android is certainly limited with USB Dacs (need USB Audio Player Pro really) but it certainly is the better Bluetooth option with LDAC.
@@Jc-ks5lx Hi Jack, thanks for your question. You will need both. The back cord connects the USB type C on the unit to the USB type 2 on the Apple dongle. I hope this helps
In order to use the BTR 5 wired with an iPhone, you have to use the USB cable and the lighting camera adaptor and turn off the charging mode on the unit itself. I hope this helps
I’m confused. Let us say I have a Drop tHX Panda wireless headphone; if I connect the FiiO to a pc with the usbA-usbC cord, do I used wired input from the Drop Panda to the balancedmport of the FiiO or does it work wireless?
@@SirMesko so, if I connected FiiO to a PC, can I connect the headphones via bulwtooth to pc to use the FiiO as a dac or do I have to connect directly (BT or wired) to the FIiO? Thanks for your help
@@TheChillee No you plug in the headphones into the BTR5 which is either connected to the source (PC in your case) wired (high quality) or Bluetooth (lower quality). Hope that makes sense
@@SirMesko if you want to connect a device via usb then broadcast at aac, LDAC etc then look at the hiby R2 cad 99 on Amazon or 76 on Ali express, I use one as a Swiss Army knife as it also does line out, Airplay etc and it’s also a reasonable dap actually
Oh my god! I feel like such a retard. Connected my IPAD PRO 2021 running iPad so 15 with a USB C to C and the sound was incredibly different. Very loud. Like someone turned on the lights. I was living a mediocre life with latency too and now suddenly I can even record music i think. Going to do more tests, but you’re the man for reminding me. Thanks!
Just a quick question. When I plug in the Fiio btr5 to my computer I can't use LDAC codex and it displays 48k on the screen, is that normal? or is there a way to use LDAC with windows?
Sadly, windows doesn't have the licensing and stuff from Sony to be able to implement LDAC and as far as I know, there aren't any third party solutions to that. So you are probably stuck on cable when it comes to windows.
@@8japman LDAC is not a supported bluetooth codec on Windows whatsoever. So LDAC won't work on any devices connected to windows even if the device supports LDAC.
does btr5 (wired dac mode) sounds much better than the $10 apple dongle dac ? if yes, can you tell them appart in a blind test (someone randomly connecting one or the other witvout telling you in A/B testing)? thanks
In my opinion, the BTR5 wired especially over balanced output sounds much better than the Apple dongle. Of course, you will need good headphones/earphones to make notice the difference more easily. Blind test? Yes, totally noticeable. The sound is so much more open and airy. Music is so much more enjoyable.
just curious in a blind test btr5 wired vs apple dongle dac do you get btr5 10 times out of 10 or more 7 times out of ten ? ( blind test meaning someone else pluging one or the other randomly at matching loudness of course) thanks
@@amanieux If you know your music and what you are looking for I would say that you'd be able to get it right almost always. That is beside the point though. Blind tests do not reflect how we listen to music. Often the difference between good sound and poor sound is subtle and only truly noticeable as you relax with your music over a longer period of time.
@@rajeebdas1724 i'm not saying there is no difference , i am saying it is so subtle that i cannot hear a difference, if you can hear a difference then your ear might be better trained than mine or better from birth but did you actually do the blind test between 2 dacs out of curiosity ? i also thought i could hear a difference but as a scientist i am trained to not trust my intuition and rely on data.
Have you tried BTR 5 with Sony WH 1000xm3 or Xm4 .. using wired mode ? And using Apple music Hi res Lossless ? Was there any noticable difference while using them in wired mode ? Not like the loudness .. but just overall ?
@@karthikclu I've tried them wired with the amazing Ikko Zerda dongle and they do sound better and tighter wired! In terms of the resolution I was using Spotify then
Here in Canada I bought a Cayin CS-L2C Lightning to USB-C OTG Cable (usb-c to lighting) and I can use my BTR5 w/iPhone plugged (Thanks David it didn’t even occur to me to use this otg connector I had lying around)
I noticed the volume got much louder when plugged in. My headphones aren’t hard to drive (Sony MDR-1AM2). When my Denon AH-D2000 comes in I’ll see if there’s a difference!
You need to get off AAC if you want to enjoy music. You being blown away at this point is great because it can only get much much better for you from where you are now.
Of course it sucks on bluetooth AAC everything on Apple proprietary company sucks 😆 it's very misleading of you to judge it solely on one bluetooth codec
Thanks for your feedback. The review is not intended to be misleading. Its a relevant review for anyone using an iPhone. Also, AAC is not a proprietary format.
no no no. I am convinced that the Apple dongle is very good and the BTR 5 used as a DAC is not worth more than 10 times the cost. also… iPhone… OTG cable… USB C cable… BTR… earphones… MORE ???
With android its definitly alot better and I use it with a long usb cable as my headphone amp/dac on my pc. This is an absoulte steal if you can actually use the Ldac codec.
Congratulations, you finally found out how ancient Apple's technology is, while other Bluetooth protocol can transfer up to 1.2 Mbps, Apple stayed at MP3 grade transfer rate. And USB transfer rate is at minimum at 10 Mbps (USB 2.0).
This really helped as I'm not an Apple person but was gifted an iPad and just bought a Fiio DAC Amp for my Samsung phone. I thought my USB-C to lightning would work for my ipad, but it didn't. I am going to order one of those camera cables. Thank you so much!
Why I love the Samsung. Settings adjusted to DEV mode and LDAC is made available. Voila, LDAC with the BTR5. However, if I am bothered to go wired to the phone, then a dongle DAC suits me just fine (Abigail~$13 or CS Pro Audio CS43131 DSD256~$23).
Most of the time I prefer using KZ AZ09 Pro BT 5.2 earhooks with a Let Shouer S12 or MP154 or HEXA, in AptX HD.
Fiio BTR5 is supporting LDAC and aptX which is far more superior than AAC. So if you have Android phone you can use LDAC and if you use PC you can use aptX. Unless you want to use MQA from provider like Tidal there's no reason to use cable connection for BTR5.
Yeah, but AAC has one big advantage: it bypasses transcoding if you have an AAC audio stream.
Still it will be compressed to 250kbps for AAC, while LDAC can be around 660kbps - 990kbps for Bluetooth stream.
@@yovandra Well, that all depends on your source audio.
If you have 256kbps AAC-LC files on your device, then AAC transmission is your best bet.
In any other case, LDAC would indeed be better.
Wired set up still superior than any kind of wireless technology nowadays...
@@neutronpcxt372 hi can you please help with one question. I have iphone and will be playing music via usb and apply music play Hi res too will give the hi res output
You should get the Powered Apple “camera “ USB Adapter with the power in port right next to the USB port. It charges or powers both the BTR5 and the IPhone/IPad. It’s 40 bucks but it lets you plug anything into your iPad, even power hungry peripherals that have no battery. I have a usb powered DAC/headphone amp that I plug into my iPad that way. Sounds great, works great. It’s the day after Christmas and I’m still waiting for my BTR5 to come in the mail. Amazon says it might be lost! Great! I hope it’s worth the trouble.
Another thing is that wired and balanced unwired it has dual working chips that make it sound alot cleaner and better overall.
The sound is outstanding wired on balanced output! Shame for the very poor battery performance in that arrangement. I now got the Fiio Hip Dac and I am very happy even if I have to put up with the bulk of it
@@SirMesko I like my hipdac but do wish it has Bluetooth or like the xduoo units a clip,on optional self powered Bluetooth module, of course they now have their btr5/quidalix competitor coming out, no built in EQ as ifi don’t like EQ so it has the xbass and 3d sound of the zen can etc.
@@adrianmorrish8494 may be u should switch to ifi go blu or fioo btr7... The last one already launched their commercial advertising... So sorryy about my bad English
@@CastingCelebrity thanks, I am looking at btr7 now
thank you for posting this! i had the same issues connecting to my iphone…this solved my issues. 🙏🙏
I’m glad my video helped you :)
Why didn't you brought apple version of btr5 ? It comes with lightning connectors to usb c cable.
i’m using it via bluetooth and it’s lasting me couple of days. actually i’m charging mine like once a week and i’m listening to music everyday
mine sounds pretty good on AAC, that is AAC is not good but I mean compared to other bluetooth Dingles with AAC, LDAC sounds pretty good on the BTR5 and balanced can easily drive my Sennheiser 6xx's for wandering around the house
Sound is a very subjective matter. I am happy you enjoy your BTR5 with the 6xx
@@SirMesko I do than,s, compared to my Zen Can with topping e30 dac or my topping 30 pro stack or my 2w hybrid amp running of the topping e30 or d30 it sound fine although not as good
@adrian .. which sounds good ?.. btr or your stacks ( topping ) .. i didnt get that end line
@@aadirao4169 both, my topping has since morphed into an ifi stack but the btr5 sounded good for casual listening on the btr5 run balanced and high gain with plenty of headroom. Sound better on entry level desktop stacks or combined dac and amp units though of a reasonable quality. You do need to run balanced on the btr5 though as if you work out the requirements you need more voltage than the single ended can deliver. On a desk dac and amp the voltage is plenty single ended from the topping e30/l30 for instance
Suggestion to drive hd650( 300ohms )at full potential currently running it on btr5.
If u suggest me to buy a stack
Give me good models names under 500 dollars
Also have it and sound great. Works better with android Bluetooth Codecs but also improves with cable and software to bypass android, check USB Audio Player Pro, wait think is only for android. Any way check out also lighting to usb c so less conectors. Njoy
Thank you for you comment. It’s my understanding that Android can be unfriendly to high quality sound in the way that it deals with processing audio signals. It’s good to know that there are apps to bypass Androids native processing. iOS I believe is much better natively, despite some drawbacks, such as codecs.
Thanks for recommending USB Audio Player Pro, I tried and bought it. I don't have great hearing but even I could hear the difference between LDAC, wired, and then bypassing Android with UAPP. It immediately became my favourite player in every way.
I bought the BTR5 on the back of this for my iPhone 15. Have seldom been so disappointed in a gadget. Terrible ergonomics ( buttons are too small, zero haptics,…). Once hooked up you can only change the volume using the DAC - iPhone and headphone volume control is disabled. I also have a Zen DAC and there is a huge difference in the audio quality from this compared to the BTR5. Needless to say I sent it back the same day. So still looking for a decent DAC…
just bought it, and luckily, it is for pc usage only
i lost my btr5 and i was thinkin bout buying the dragonfly black instead of replacing the btr5 so looking forward to that comparison vid b4 i make my decision
The BTR5 is far superior in terms of sound (wired), especially on balanced output. I've just uploaded my DFB opinion/review!
I wouldn't get the black to be frank, it's low powered and old chips, red is another matter,remember there is no bluetooth so not comparing apples with apples
@@adrianmorrish8494 The BTR5 can be used wired, which makes it apples with apples :P
@@SirMesko dragonfly does not have bluetooth which is what I referring to
There a new model as well it has MQA for Tidal. I'm sticking with btr5 for now I use it on my laptop wired all the time. Now to sound using a iphone playing Tidal the difference is noticeable and ease of use balances that out quickly. I also have a Astell and Kern xb10 which I think is a little more clear than the btr5. Tidal updated thier software so my music player won't sign in to Tidal so now I have to use a camera attachment with a portable battery to my iphone least convenient still the best sound by far.
Hello. Thanks for your videos. Could you please clarify me some doubts?
Is there any difference between Apple and standard edition apart from the wires incorporated?I also mean if you can use the Apple edition as well as a standard edition with a Windows computer.
Can you hear a good difference listening to Spotify at highest quality (although someone think it’s not enough quality rate)?
Thank you and regards.
Hi but for Android phone which has Aptx codec it will sound awesome...i njoy this with my op7t ...with Poweramp player and 24bit audio files it's a crazy combo...
I’m happy you’re enjoying your combo and making the most of the BTR5
Waiting to hear about the differences from the dragonfly.. after your last video I Seriously considered canceling my BTR5 order.. BTW there’s a Cable to connect the BTR straight to the iPhone Fiio’s Lt-Lt1 (what a classic name)
Thks… got the LT-LT1 cable and connected my IPhone directly to the Audeze Mobius with the USB-C connection and it works perfeclty… I can toggle between Stereo, 7.1 or High Res mode on the Mobius …waiting for the BTR5 now
BTR5 is a wireless device as well remember aka Bluetooth in ATX HD and LDAC, dragonfly is only wired
Also EQ does not work on USB mode
Why not just use Usbc to lighting that comes with the iphone? Am I missing something?
I wish it was that simple too. Unfortunately, to communicate with external devices iOS requires the camera adaptor which has a chip inside for that communication to happen. The regular charging cable does not
I used my BTR3K as a wired dac and the sound it gave was nothing compared to using my Hidizs S9 Pro DAC AMP DONGLE . . . So is there something I'm missing as I was disappointed with what my BTR3K didn't give me compared to what my Hidizs did give me which was AweSomeNess PerSoNiFied
Thanks for helping with the wired setup for the iPhone. I have the Apple USB dongle with lightning power input so after 2 hours I can plug it into battery backup to charge.
(EDIT) I can not make the BTR5 charge while wired connected to the iPhone. No matter what secondary cable I use, OTG USB cable into the Apple dongle with secondary power, it can't charge while wired to the iPhone. Turn on the charge and it stops working. Oh well...
Using my BTR5 over AptX HD or LDAC from my Android phone is far superior to the AAC from my iPhone. You need not be an audiophile to feel that. And using the BTR5 wired to laptop is far superior than any Bluetooth connection. But playing Spotify wired or Bluetooth with AptX HD doesn't make much of a difference. But playing lossless does make a difference.
Without Ldac or atleast aptxHD it really doesnt sound that good.
Thanks for confirming my impressions :)
@@SirMesko Ldac is amazing! I just recently got a phone that has Ldac over my previous phone which only aac and difference was amazing!
@@jamesmoore4827 it’s a big difference isn’t it, wonder what the new APTX lossless will be like
@@adrianmorrish8494 UAT goes at 192Khz lol
@@Edwinvangent it's like LDAC in that it steps down based on signal strength, I believe you can lock it at the highest 192k, I'll check. Also I believe it still uses compression despite the bandwidth, this is the step change with LDAC losless that is based on LDAC adaptive. Best thing I guess is to try it, it's almost going to be the same argument as MQA compared to streaming native flac,alac etc., difference being is that bluetooth compression dosent include time domain correction like MQA "Claim" they do.
Isn’t the cable that comes with the iPhone a USB-C to lightning cable, the one that plugs into athe fast charger like on an iPhone 11 is and up???
A normal charging cable won’t work as it lacks the chip required for iOS to accept an external device
@@SirMesko I thought all FACTORY iPhone cables that are USBC to lightning were MIFI CERTIFIED
@@gilmartin3273 the normal charging cable doesn’t work. Fiio make a suitable cable though. Check the comments. Failing that you’ll need the camera adaptor cable from Apple
@@SirMesko oh which tgere are 2 one is larger and allows you to charge iphone/ipad at same time one dosent but is far less bulky
I’ve tried using an authorized lightning to camera adaptor, but when connecting to my IPhone the BTR5 would always connect to Bluetooth. Any ideas on how to avoid this.
It seems you have to go to the settings in your BTR5 and turn off the charging. If you do not, iOS does not allow the connection. Let me know how it goes
Charge mode = OFF
Could you not use a usb c or whatever to lighting cable? Thanks for the video!
Unfortunately no. Only the camera adaptor cable from Apple has the necessary chip to allow iOS to communicate with external devices
@@SirMesko ahh ok, thanks for takeing the time to answer.
Will the fiio support 80 ohm headphones for hi res lossless?
The btr5 will be more than enough for 80 ohms
i drive sennheiser hd600 with this, and they’re 300 ohms..
Just use a usb c to lighting directly. Make make smaller ones (I have one by fiio directly).
can you get the fiio q3 dac/amp aswell?
THANKS!
Did you use a authorized lightning to usb adaptor?
AAC doesn't cut it. LDAC sounds fine. Time to ditch the Apple for an Android phone methinks
Maybe. Apple works great in other ways. The iPhone paired with the iFi hip Dac sounds sublime and it’s very stable
@@SirMesko My initial comment was said a bit tounge in cheek....and I have a hip dac too and yes it is very impressive. Android is certainly limited with USB Dacs (need USB Audio Player Pro really) but it certainly is the better Bluetooth option with LDAC.
@@SirMesko New subscriber by the way!!! good videos!!
@@philipnunn1816 thank you for subscribing:)
Does that black cable come with this device? Sorry, I’m pretty new and just starting to learn
If I get it, would I just only need that apple cord?
@@Jc-ks5lx Hi Jack, thanks for your question. You will need both. The back cord connects the USB type C on the unit to the USB type 2 on the Apple dongle. I hope this helps
Can this be used to connect from iPhone wired, to play LDAC wirelessly to 1000XM4s
No. The BTR5 is a Bluetooth receiver. You have to connect the headphones wired to it
Have you tried it with the usb and lighting dongle? Wondered if it was plugged into power if that messages would go away?
In order to use the BTR 5 wired with an iPhone, you have to use the USB cable and the lighting camera adaptor and turn off the charging mode on the unit itself. I hope this helps
@@SirMesko so the dragonfly does the same thing just different packaging and brands?
@@dkrol997 yes. However the DF does not have a battery the Fiio BTR5 has. Also the BTR5 sounds cleaner and more open
I’m confused. Let us say I have a Drop tHX Panda wireless headphone; if I connect the FiiO to a pc with the usbA-usbC cord, do I used wired input from the Drop Panda to the balancedmport of the FiiO or does it work wireless?
If you connect the Fiio to a computer or phone via a wire it works as a wired DAC, not a Bluetooth DAC.
@@SirMesko so, if I connected FiiO to a PC, can I connect the headphones via bulwtooth to pc to use the FiiO as a dac or do I have to connect directly (BT or wired) to the FIiO? Thanks for your help
@@TheChillee No you plug in the headphones into the BTR5 which is either connected to the source (PC in your case) wired (high quality) or Bluetooth (lower quality). Hope that makes sense
@@SirMesko if you want to connect a device via usb then broadcast at aac, LDAC etc then look at the hiby R2 cad 99 on Amazon or 76 on Ali express, I use one as a Swiss Army knife as it also does line out, Airplay etc and it’s also a reasonable dap actually
@@adrianmorrish8494 thanks! I wasn’t aware of that one
Have you try Fiio Q3 dac? If yes, how it compare to btr5 in terms of sound quality? Thanks
Oh my god! I feel like such a retard. Connected my IPAD PRO 2021 running iPad so 15 with a USB C to C and the sound was incredibly different. Very loud. Like someone turned on the lights. I was living a mediocre life with latency too and now suddenly I can even record music i think. Going to do more tests, but you’re the man for reminding me. Thanks!
I’m very happy that you rediscovered good sound!
what is the impedance of your headphone that sucks a full btr5 battery in 2h on BAL low gain ?
Thanks for your comment it’s 90ohms.
XMOS chip that use to transform USB signal is the cause of draining
Mosquito: what a name 😝
lol it’s Mesquita
Just a quick question. When I plug in the Fiio btr5 to my computer I can't use LDAC codex and it displays 48k on the screen, is that normal? or is there a way to use LDAC with windows?
No ldac with windows.
Sadly, windows doesn't have the licensing and stuff from Sony to be able to implement LDAC and as far as I know, there aren't any third party solutions to that. So you are probably stuck on cable when it comes to windows.
@@anaqin3179 What abot Fiio BTA30 Pro? Maybe it works?
Check Fiio BTA30 Pro
@@8japman LDAC is not a supported bluetooth codec on Windows whatsoever. So LDAC won't work on any devices connected to windows even if the device supports LDAC.
does btr5 (wired dac mode) sounds much better than the $10 apple dongle dac ? if yes, can you tell them appart in a blind test (someone randomly connecting one or the other witvout telling you in A/B testing)? thanks
In my opinion, the BTR5 wired especially over balanced output sounds much better than the Apple dongle. Of course, you will need good headphones/earphones to make notice the difference more easily. Blind test? Yes, totally noticeable. The sound is so much more open and airy. Music is so much more enjoyable.
just curious in a blind test btr5 wired vs apple dongle dac do you get btr5 10 times out of 10 or more 7 times out of ten ? ( blind test meaning someone else pluging one or the other randomly at matching loudness of course) thanks
@@amanieux If you know your music and what you are looking for I would say that you'd be able to get it right almost always.
That is beside the point though. Blind tests do not reflect how we listen to music. Often the difference between good sound and poor sound is subtle and only truly noticeable as you relax with your music over a longer period of time.
@@amanieux the differences are noticeable my friend..
Everything's not placebo.
Else there would be no point left in this hobby entirely!
@@rajeebdas1724 i'm not saying there is no difference , i am saying it is so subtle that i cannot hear a difference, if you can hear a difference then your ear might be better trained than mine or better from birth but did you actually do the blind test between 2 dacs out of curiosity ? i also thought i could hear a difference but as a scientist i am trained to not trust my intuition and rely on data.
Is this compatible with Sony WH-1000XM4 (if wired)?
Yes it is! It has a 3.5 mm jack for the Sony’s
Have you tried BTR 5 with Sony WH 1000xm3 or Xm4 .. using wired mode ?
And using Apple music Hi res Lossless ?
Was there any noticable difference while using them in wired mode ? Not like the loudness .. but just overall ?
@@karthikclu I've tried them wired with the amazing Ikko Zerda dongle and they do sound better and tighter wired! In terms of the resolution I was using Spotify then
Can I simply use Fiio Lt-lt1?
Yes!
@@SirMesko Thanks!
because aac sucks, use a good codec like ldac
crApple
Can it play Apple Music High Resolution Lossless Audio Or just Lossless Audio ?
Not sure what the difference is. In wired mode, it can play High Res files up to 384kHz, way above Apple's resolution.
All formats even DSD except MQA
can't you just use usb-c to lightning cable that came with iphone?
Unfortunately not! You need the chip inside the camera adaptor for the iPhone to communicate with it
Here in Canada I bought a Cayin CS-L2C Lightning to USB-C OTG Cable (usb-c to lighting) and I can use my BTR5 w/iPhone plugged
(Thanks David it didn’t even occur to me to use this otg connector I had lying around)
I noticed the volume got much louder when plugged in. My headphones aren’t hard to drive (Sony MDR-1AM2). When my Denon AH-D2000 comes in I’ll see if there’s a difference!
Lol AAC obviously it sounds awful
Can you completely turn off the Bluetooth on the BTR5?
Good question. I assume when a cable is connected that the Bluetooth is off?
How do you plug the btr 5 to a turn table
May it won't works... Becausu btr5 is a digital analog converter while your turn table only got analog output
Jesus Christ... sometimes you MUST change your phone to LDAC or APTx connection, and there is the sound you are looking for..!!
Apple only has AAC
You need to get off AAC if you want to enjoy music. You being blown away at this point is great because it can only get much much better for you from where you are now.
Wireless sound is not good. His advice was the best. Use the cable.
I'm confused by your reply, I didn't say anything related??
@@mikael7071 I was referring to wireless listening compared to wired.
Of course it sucks on bluetooth AAC everything on Apple proprietary company sucks 😆 it's very misleading of you to judge it solely on one bluetooth codec
Thanks for your feedback. The review is not intended to be misleading. Its a relevant review for anyone using an iPhone. Also, AAC is not a proprietary format.
no no no. I am convinced that the Apple dongle is very good and the BTR 5 used as a DAC is not worth more than 10 times the cost. also… iPhone… OTG cable… USB C cable… BTR… earphones… MORE ???
Just get Fiio’s lt-lt1 cables.. no dongle needed
With android its definitly alot better and I use it with a long usb cable as my headphone amp/dac on my pc. This is an absoulte steal if you can actually use the Ldac codec.
raise your camera
My phone you mean? Lol