The FiiO R7 as an all-round desktop solution
Contents
Connect the R7 to a computer through USB, plug a nice pair of headphones into one of the three jacks and you have a powerful music system. Optionally, connect a pair of (near field) powered speakers and you have a complete solution that brings hours of listening pleasure.
The R7’s USB implementation is good. Sound quality is not compromised, despite a computer not being the cleanest source. Playing music over USB via Audirvana is a delight, the level at which the DAC performs is very good.
The biggest advantage of using a PC is that every conceivable source of music can be used and a large screen is available for selection of music. The biggest advantage of the R7 is that it is both an excellent USB DAC, but you can also disconnect it and use it as a standalone player, or as a DAC for a CD transport or CD player. It is precisely this flexibility that makes the R7 an alluring product.
For Tidal users
The R7 can play MQA-encoded files, or ‘master quality’ as Tidal users know it. The strange thing is that when you install the Tidal app from the Google Play store on the R7, the DAC does not play it at master quality. There is no setting to enforce this. If the R7 is connected to a computer through USB, it does play in master quality from the Tidal app on the computer. ‘Passthrough MQA’ should not be active, implying that the computer must perform the first unfold and Android may not be able to do this. Or alternatively, the Android Tidal app does not take this option into account. The difference is clearly audible when a master-quality track is played as ‘normal’ CD quality via the Android app or as master quality from the PC.
I am using the R7 with a Synology NAS running Emby server (https://emby.media/), works flawlessly and the Android app is very easy to use. The Fiio Music App is basically unusable.