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Fiio has released the M21, an entry-level DAP (digital audio player) with flagship-quality features.

FiiO M21 Portable High-Res Lossless Music Player

The Basics:

The FiiO M21 is an entry-level music player with flagship specs, including, for the first time in an entry-level DAP, FiiO’s Desktop/Portable Dual Power Supply Modes. The Desktop mode switches the power from internal to external, thus bypassing the battery and providing “Super High Gain” mode that can drive most power-hungry headphones and IEMs.

The Rundown:

The FiiO M21 portable DAP offers top-shelf features at an entry-level price. Its all-aluminum alloy body is solid and, to my delight, features buttons instead of touch controls. It can be both a portable and a desktop music player. It is compact enough to fit into a pocket and has both 4.4mm Pentaconn and 3.5mm headphone jacks. It works with the FiiO Music app, which is available for Android, Microsoft, and Apple mobile devices. The 4.7-inch IPS touch screen features an oleophobic coating that reduces fingerprints and smudges. The Android 13 operating system gives full access to the internet through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0. Music can be downloaded to the M21’s 64GB internal storage and supports microSD cards with up to 2TB expanded storage.

FiiO M21 Portable High-Res Lossless Music Player Specifications

Bluetooth 5.0 with support for AAC/SCB/aptX/aptX HD/LDAC/LHDC.

Android 13.

Ram:

4GB.

Desktop/Portable dual power supply modes.

USB DAC:

Supports up to 384kHz/32bit, DSD256 (native); local decoding: supports up to 384kHz/32bit.

4.7-inch IPS screen (750 x 1334).

3.5mm + 4.4mm headphone/LO dual output.

Available in two colors:

Titanium Gold and Dark Blue with gold buttons.

Weight:

193g/6.81oz.

Product Name:

M21

Product Type:

Digital Audio Player

MSRP:

$329.99

Website:

https://www.fiio.com/m21

Company:

FiiO

FiiO M21 Portable High-Res Lossless Music Player Control Buttons Close-up Zoomed View

The Follow-up:

The portable music player field is crowded. There are models from entry-level, with basic features, to audiophile-grade, with prices to match. And then there is FiiO, a company that has dominated the field of portable audio and provides the latest technology packed into affordable products. FiiO has been making DAPs since 2013, and they continue to innovate. The FiiO M21 is a recent offering that manages to bridge the “affordable but basic” to the “audiophile-grade” with the price of the basic and the features of the audiophile-grade music player. Its list of hardware features is extensive and usually found in music players costing hundreds of dollars more. The build quality is apparent in its satin-finish aluminum alloy body and beveled frosted glass back. Even its metal buttons are knurled; a touch of beauty that sends a message that FiiO pays attention to the tiniest details.

The M21 has converted me from the “I have an iPhone; I don’t need no stink’n DAP” crowd. In fact, our own Mel Martin addressed that mindset in his review of the FiiO M15 in 2020.

I am impressed with how versatile the M21 is. In desktop mode, it becomes a mini desktop headphone DAC/Amp that easily powers my HIFIMAN Arya Organic planar magnetic headphones and is a perfect match for the Sennheiser IE 900 IEM.

I will go much deeper into all that the M21 has to offer in my future review at Secrets.

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I was born to love audio. My grandfather was awarded a patent for a “METHOD OF PRODUCING TALKING-MACHINE RECORDS” in 1912. He also sang opera. He passed his passion for music and the early days of recording on to my mother, who then passed it on to my sisters and me. My father, a professor of electrical engineering, was also an amateur jazz guitarist. He loved Heathkit’s home-built electronics, and as a little girl I was his “assistant builder”. He always talked to me about what he was building, and we always had the biggest T.V. and the most advanced HiFi gear. Music was always on in our house, and my folks really listened to and discussed what was playing on the turntable, and later the reel-to-reel deck. I grew up with jazz, the classics, and my father’s goofy and extensive collection of comedy albums and sound effects records. He always made sure I had the latest transistor radios, which were my prized possessions; I could be found late at night, trying to listen in on the faraway stations that magically appeared through the static between my local stations. In the early 70s, I discovered the remarkable world of Japanese audio on my layovers in Japan as a flight attendant. I remember lugging home a huge, very heavy wood-clad Kenwood receiver back from Japan, thanks to a kind captain that made space for my treasure in the cockpit. That receiver powered my two Bose 901s that I had hung from the ceiling in the living room. I also fell in love with the early Sennheiser open-back headphones that had come on the scene in 1968 and which sparked my passion for headphones that continues to this day. After traveling the world as a flight attendant my work led me to the restaurant world of the San Francisco Bay Area, where I spent several years working in a “farm to table” restaurant. I developed a passion for photography while co- writing a cookbook with the chef. My skills as a food and garden photographer grew and I added working as a photojournalist with assignments that usually included the food scene in the Bay Area. A year ago, I joined the San Francisco Audiophile Foundation (https://audiophilefoundation.org), where I discovered my tribe. It was humbling to find out that compared to almost everyone I met, I actually have a long way to go to call myself an audiophile! I was also shocked to find out that out of over 300 members, there were only three women (including me). It was a source of pride, however, to know that the president and a founding member is a woman. Yay, team! You can find me outdoors hiking and photographing landscapes and wildlife and trying my hand at nighttime landscape photography.

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