FiiO’s R7 Network Player Will Also Drive High-End Headphones & Active Loudspeakers

FiiO have unveiled a number of very impressive wired IEMs and DAPs over the past 12 months including the M11S that Sr. Editor, William Jennings thought was the best new “affordable” DAP of 2022. Having finally tried the M11S, FH7s and FH5s IEMs myself over the past 4 months, I have become a big fan of the Chinese manufacturer’s range of earphones and electronics. These guys really make me reconsider spending money on anything else in the $250 to $400 range when it comes to wired IEMs and I’m no longer on the fence when it comes to owning a DAP.

Support for streaming products is becoming a big focus for FiiO and we’re more than just a little intrigued to review the new FiiO R7 Network Player that was just announced. Not only is the R7 a Roon-Ready digital music streamer, but it also includes a rather robust balanced headphone amplifier and will also support the forthcoming FiiO SP3 Active Loudspeakers that are shipping in Q3 or Q4 2023.

FiiO clearly gets what we were talking about in our CanJam NYC 2023 editorial in regard to appealing to the next generation of audiophiles who consider headphones and streaming — their gateway drug into the hobby. One box. One pair of active or passive loudspeakers. As many pairs of headphones that will fit on the desk.

FiiO R7 Technology

The R7 is FiiO’s first-ever desktop hi-res audio player/streamer & balanced DAC/amplifier. Equipped with high-performance ESS Sabre ES9068AS DACs and high-power THX-788+ desktop-grade amplification chipset, the R7 is a truly versatile solution for listening to your digital audio.

Featuring a wealth of input and output options, the FiiO R7 has been designed to work with a host of devices, including: wired headphones, wireless headphones, active speakers and PCs.

The FiiO R7’s 64GB of internal storage is complimented by SD, USB, optical and coaxial inputs, with the FiiO R7 also supporting wireless connectivity thanks to having both 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 on board.

Access your music files stored on the onboard memory or SD card; physically connect your audio source, such as an external HDD; wirelessly send audio to the R7 via DLNA or Airplay, or utilise the R7 as a Roon Ready endpoint. You can even transmit music via Bluetooth from your smartphone or PC.

The FiiO R7 supports high-resolution PCM, native DSD audio, and MQA decoding. Utilising Qualcomm’s 8-core Snapdragon 660 SoC chipset with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of onboard storage (expandable to 2TB via SD card), the R7 runs on Android 10. All of your favourite streaming applications — including TIDAL, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Soundcloud and many more — can be installed directly on the R7 via either the pre-installed Google Play Store or FiiO Store apps.

Thanks to its dual THX AAA-788+ amplifiers and dual ESS ES9068AS DACs, the FiiO R7 is a highly accomplished headphone amplifier, offering a choice of wired and wireless connections to your favourite headphones.

Single-ended 6.35mm and balanced 4.4mm connections feature, as well as a balanced 4-pin XLR output.

To ensure the FiiO R7 can be matched with your headphones — whether sensitive IEMs or power-hungry over-ears — five gain level modes are selectable: low, medium, high, super high, and ultra high.

Under a 32Ω load using enhanced over-ear headphone mode, the R7 is capable of outputting up to 3.6 watts, more than enough to power low-and high-impedance headphones.

In addition, the R7 is able to output audio via Bluetooth using a wide range of different standards — including AAC, SBC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC and LHDC — meaning you’re sure to get the best quality connection, whatever wireless headphones you’re using.

The FiiO R7 will be complimented with the FiiO SP3 active speakers, available later this year.

Price & Availability

The FiiO R7 is available now for $699.99 at Amazon (US) or £649.99 in the UK.

The FiiO SP3 Active Speakers will launch later this year. 

For more information: fiio.com/r7

Specifications