Fiio BTR 5 Bluetooth Headphone Amp: The CURE for a Missing Headphone Jack!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- TEAM SGG PATREON / somegadgetguy
TREAT YOUR EARS! What are you supposed to do if your phone is missing the headphone jack? What do you do if your laptop has a mediocre headphone jack? Fiio has a Swiss Army Knife Bluetooth DAC that might be right up your alley! The BTR5 is a monster audio gadget. Let's take a look!
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Seriously this little guy is super nifty. I am shocked people don't talk about fiio more. I had audiophile friends completely rag on them at my University. Seems like a solid audio company.
Legit. It's a GREAT little audio solution.
FiiO also make what may (or may not) be the best DAP you can buy for money these days, their M15.
Audiophiles hate them for telling what is really the price of quality...
I've been using the BTR5 predecessor, the BTR3 for almost 2 years. Love it for it's utility & awesome sound. When it breaks down probably will go either with the BTR3K or BTR5 as replacement.
good to know this thing is durable. ive been using Earstudio ES100 for a year and a half and now its starred to have some issues
don't do it, find something with better bluetooth performance
so i have a question, can i connect to the phone via caple and connect the headphone to the dac via Bluetooth?
I've had the BTR5 for a couple of months now and couldn't be happier with it, it truly will surprise you on the number of headphones it can drive with ease. One of my favorite use cases is hooking it up with IEM's, no more dongle life and it certainly can push IEM's to their full potential with excellent sound quality.
I was so happy that it more than loved up to its reputation.
I have a big disappointment in bluetooth performance, to the point where i want to sell it asap
@@Guitareye90 dude, how much you wan to for your BTR5?
I am delighted by how good these devices are. I was a little skeptical before I used it, when it paired straight away to my Sony Xperia phone using LDAC I was very impressed. The device maintains a stable connection all day and sounds great. I used my AKG K550 with it and they were plenty loud at about 60%. If I had no idea how much it cost and was allowed to try it out for a few days I would assume it cost a lot more than it actually does. The excellent Fiio Control app is easy to use and allows you to get the most from the device. The device allows me to use a wider range of headphones without the nuisance of a wire going from my ears to my phone or player.
The BTR5 is a bit underpowered when driving planars but it can. But once you pair this with a portable headphone amp, you pretty much have a wireless planar headphone, its nuts.
Why the heck would I want to lug around two devices just to drive some big planar headphones though? Not worth it. Wired will always sound better, anyway. Esp. with planars.
This is a great solution for those of us that carry a DAP around besides our phone, this much more portable (and less expensive)
The trouble is, the phones etc. don't sound nearly as good as a good lossless portable player with any quality. Fiio is the one I use, it's fantastic and does have BT. But it sounds
best wired.
Gonna have to restructure my loans after this week given all the dumb purchases I want to make
I've been using the BTR3 for quite a while, and I got the BTR5 as soon as it came out. The BTR5 is incredibly good. I paired it with the FiiO LC.2.5BS cable too, 40cm long with MMCX connectors for IEM's that have those. End result, a headset usable to talk with, and ludicrously good audio for music.
Been using this for a month now and it's the best solution for me, i had the fiio x7 mk 2 which was their 800€ flagship musik player from 2017 to 2019 from fiio and this tiny boy can hang with it and i am using this more than my x7ii, this is just much more convenient and the sound is ridiculously good for it's size and price
Agree. I've got many fantastic DAPs, and this sounds pretty darn good without the bulk. Shanling Up 4 is also a great option!
Looks interesting :) I have had an Audiolab M-DAC Nano for a year or so - check it out. These little DACs are brilliant for quality up scaling and driving bigger headphones. You can also hook these up to your amp/speakers via a 3.5mm cable and stream to your HiFi.
An adapter for your dongle! Love it!
I love the BTR5 and the earstudio es100. I've enjoyed an array of cans and IEMs on them. From Audezes to Sennheisers they power them well enough to forget you are listening to bluetooth; even if you might look more than a little silly with gigantic planars, dancing around your house. They are my go to for high quality portable audio.
how does BTR5 compare to ES100. ive been using an ES100 for around 2 years but its started having some issues recently
@@Ranodeep014 it's a little fuller sounding, but the es100 is ever so slightly more resolving. The es100 is slightly more neutral/clinical. The BTR5 is slightly warmer and has slightly more impact.
I have used my BTR5 for a few years now. I just love it! Great sound and great for phone calls.
It's a MONSTER little DAC. Genuinely one of the best audio tech buys I've ever made.
Wow, I was just looking for some new audio solutions. This is definitely interesting, thanks Juan.
well its smth that makes my job easier haha, for most prob lejardin more safer, and cheaper
LAtency? Can it be connected to a guitar amp without noticeable lag?
Hello! If using my galaxy s22 device and amazon music hd, will I get any better sound quality over TH-cam? Right now I simply connect my phone to my monitors via a USB c to aux cable which plugs into my speakers. Again, is this going to be any better than TH-cam? And what can I do to step it up?
Thanks!
One cool thing about the BTR 5 is that it is powerful enough to drive 300 ohm headphones. While having a microphone.
You know what that means?
HD 600 PHONE CALLS!!!
Yes, that was a Dankpods reference.
Will it surpass my LG V20 in performance? I use wired headphones and im looking for something as good for my Note 10+. Would you recommend a unit thats not to much $$. Great videos buddy!
Love seeing you showing this with the Surface Duo. The Duo is why I am buying this. I don't want the wear and tear on my USB-C connection on the DUO but love my Sennheiser HD and IEM headphones. Great review - thanks
👍
The cure is putting the headphone jack back into phones. My lord what are they gonna remove next the screen? It will run 4x more and have more valuable space for parts. But it's unusable.
Nailed it. No notes. This comment is spot on.
Fiio, I actually love the design. Great Review.
Can these DAC/AMP drive Marshall Killburn 2 bluetooth speakers and car audio system through 3.5 mm audio jack ?
Would this improve the quality of my Sony wh-1000xm4s?
I also have this question!!
Coming to portable dacs..as bluetooth dac codecs has a limit over unfolding sample rate of a lossless audio file... considering only audio quality which one do you recommend
A USB dac or a bluetooth dac ??
Did you try the balanced output? It should be significantly more powerful driving even harder to drive Audezes, with even lower noise and distortion numbers.
Can i use this product via USB-C to Lightning with my iphone?
Speaking of which, my lecturer in university recommended me to get BTR3s instead of BTR5s. He said that it's warmer and more fun to listen to because the BTR5s are more neutral. I suppose that depends on the genre of music because they are a bit of a bass head, but can anyone attest to that idea?
You can EQ it on presets on the BTR5 itself or use the app with 5-10 bands of EQ
What will produce louder audio this FIO BTR5 or the HELM DB12 AAAMP? Is because my car was a RCA Connection and My stereo place loud music on a cd but not with my auxiliary cord?
Have you tried the Earstudio ES100? It's not as powerful as the BTR5 and it don't come with USB-C, but it has better battery life and plenty of audio settings to fiddle with.
Can you use this as a wireless headphone splitter?… one thing I’ve never been able to understand is why, in the world of Bluetooth and wireless connections that we live in today is that we can’t play audio across 2 different sets of headphones at once (aside from only on Apple with AirPods)
Great review! How does it do for phone calls? Decent call quality and noise cancellation for, say, my Koss KPH40 Utilities?
Any idea if this thing has better range than the BTR3K? Range isnot so good with it
Can I plug in an audio jack from my amp 'phones output' and transmit to my bluetooth headset ?
Can it be connected to the phone and wireless headphones via bluetooth at the same time?
Yes that's what I want to know also?!!
Could it run a pair of dt 880 600 ohm edition headphones???
Ooof. I think youd get an ok sound out of it, but it might be struggling at that point. Solid maybe?
Will any of these work on a device that requires nonwireless noice cancelling headphones? Looking to use wireless headphones on my Sena headset helmet communicator. I only has a wired jack for headphones???
Hey Juan, are you able to disable the inbuilt mic on the fiio, either on the device or in android settings itself? I plan to use this in the car into my aux port (no Bluetooth in car, switching to pixel 7) but it won't be in a great position for voice calls, so I want calls to use my phone mics. Can't seem to find the answer to this anywhere!
I don't BELIEVE so, but I haven't tried to do that. Might be worth reaching out to Fiio?
@@SomeGadgetGuy I will do, thank you for helping! Really appreciate it
@@SomeGadgetGuy just to update you, Fiio got back to me and it isn't possible unfortunately. I picked up a Fiio KA1 dongle DAC instead which does what I need (and sounds killer!)
Thanks again for trying to help :)
I got the btr5 too. I am wondering if any have same problem as me. When i Bluetooth connect to 2 different laptops, i cant hear any bass or treble due to mid being too low. But connecting to the phone, the sound is perfectly fine. When i use the wire it work really well with the laptops. Do u know the reason why?
we shouldn't need a cure for missing headphone jacks. also, can you use both the 2.5mm balanced and the 3.5mm at the same time?
I'm so glad I came into the musicophile/audiophile league just recently. I wish I didn't lose, break, or give away a lot of the headphones I considered amazing (mostly Sony, and SkullCandy). I'll have to look at the BTR7 since that's out.
How will this go powering my beats by Dre studio 3? Will it provide better sound and volume??
Giving a thumbs up because you have great taste in music if your phone's display at 4:09 in is correct! Tool is amazing!
😎👍
I can't tell if this video has answered my question. Will it work with wireless earbuds? Everything I see looks like it's connected directly into the earbuds. Look, I just have a Motorola phone, with WIRELESS Beats earbuds. The booster app that I got is still not loud enough for my liking. Is there something that will connect to my phone, and then send a wireless signal to my chargeable wireless earbuds, making them louder?
No. It's for converting wired headphones/buds into wireless.
That's awesome. I have still been loving my V60, but it's nice to know there's life after the V60.. Lol..
Can we use as a Transmitter??
Is this compatible with Apple Music Lossless Audio?
I know this is an old video but I am getting the FiiO btr5 to use with the iPod touch 7th gen. I will be using a balanced cable, 2.5mm to connect the btr5 to a set of FiiO FH7 iems. Couple of questions I have. If you can answer me that would be great if not I understand. 1st question, if I want to run wired from the iPod touch 7 to the FiiO btr5 will any lightning to usb-c cable work or do I need a specific cable? 2nd question, the iPod touch 7 has Bluetooth 4.1 and the FiiO has 5.0. How does that sort out? I mean if I want LDAC quality with my Flac files stored on my iPod touch 7 will I be able to get the highest quality I can from the Flac file by using a wired connection? Also, when just using Bluetooth to connect the iPod to the btr5 which codec is working Bluetooth 4.1 or 5.0? I hope you see this post and can help me out. If you can, thank you in advance!
Is it worth for using mostly wired on a laptop?
Mine goes everywhere with me. It's a USB DAC connected to my PC at home when I'm browsing the internet, watching TH-cam or listening to music... When I get in the car, it's connected via Bluetooth to my phone and 3.5mm into the aux port on the car... Then when I go into work, it gets slipped into my pocket and my IEMs connected to it streaming BT from my phone.
It's seamless to transition, super portable and hassle-free. It sounds great, and has plenty of power through Bluetooth and as Juan said, everything gets even better when it's plugged into the source with USB. The vast majority of tech think of audio as an afterthought, the vast majority of dedicated sound cards for PCs aren't even as good as a purpose-built budget DAC... Not to mention they don't supply nearly as much power to drive headphones in most cases. The BTR5, in my opinion, is pretty much no brainer for any application.
Personally I'd choose the (wired) ibasso dc03 over this for my phone. It's a souped up USB c dongle for about the same price and I don't have to worry about battery in the long term. Less things to charge as well. Audio gear should last a lifetime, not a few years until the battery dies
You're using the iBasso dongle? If so, how do you think it compares to other portable audio sources? I picked up the Lotoo USB DAC dongle and it's merely ok despite how great I find Lotoo DAPs. I also got Audioquest Cobalt which kicks all the other DAC dongles and Bluetooth DACs I've tried to the curb.
I’ve used a dongle from CSPRO audio, the CS43131. I just upgraded to the BTR5 and let me tell you how it’s just way better and more convenient ig every conceivable way…
That little dongle drains the battery from my iPhone 13 Pro very quickly. I have to listen near max to feel any serious punch from my 16ohm Sony MDR-1AM2 overear headphones.
With the BTR5 I can just clip it to my waist and tuck the cable in my shirt and my Sonys become a workout machine.
+ They get loud enough to pop your eardrums if you wanted to. + a low noise floor and a whole bunch of other benefits that I don’t fully understand but are well and good
I mean when the battery dies out, you can still use it as a wired DAC
I have an apple ipod... I need more volume and better quality sound over a bluetooth headphones... can this device do that ??
It would be one of my top picks to try. If it's not enough, you could also look at an amp paired with this, but that'll start getting bulky and pricy.
This may be a silly question, but is the BTR5 worth using with low impedence headphones such as Sennheiser's Momentum M2? (18 ohms)
Hey man do u think this would work in my 2013 sport tech. I’ve got a pioneer head unit in it the Bluetooth connection to it is shit and It relys on having both sync and aux imput at the same time to be able to play music thru the aux port will I be able to send music to this
Such as
hook up my lighting cable from my phone to the head unit and connect it to the Dac via Bluetooth and still play music ?
Great review Juan. Sounds like a great device. 👍Up sir
👍😎🎧
This is what I wanted vs the earstudio.
Whats your take on fiio vs earstudio.
I'm not Juan, but I've got many years of experience with audiophile-grade portable gear and have what I consider to be this generation's best bluetooth DAC/Amps Fiio BTR5, Earstudio ES100, and Shanling Up 4. Out of these three, I'd easily pick BTR5 or Up 4 over ES100. BTR5 is a bit more feature rich than Up 4 due to BTR5's (fairly rudimentary) OLED display and ability to switch Bluetooth codecs off in Fiio's app. Up 4 has no display and you can't turn Bluetooth codecs off in the Shanling app. Fiio sound is more in the energetic side where Shanling sound is more on the smooth side. Both are great. You just need to pick the sound you're after and which best compliments your ear/headphones. In comparison, Earstudio sounds a bit flat lacking the engagement and refinement of the other two. Just by two cents...
@@nmatheis oh ok thats sounds like I should go with FIIO. I've wanted the BTR5 for a while now cause the opinions ive heard of the sound profile is right up my alley. This is great. Thanks😎
@@jrod8574 No problem. BTR5 is great. I switch off listening to both BTR5 and Up 4 about 50/50. Just depends on the mood in in. If I want to rock out, it's BTR5. If I want to relax, it's Up 4.
If you've got the cash, I'd also suggest considering Audioquest Dragonfly Red or Cobalt. Red has similar sound to BTR5 whereas Cobalt is on another level with more refined sound and larger soundstage. They're both USB DAC/Amps, though. So you'll be wired to your phone. Might be worth the trade-off if you're after best sound quality, though.
@@nmatheis hmm🤔 I'll definitely have to look at these other offerings. Thanks for the headsup👍 very interesting stuff.
@@jrod8574 Good luck on your audio journey!
Great review as always... but i have a few stupid question as m new to the audiophile world...
1. How much ohms output does it provide in the wired mode
2. Does it use the inbuilt battery in the wired mode or get its power from type c port of the phone or the laptop
can i use it like a bluetooth dongle of my pc? for HIFI AUDIO Output to an TWS? (like connecting it wired through usb in the pc then connecting a bluetooth TWS in it?)
I have a question.
I'm only now getting into better headphones and i ordered a pair of Sennheiser HD 600(of course) and right now, i don't have a big problem driving them out of my PC but i'd like to buy the FiiO BTR5 and i want to know if it will be fine to drive them out if it. I'm not really experienced in this so any help would be greatly appreaciated.
which bt dac/amp is best for making sundara's wireless?
Can this portable dac Amp provide enough ohms for the sennheiser 800?
How does btr5 compare with lg g8x?
Is it a worthy upgrade?
Well it can go wireless, but otherwise, Quad DAC is tough to beat...
How does it compare to the DAC on LG devices, I have a V30 already, does it provide better sound quality than LG?
As I recall, better than v50. The point is you can plug this dac in any sound system and btr 5 work with any phone.
Would you recommend this BTR5 if I've been using the BTR1k for a while now? Worth the upgrade? And what IEMs were you using with this?
Yes heck yes
A question, if I am using a portable DAC between my headphones and my 3.5mm jack MP3 output, is it better to use the balanced output jack instead or it does not matter since I am using DAC?
What are the earphones he connected ?
How do you get it into LDAC mode, all im getting is aptx
Why doesn't anyone use these as a wireless microphone option for on the go phone video recording? Wouldn't it be great to use with an extra lav mic instead of a Rode wireless mic and play double duty?
HI There, is it possible to use BTR5k as bluetooth APTX Low latency (Aptx LL) transmitter for Sennheiser momentum 3?
Is this, by itself enough to drive the focal Elex?
Would you able to connect an HD600 to the BTR5 with the original Sennheiser cables or do you need customized cables or an adapter?
Will it enhance the sound quality of my audio system component Sony X70D (2850watts RMS) via RCA cable using Fiio BTR5?… Thank you…
Will I be able to use the buttons on my headset aswell as the microphone of my headset with the Btr5 while it's connected via USB to my phone, or will it switch over to the built in mic if the device?
Seems like many of these dacs don't work well for answering calls which is a deal breaker for me.
Hi, in your opinion, will this dac work with akg y50? Thanks
so you can pug it into a jack on a computer and it will aplify the sound and transmit the sound through BT to your headphones?
Nope. Other way around.
@@SomeGadgetGuy what is a BT transmitter with the way i want it to be?
How does this compare to the original Dragonfly DAC?
IMO better. Better than the black for sure, although I did hear the black for a brief amount of time longtime back.
Wow, pretty cool solution, very simple. Nice review, a potential gift for family members.
Thanks for the good review man, good content as always.
Lost my 3 and got the 5.... man oh man.... really close but it’s a must have if you have the headphones
So can I connect it to my smartphone that only support SBC codec via USB, and get aptx HD bluetooth for my headphone or will I be bottlenecked by my smartphone ? If I put it in bluetooth connection (smartphone - fiio) then connect my headphone in bluetooth to the fiio, will I be in SBC quality ? Thanks all !
If your phone can't send aptx then this won't receive aptx.
is it good for gaming? pubg mobile for example?
I want to buy 250ohm DT770 and headphone amp to connect to my audio interface. What amp should I buy and how can I use it with my Steinberg UR22 mkii for mixing. Thanks.
Fiio is a great company for audio enthusiasts
Can this work with Iphone? Will it improve sound quality ?
It won't improve the codec quality, AAC is AAC, but the amp on board should do a better job of driving nice cans.
I have an LG v50 with a built in dac, considering this because although the LG sounds good it doesn't get very loud. Should I buy this.
Yes, all devices have dacs in them, but some dacs out perform others
@@jonathonhackett3088 LG phones have a built in quad dac 32 bit 384khz. I'm not talking "everything with a headphone jack has a dac" type shit.
Sorry....just trying to help
Question does the btr5 sound better than the Lg V30?
shoutout to RTJ at 3:15!
Thanks for the review! What amp would you recommend for driving sony mdr-xb950? I'd like to boost the bass and fidelity.
i just got one and ive been trying to figure out how to get it to use LDAC on my s22 ultra but its only using sbc 😭
It is possible to plug this into my PC via USB and then pair a Sony WH-1000XM3 headset using LDAC codec to listen to the PC audio? My PC doesn't support LDAC or any othe newer BT codecs, the sound it's pretty bad, so on top of the portability factor of the BTR5, I would like to know if it's possible to use it to enhance/replace the BT interface on the computer too, thank you.
Nerp. I don't think it broadcasts like that.
can this be used as a remote volume controller for airpods or similar bt headphones? im looking for a handheld external volume clicker or knob
Can I connect this to my iPhone and then connect my Sony wh 1000xm4 to the fiio over Bluetooth and listen to hd streaming services using the ldac codec ? If not what do I need
I’m used to just connecting my Sonys to my note 20 ultra both supporting ldac but the iPhone is acc only and sounds poor
Did you find an answer to your question? I’m planning to do this as well.
@@natebarts3226 no it doesn’t work that way . Your limited by your phones codecs . To get better sound I had to use the fiio wired to my iPhone
@@pollyaloy is the change in quality noticeable ?
@@natebarts3226 do you mean when it’s wired ?
If you use the balanced out, this thing will run planars just fine...
I really do need to cable up that 2.5mm...
Is it possible to connect the Btr5 to a amplifier like SMSL SA300 using 3.5mm to RCA? I am trying to play songs from my phone to speaker with better quality.
I don't see why not. I'm not sure how well it would sound, but good cabling should be a decent solution.
@@SomeGadgetGuy Thank you!
Why nobody has video of it being used with an actual headset?
But, how does it skip tracks? I have not yet been able to find a video that actually demonstrates the features of this thing in use.
Hi, someone who just got one recently here, automatically it's set to holding the volume buttons, however it can be changed to a double tap through the fiio control app.
But it's weird as volume down is next track and volume up is previous, and that takes some slight getting used to
@@DazonVA
Thank you so much. I ended up downloading the manual and it only mentioned the weird two second long press. Even the manual from Fiio doesn't mention that you can change it to a double tap and I certainly haven't seen it mentioned by any reviewers. Do you happen to know if there's a setting to disable the volume adjustment through these buttons?
@@jtqthetieman if there is one I do not know of its existence
I wonder would i work with Apple device and nee Hi-res lossless apple music streaming
Great video, thanks Juan. Stupid question but is this something that would connect to my phone (Note 9) wirelessly to allow my Cambridge Melomania's to handle better calls as well as brilliant audio?
Still sporting my BTR3 after 2 years. Thinking about getting this but it has the same DAC as my LG G8, with 2 DACS in this little thing I can't utilize it unless I have 2.5mm.
Hey Juan, have you tried the ddhifi USB c to 3.5mm adapter? It could be a better option instead of a dongle
Anything that goes from USB-C to 3.5mm is in fact a DAC/amp. Even Apple's little dongles.
This is good for using a decent quality open back wired headset while listening to music from a phone or computer.
Dankpods said this can make.....wired IEM's wireless? How? I dont get it. I watched this video to try to learn but I dont get it at all
Hook up your IEM to the BTR (wired). Then connect your BTR to your phone with Bluetooth (wireless). I think that's what he meant with 'wireless'.
Is the btr7 better though ?
It is in a handful of ways, but I kinda like the form factor on the 5 better.