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Review: FiiO BTR5 – The Emancipation of Wireless HiFi

FiiO BTR5
FiiO BTR5

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The FiiO BTR5 is a capable Bluetooth DAC/AMP that would give most headphones a wonderful upgrade without compromising on quality.

Bottom Line

I personally really like the FiiO BTR5 and the pricing is very reasonable for a feature-packed product of such outstanding build quality. The output power should be sufficient for most of my use-cases and the USB DAC will come in handy when I'm on my crappy windows laptop.

What We Like 😍
  • Great build quality
  • Oleophobic coating on glass makes it nice to touch
  • NFC Pairing
  • Provides fair amount of power for a portable DAC/AMP
  • Comprehensive Bluetooth audio format support
  • No hissing sound at 102 dB SPL/V sensitivity
What We Don't Like 🤢
  • Position of the audio jack
  • FiiO Music app
  • Plastic clip is hard to detach

81% Like The Look of FiiO BTR5

FiiO BTR5 Instagram Poll
Polled on Instagram

The FiiO BTR5 is my first experience with a Bluetooth DAC/AMP and I really looked forward to putting it to test. There were a couple of questions I was curious about:

  • Is Bluetooth DAC/AMP an oxymoron?
  • Does it have enough power for a fairly high-impedance (300 Ohm) headphones?
  • Figured out why and when will one need a wireless DAC/AMP?
  • How will it affect the listening experience?
  • Is BTR5 a considerable upgrade over the well-received BTR3?

The Controversy of Wireless HiFi

To some hardcore audiophiles, the term “Bluetooth DAC/AMP” is an oxymoron.

An external DAC/AMP is meant to circumvent the onboard DAC/AMP in an attempt to improve sound quality. However, when audio is sent via Bluetooth, the audio data has to be compressed to accommodate the narrow bandwidth. Hence, this technically degrades (the extent of degradation depends on the compression algorithm) the sound quality, negating the overall improvements.

In my opinion, this matters only in a perfect world where our ears can hear the full range of the frequency spectrum and every single bit of the audio data matter.

But I digress.

The review unit we received today is from HiFiGo. It is provided to us in exchange for an honest review.

Unboxing the FiiO BTR5

What I like about the FiiO BTR5

First off, I really like the look and feel of the FiiO BTR5. It is minimal and modern looking with its curved edges and rounded corners. The oleophobic coating on the glass gives it a silky and smooth texture. The amount of engineering work that went into this portable DAC/AMP is evident.

The long and slim form factor of the BTR5 makes it easy to slip it into pockets.

You are also getting your money worth with the number of technology squeezed into the BTR5:

  • one-touch NFC pairing,
  • quality dual DAC setup,
  • comprehensive Bluetooth audio format support,
  • can be used as a USB DAC to connect to your laptop/desktop,
  • OLED display (commonly found on smartphones),
  • fair amount of output power,
  • native DSD support
  • and many more…

What I don’t like about the FiiO BTR5

Position of the audio jack

You can see the pressure point on the cable being pulled down by gravity.
You can see the pressure point on the cable being pulled down by gravity.

The audio jacks are situated at the top of the device. So if I held it upright, the cable will drop downwards, putting some amount of pressure on the plug itself. I prefer the audio jacks to be at the bottom of the device. This seems more natural to me.

FiiO Music app

The FiiO Music app is like a storage place for a mad scientist. There are plenty of powerful features in it but you are gonna need to dig deep while understanding the confusing terminology. For example, to find my connected device, I have to scroll past 18 items on the list to find this tab “Bluetooth device control”.

Hard to detach plastic clip

It is easy to put the plastic clip on the device but a pain-in-the-ass to take them off. I always fear the clip will scatch the body while detaching the clip. Luckily, the surface of the body is quite tough.

Sound Quality

Enough power?

The highest impedance headphones I can test for myself is the Creative Aurvana Live! which has 32 Ohm impedance. It has no problem driving the over-ear closed-back headphones to a suitable volume.

FiiO BTR5 with Tin Hifi T4
FiiO BTR5 with Tin Hifi T4

There are online users who claim the BTR5 is sufficient to power the Sennheiser HD600. But to be sure, let us do some quick and dirty calculation:

The HD600 has a sensitivity of 102 dB SPL/V and impedance of 300 Ω. According to the power calculator, in order to drive the headphones to the loudness level of 110 DBSPL, we need 22 mW of power and 2.57 volts RMS.

Since FiiO does not provide the peak voltage nor volt RMS of the BTR5, we are just theorizing the power sufficiency based on what FiiO provides at 32 Ω loaded. Take note that the power output fluctuates at different impedance levels.

According to specs, the BTR5 provides 80 mW (Single-Ended) and 240mW (Balanced) at 32 Ω loaded. This is plenty enough power. How about voltage?

The spec sheet states that the BTR5 produces 1.6V (Single-Ended) and 2.8V (Balanced) at 32 Ω loaded. It seems like the 3.5mm jack does not have enough voltage, only the 2.5mm balanced output has enough voltage for the HD600.

SNR of different Bluetooth DAC/AMP

  • BTR5: 121dB
  • EarStudio ES100: 110dB
  • Shanling UP4: 120dB

The Tin HIFI T4 has a sensitivity of 102 dB SPL/V and there was no audible hissing sound. A hissing sound can be heard when manufacturers use low-quality amplifiers that can give good gain but concurrently increases the noise floor. This was not the case here.

The BTR5 has a higher Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) than both the ES100 and Shanling UP4.

The higher the SNR, the lesser background noise there is.

No significant difference in music perception

Sound quality perception is subjective. Take this section with a pinch of salt
This was my portable setup: FiiO BTR and Tin HIFI T4
This was my portable setup: FiiO BTR and Tin HIFI T4
  • IEM used: Tin HIFI T4
  • Audio Device: Samsung S10 (Volume 75%)
  • Music Player: Spotify Premium (On “Very High” quality)
  • External DAC/AMP: FiiO BTR5 (No EQ, Volume 33)

After a few hours of critical listening, I can conclusively say for myself that the sound quality, with and without the BTR5, has no significant difference. It did not sound better, nor worse.

The onboard DAC on my smartphone was probably of decent quality anyway. The different filters on the BTR5 does nothing for me too. I can’t hear any changes in the quality of the music.

FiiO BTR5 Tin HIFI T4 Portable Setup
FiiO BTR5 with Tin HIFI T4

Favourite Presets

The EQ controls came in handy. My favorite two presets are “Classical” and “R&B”. When I need something with a “grander” and wider presentation, I go for the “Classical”. For a more emphasized bass without being overbloated, I go for the “R&B” setting.

Box and Accessories

The BTR5 on top of the box
The BTR5 on top of the box

The packaging of the BTR5 is utilitarian but doesn’t feel cheap. With a light tug on the handle, you can slide the box out easily, revealing the BTR5 sitting in a carved out foam cushion.

The accessories provided are:

  • A USB-A to USB-C cable. You can use it for charging or when you want to use it as a USB DAC.
  • A plastic clip that can be attached to the DAC/AMP.
Without the plastic clip on
Without the plastic clip on
With the plastic clip on
With the plastic clip on
The BTR3 has a built-in clip which increases the overall profile of the device.

Build Quality

The BTR5 uses double-sided 2.5D glass on both the front and the back of the device. This gives the BTR5 a modern and classy look which I really dig.

2.5D Glass refers to the glass display that has a slight curvature at the edge. Think Samsung phone.
The front of the BTR5
The front of the BTR5
The back of the FiiO BTR5
The back of the FiiO BTR5

FiiO uses an oleophobic coating on the glass, giving it a smooth texture to touch. And I mean silky smooth. This adds to the overall excellent build quality. Despite that, the glass still attracts some fingerprints. However, it is not as serious as other glossy surfaces that I have encountered before (such as the chrome Saabat E12) and can be easily wiped away.

The rest of the frame is made from aluminum alloy. It has a matte texture and also smooth to touch.

The rest of the frame is made from aluminum alloy. The controls are found on the right side of the device.
The rest of the frame is made from aluminum alloy. The controls are found on the right side of the device.

The BTR5 is light but still has a nice weight (~ 43.7g) to it. It is small enough to be grasped easily in my palm. It slides easily into my jean pocket.

It seems to be tough and also has quite a good scratch resistance. I threw it in my bag that is filled with coins and books when I’m on the move but I don’t see any sign of micro-scratches so far.

The buttons on the sides have good tactile feedback and don’t feel cheap.

Overall, the build quality is great. I will give it an A in my books.

Display

The BTR5 uses a 0.49 inch OLED display with a 64 X 32 resolution. OLED displays are usually found on smartphones. The fonts are nice and crisp but nothing too fancy here.

The OLED screen
The OLED screen

Circuitry

Circuitry of the BTR5 (From: FiiO)
Circuitry of the BTR5 (From: FiiO)

Dual DAC setup

The BTR5 has a dual DAC architecture like the EarStudio ES100, except it uses the Sabre DAC ES9218P while the ES100 uses the AK4375a DAC.

According to the official specs, the dual ES9218P DAC can give an output of 220mW at 32ohms load and 7.6Vpp at 300 ohms.

The dual DAC is only utilized when you are connecting via the 2.5mm balanced output.

Bluetooth audio SoC

The BTR5 uses the Qualcomm CSR8675 chip which is one of the latest Bluetooth audio SoC at this point of writing.

FPGA clock management

The BTR5 uses Field-programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) for clock management. In laymen terms, it helps digital signal to work accurately, preventing issues like jitter and improving signal stability.

NFC Pairing

This is truly one of my favorite features of this Bluetooth DAC/AMP. Anyone who had to pair Bluetooth devices across multiple devices knows the pain of pairing and unpairing the Bluetooth connection. With NFC pairing, this becomes just a one-touch process. Freaking brilliant!

You can see the NFC pairing process in the unboxing video above.
NFC label as N
The NFC chip is located at the front of the device with the “N” logo.
True wireless earbuds without multi-point connection capability will benefit greatly from this.

Bluetooth

  • Bluetooth Version: 5.0

According to the FiiO, the BTR5 supports all Bluetooth formats, even Sony’s LDAC. I don’t have a Sony device to test this but if you are using one and have a BTR5, let me know if it works in the comment section below.

My testing source is a Samsung S10 mobile phone and the default audio codec is aptX when the Bluetooth is paired.

The
The “APTX” being displayed on the FiiO BTR5. You can see the volume and battery status too.

After 3 weeks of usage, I would say that the connection is stable and reconnecting from cold takes less than 3 seconds. I work in an environment with many devices transmitting signals all over and there is no intermediate disconnection from interfering devices (unlike my Cambridge Melomania 1).

Audio Output

The BTR5 supports 2 types of audio output:

  1. 3.5mm PO (Phone connector)
  2. 2.5mm balanced output
The balanced output on the left and the single-ended output on the right.
The balanced output on the left and the single-ended output on the right.

From the circuitry diagram above, you can see the 2.5mm audio jack is for balanced connections (if you are into that sort of thing). The 3.5mm audio jack can be used both for headphones and also headsets with external mic which we will go further into detail in the mic section.

The 3.5mm jack can output power of 80mW while the 2.5mm output power of 240mW at 32ohm load.

USB DAC

Other than been used as a wireless DAC/AMP, the BTR5 can be used as a USB DAC. With the XMOS XUF208 control chip, the BTR5 can decode audio up to 384kHZ sampling rate and also support native DSD.

With USB-C connection, the BTR5 can support audio-decoding at 384kkHZ/32bit sampling rate.
With USB-C connection, the BTR5 can support audio-decoding at 384kkHZ/32bit sampling rate.

Battery

  • Battery Capacity: 550mAh
  • Battery Life: ~9hrs
  • Charging Time: 1.5hrs

Being the flagship model for FiiO, the BTR5 naturally has a bigger battery capacity than the FiiO BTR3 (300mAh). However, the battery life for continuous playback time is stated to be two hours lesser than the BTR3 (~11hrs). My guess is the ES9218P DAC is more power-hungry than the AK4376A DAC used in BTR3.

Mic

You don’t often find microphones on audiophile headphones and even if you do, the mics are not that great. That’s understandable since music-listening takes priority over other functions, hence, the reasonable budget allocation.

With the FiiO BTR 5, you are adding a decent mic to your audio setup. It contains two mics with cVc 8.0 noise cancellation to suppress the background noise and improve voice clarity.

But if you have a CTIA headset, you can connect it to the BTR5 and the current mic will switch seamlessly to the one on the headset.

The result of the Mic test

From the mic test, you can hear that the voice pickup is pretty decent but the background suppression is meh in my books.

This is how the BTR5 was clipped on for the microphone testing
This is how the BTR5 was clipped on for the microphone testing

You can also choose to hold the BTR5 in your hand like holding a karaoke mic. The slim form factor makes it very graspable. 

Software

  • App Support: FiiO Music

Other than using the onboard controls, you can do the same adjustments on the FiiO Music app too. I personally don’t really like the app. It is bloated with features and the usage is non-intuitive.

However, it gives you more pro features like adjusting the charging nature, idle time for power-off, toggle distortion compensation and etc.

Technical Specifications

  • DAC Chipset: 2 X ES9218PC
  • Bluetooth Chipset: Qualcomm CSR8675
  • Outputs: 1 X 3.5mm Single-ended, 1 X 2.5mm balanced output
  • Output Power: 80mW @ 32Ohm (Single-Ended) and 240mW @ 32Ohm (Balanced output)
  • NFC Pairing: Supported
  • Bluetooth Version: 5.0
  • Supported codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX LL, aptX HD, LDAC

Conclusion

I personally really like the FiiO BTR5 and the pricing is very reasonable for a feature-packed product of such outstanding build quality. The output power should be sufficient for most of my use-cases and the USB DAC will come in handy when I’m on my crappy windows laptop.

Not quite the truly wireless experience

As a frequent user of true wireless earbuds (TWS), I will say that having a Bluetooth DAC/AMP with your wired IEM just doesn’t have the same “free-ing” experience as using a TWS. The cable still kind of hangs around your body and you are aware of it.

I prefer to keep the BTR5 above chest level rather than in my jeans pocket. This reduces the chance of the hanging cable getting caught by other surrounding items.

I have a hoodie with a chest pocket which I can keep most of the lagging cable. An alternative that you can get will be a cross-body sling like this.

Should you buy the FiiO BTR5?

Even for a first-time user like me, I find the FiiO BTR5 to be easy-to-use. However, there are times, I find it slightly over-powered for my use case. There are features in it that I’m out of touch with like the “filters”. They make no difference to the music and hence, don’t value add to the entire experience. But if you are someone who likes to tinker with settings, you will not feel out-of-place.

If you are looking for something cheaper, you can look elsewhere like the Shanling UP4 or the good ol’ EarStudio ES100. They should be more than sufficient for a beginner. 

You can purchase the FiiO BTR5 at HiFiGo or at Amazon.

Should you upgrade from FiiO BTR3?

For those who already own a FiiO BTR3, your question will be this. In my opinion, it will be a yes if you need that power boost and balanced output. You can check out the specs comparison here.

What our readers say about the BTR5

From https://www.instagram.com/___akash.gupta___/
From https://www.instagram.com/___akash.gupta___/

💬 Conversation: 26 comments

  1. Nice simple and to the point review, i got my BTR5 one month ago and My testing source is a iPhone Max 11 and the default audio codec is aptX when the Bluetooth is paired, my IEM are the Campfire Polaris 2 ( 3.5 output ) and my Shure SE846 EIM ( 2.5 balanced output) and you right, hard to tell any difference in the sound, now using without Bluetooth my other audio source the Astell & Kern SR15 (flac/MQA audio files ) there is believe it or not a SMALL difference a bit more with the 2.5 balanced output, so to the point i can tell that the gap between bluetooth and wired is getting smaller.

    1. Please correct me if I’m wrong. As far as I’m aware of, Apple products will only go AAC or default back to SBC. There’s no aptX support. I have no iPhone to test out but it’s already explained by others. My iPads connect using AAC.

  2. “Position of audio connector”
    The case looks symmetrical, as though the btr5 could be flipped so that the connector and cord would come out of the open-clip end of the case.

    I totally agree about preferring the cord to be down-facing to NOT strain the cord or connector.

    Unfortunately the UP4 clip has to be modified for such functionality.

  3. In case you missed it. You can actually clip the case upside down so that the cable face down. You just need to get used to the inverted volume control which I have no problem adapting to.

    I find that to have a solid grip when removing the plastic clip, place both your index (and or middle) finger and thumb on top and bottom of BTR5. Then place your index finger and thumb of another hand to either top or bottom corners of the clip to pull it out. I apply a little extra force for the grip to make sure BTR5 doesn’t slip out of my fingers. Like you I do worry that over time the paint could scrape off.

    I have Hifiman HE4XX (3.5mm) and VE Monk 2.0 (2.5mm) which I consider is more difficult to drive and BTR5 have no problem, even when I try old YouTube videos with very low volume. Not the case with BTR3.

    I also have KZ ZS10 Pro (which is very easy to drive) and when BTR5 is used as DAC with my laptop I can hear electrical humming noise when it’s silent. It goes away when you play audio. Doesn’t sound like audio is masking the noise.

    1. I have my blon bl 03 , quite easy to drive , so i think using btr 5 would not at all make a diff in soundstage , quality , imaging etc ? What you guys think , should buying btr 5 be any upgrade , cause i use realme 3 pro 3.5 jack output

      1. I don’t have Blon BL-03 to test out. For me it always ended up in “try”. As I’ve explained in one of the comments here that the quality depends on your weakest link. Also some people’s hearing may not be able to perceive the difference in audio quality, if it’s small.

        If your friend have BTR3/BTR3K/BTR5 or some other DAC/amp maybe you can borrow for a test drive. If you don’t plan to power harder to drive headphones maybe BTR3K will be enough upgrade for you.

        I’m using Pocophone F1 phone and have a Lenovo laptop. To my ear BTR5 sounds better compared to 3.5mm jack from both mentioned devices. I even prefer the BTR5 sound presentation compared to my BTR3. I mostly play high quality music with Spotify Premium.

  4. I have a question please, is this product also meant to be connected in wired mode to the phone (to improve sound overall) and connected to a Bluetooth headset ( that has aptx LL maybe, my phone lacks this)?

    1. Simple answer is NO. Your Bluetooth headset already have the functions similar to this product already built into it.Your Bluetooth headset needs to support aptX/aptX-LL/aptX HD/LDAC codec or it will default to SBC which is mandatory for every Bluetooth audio device. As far as I’m aware of Apple devices only supports SBC/AAC. MOST Android phones v8 and above SHOULD support SBC/aptX/aptX HD/LDAC/AAC.

      This product is meant to receive digital audio signal via Bluetooth (Bluetooth receiver) from a Bluetooth digital audio sender (E.g. your phone’s Bluetooth is the digital audio sender) where it acts as an external soundcard to convert this digital audio to analog audio.

      This product then sends the analog audio signal out to its built-in 3.5mm (single ended, regular) or 2.5mm (balanced) audio jack so that you can connect your favourite CABLED IEMs/earbuds/headphones/headsets to it to listen to audio.

      With your Bluetooth headset the analog audio signal out is connected directly to its speakers whereas this product is able to convert your existing IEMs/earbuds/headphones/headsets into wireless. This product can also be connected directly via USB connection to your phone (via USB OTG adapter) and will act as external soundcard.

      As for question of sound quality it is subject to the weakest links (audio source >> audio codec [Bluetooth SBC/aptX/aptX-LL/aptX HD/LDAC] >> DAC [E.g. BTR5] >> IEMs/earbuds/headphones/headsets) in your setup. In my personal experience if you got them right then you will notice improvement in sound quality.

      1. I agree get all of the links in the chain right and there is a noticeable difference. LDAC output vs SDC (the extremes for Bluetooth) is a big difference.

    2. I don’t know if I should inform you. TECHNICALLY you CAN do what you asked but you may probably not improve sound quality.

      I’ve not tried Bluetooth headsets myself but I’ve watched a few reviews on YT regarding Bluetooth headsets/headphones. What I deduce is that MOST Bluetooh headsets/headphones have its internal DAC apply some sort of DSP/EQ to correct/improve the produced audio. These Bluetooth headsets might have wired/cabled option (Works like normal headphones without using the internal DAC) but because no DSP/EQ is applied it will sound different and/or sound worse compared with Bluetooth mode.

      If what you’re looking for is ONLY one Bluetooth headphone for listening to music with your phone then you may want to have a look at https://drop.com/buy/drop-wireless-headphones. By adding a mic you can convert it to a headset but the mic is WIRED/CABLED.

  5. You can clip the unit into the plastic housing upside down, so the cable comes out the “bottom” instead of the top, its much more comfortable.

  6. Great review, I am a fan of Fiio products and this looks like yet another good one. The only thing I would disagree with is the location of the headphone jacks. In all scenarios I can think of the cable needs to go up, putting the jack on the bottom guarantees a twist in the cable and the plug will be uncomfortable and vulnerable. I would put the device in a shirt or trousers pocket or backpack and it’s a pain when the jack is on the bottom.

  7. Can I use the Fiio Dac as an external DAC of my phone and Connect it to a TWS EARBUD? Will it make any difference if applicable?

  8. Can I use DAC on a TWS earbud when connected to phone or PC to amplify the output? Or should I use DAP instead to amplify the output for the TWS earbud?

  9. Is this product could pilot a Seinheiser DT 770 Pro 250 ohms with a 3.5mm jack ?
    It seems to be a little underpowered according to your words about a HD600 ?

  10. Well, I love the fact that the jack is on the top – I use it only as receiver and put it on my belt usually, sometimes in my shirt chest pocket.
    And it easy drives an HD660s. It drives extremely easy the Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro which has 250 ohms.
    But the Fiio App really suck.

  11. The FiiO Control app allows you to calculate the estimated power output and SPL while you’re listening to music. This is useful if you’ve never though about the listening level you are used to playing music at. It could also preserve your hearing! (This feature only works while listening through Bluetooth actively).
    You can also modify the channel balance if your hearing is biased to one side. This feature is proportioned by the DAC and not the Bluetooth chipset, since it also works with USB DAC mode.
    The same goes for the second-harmonic and third-harmonic distortion compensation which is adjustable through sliders. The lowpass filter can also be selected and it has a somewhat accurate preview of the underlying filter.
    The biggest deal is the DAC clock divider. You can change it from 1/4, which is the default, up to 1. The power consumption is quite significant but the sound quality improves quite a lot while listening through Bluetooth LDAC. I only got about 6 hours of music with this mode in low gain mode and 20 volume.

  12. Thanks for the in-depth walk thru!
    Just a small additions to fellows, When you are on much more sensitive IEMs like moondrop blessing2, thie audio monarch, the low path filter starts to kick in. It changes sound signature and tonality depends on the filters, and second and third harmonics compensator works to make sounds warm or solid, it helps to make solid lifeless BA to sound a bit more like the ones of Westone’s.

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