Greetings!
Today we're checking out a
new digital audio player (DAP) from FiiO, the M3 Pro.
The M3 series has been a
staple in FiiO's budget DAP lineup for a few years now, seeing two
versions prior to the Pro model we're checking out today. First there
was the M3 in 2016, the M3K in 2018, and now the M3 Pro here in 2020.
Each update has improved the specs and updated the interface with the
M3 Pro culminating in the most advanced and modern feeling M3 to
date.
I've been using this DAP
daily since the end of April, testing it with a variety of products
ranging from sub 10 USD earphones (ex. KZ ED9) to triple digit
premium headphones (ex. Campfire Audio Cascade), and have come away
plenty impressed. In my time with the M3 Pro it has proven to be a
versatile device and a solid daily driver.
Let's take a closer look,
shall we?
Packaging and Accessories
The M3 Pro comes in a
reasonably compact package that is perfectly sized and set up for
retail stores. The exterior sheath displays a clean image of the M3
Pro on the 'now playing' screen, alongside the usual branding, model
info, and Hi-Res Audio logo. Flipping to the rear you find pretty
much nothing useful, minus dimensions (95.8mm x 45.4mm x 10.4mm) and
approximate weight (70g). Sliding off the sheath reveals a tough
plastic tray inlet with a foam insert protecting the M3 Pro, and a
smaller cardboard box containing a long Type-A to Type-C USB cable.
Beneath everything is a compact cardboard sleeve within which you
find a thick Quick Start guide in multiple languages. In all you get:
- FiiO M3 Pro media player
- USB cable
Yes,
this is a very simple and straightforward unboxing without many
extras or flash. That said, major props to FiiO for preinstalling
front and rear screen protectors. The M3 Pro is built like a modern
device with an aluminum frame and glass front and rear panels, so
screen protectors are pretty much mandatory. It would have been nice
if they included a basic silicone case too, but at this price point
it can certainly be excused.
Battery The
M3 Pro is rated for up to 15 hours of use, with a charge time of
around 2 hours. During my testing, I was able to complete almost two
full work days with the M3 Pro running at 12 out of 60 volume paired
to FiiO's own FA9. It died just after passing the 14 hour mark.
Charging via the USB 3.0 port on my laptop took about two hours,
within what I would expect. Overall a solid performer on the battery
front. With casual listening you could easily get through most of the
week before needing to toss it on the charger.
Build and UI The
M3 Pro takes queues from modern smartphone design. The front and rear
panels are smooth glass surrounded by a black aluminum frame. While
the screen does not stretch from bezel to bezel, especially down low
where there is a prominent chin, I'm glad. Personally, that is a
design goal I detest since I'm always unintentionally touching stuff.
None of those problems here. On the bottom of the device is a pinhole
for the microphone on the left, a USB-C port in the middle, and a
3.5mm output on the right. The top and right sides of the device are
feature free, while the left contains the power/screen lock/unlock
button, volume up/down/track advance and play/pause buttons, as well
as a micro SD card slot. Overall build quality is quite good with
impressive fit and finish, and buttons that provide a solid tactile
response upon depression. It would have been nice if the power button
were a different shape than volume up, as I occasionally mispress,
but as-is the setup works well. The play/pause button also has a
raised dot to single it out and since it resides between the volume
up/down buttons, can be used for finger orientation.
In
addition to buttons, the M3 Pro allows interaction via touch screen.
The screen is 3.46 inches in size with a resolution of 340x800.
Colours are vivid and images crisp, though the fairly low resolution
does lead to pixellation with some album art. It still looks very
good though. At lower brightness settings (3 and below out of 10) the
screen will wash out in direct sunlight. At full brightness it
remains plenty visible. While for the most part it is quite
responsive to touch, I did find myself having to press or swipe a
couple times to get it to register actions.
Compared
to something similarly priced (79.90 USD), like the XDuoo Nano D3,
the M3 Pro feels like it should cost a whole heap more. Despite
having an all-metal shell, the D3 feels nowhere near as sturdy with
panels that easily flex when squeezed. Compare that to the rock solid
M3 Pro and the difference is quite significant. The M3 Pro's physical
buttons are also more stable and provide more direct and noticeable
feedback when pressed. The screen of the M3 Pro is also larger and
higher resolution with touch support, something the D3 could benefit
from given the design of it's software interface.
A more
comparable device to the M3 Pro in terms of build would be the
Shanling M1 (179.99 USD). It's a little thicker and wider and about
2/3rds the height. Like the M3 Pro it utilizes an aluminum frame with
glass front and rear panels. Instead of a hybrid touch/physical UI,
the M1 utilizes a rear facing scroll wheel with a number of physical
buttons that provide a similar level of feedback when pressed. It
works, but it's definitely more cumbersome than the M3 Pro's
intuitive design. One edge the M1 has over the M3 Pro is the screen
and surrounding build. Noted earlier, the M3 Pro lacks a plastic
surround for the screen that provides additional protection from
drops. The M1 has this extra protection, a good thing because it
carries more weight in that compact frame. Screen quality goes to the
M3 Pro with it's more vibrant colours and slightly higher resolution.
Another
device that is comparable would be the Shanling M0 (109 USD). Glass
screen and an aluminum shell, but unlike the M3 Pro with it's hybrid
interface, the M0 is touch only, minus a scroll wheel for volume
control and some additional functions when the screen is off. The M0
is also about half the size which is impressive in itself, made even
more so given the feature set. While the M3 Pro's screen is a higher
resolution, due to the size of the M0 it ends up looking a bit more
vibrant, though the lack of real estate makes menu navigation a
little more difficult. Note that Shanling included the plastic shock
ring around the screen here too, which is again impressive given the
size of the device.
As you
can gather, the M3 Pro is a very well built device thanks to its use
of quality materials and outstanding fit and finish. Add to that an
excellent hybrid UI system than makes use of a touch interface and
physical buttons, and you've got yourself a winner.
GUI and Features The
M3 Pro is generally a nice device to interact with. Menus are laid
out in logical ways and clearly marked, while navigation through the
touch interface is a familiar experience to anyone that has used a
smart device in the last ten years. Moving down through menus
requires a simple tap on the icon or menu you wish to select. Moving
back through menus is as simple as a swipe from left to right,
starting from the bezel. Skipping all the way back to the home screen
is as simple as tapping the house icon in the top left corner. For
the most part navigation is smooth and snappy with things slowing
down only once you have large lists open. Scrolling through an entire
track list is a bit choppy. This is especially the case when
utilizing the alphabet down the right side of the screen to scroll by
letter. Maybe I don't have enough tracks in each category, but I
found it to be quite the challenge to select the letter I wanted,
instead having to settle for something close, then scrolling normally
the rest of the way. In general though, the M3 Pro's interface is
nice to move through and has basically no learning curve to it. Good
stuff FiiO.
Now,
let's go through each item and feature on the home screen.
Category
Within
this menu item you can move through your music thanks to a wide
variety of menu options; all songs, artist, album, genre, favorites,
playlists, and recently added. All the staples are there and
everything is self explanatory.
Now
Playing
Selecting this option takes you to the track currently playing, or
list of all songs if you have not yet selected a track and do not
have the option to resume the last track turned on. While on the now
playing screen you are presented with a lot of information; track,
artist, album, overall song number, bit rate and file type, and an
image of the album art.
At the bottom of the screen you find a track progress bar, the
play/pause and track skip buttons, play mode (sequential play, loop
play, shuffle play, single play, single loop), favourite, add to
playlist, and an extra menu button (three dots). In this menu is A-B
repeat, an equalizer, more track info, and a delete track option. An
EQ is nice since you have seven presets. Moving between selections is
done gradually so you can hear clearly what each preset does. A nice
touch. Unfortunately, there is no custom EQ option so this setting
has limited usefulness for me.
Browse
Files
A surface level file browser that allows you to view all e-book,
music, and sound clips captured through the in-built recorder.
Nothing worth going into in depth here since the title is self
explanatory.
Recording
I was surprised to see the M3 Pro was capable of recording sound
clips via its own in-built microphone. This would be a really useful
feature for students since they could record lectures with ease. Just
start the recording and set your M3 Pro on the desk/table. The
recording quality is pretty decent too with voices sounding full and
meaty, though the mic sensitivity is quite high and it doesn't take
much to cause clipping, hence why I feel this would be good for
tackling lectures. The prof/teacher is usually a ways away, so
clipping will be less likely. Make sure you're pointing the mic away
from your mouth when speaking, or talk very quietly to ensure a clear
recording. It would be nice if FiiO added some control options to
this feature, namely the ability to turn the mic gain down.
Settings
The settings menu is broken up into three options. Update Media
Library updates your library with anything newly added to the SD
card. The Play Settings and System Settings options are a lot more in
depth. Under Play Settings you find a number of helpful options, some
of which are duplicated on the now playing screen. Play mode allows
you to cycle between sequential play, loop play, shuffle play, single
play, and single loop. Resume mode enables you to either return to
the beginning of the last song played, or your position within the
last song played at the time the device was shut off. Playback gap
allows you to remove any gaps between tracks. Awesome for albums
meant to be played front to back. Max volume lets you select the
maximum allowable volume. I dropped the limit to 32 out of 60 which
is still way higher than I've needed to go with anything I've plugged
into the M3 Pro. This little player has plenty of volume headroom
available. Fixed volume setting selects the default volume upon
startup. With Balance you can adjust channel bias to counter
imbalanced earphones or headphones. Equalizer makes another
appearance here and gives you the same eight options (Off, Rock,
Classical, Jazz, Pop, Dance, Vocal, Metal). Lastly we have Play
Through Folders which you can turn on or off. I actually don't know
the function of this one since it doesn't seem to make a difference
during playback and isn't covered in the Quick Start Guide.
System
Settings
This menu is packed with options starting with Screen Brightness.
Next up is Screen Timeout which gives you a number of options from 30
seconds to 120 seconds. Idle Standby gives you options from Off to 8
minutes and is a handy feature for preserving battery life if you
forget to turn the M3 Pro off after pausing your music. A Sleep
function also exists and is helpful for limiting listening session
length. USB Mode allows you to put the M3 Pro into storage or DAC
modes. Since I am constantly swapping cards between devices, I just
leave it in DAC mode. Next we have Recording Quality which allows you
to select between high and low to save some memory card space during
those long lectures. The next option is Lock Screen Clock. With this
on, turning the screen on brings you to the lock screen which
contains the time, date, track and basic controls (play/pause and
track skip). Swiping from left to right unlocks the device. Select
Output allows you to change the 3.5mm output to line out for pairing
with an external amp. Don't plug headphones in with this on... The
rest of the options are all pretty straightforward; time, date, and
language settings, storage formatting for the memory card, factory
restore, system updates, and About M3 Pro in which you find the
device name, firmware version, memory card and device capacities,
number of tracks loaded, as well as SN and NB numbers.
E-Book
The M3 Pro is capable of displaying e-books. I don't have any to test
this feature with but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. I can't
imagine I'd want to read an entire novel on such a tiny screen, but
hey, I'd rather have the option than not. And since it can handle
images, maybe loading up some picture books and handling it off to
your kid during a car ride would be a feasible option.
Calculator
Click
on that icon and you find a simple, straightforward calculator. No
graphing or advanced options here. Just your basic addition,
multiplication, division, and subtraction. Perfectly serviceable if
you need a calculator in a pinch, and again it goes back to this
being a useful device for students.
Gallery
Lastly we have the gallery option which allows you to peruse all of
your images and album art. Honestly, this feels like the only aspect
of the M3 Pro that received next to no attention and as a result is
basically useless in my opinion. Unless you have gone through and
clearly named every file, good luck finding a specific image. There
are no previews, and no quick way to sift through the list of images.
You get one long list in alphabetical order with no option to scroll
by letter, or if you select a file, you can flick through each
picture one at a time. It is very slow and cumbersome. I would love
it if in a future update FiiO gave the gallery some attention to make
it more user friendly since as it is right now, it is barely
functional.
Overall quite a lot of features and options for a fairly
straightforward device, accessible through a well designed graphical
interface. I truly appreciate the volume control options which help
develop safe listening habits. If FiiO introduced some parental
control options that would lock out the menus, this could be a good
device to give to a child to start them off in the hobby; bright
graphics and an intuitive touch interface combined with volume
limiting could teach them to listen responsibly and help with the
development of fine motor control. Add in the image gallery and
e-book options and you've got yourself a winner. The addition of the
microphone and calculator options also make it an attractive device
for a student to carry around, or an adult that makes audio notes
throughout the day. I can think of plenty of situations where the M3
Pro's feature set would be useful.
How
does it compare to some other devices? Well, it's miles ahead of the
Nano D3. The interface on that device is not fun to interact with.
The home screen for one is a grid based system similar in looks to
the now defunct Windows Phone, but only navigable left to right and
vice versa. This is why I said earlier this device would have
benefited from a touch screen; the GUI has clearly been designed for
it. Once you get past the home screen, the rest of the menus are laid
out in a logical manner, you just have to be very patient moving
through them. Unlike the M3 Pro which is reasonably smooth and quick
to move through, the Nano D3 is very laggy. In terms of features the
M3 Pro offers a lot more. The Nano D3 is a music player first and
foremost, lacking all the extras you find in the FiiO; microphone,
gallery, USB DAC, etc. Some will argue that stuff isn't necessary,
and they wouldn't be wrong, but given the small price gap... I'd
rather have it than not, especially when it works pretty well. Plus,
you can't adjust screen brightness on the Nano D3. Really XDuoo?
The Shanling M0 is more alike the M3 Pro with its touch based
interface, though the lack of screen real estate limits the amount of
items that can be displayed at any one time. That just means there is
a lot more scrolling and swiping involved when compared to the M3
Pro. In the M0's favour, it's GUI is quicker and more responsive so
pending your fingers aren't too thick, navigation times end up being
similar, if not a little quicker, especially when perusing all songs
and similarly long lists. When it comes to features, the M3 Pro is a
bit more rich, though the lack of Bluetooth has me favouring the M0.
Sound The
M3 Pro is a powerful device (75mW) with a clear, noiseless output
thanks to a very low output impedance of 0.3ohms. You can pair it
with the most picky of sources, such as the Campfire Audio Solaris,
and the resulting sound is silky smooth, free of any background hiss.
This trait is extremely desirable and something few DAPs I've tried
can brag about, especially when they're as capable of such a vast
volume output. I have the volume limiter set to 32 out of 60 since
there is nothing I own that requires more (per my listening habits),
let alone anything close to what 32 will output. Rarely do I exceed
15. The limit is in place more to restrict accidental volume changes
since it can be adjusted via the physical buttons, and the on screen
slider that appears after making an adjustment with the buttons. A
few times I meant to tap the screen to remove the slider, but instead
maxed the volume in an instant. Ouch...
In
terms of sound signature, the M3 Pro has a warm, bassy inclination,
inline with something like the Shanling M0. Bass is thick and
powerful with good extension, easily overshadowing the lean, rolled
of presentation of something like the XDuoo Nano D3 or Ruizu X02.
Texturing and detail are somewhat glossed over though, so if those
traits are already present in your earphones you might find the M3
Pro too smooth. The midrange is fairly neutral in presence with
vocalists and instruments sounding naturally weighted, though
slightly warm thanks to that low end bump. Clarity and detail fair
better here with subtle nuances coming through just fine. This device
pairs pretty well with vocal forward products like the Fidue A85
Virgo as a result. Treble sings much the same song with good
extension, though the warm-ish presentation carries through. This
exacerbates earphones with an already mellow treble presentation and
can take away too much of the already limited emphasis, such as with
the Massdrop x Mee Audio Planamic. Detail and clarity remain
satisfactory though. Due to the M3 Pro's warm, mellow sound, I found
it to pair best with neutral to bright leaning products, such as the
FiiO FH1s and TinHiFi T4. It also sounded pretty fantastic with some
top of the line gear like the Campfire Audio Andromeda thanks to that
clean, output and warm tilt.
USB
Audio Since the M3 Pro supports
audio out via the Type-C port, you might be tempted to plug in a
dongle like the Cozoy Takt C. This works well and may improve the
overall sound quality, but keep in mind the M3 Pro has a much cleaner
output than most of those dongles so you'll likely be introducing
some background noise into the mix where previously there was none.
Also to note, make sure you turn off the M3 Pro prior to removing a
dongle. The volume locks and can't be adjusted, regardless of what
the on screen indicator is telling you. Lastly, if you are using a
dongle with volume and media controls you may find they do nothing.
At least, that was the case when trying the M3 Pro with the Takt C
and XDuoo link.
USB
DAC
While I found the M3 Pro enjoyable enough as a portable DAP, it
really hits its stride when being used as a USB DAC. While it has a
warm, overly smooth sound in portable mode, as a USB DAC the M3 Pro
has a more balanced and lively signature. It also picks up the
ability to handle DSD128. Texture and detail improve, bass feels more
dynamic and less one-note, and treble smooths out fewer
imperfections. I found myself using the M3 Pro more and more in this
role through my month of testing, simply because it sounded so good.
The easily accessible volume controls and output that is
significantly cleaner than my laptop didn't hurt either.
Final Thoughts
The M3 Pro is a fantastic sub-100 USD DAP. It feels like a modern,
up-to-date device in both software and physical design thanks to the
touch screen interface and beautifully constructed smartphone-like
build. Unique features like a voice recorder, calculator, and e-book
reader may not be useful for your typical audiophile, but this device
seems like it was designed more for a student anyway. For that
market, the M3 Pro is way more useful than all but much more
expensive Android-based DAPS. Add to those positives tons of power
and a very clean output as well as good sound when used as a mobile
device, and great sound when functioning as a USB DAC, and you're
getting a lot of device for your dollar.
There
are some aspects that could be improved upon, such as the lack of a
custom EQ (presents only), a picture gallery that is about as far
from easy to navigate as it gets, and some choppiness when scrolling
through long lists. The lack of Bluetooth support may also be a
negative, since if you're like me you find interacting with a tiny
Bluetooth module like the BTR3K more appealing. Still, despite these
areas of improvement the M3 Pro remains a great device and a joy to
carry around on the regular.
Thanks
for reading!
- B9
Disclaimer
A big thanks to Sunny with FiiO for reaching out to see if I would be
interested in reviewing the M3 Pro, and for arranging a sample for
coverage. The thoughts within this review are my own subject opinions
based on just over a month of daily use. They do not represent FiiO
or any other entity. At the time of writing the M3 Pro retailed for
89.00 USD: https://www.fiio.com/m3_pro
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