Fiio DM15 R2R's Review - Feature rich portable CD player
General/Packaging/Build
Fiio is a brand that needs no introduction to fellow audiophiles, they are well established and they have positioned themselves among the top few famous chi-fi brands. I reviewed the K13 R2R, as well as the Warmer R2R DAC late last year and they proved to be highly competitive in terms of price performance ratio. Fast forward today, I have the DM15 which is a portable CD player with R2R DAC, which I suppose should be similar to the one in K13 but with lower power output and different circuit design to cater for the CD’s functionality. I will not go into detail into this as I'm not an electrical engineer myself. The packaging is quite good for the asking price, with thick foam to protect the unit from any mishandling during shipping or transportation, USB cable and the DM15 R2R itself.
The build quality is very solid, with a transparent glass and top loading mechanism that allows you to see the disc spinning during playback.
Specifications
You may refer to this link from Fiio’s official website for the detailed specifications
Gears used for this review
Foobar2k DSD and FLAC offline files/Tidal Streaming
Fiio DM15 -> Proton AM452 Integrated Amp -> Tannoy Sixes
Fiio JT7
Fosi Audio i5
Spirit Torino Twin Pulse IEM
Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far
Driving Power
While the power output for balanced out is rated at 1150mw, i personally don’t have any issues driving the gears that i have, except for the Fosi Audio i5 headphone which will perform slightly better when given more power
Features
Magic bass switch, i personally leave the bass boost off as it tends to push the mid bass too much and altered the sound signature too much
There are also 8 EQ presets available coupled with the Magic bass switch that makes 24 sound preset, each with a distinctive and noticeable difference
Bluetooth transmitting to my active speaker Harman Kardon Soundsticks 4 without any connection drop out
Upgradeable firmware but only limited to Windows OS and you need a 32gb usb drive for it, i do not have any 32gb usb storage at the moment hence i created a partition from a 64gb unit and performed the firmware update
There is also a ESP(Electronic Shock Protection) switch which when turned on, improves the playback’s stability either when you are mobile or stationary, i also tested listening to the unit while i’m moving around and i did not experience any skipping or reading issue throughout, brisk walking
Battery life with continuous playback with CD or USB in, the unit lasted around 6+ hours which is quite close to the claimed battery life, once again, this is totally depending on how the device is being used, volume level, display’s brightness, decoding DSD/FLAC files
The unit can also be powered by external power entirely which bypass the battery, doing so will enable Desktop mode which in returns has higher power output compared to when it is operating on battery
Sound Impression
The tuning of the DM15 R2R is warmish and analog sounding to my ears, the soundstage has good width, depth and height perception with good timbre and note weight.
Bass has good body and note weight overall and it is not overly boosted except when you turn on the magic bass switch)
Mids are not too forward nor recessed, both male and female vocal has good body and texture to it, they don’t sound like they’re lacking body or anything
Treble has sufficient energy and not overly smoothed out
Personally, i find the output sounded much better on my speaker’s setup utilising the Proton’s amp, possibly due to the output/amplification stage being slightly different from the K13 R2R
Line Out Sound Impression ( 3.5mm to RCA Out to Proton AM452 )
The R2R DAC on DM15 has good potential in my opinion, i’m not saying the the amping section of the DM15 is bad, i think that we can squeeze out a little bit more from the DAC by pairing it with a better amp
Pairing it with my speaker amp and listening via my Tannoy Sixes 602 vintage speaker, this combo honestly is a perfect match in my opinion, warm rich and analog sounding
Listening to The Beatles’s White Album, the one that i have with me is early pressing with very good recording, it sounded as if i am actually there with the artist
Comparison (Moondrop’s DiscDream)
I do not have any other portable CD player in this price range, hence the comparison may seem a little unfair and i’m disclosing this upfront
In terms of features and power output, DM15 definitely takes the lead, offering various preset sound mode and 4.4 balanced out
For sound profile based on the unit’s internal amplification, honestly I would say both are more or less quite similar with the differences mainly in the ballpark of 10-15%? Timbre and note weight performance i would say
From a budget perspective, there is nothing wrong with Moondrop’s DiscDream, but Fiio’s DM15 is definitely a step up and upgrade from DiscDream for sure
Final Thoughts
Having tested the DM15 R2R for several weeks now, it’s safe to say the DM15 is very versatile and also it has a very high price performance ratio. I believe I have not seen any R2R portable CD player that can also be used as a USB DAC at such pricing. Fiio, they actually nailed it. In terms of sound, It sounds musical and analog-ish as I have mentioned, and I personally like how it sounds whereby you’re able to connect with the song emotionally especially when you are listening to older records be it via speaker or headphone. DM15 R2R ticks many of the boxes in terms of features as well as sonic performance. DM15 is definitely one of the good products that is easily recommendable and won’t break the bank. Definitely a 4.5/5 product!
*A big thanks to Fiio for sending this over for the purpose of this review. I thank them for their support and opportunity
Head over to their official store if you are interested in getting one:
Fiio DM15 R2R Aliexpress Store - Non Affiliated
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