Fiio and Sony - Music to the ears




Fiio is a relatively unknown brand in India when it comes to portable music players. The Chinese company manufactures reasonably priced high resolution digital audio players. The Fiio X1 player is the entry level model. It is built using aluminium, making it light for everyday use. It has a basic user interface similar to the earlier Ipods. The key to the player producing great sound is the separate DAC chip - Texas Instruments PCM 5142 and an Intersil Amplifier. In addition, the player can play a variety of audio file formats (FLAC, MP3, WMA, AAC, ALAC, WAV And OGG).

Now, that we get professional grade sound from the player, we need a professional grade headphone to listen to the music. The Sony MDR 7506 has been around for decades unchanged. It handles all genres of music effortlessly and cleanly. There is almost no distortion, be in the vocals or the background music.

For those who are keen listeners of music, I would recommend the Fiio X1 (Gen 1 or 2) and the Sony MDR 7506 as a combination. You can buy them both in India for under Rs 15,000 for a sound quality that far exceeds that price. 

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Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

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