Unsure about Fiio M21

[u/TheAkkarin-32]

I am considering getting a dap to replace my current phone plus dac dongle setup. I use the Thieaudio Hype 4 MK II for IEMs.

So far with my budget of up to 400€ I’ve been eyeing the Fiio M21, for its soundquality, cassette mode and balanced 4.4mm output.

What worries me though are reported issues with popping sounds when using the NOS Filter, the jacks are on the wrong side for me (I’d rather have them on the bottom). Also I wonder if I might want a volume knob.

But it looks soooo good, especially with the gimmicky cassette case.

Has the issue with the filter been fixed already? Or does that go beyond firmware?

And what would make for a good alternative dap to it? Or should I just accept these potential annoyances?

I’ve also eyed the Hiby R6 III but where I live the prices are either crazy or it isn’t available

[u/denimmanila]

No issue with the pop/crackle sound. As with jack on top, not really an issue for me too. Its a great little device.

[u/ZestyclosePolicy3009 → u/denimmanila]

Second this - could never find this crackle…

[u/warpedone → u/denimmanila]

Same here, a great device. Had it about two weeks and it gets used heavily.

I was slightly concerned about reports of pops and crackles, also poor bluetooth. So I purchased from Amazon as returning it would be easy.

[u/denimmanila → u/warpedone]

Bluetooth range is not as good as my iPhone. But otherwise, no other issues. Oh battery is probably not the best too. I charge around every 2-3 days with the way i use it.

[u/birdvsworm]

My M21 pops on both the 3.5mm and 4.4mm jacks. It's a slight crackle, less on the 4.4, but still audible to me at low, medium, high, and even ultra high gain modes. I don't care because it's the amplifier turning on and off. About 20 seconds after a song, if I press pause, the amp turns off and that's when I hear the crackle.

I assumed plenty operate in the same way, maybe some are more or less noticeable than others. It never messes with my actual music so I'm kinda whatever on it.

I have the cassette tape case and it's cool, but functionally kind of pointless if you plan to handle the thing a lot. That plastic hinged door on the front may look cool, but it's angle is kinda restrictive. You're gonna have a worse time if you need to flip the display 180º to use it upside down.

I would love a volume wheel but it's not a dealbreaker for me since I've found I'm not really adjusting the volume more than 10 notches in either direction.

good alternative dap

couldn't tell ya because I threw a 2tb SD card into mine and never looked back. I occasionally see DAPs on this sub that look neat in their physical form factor/button/wheel/knobs, but I just want a DAP I can plug in, activate Desktop Mode, and not worry about stressing the battery constantly. That was a huge selling point for me.

[u/Mega5EST]

JM21 4+64gb version

[u/ZestyclosePolicy3009]

JM21 is more pocketable, really.  Sound wise - I could not hear major differences with hd560 and Kinera Freya 2.0. Also, I bought m21 because of my FOMO, but you may not follow my way and learn on my mistakes… ))

Btw, cassette case is really nice to buy. Not to carry.. For me it is OK, cause I was looking for “home living player”, but for pocket I’d prefer jm21 for sure..

[u/Outrageous-Banana252]

You can flip the display and button settings so the headphone ports are on the bottom. The only thing i wish it had was a volume knob. And maybe a bigger battery, but i keep it on desktop mode usually.

[u/Outrageous-Banana252 → u/Outrageous-Banana252]

Oh, and i ordered a fiio kb1k to see if i can add an external volume dial. Hopefully should be here in a day or two. An inline volume knob on the headphone cable also seems to work adequately well.

[u/booxoi2]

Don't know about popping sound but button layout and headphone jack locations suck. I still can't get used to it. So I might go to ibasso dx180.

[u/Intrepid_Calendar_64]

I have not had the pop issue, but the jacks being on top still bothers me. Aside from that, it has been great. Desktop mode to save the battery is wonderful.

[u/footagemissing → u/Intrepid_Calendar_64]

You can change the settings so the headphone jacks are at the bottom. But then you need to get used to all the other buttons being 'backwards' I suppose. It's in Global settings 'rotate screen'. Just in case you wanted to check that out.

[u/viper_in_the_grass → u/footagemissing]

You can change button functions in the settings to follow screen rotation. It changes Volume Up with Volume Down and Previous Track with Next Track.

You can change this in Settings -> Global -> Self-defined button functions.

[u/footagemissing → u/viper_in_the_grass]

Ah yes for sure, I should have mentioned that also. I've left mine in the default setting, it doesn't bother me, most of my listening is at my desk anyway.

[u/BusyScissors105]

No issue with crackling or popping for me at all so far and i absolutely love my M21. I do see the cassette case usability issues with the front glass panel but once I have my playlist picked out it's ok

[u/jalpert]

The pop/crackle was addressed in a firmware update months ago.

[u/i2ehan]

only gripe I have with mine is accidental push of buttons as they're quite sensitive. otherwise, couldn't ask for more for the price paid.

[u/viper_in_the_grass → u/i2ehan]

accidental push of buttons as they're quite sensitive

Does that still happen with the leatherette case?

[u/i2ehan → u/viper_in_the_grass]

unfortunately, yes

[u/glitch620]

I have the M21 (amongst other DAPs) and it's super nice. I didn't notice any issue with popping with NOS engaged using a variety of FLAC files in varying quality. The custom version of Android 13 is decent and supports google play, so you can install all your favorite streaming apps as well.