FiiO R7 vs FiiO R9: what’s the difference?

After months of teasing it at headphone shows, FiiO has this week officially announced* (see footnote) its R9 Android-based streaming DAC and headphone amplifier. The R9 borrows the R7‘s vertical form factor to take it upmarket with a high-gloss ‘fully liquid metal bicolor’ body, wraparound RGB light strip and 6″ 1080p touch panel. Via email this morning, FiiO told me that the R9 will initially ship with Android 10 but will be upgradeable to Android 12 sometime in Q1 2024.

Spec sniffers note: the R9 features a dedicated Qualcomm Bluetooth chip that adds aptX, aptX Adaptive and aptX HD to the codec set; and a dedicated XMOS USB chip banishes the lipsync lag that troubled the R7’s SOC-based USB data handling.

On D/A conversion, FiiO has stepped up the R9’s game with a pair of ESS Labs 9030PRO, replacing the twin ES9068AS found in the R7. The headphone amplifier is still built around a THX788+ chipset but its eight active channels more than double the amount of power on tap. Yep, the R9 threatens 7 Watts should your headphones demand it.

The analogue outputs on the R9’s back panel remain unchanged from the R7. We still get 2 x RCA and 2 x XLR. But the USB, coaxial and TOSLINK digital inputs have been joined by HDMI ARC for more convenient TV audio connections. (Specifics are sketchy on the HDMI output but I believe it can send the R9’s display out to a TV).

Whatabout ______? The remaining similarities and differences between the R7 and R9 have been tabulated below.

Lastly, the price. The R7 will continue to sell for US$699 with the R9 going for US$1499.

Further information: FiiO

_{* Footnote #1: The R9 goes on sale in China this week but won’t begin shipping to the rest of the world until January 2024.}