John Darko
New from FiiO: the BTR13 is a thumb-sized DAC and headphone amplifier with three possible use cases:
- a USB DAC for PCs/Macs or streaming devices with a USB output (e.g. WiiM, Bluesound)
- a dongle DAC for smartphones
- an AAC / aptX HD / LDAC Bluetooth DAC for smartphones and PCs/Macs or streaming devices with a Bluetooth output (e.g. WiiM, Bluesound)
Let’s go deeper…
A Qualcomm QCC5125 chip takes care of Bluetooth reception and converting the incoming audio stream from digital to analogue is a pair of Cirrus Logic CS43131 fully-balanced DACs. Outputs include a 3.5mm single-ended socket (100mW into 32 Ohms) and a 4.4mm balanced socket (220mW into 32 Ohms) which can presumably be set to line-level when connected to a loudspeaker system. On the side of the unit sit a play/pause button and a volume control rocker switch with output level and connectivity status shown on the BTR13’s 0.96″ 80 × 160px IPS display.
The BTR13’s UAC 1.0 mode ensures compatibility with the broadest range of USB devices and the internal battery – called upon when running the BTR13 in dongle DAC or Bluetooth mode – promises 8 hours of playback time. A full recharge takes 2 hours.
Now comes the clever bit: a 10-band parametric EQ can be applied to all three of the BTR13’s operational modes using the FiiO Control app (iOS/Android) or FiiO’s web portal on a desktop device. That’s useful for tempering a headphone’s most egregious frequency response ‘issues’ (or salting them to taste). However, it’s worth repeating that one headphone cannot be EQ’d to sound like another headphone, reminding us that there is more to sound quality than frequency response.
The BTR13 is available now for £64, US$64 or €64.
Further information: FiiO
I asked my FiiO contact how the BTR13 compares to the €119 BTR15 and he came back with the following intel:
BTR13 supports up to 24bit/96kHz PCM and no DSD
BTR15 supports up to 32bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256
BTR13 does not support MQA
BTR15 supports MQA
BTR13 weighs 29g
BTR15 weighs 37g
There are also headphone amplifier differences between the two units:
BTR13:
4.4mm Balanced:
L+R≥130mW+130mW (16Ω, THD+N＜1%)
L+R≥220mW+220mW (32Ω, THD+N＜1%)
L+R≥55mW+55mW (300Ω, THD+N＜1%)
3.5mm Single-ended:
L+R≥120mW+120mW (16Ω, THD+N＜1%)
L+R≥100mW+100mW (32Ω, THD+N＜1%)
L+R≥10mW +10mW (300Ω, THD+N＜1%)
BTR15:
4.4mm Balanced:
L+R≥270mW+270mW(16Ω,THD+N<1%)
L+R≥340mW+340mW(32Ω,THD+N<1%)
L+R≥50mW+50mW(300Ω,THD+N<1%)
3.5mm Single-ended:
L+R≥165mW+165mW (16Ω,THD+N<1%)
L+R≥125mW+125mW (32Ω,THD+N<1%)
L+R≥15mW +14mW(300Ω,THD+N<1%)
