Feiao M11 Plus LTD Player Experience: Limited Products, Also Heart Products

this year, there is a word that friends who do business should all feel the same way, that is, "lack of core 」.

At the end of 2020, a fire in AKM's Japanese factory directly burned the annual plans of many audio manufacturers. The originally planned products had to change the product function and product line layout because DAC chips were out of stock or even stopped production. This is undoubtedly a major blow to the brand. As the fire caused great losses to AKM, AKM decided to stop production of some DAC chips directly, including the hot AK4497 chip.

Before AK4499 was launched, AK4497 represented the handle of AKM DAC chip. As a voltage output DAC,AK4497 had a DNR value of 127dB and THD N reached-115dB, reaching the physical limit in terms of performance index. Famous audio manufacturers such as Feiao, Shanling and Kaiyin all adopted AK4497 scheme in high-end product models, which is sufficient to prove AK4497's market position, such a chip suddenly announced the suspension of production, manufacturers also basically only have two options:

• slowly consumes the stock of AK4497, and the product will stop production after it is sold out;
• change the plan from AKM chip to ESS chip, so as to ensure the continuity of the product.

Among them, Feiao chose the superior.

Feiao introduced the M11 Pro sub-flagship player with dual AK4497 in 2019. It has improved many performance levels on the basis of M11, and the leap in sound quality has also won many favorable comments on the market. At the end of the previous year, it also released the stainless steel limited edition of M11 Pro, which is such a product. Due to the shutdown of its main control chip Exynos 7872, it has to do an iteration, feiao's approach is to use the last AK4497 inventory on the curtain call of M11 Pro, which is the main character of this time -- M11 Plus LTD.

The sixth generation honeycomb design, special volume sliding panel

For M11 Plus LTD, you can understand that it is the final form of M11 Pro. Feiao filled in the M11 Plus LTD with many functional regrets on the M11 Pro and the slots that users care about, which makes the M11 Plus LTD a relatively comprehensive model, a bit of the evolution of the digital Tyrannosaurus into the meaning of "ultimate body. For example, the main control chip of M11 Plus LTD has been replaced by the more powerful Xiaolong 660, the system version has also been upgraded to Android 10, and most importantly, Apple Music (not supported by the previous generation) is supported, which makes the needs of many M11 Pro users meet, so it is natural to carry out upgrade iteration.

Of course, M11 Plus LTD is not a simple "leather change monster" of M11 Pro. In terms of appearance design alone, the former has quite a lot of differences.

M11 Plus LTD did not fully adopt the design elements of the M11 series, but made design innovations on top of it, such as hexagonal honeycomb buttons. Feiao calls it the sixth generation design style. All the keys on the whole machine adopt hexagonal design, and even the Hold key at the bottom of the right side of the fuselage is hexagonal. This highly unified design language makes the fuselage of M11 Plus LTD have a strong sense of visual integration.

What's more interesting is that the volume adjustment of M11 Plus LTD directly abandons the previous roller design and adopts the design of sliding panel solid keys instead. That is to say, the volume adjustment of M11 Plus LTD supports sliding operation and click operation. This operation logic reminds me of the early iPod turntable, but Feiao changed it to a straight up and down panel, it will be more compatible with the current "full screen" design of the player. Because it is a brand-new design, it can be seen that Feiao has made a lot of efforts on this sliding volume panel. The sliding operation sensitivity is very high, and it will make a scale sound, which is convenient for users to adjust the volume accurately. If you feel that the sliding control is not suitable, you can also directly press the two ends of the panel, corresponding to "volume plus" and "volume minus" respectively.

Some people may worry about the wrong touch of the sliding panel. Feiao has also added a locking function to the setting. After opening, when the sliding panel is not operated, it will automatically lock to avoid unnecessary wrong touch. When you need to operate, double-click the panel to open it, which is very convenient. Or, dial the "Hold key" directly, and the volume adjustment is directly prohibited when the screen is locked. There are many functional settings at this experience level. How to operate it can be customized according to personal habits.

The bottom interface of M11 Plus LTD is still the same, with three outputs of 3.5mm single end, 2.5mm balance end and 4.4mm balance end. The middle Type-C data interface is upgraded to USB3.0, which greatly improves the writing speed and makes it more convenient to copy songs into the machine. However, it should be noted that the internal storage space of M11 Plus LTD is still 64GB. Although the price of TF card is not expensive now, 64GB is still slightly smaller for a medium and high-end player product, and it would be better to increase it to 128GB.

Judging from the fuselage design alone, the M11 Plus LTD is actually not as angular as the M11 Pro. The left section is highlighted and converged a lot. Different people have different opinions on whether it looks good or not. However, I think the grip is improved. The official restoration is equipped with a leather case, and the accessories are as conscientious as ever.

If I ask what is the best place to look at M11 Plus LTD, then I will definitely say it is the backplane. This time, M11 Plus LTD uses a diamond-like texture back plate, which will show different luster under different angles of light, which is very beautiful. It is also the texture back plate cut by this kind of diamond that makes the back of the fuselage have a very strong sense of stereoscopic and layering, very special and personalized.

This time the M11 Plus LTD is still available in stainless steel and aluminum alloy versions, weighing 405g for the former and 310g for the latter. Since I only got the aluminum alloy version, I don't know what the texture of the stainless steel version of this machine is, but even in the aluminum alloy version, the design sense and texture presented by the M11 Plus LTD machine are satisfactory to me. If there are any regrets, then it may be that as a limited edition model, the body of M11 Plus LTD does not have a label showing its identity like M11 Pro, if there is a specially designed "LTD" on the side of the fuselage, it may be that the sense of limit given to users will be stronger.

It belongs to Feiao, and the sound quality has evolved again.

The system version of M11 Plus LTD is Android 10, which supports you to install various streaming media apps, including QQ music, Apple Music, Shrimp Music, Tidal, Spotify, etc. You can basically regard it as a "mobile phone" that cannot make phone calls. How to listen to songs with streaming media at ordinary times is as usual.

In the era of streaming media services, players of major brands are constantly moving forward on the way to support streaming media applications. From early restrictions on use to subsequent development and installation, this change also represents a gradual change in consumer usage habits. When you are spoiled by various easy-to-use streaming media applications, you will naturally have higher expectations for traditional player products. Feiao is a brand that traditional player manufacturers have walked earlier and faster on the streaming media road. It has already supported the installation of streaming media applications on the X series several years ago. Today's M series also pays great attention to convenient operation logic. Among them, M11 Plus LTD has been upgraded in both hardware and software, so the overall operation smoothness is very gratifying, and there will be no Caton when opening streaming media software, which is well received.

In particular, this generation of M11 Plus LTD has finally solved the criticism that M11 Pro does not support Apple Music. I am a heavy Apple Music user with many personal playlists, so a player that does not support Apple Music will bring inconvenience to me in daily use. Besides, Apple Music will support lossless music in the future, which also makes whether to support Apple Music a sign of whether a player is perfect in user experience. Of course, many users with fever will use high-quality streaming media services such as Tidal, but from the perspective of user groups, Apple Music's audience is obviously wider and the cost is lower.

In addition, M11 Plus LTD has already installed Google framework from the factory, so you can directly install relevant App. if you don't use Google service, you can easily install commonly used service software in "feiao market". there is no need to worry about this.

Let's talk about the sound.

In fact, the sound of M11 series has been improving. The sound quality of M11, M11 Pro and M11 Plus LTD is going up from level to level. Although M11 Plus LTD and M11 Pro are consistent in DAC chip and earphone architecture, both of which are double AK4497EQ and double THX AAA-78 schemes, there are still improvements in timbre. Regarding tuning, this is actually a relatively mysterious thing. I have always believed that tuning is an art. It has no standards and norms. In many cases, the quality of tuning depends on the brand's understanding of sound. It is precisely because of art. The diversity of sound also gave birth to the diversity of sound.

The voice of Feiao player in the early days has actually changed a lot from that of Feiao player today. I still remember when I first listened to X7, Feiao's voice was very neutral and bland. Some people would think that such tuning has no taste, but others just like such a clean feeling. The market circle of fever users is so large. If brands want to have more users, they can only break the circle, and breaking the circle also means that the sound needs to be more in line with the taste of the public. That's why the sound of M series has warmed a lot now. The timbre of M11 Plus LTD has been further improved on M11 Pro. Personally, the overall completion degree is higher and the timbre is still warm, but the overall resolution and texture will be more prominent. The specific sound performance still needs to be matched,

Feiao just launched FH5s some time ago. This time I will also use it to match M11 Plus LTD to listen. First of all, it is clear that the sound of the balance end of M11 Plus LTD is much better than that of the single end. If you want to buy M11 Plus LTD, then the balance end must be played, otherwise you will not realize its real strength. Under single-ended conditions, the sound of M11 Plus LTD FH5s is quite soft. Although the low-frequency strength is not "fist to flesh", the performance of the speed feeling is still satisfactory. Personally, I think the intermediate frequency performance of M11 Plus LTD is a bright spot. The vocal lines are soft and audible, the knot is full and clear, and there is no stimulation. Limited to single-port output, its sound field performance is not outstanding, but thanks to the overall warm atmosphere, the listening feeling is quite comfortable, which can be said to be a warm analytical quality route.

Cut to the equilibrium end, the true level of M11 Plus LTD FH5s is revealed. Compared with single-ended, the M11 Plus LTD under the balance end has a more quality sense, and the sound field is immediately larger. Thanks to the adoption of the dual THX AAA-78 ear amplifier architecture, the M11 Plus LTD is more accurate in positioning the sound, and the creation of the sense of space is also quite excellent. In terms of timbre, the texture of low frequency has been well improved. The diving and strength have come up. The drums have been knocked cleanly and neatly. The overall sound has also become cleaner, more direct and proper.

if you are satisfied with the sound of M11 Pro, M11 Plus LTD will definitely not disappoint you. from the sound point of view, it is an enhanced version of M11 Pro: the timbre is still warm, the resolution is improved, the quality sense is strengthened, the intermediate frequency performance is perfect, and the actual listening sense is better. The official selling price of M11 Plus LTD is 4999 yuan, while the official selling price of M11 Pro is 4497 yuan. In the current situation of rising prices of various raw materials, M11 Plus LTD still keeps the price below 5000 yuan, which is still very "proud 」.

◆ It is a "limited product" and also a "heart product 」

As Feiao's current limited edition medium and high-end model, M11 Plus LTD has gone further on the basis of M11 Pro, presenting high-quality chips such as AK4497 to users who appreciate it, and has been fully improved in other aspects, but the price has been restrained, so that even "limited products" are still a "heart-to-heart product 」.

Personally, I am not a core-only theorist, but I have always believed that although chips cannot be equated with sound, they are indeed a basis for good sound, just like mobile phones are full of Xiaolong 888, some brands are optimized well and some brands are optimized poorly. The emergence of M11 Plus LTD also means that Feiao has gained insight into their user group's love for M11 Pro, thus deciding to continue it to create a better model and give back to their users. "Upgrade" and "Polishing" are actually things that product people face all the time, but the starting points are different from each other. This time the M11 Plus LTD I want to say that Feiao is very careful. The only AK4497 chips left in their library, let them continue to speak in the hands of Feiao users with special identities.

author:Xiaomiao-Hai05-24 09:14 Edited

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