Today, Lynn reviews the FiiO RR11, the company’s debut portable FM Radio player with added dongle functionality and 17.5 hours of battery life. It is currently priced at $59.99.
Disclaimer: I received this sample in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or services. I thank FiiO for their support.
You can click here to learn more about the FiiO audio products previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This post follows our current scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
FiiO is rolling out products in sectors that seem to be lacking in competition. The TT13 I reviewed filled in as an alternative BT turntable that is simple to operate and sounds quite good. The CP13 brings back Walkman cassette vibes with BT as well.
The new $59.99 RR11 is yet another jump into the retro-scene from FiiO. This is an affordable portable FM/Amplifier unit, complete with earbuds reminiscent of the old VE Monk Plus classic or their EM3.
With three FM tuning choices (US, Japanese, and college campus), and the ability to be used as a dongle-amplifier from your laptop or phone, the RR11 tries to provide a simple, affordable option with that FM kick. How does it do? We shall see.
Features
With the SoC MS430, FM radio SI4831, the analog sound effect, and amp using FIIO’s own DDB AS100 custom chip, the RR11 does not skimp on the internals.
It also features a two-stage Magic Bass switch (the second adds a 3D effect) to enhance what is arguably FM’s weakest point, the low end. Doing so gives the airwaves some girth and weight while you jam out to oldies (all that I have available) or your choice of FM music.
The RR11’s FM radio SI4831 radio chip allows for FM reception that might just make a Walkman blush as it clings to stations with ease.
The chip also allows for multi-market FM reception, including school campuses and Japanese frequencies, which makes marketing across the globe easier.
Many FM receivers such as this rely upon the headphones as a large part of the antenna array. While the RR11 does as well, the main antenna is coiled down the left side, taking up not only less space, but due to the winding affords better reception capabilities.
Besides the Magic Bass switch, the second level affords a slight 3D effect while enhancing the low-end, giving a holographic effect to your music.
Power may come across as modest by the listing, but it was quite sufficient when pushed. When pushed, running the Magic Bass off resulted in the best sound.
With battery operation times listed (and verified, 3x) of 8.5 hours, the only thing missing (to me) on the RR11 is AM for those times you wish to get talk radio or ball games that still use the AM side of life.
Design
The RR11 is a small rectangular unit that slips discreetly into a pocket. The red looks quite spiffy, and I appreciated the accented silver and red.
The silver sides hide potential fingerprints while accenting the red, giving an upscale look that is understated, besides looking modern.
The front carries the tuning scale, battery, tuning, and stereo acquisition LEDs, besides the black station numbered scale.
Those tuning scales are quite small and read more easily from the other colors besides the red, which I found to be quite hard. I had to move the RR11 to see where I was on the “dial,” but that was a minor inconvenience.
The right side has a red tuning dial, which functions perfectly with no looseness. Below the detented tuning dial are the rockers for FM/Amp and Magic Bass (Off, 1 & 2) settings.
The bottom has the USB-C charging port, which doubles as the connection for dongle use, while the top houses the 3.5mm se headphone jack and a red volume knob, complete with white dot to see how loud you have it.
Anything beyond about 1200-1300 became quite loud, so it was nice to have that little “volume dot.”
No case is provided, but knowing how these anodized colors weather usage, I am not bothered by that. I have a much older, small Shanling M0 DAP that is the same color and has retained it without blemish.
I/O
The USB-C on the bottom runs the dual service for charging and serves as the power output for the dongle.
The only headphone port is a 3.5mm jack on top, which could theoretically act as a 3.5mm port to an amplifier’s AUX port. In all, this is a straightforward, simple, and easy-to-use device.
Controls
The RR11 has two run options: FM and amplifier usage. I used both, hooking the FiiO to my MacBook Pro to run as an external amplifier for Tidal and Qobuz streaming with success. But the main emphasis is as a portable FM unit, so not everything needs to be complicated.
Running both options, the Magic Bass was prevalent, as was the 3D effect when incorporated into my listening. While running FM, I utilized the Magic Bass 2 (Bass+3D) the vast majority of the time.
The difference in holography was noticeable, but not a large jump. This is a positive to me since, instead of a large artificial jump in effect, the result was enhancing the sound spatially.
To me, there is a difference, and I appreciate the lower treatment levels instead of a massive effectual change.
Packaging & Accessories
The RR11 comes packed similarly to the CP13, which is to say, well-protected and efficient. Set in a protective plastic tray, you get the plastic-sheathed RR11, with the earbuds slotted next to it.
Below that, you get the USB-C to USB-C charging/amplifier cable and the basic instruction manual. You also get a USB-A to USB-C charging/amplifier cable for units that still carry a USB-A connection.
I will note that both cables are quite short, which means they are for stacking like the old days. But keeping the RR11 close at hand isn’t necessarily a bad idea. A warranty card rounds out the mix.
Sound Impressions
Impressions were made predominantly with the included earbuds. However, I could not resist adding the Drop x Campfire Audio Dark Star to the mix for purposes of quality bass and potentially a higher level of sound quality. I also hooked the RR11 to my MacBook Pro for amplification purposes.
Summary
The RR11 is an FM device first and foremost, but usage as an amplifier should not be discounted for those looking for an inexpensive option that has the FM capabilities others do not.
I found the low-end to be lacking, but attributed this to the FM signal. Using the Bass Magic in both settings helped, but I found that upon much higher volume levels, the sound deteriorated to the point I had to lower the volume. I was able to reach quite high levels before this occurred, though.
Even with the 3D effect in place, spatial awareness was limited by the compressed FM signal, but for its purpose, quite acceptable. The upper reaches are enhanced with most stations, and this did limit how high I could go with the volume.
On the amplification setting, the sound was quite vibrant with a brittleness that belied its FM usage. Quite the dichotomous sound between the two was heard.
Bass
On FM, the bass was lacking due to the compressed signal. But, adding either of the Magic Bass settings helped compensate to the point where the bass was acceptable with good reach and taut control, even though it didn’t reach that low.
On bass-enhanced songs, the Magic Bass+3D effect played a larger role, giving good results, but lacking in dynamics. There is only so much you can do with a compressed signal, and the FiiO tries its best.
Mids
The midrange was pushed forward and up regardless of whether the RR1 was used as a dongle or in FM mode. That lifted level did give better separation to the note quality than I expected, but it felt artificially separated on some genres, such as pop or rock.
That said, the effect was a positive reinforcement of what the music was putting out there; the traditional FM music sound that forces midrange across more than either end.
In that regard, Magic Bass worked against the midrange, and I played music without either setting on for genres that focused more on the midrange.
I found the midrange offered the best qualities when using the RR11 as an amplifier. Acoustic genres carried excellent note weight and a succinct tonality that allowed for the music to shine through mostly unencumbered.
Treble
FM signals also traditionally force a top end that stretches the signature artificially. Again, the RR11 did what it could to rein in that artificiality with good spacing and weight of notes, which I appreciated.
Cymbal clashes and hits came across as tizzy and artificial regardless of what setting was used, but this was not unexpected.
When the FiiO was used as an amplifier, the top end was emphasized to a higher degree than in FM mode. I found that I had to rely upon the Magic Bass settings more when used with my MBP and streaming Tidal, even though Tidal emphasizes the low end.
The levels of detail came across as tight and controlled, but artificial and carried a thinning effect, which detracted from the overall signature to me.
Staging
When reviewing an FM unit, the terms “soundstage” and “imaging” are almost meaningless, since the sound is so compressed (mentioned many times here). Nonetheless, the RR11 carried good but not great 3D spatial awareness.
The elevated midrange helped to push the height to well above my head, while the width was slightly outside my head. But as expected, depth suffered. This was not unexpected to me, and I still appreciated the RR11’s effort.
When used as an amplifier, each dimension carried about the same dimensionality as the FM characteristics, but the height was pushed further forward while staying elevated.
This was not entirely bad, and I appreciated how this effect helped to separate itself from the other dimensions. Call it sacrificing oneself for the good of the herd.
That expansion afforded a more 3D effect (even without the switching) that carried good spatial awareness of the music, enhancing tonality accordingly. For the RR11’s intended purposes, it performed well as an amplifier.
Click on page 2 for my recommended pairings and selected comparison.
