[Lindholdt]

Any of you using Plex on your R7?
I really like it! With my phone I can control what is being streamed to the R7, I have full control and it runs extremely smooth. I have the free version of Plex, but I'm seriously considering upgrading to the paid version so I get all the features and can integrate Tidal as well
Any of you guys got the paid version, and is it worth it to you?

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Any of you using Plex on your R7?
I really like it! With my phone I can control what is being streamed to the R7, I have full control and it runs extremely smooth. I have the free version of Plex, but I'm seriously considering upgrading to the paid version so I get all the features and can integrate Tidal as well
Any of you guys got the paid version, and is it worth it to you?

Hi,

I hear you.

But I have one question : dioo you run Plex server directly on your R7 ?
I have tried to install Plex Server but it does not install.
Maybe you used a direct .apk file ?

I do not use Plex but one of the "competitors".
It's called "Emby". And I have the paid version.
It runs superbly well on R7 so you can use it as both Server and Renderer...
Combine this to the Fiio Equalizer, and you have a real stand-alone device.
You can find the .apk on the Emby site officially.

If you ask me, paid versions of Plex and Emby are only worth it if you use it as Video libraries.
It is less important if you use those as simple Music libraries.

I strongly advise to disable the search function of Plex if you have to index a large music library as it may takes several hours, even days, to index 20k tracks if you don't disable that

Regards.

 

[Lindholdt]

Hi,

I hear you.

But I have one question : dioo you run Plex server directly on your R7 ?
I have tried to install Plex Server but it does not install.
Maybe you used a direct .apk file ?

I do not use Plex but one of the "competitors".
It's called "Emby". And I have the paid version.
It runs superbly well on R7 so you can use it as both Server and Renderer...
Combine this to the Fiio Equalizer, and you have a real stand-alone device.
You can find the .apk on the Emby site officially.

If you ask me, paid versions of Plex and Emby are only worth it if you use it as Video libraries.
It is less important if you use those as simple Music libraries.

I strongly advise to disable the search function of Plex if you have to index a large music library as it may takes several hours, even days, to index 20k tracks if you don't disable that

Regards.

I'm running Plex server on my NAS, so that handles much of the heavy lifting. It handles it all well, even though it's a quite old NAS, I have around 24K files, and I have no issue with searching and indexing.
I haven't tried running the server on the R7, so can't comment on that. Happy with the old NAS

Haven't heard of Emby, but I'll give that a look, before paying for Plex.
My main reason to pay for Plex, is to get Tidal integration, so I have access to both local files and online streaming from the same app.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,

Understood about Tidal.
I do not use that. I use Qobuz.

But Qobuz and Tidal are integrated in mConnect, in Bubble UPnP and in UAPP...
All three can stream to the R7. SO I use those.

Emby has a huge advantage over Plex : they released a Server App that integrates with Android 7.
Plex does not have that

So I plug in a USB Stick (even 2 in my case) loaded with music files.
I launch the Emby Server app and point to the USB sticks.
It starts indexing and takes a long time to do so (I'd say 4 to 6 hours for 24K files).
But you can enjoy your music even before it finishes the indexing...
Afterwards, adding files does not take a long time to re-index. And it does so "on the fly"...

So you can take the R7 with you, and still have your server with your files whereever you go.
That is exactly what I was looking for.

I just heard that Fiio plans to release a S15 which would be a horizontal version of the R7.
In case Fiio reads this here is a whishlist for that S15 device to be announced/released (in decreasing order of importance) :
- ESS 9039 DAC (a pro would be perfection) ;
- Android 12 ;
- A large horizontal touch display ;
- A 1Gbps Ethernet port ;
- An analog input ;
- A slot to add internal hard drive ;
- A power amplifier (say, 80W/8Ohms) to drive passive speakers.

Of course, all that may increase the price... But I am confident that this would be appealing to a lot of people.

Regards.

 

[alora42]

FiiO R7 All-In-One Desktop Android HiFi Music Player impresses with its seamless integration of high-quality audio performance and Android versatility. Its sleek design, ample storage, and intuitive interface elevate the listening experience. A worthy investment for audiophiles seeking premium sound quality and modern functionality in one device.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

FiiO R7 All-In-One Desktop Android HiFi Music Player impresses with its seamless integration of high-quality audio performance and Android versatility. Its sleek design, ample storage, and intuitive interface elevate the listening experience. A worthy investment for audiophiles seeking premium sound quality and modern functionality in one device.

Hi,
First post to claim such praises is highly suspicious
Have you be paid by Fiio to post this ?

Just kiddin' of course.

Nonetheless, if the R7 is a fantastic device, I would not consider it's sound as superlative.
It is good, probably above average, but you can easily dream for something better.

Regards.

 

[kelly200269]

The R7 punches way, way above it’s weight.

Yes, there is better to be had. For example, my HDV820 sounds slightly better to my ears. And FiiO’s own M17 sounds slightly more focussed. But these devices are twice the price of the R7.

My R7 with PL50 is my most used listening device. That says a lot.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,

I started a quest to find the "all-in-one" solution that woàuld fit my needs.

By all-in-one I mean :
- media server ;
- streamer ;
- DAC ;
- headphone amp.

I was looking for something rather simple to use AND reliable.
I think I found it in the form of the Fiio R7... and must admit that I would now be interested in the R9.
But that is another story.
I would like to tell the one about how I use the R7 to fit my needs.

First of all, after I managed to get it all to work as I wanted, I decided to start on a fresh basis and to set the R7 back to factory defaults.

Once that was done I updated all apps that could be updated.

Then I went to Settings => General and enabled Ethernet.
I am not sure the "Fixed IP address" works so I set my router to assign a specific IP address for the R7.
In my case, that adress is 192.168.1.11.

Once this was done, I hooked up a small USB Hub with 2 drives :
- one with "modern music" of all kinds : from Iron Maiden to Loreena McKennitt ;
- one with my classical music, which essentially consists of about all complete Beethoven symphonies and Piano concertos and others works by Mahler and Dvorak.

Once the USB Hub was connected I went to Internet and searched for an App called "Emby server".
It is not available from the Play Store, so you have to download an .apk from the official Emby website.
There is abeta version and a stable one. I installed the Stable one...
Once installed, I opened the app and selected "Open in browser".
There I configured the Emby server to retrieve files and metadata from the two USB drives in the Hub.
After some long time to index the whole files, the server was ready.
I went to "Configure server" and went to DLNA settings and checked "Receive via DLNA" and "Share over DLNA".
There you go : I now have a media server in the bogy of the R7 with 2 USB Sticks.

Then I need something to stream.
That is mightily easy.
I just installed Emby on my smartphone.
That one is the client and is available from the Play Store.
I launched it, said I want to connect to the R7 Emby Server on IP 192.168.1.1 and port 8096 (default port used by Emby).
Result was simple, I could now acces my whole music library with my smartphone.
Good...
To stream to the R7 is also quite easy : just install Emby on the R7 and launch it.
You can now wselect to play files on the Emby R7 app... I have a streamer.

That is good, but there is one problem.
I may download music and would like to add it to the USB stciks.
Taking them out might screw the whole set-up.
So I simply installed an app called "FTP server" on the R7.
It is available on the Play store, so you can install it directly from there.
I started the app, created a new user and started the FTP Server.
Now on my computer, I just need to launch a FTP client (I use filezilla) and access the FTP Server on the R7.
As I stated to the FTP Server app that I would like to access my USB drives, I can now acces my USB drives and add music directly to the R7.
Good...

So now I have a media server and a "streamer".
As the R7 has a DAC and a nice headphone amp, I am quite happy so far.

But there is one last setting to make to have it all working : and that is to enable the ScreenSaver on the R7.
Else, the Emby client on the R7 will not be accessible anymore and you'll have to power the display to be able to pause, stop or start music again.

So, in the end, I now have my music stored on the USB Sticks hooked up to the R7.
I can retrieve my files from the R7 from my smartphone using Emby Server as a media server.
I can use whatever app I want to retrive the music BUT : Emby is a renderer only to Emby (not sure why).
So I use Emby client. After all it is good enough

I can start and pause files.
It happens that the connection to the R7 seems lost...
All I have to do in Emby smartphone is "reselect" the Emby R7 renderer.
My played files show up again and I can pause/stop/resume again... Even after several hours of "Pause".

Splendid...

It may sound a little difficult, but if you need help I can provide it.
And all inall, it takes about 5 to 8 minutes to achieve.

Love it

So is there room for improvement ?
Yes... there certainly is.

The most wanted feature is a 1gbps ethernet port instead of that lazy and outdated 100Mbbps one.
I would then be able to cpy files from the computer to the USB Stick at the speed of... the USB stick, and not at 10MB/s which is about the average speed you get on a 100Mbps Ethernet port

I had the opportunity to listen to a device powering the ESS9039 Pro DAC. My o' my...
That DAC is stellar.
Me, I was a fan of AK449x DAC's.
That preference is gone with the 9039 Pro (maybe 9039 non pro would do also ?).
So a R7 Mk2 (or the new "horizontal" S15 device announced by Fiio maybe ?) with a 9039 would be perfection.

Another convenient updgrade would be the ability to install an internal hard drive (2.5 SATA or NVMe) like Rose does or Zidoo does on Neo players.
That would allow to have everything "internal" and much faster...

And if the headphone amp would be slightly more powerful to feed all power hungry headphones, it would also be a nice addition, but that is not a necessity.

Hope this helps.

Regards.

 

[kelly200269]

Hi,

I started a quest to find the "all-in-one" solution that woàuld fit my needs.

By all-in-one I mean :
- media server ;
- streamer ;
- DAC ;
- headphone amp.

I was looking for something rather simple to use AND reliable.
I think I found it in the form of the Fiio R7... and must admit that I would now be interested in the R9.
But that is another story.
I would like to tell the one about how I use the R7 to fit my needs.

First of all, after I managed to get it all to work as I wanted, I decided to start on a fresh basis and to set the R7 back to factory defaults.

Once that was done I updated all apps that could be updated.

Then I went to Settings => General and enabled Ethernet.
I am not sure the "Fixed IP address" works so I set my router to assign a specific IP address for the R7.
In my case, that adress is 192.168.1.11.

Once this was done, I hooked up a small USB Hub with 2 drives :
- one with "modern music" of all kinds : from Iron Maiden to Loreena McKennitt ;
- one with my classical music, which essentially consists of about all complete Beethoven symphonies and Piano concertos and others works by Mahler and Dvorak.

Once the USB Hub was connected I went to Internet and searched for an App called "Emby server".
It is not available from the Play Store, so you have to download an .apk from the official Emby website.
There is abeta version and a stable one. I installed the Stable one...
Once installed, I opened the app and selected "Open in browser".
There I configured the Emby server to retrieve files and metadata from the two USB drives in the Hub.
After some long time to index the whole files, the server was ready.
I went to "Configure server" and went to DLNA settings and checked "Receive via DLNA" and "Share over DLNA".
There you go : I now have a media server in the bogy of the R7 with 2 USB Sticks.

Then I need something to stream.
That is mightily easy.
I just installed Emby on my smartphone.
That one is the client and is available from the Play Store.
I launched it, said I want to connect to the R7 Emby Server on IP 192.168.1.1 and port 8096 (default port used by Emby).
Result was simple, I could now acces my whole music library with my smartphone.
Good...
To stream to the R7 is also quite easy : just install Emby on the R7 and launch it.
You can now wselect to play files on the Emby R7 app... I have a streamer.

That is good, but there is one problem.
I may download music and would like to add it to the USB stciks.
Taking them out might screw the whole set-up.
So I simply installed an app called "FTP server" on the R7.
It is available on the Play store, so you can install it directly from there.
I started the app, created a new user and started the FTP Server.
Now on my computer, I just need to launch a FTP client (I use filezilla) and access the FTP Server on the R7.
As I stated to the FTP Server app that I would like to access my USB drives, I can now acces my USB drives and add music directly to the R7.
Good...

So now I have a media server and a "streamer".
As the R7 has a DAC and a nice headphone amp, I am quite happy so far.

But there is one last setting to make to have it all working : and that is to enable the ScreenSaver on the R7.
Else, the Emby client on the R7 will not be accessible anymore and you'll have to power the display to be able to pause, stop or start music again.

So, in the end, I now have my music stored on the USB Sticks hooked up to the R7.
I can retrieve my files from the R7 from my smartphone using Emby Server as a media server.
I can use whatever app I want to retrive the music BUT : Emby is a renderer only to Emby (not sure why).
So I use Emby client. After all it is good enough

I can start and pause files.
It happens that the connection to the R7 seems lost...
All I have to do in Emby smartphone is "reselect" the Emby R7 renderer.
My played files show up again and I can pause/stop/resume again... Even after several hours of "Pause".

Splendid...

It may sound a little difficult, but if you need help I can provide it.
And all inall, it takes about 5 to 8 minutes to achieve.

Love it

So is there room for improvement ?
Yes... there certainly is.

The most wanted feature is a 1gbps ethernet port instead of that lazy and outdated 100Mbbps one.
I would then be able to cpy files from the computer to the USB Stick at the speed of... the USB stick, and not at 10MB/s which is about the average speed you get on a 100Mbps Ethernet port

I had the opportunity to listen to a device powering the ESS9039 Pro DAC. My o' my...
That DAC is stellar.
Me, I was a fan of AK449x DAC's.
That preference is gone with the 9039 Pro (maybe 9039 non pro would do also ?).
So a R7 Mk2 (or the new "horizontal" S15 device announced by Fiio maybe ?) with a 9039 would be perfection.

Another convenient updgrade would be the ability to install an internal hard drive (2.5 SATA or NVMe) like Rose does or Zidoo does on Neo players.
That would allow to have everything "internal" and much faster...

And if the headphone amp would be slightly more powerful to feed all power hungry headphones, it would also be a nice addition, but that is not a necessity.

Hope this helps.

Regards.

I use my R7 as a ‘Roon endpoint’ via WiFi. And it’s peerless in that regard. So unfortunately, I don’t share your frustrations in this regard.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,

No real frsustration here, except the slow Ethernet.
Indeed, using Wi-Fi would be something to consider. Not sure what speed it would achieve.

Me, I don't use Roon.
It certainly is splendid.
But I haven't really understood what it's usage is.

I just checked : prices have lowered a lot.
When I checked about 18 months ago a lifetime subscription was I think 1.2 or 1.4k dollars !

But of course trying it for 14 dollars a month would be something I'd consider.

Regards.

 

[arunabhabanerjee]

Hi,

No real frsustration here, except the slow Ethernet.
Indeed, using Wi-Fi would be something to consider. Not sure what speed it would achieve.

Me, I don't use Roon.
It certainly is splendid.
But I haven't really understood what it's usage is.

I just checked : prices have lowered a lot.
When I checked about 18 months ago a lifetime subscription was I think 1.2 or 1.4k dollars !

But of course trying it for 14 dollars a month would be something I'd consider.

Regards.

Wi-Fi - I used to get 300+ Mbps all the time.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Wi-Fi - I used to get 300+ Mbps all the time.

Hi,

Thanks for the info...

I will buy a Wi-Fi card to add to my computer as I have "workstation" motherboard that has absolutely no wireless connectivity

I will report if I am able to achieve the same speeds as yours.

Regards.