Fiio JM21 Digital Audio Player

 

The Fiio JM21 is a very compact Digital Audio Player retailing at around 199€ in the EU.

The device comes in a nice small box along with a USB cable for charging, data transfer and USB Dac functions, a screen protector and a silicone
transparent case.

The Fiio JM21 is a very lightweight and compact device which makes it an ideal companion for travelling, It should fit in almost
any pockets without any issues. The built quality on this JM21 is quiet nice, even though it is very lightweight it feels
robust when holding it in the hands. Due to the small form factor the size of the screen is only 4.7 inch, while it is not
outstanding in terms of quality, i found it clear and easy to read, provided i'm not standing directly under sunlight.
Overall usability & navigation of the device is quiet satisfying, the control buttons on the device are well placed and easy to
access. On the bottom you can find a 3.5 single ended, a 4.4 balanced headphone outputs and a Usb-c connection.

 

 

The CPU (Qualcomm Snapdragon 680) and Android 13 OS ensure on overall snappy performance of the UI, even navigating
through streaming apps was quiet smooth and i didn't noticeable major slowdowns over time. The 32Gb of internal memory is sufficient
to store some music files but for larger libraires the storage capacity can be extended through the MicroSD Card slot giving
the option to add an SD-Card with up to 2TB of data. Streaming music through the wi-fi connection using my phone was stable
and worked flawlessly, same when using the internal Fiio player app no issues  at all. 

In addition there are a lot of apps which can be downloaded from the google store such as streaming apps like Qobuz, Tidal and many more.

 

Regarding the sound section, the JM21 is equipped with dual Cirrus Logic CS43198 Dacs and two SGM8262 OP Amps delivering 700 mW(32Ω load)
of power output on the balanced 4.4mm connection, so a lot of power for such a small device, the Fiio should be able drive
almost every IEM and a lot of full-Sized Headphones out there. The Dac Chips are able to decode files up to 384 kHz/32 Bit
with support for all major audio file types.

 

So not much to complain about so far but there could be one potential drawback namely the battery. With a capacity of only
2400mAh it's relatively small, the specs from the manufacturer states about 9.5 Hours of battery life when using the 4.4mm
balanced headphone jack. During my testing while using the Wi-Fi connection with a Full-Sized headphone like the Fiio FT1
at about 75/100 volume level with high gain the battery lasted barely 8 hours before needing a recharge. So this is something
to keep in mind.

 

 

Sound performance & signature: The sound profile is mostly neutral with nice detail, dynamics & low-end punch. It drove all my IEM's with ease and without any
noticeable background hiss, with or without audio playback. As already mentioned before due to the very powerful Op Amps
this small device can also drive full-size headphones like the Fiio Ft1 or the Sennheiser HD620s or 660s2 very nicely.
Especially the pairing of both the FT1 and JM21 was really impressive, would be a nice entry level setup for a low amount of cash.


Comparisons: At around 200€ i had no other DAP on hand to compare it to, so i had to dig out a Hiby R5 Gen 2 priced at around 400€
when it was released so twice as expensive as the JM21 but to my surprise, sound performance wise both are on the same level, the Hiby
is an older model it is a lot bulkier and has less driving power (475mW) than the Fiio, it run's on a much older Android 8.1 OS and is less fluid when
navigating through the UI, the only advantage of the R5 is the battery life it can hold up 2-3 hours longer than the Fiio before juice
runs out.

So to conclude i think that the Fiio JM21 at the price it sells is really bargain, it sounds really good and overall build quality is more
than adequate. It's a great unit as it manages to drive both IEM's and full-size headphones very well and can be used as a starting point
for a long audiophile journey....

 


Used listening components:


Sennheiser HD660S2 (Open Back Headphones)

Fiio Ft1 (Closed Back Headphones)

Aune AR-5000 (Dynamic Open Back)

Sennheiser HD620s (Dynamic Closed Back)

Meze Alba (In Ears)

Aful Peformer 5+2 (In Ears)

Letshuoer S12 (In Ears)

Hidizs MP145 (In Ears)

Softears Volume S (In Ears)

Hidizs MK12 (In Ears)

7HZ Salnotes Zero (In Ears)

Flipears Aegis (In Ears)

Truthear Gate (In Ears)


Hart Modular Cables

LINSOUL Tripowin Zonie 16 Core Silver Plated 4.4 Pentaconn Balanced Cable