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How to Play H.265 Videos with Your Favorite Media Player

H.265 or High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is the world’s fastest video encoder. It supports 25 to 50% data compression at the same video quality leading to a higher coding efficiency. Without a doubt, H.265 enjoys the attention of many, including online streaming artistes, gamers, and software developers. H.265 is aimed at higher resolution displays including 8K/4K and gives superb picture quality with no hazy output. Here we will learn how to play H.265 videos on your favorite media player. As it turns out, very few of them directly support this format. However, with a few tweaks, you can run H.265 videos without any trouble…. Read more

How to Play H.265 Videos with Your Favorite Media Player

H.265 or High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is the world’s fastest video encoder. It supports 25 to 50% data compression at the same video quality leading to a higher coding efficiency. Without a doubt, H.265 enjoys the attention of many, including online streaming artistes, gamers, and software developers. H.265 is aimed at higher resolution displays including 8K/4K and gives superb picture quality with no hazy output. Here we will learn how to play H.265 videos on your favorite media player. As it turns out, very few of them directly support this format. However, with a few tweaks, you can run H.265 videos without any trouble…. Read more

FiiO M7 High-Resolution Lossless Audio Player review

REVIEW – I’m not sure anyone has come out with as many different digital audio players (DAP) as FiiO has. In an age where almost everyone (at least here in the US) uses their smartphones for music listening, FiiO has stubbornly stuck to making DAPs in every price range and feature set. What began as me-too iPod wannabes have evolved into sophisticated, Android-based music players that can handle the most demanding high-resolution music files. 

What is it?

The FiiO M7 is a small, portable hi-res Bluetooth digital audio player with a built-in FM radio. It plays high-resolution music files and uses a pared-down version of Android as its operating system.

Specs

  • Formats: DSD64, APE, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, AIF, WMA, ALAC, MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG
  • FM radio
  • DAC: ES9018Q2C
  • Amp: ES9018Q2C
  • Inputs: USB-C (Charging and Data Transfer / USB DAC)
  • Outputs: 3.5mm Headphone Jack
  • Internal Memory: 2GB
  • SD Card Slot: micro SD (512GB max.)
  • Display: 3.2 inch TFT 480×800
  • Battery: 20 hours
  • Bluetooth: 4.2
  • Dimensions (HxWxD): 109 x 52 x 13 mm
  • Weight: 116 grams
  • Warranty: 24 Months

Package Contents

USB Cable, Clear Case, Quick Start Guide, Warranty Card

Design and features

The design of the M7 DAP’s operating system is clever and mostly efficient, due to its use of Android as a base. Previous FiiO DAPs I’ve used had their own OS baked into the hardware and were not the most user-friendly interfaces. Since Android is used worldwide, its acceptance is pretty much guaranteed—even to this diehard Apple iOS user. 

Keep in mind that the M7 uses a bare-bones version of Android. FiiO smartly decided to only use what’s needed and ditch the superfluous stuff that adds useless complexity. Good move. 

It’s a bit slow to boot up, but once you get past the Welcome screen, you’re greeted with six icons: FiiO Music, FM Radio (yes, it has FM), File Management, Gallery, Technical Support and Settings. Navigation is easy and fairly straightforward. Only a couple of times was I unsure of how to maneuver out of a screen and had to shut-down to return to the beginning. It was either my fault or a glitch that FiiO will fix. FiiO has an excellent record of updating firmware on a timely basis. 

The FiiO Music icon deals with—you guessed it—music files. This is not as intuitive as I would like. When you tap the icon, you have to choose a folder called just “Folder” to access the micro SD card that holds your music—and you want a micro SD card. The M7 only holds 2GB of space, so there’s not a lot of room for music. I’m using a 128GB micro SD card which is a good size. Note that the M7 will accept up to a 512GB card. There is only one SD slot and SD cards are not included.

The FiiO Music folder shows a lot of song info. It will tell you the most recent songs played, most played songs and recently added. It has separate Artist, Album and Songs folders, so it’s easy to navigate to what you want to hear. It will also store playlists that you create on the M7. 

The Settings icon lets you turn on/off or customize various settings. The M7 can be set up as a USB digital audio converter (DAC) giving the M7 another use for those instances when you may want a better DAC than what’s in your car or smartphone, for instance. The M7 can also be used as a Bluetooth DAC/amp to wirelessly connect almost any non-Bluetooth device to a Bluetooth source. Bluetooth was easy to pair with my Fugoo Style S speaker and various wireless headphones I tried. The M7 found the devices quickly.

One nice thing about the M7 is the inclusion of FM Radio—if you’re into that. I haven’t listened to music on FM in ages and the M7 isn’t going to change that. But some still listen to the radio, so it’s a nice addition. However, it turns out that FM will not work with Bluetooth or wireless headphones. The headphone’s cable becomes the FM antenna—limiting the FM radio’s appeal. Once I plugged some headphones into the M7, the FM app instantly found all the local radio stations around me and listed them in order—way more convenient than manually dialing or searching. The difference in audio quality between FM and the M7’s native music player is night and day. Music on the radio stations sounded muffled and boomy. It made me realize why I gave up FM years ago. Ugh.

The M7 has a built-in 10-band graphic equalizer—difficult to find and difficult to use. Access seems to only be through the window showing a particular song that’s playing. There are 8 presets plus a user mode that only sometimes would accept my finger attempting to access the EQ sliders trying to customize the settings. After fiddling with it, I just turned off all EQ and lived with it. Besides, no EQ sounded better than any of the pre-determined settings.

As intelligent as the OS can be, it’s the hardware where FiiO shines. The M7 is almost beautiful to look at and a pleasure to hold in your hand. It’s made from a solid piece of aluminum with minimal buttons. The large (for the M7’s size) plastic screen is a 480 X 800 TFT color screen. No, it’s not OLED or glass—it doesn’t need to be. It’s plenty bright and easy to read. Plus, the M7’s screen does not show fingerprints as a glass screen can.

There’s a “chin” above the screen which makes the M7 look upside down. It takes some getting used to since most players have the chin below the screen. It looks off-balance.

The M7 is thicker than most newer smartphones and has sharp edges—there’s nothing rounded about it. Even so, it’s comfortable and secure-feeling when held. FiiO includes a clear soft TPU plastic case for the M7. Some people despise the case, but I leave it on since the aluminum shell can scratch or dent easily if dropped. The M7 comes in four colors: Blue, red, black and gray. I have the red one which is the most striking looking and photographs better.

I had an issue with the side buttons on the M7. Unless you turn the buttons off in Settings, it’s far too easy to accidentally press them which will either fast forward, pause or repeat a song. Fortunately, Fiio allows these buttons to be turned off as long as the screen is off, so the M7 can be left in your pocket without any accidental button pressing. 

So how does the M7 sound? It is certified Hi-Res and can handle any lossless music file resolutions up to 192kHz/24bit. What this means in English is that the M7 will store and play files better than CD quality (44.1KHz/16bit). Knowing that some CDs can sound freaking good, does better than CD matter? Only in some instances. When listening to a high-res file, certain details can be revealed that may be missed in that same music file being played at a lower resolution. Keep in mind that this difference will be much more apparent when you compare a CD to a really low-res MP3 file. The difference between a CD and a 192kHz/24bit file will be minimal to audiophiles and not heard at all by most other people. 

And if that isn’t enough, the vast majority of a recording’s quality is determined in the recording studio—long before the customer gets a version, be it high-res, CD or the lowly streaming format. It’s no wonder most people stick with their smartphones for all their music.

Even with all that griping aside, the M7 sounds great when fed high-quality music files. My hi-res version of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Déjà Vu” album sounds glorious whether listening with wired headphones or even over Bluetooth. The details hidden within each song is stunning. This is a carefully recorded album that can now be heard as I can imagine it sounded in the studio. Stunning.

Amber Rubarth’s binaural album “Sessions from the 17th Ward” is another aural revelation on the M7. The soundstage of this recording places the listener right in the middle of the stage (credit the binaural microphone set-up for that) and the higher res recording adds clarity that is downright spooky. The M7 effortlessly exhibits the best this album has to offer. It’s an audio cliche, but Ms. Rubarth really does sound like she is in the room with you.

It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of music you’re into—the FiiO M7 can make you smile and sometimes even give you goosebumps with what you hear.

What I like

 The M7 hits the sweet spot between features, price and audio quality. It’s well-built, fairly easy to navigate and can sounds as good as the quality of music you feed it.

What needs to be improved

Even though the price is justified, the M7 is not cheap. Note that FiiO makes less expensive excellent players. The M7’s software can be frustrating at times.

Final Thoughts

I haven’t gone into everything the FiiO M7 can do, but if you’re looking to separate your smartphone from your music collection and move it to a dedicated music player, visit fiio.com and check out their line of players—some more and some less expensive. You should be able to find one that gives you what you want in a player—even if it’s not the M7.

Price: $199.99 US
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this product was provided by FiiO.

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FiiO M7 High-Resolution Lossless Audio Player review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 21, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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Dodocool DA106 Hi-Fi Music Player review

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” This quote from Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Dodocool DA106 digital audio player (DAP). Please bear with me as I explain my happiness—and sadness—over this player.

What is it?

Let’s begin with what exactly the Dodocool DA106 player is: The DA106 is a small player that will play music files much like an iPod Nano (remember those?). However, unlike the Nano—or any other iPod or iPhone, the DA106 can play hi-res music files. And it sounds great doing it. Plus, Apple has discontinued all iPods except the Pod Touch, which is basically an iPhone without the phone part.

Design and features

And, oh is it cheap—in price only! The DA106 practically qualifies as an impulse buy. Yet it is built as well and with as many features as players costing much, much more.

The Dodocool (can we change that name?) DA106 is a small, solid aluminum clad player that’s made for people who own their music in the form of ripped CDs and/or digital files. Since it’s a hi-res player, those files can be much higher resolution than what an iPod could ever handle. Higher res files sound better with more dynamic range and richness than any lower res MP3 file ever could. Keep in mind however, that recorded music quality is as dependent on the initial recording as how it’s been ripped or downsampled.

If you’re unsure what I mean by high or low resolution music files, it’s this: Songs bought from iTunes are 256 kbps (kilobits per second). That sounds large until you learn that CD tracks are 1411 kbps—quite a difference. Now people who are serious about digital music prefer even larger files upwards to 2,224 kbps and more. After a while it starts to get a bit silly. Suffice to say that the Dodocool player will play files up to 192kHz/24bit—far higher than a human ear can detect. Confused? Me too, and I understand most of this stuff. All you need to know is that unless you are a hard core audiophile, the DA106 will play anything you can throw at it.

So how does the DA106 perform? That’s an open question, because up until now, nothing—and I mean nothing—equals the ease of use of the original iPod. Even now, iOS and Android aren’t as easy to navigate as the iPod’s original click wheel. The DA106 does have a click wheel that actually spins and clicks when you run your thumb over it. It’s not as smooth as the original iPod’s was. There are buttons next to the small click wheel that brings up File List, Skip Forward and Backward and a separate back button that goes to the previous selection. Apple managed to include these functions on the wheel itself—something that hasn’t been done since the iPod. Maybe Apple has a patent, because no one else is doing it.

But enough comparison griping, because the Dodocool DA106 is one fine music player. It has a dual-core chip with DSD file support (this matters to audiophiles only). It’s solidly built and reassuring in its heft. It has 8gb built-in memory with an additional TF card slot that will accept a 256gb micro SD card. That’s a lot of music storage. There is 30 hours of playing time on a fully recharged battery.

But that’s not all. the DA106 has a built-in FM radio and an internal mic for recording either live voice or FM. If you conduct interviews, the DA106 will record the interview. However, note that there is no port for an external mic.

The DA106’s software is easily understood if a bit rudimentary. The small 2-inch color screen has a resolution of 320×240-pixels—not smart phone quality—but it is easy to navigate and read. That’s good because the included manual is almost useless. It points out what the slots and buttons are for, but that’s it. I learned what was where simply by clicking and scrolling.

The main window gives a choice of Files, Settings, Now Playing, Music, FM and Recording. Music offers more choices, but I mostly use Songs, Artists and Albums. Genres is useless and Storage lists what files are on the main internal memory and what is on the card. In the Now Playing section, there is a built-in equalizer. It’s confusing to use so I just leave it off—something I usually do anyway.

One big pain with the DA106 is that when the screen goes dark to save battery life, no buttons will wake it up—except the power button. Having to press the power button each time just to wake the player up gets old quickly.

So, how does the DA106 sound? Since it’s a high-end player, I decided to pair it with the Audeze iSine10 earphones. Due to their musical accuracy, these planar magnetic wonders will bring out the best—and worst—in music. I’m happy to report that the DA106 works quite well with the iSine10 earphones. The high-res music I loaded sounds natural and transparent. Bass might be considered a bit weak, but it isn’t—it’s just accurate. Anyway, that’s more of a function of the iSine10’s than the DA106.

Note that the iSine10 earphones have to be hardwired to the DA106—there is no Bluetooth. However, there is line-out port next to the headphone jack located at the top of the player. This port allows the DA106 to be connected to an external player (such as a dash-mounted car player) and bypass that players usually inferior amp. Music plays louder when connected this way.

It doesn’t matter what genre of music I listen to with the DA106. It all sounds good, however you’ll get more bang for your buck by listening to higher resolution music files since that’s the reason why the DA106 exists. Lower res MP3s won’t sound any better than they do on your standard smartphone.

Going back to my Tale of Two Cities analogy at the beginning of this review—using the DA106 makes me sad because I keep wondering if the market for stand-alone music players is viable for the long term. As good as some of these players are—and the DA106 is an amazing player—I have never seen anyone on the street using them. Anyone I see listening to music in public is listening from a smartphone—every time. The mantra seems to be convenience over quality. Plus, let’s face it—MP3s and AAC files, Bluetooth and streaming are sounding better and better. Within a few short years, I can’t envision DAPs mattering anymore, except in the expensive and rarified high-end music arena with players costing upwards of $1000 or more. The inexpensive DA106 doesn’t fit into either the convenience or super high-end market.

Positives

  • Well built—as good as players costing much more
  • Solid—aluminum construction
  • Sounds great
  • Very Inexpensive

Negatives

  • Must press power button to wake

Final thoughts

Despite my misgivings about the viability of the DA106’s existence, it is a well built digital audio player that can easily compete with players costing much, much more. So if you’re interested in using something other than your smartphone to house your music collection, the Dodocool DA106 is a great place to start.

Price: $44.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review were provided by Dodocool. Please visit for more information.