A ’no-brainer’ for Roon users

The SR11 is an interesting new product in FiiO’s ever expanding catalog of audio products. Basically it is a budget-friendly streamer that caters specifically to Roon and Airplay users (at least for now), priced attractively at $109.99. For a Roon Ready End-Point this is an incredible price.

The SR11 shares the same FiiO design as K11 (and the new K11-R2R) and as you will see, I think these make a perfect pairing.

But, let’s dive into the details to see what you get with the SR11.

Unboxing

The FiiO SR11 comes packaged in a sleek and compact box, reminiscent of the packaging for the FiiO K11. box.jpeg

Opening the outer box you get a cute cover on the contents: openbox.jpeg

Taking this off reveals the SR11: inbox.jpeg

Removing the contents, you get the SR11 a power supply, some documentation and a remote: box-contents.jpeg

More on the remote in the next section.

Design

As I mentioned earlier the SR11 shares the same design language as the K11 ( and the K11-R2R ) which is a good thing as they are fantastic looking compact headphone DAC amplifiers. SR11-K11-R2R.jpeg

With my K11 very neatly under the TV - I do like how well these look together and how small they are: WithK11.jpeg

The main competitor of the SR11 is the also Roon Ready WiiM Pro (and WiiM Pro Plus) - the WiiM Mini (which is slightly cheaper than the SR11 is not Roon Ready), so here is a comparison with my WiiM Pro: WithWiimPro.jpeg

Connections

The 2 crucial features of any streamer is how you select music to play (which we will get to in the next section) and what you can connect the streamer too. Here is my typical connections with the optical output going into the K11: ConnectionsOnBack.jpeg

Here is a comparison of the connections between the SR11 and the WiiM Pro WiimProConnections.jpeg The differences are really that the WiiM Pro has both input and outputs for optical and analog RCA while the SR11 focuses on optical, coaxial and USB outputs with all inputs and outputs being digital.

Features and Setup

The SR11 shares a similar menu configuration system as the K11 using the same mechanism to navigate the menus.

Here is a brief video of the menu options and navigation:

The initial crucial bit of setup is that Network setup (especially if you are planning on using Wifi like I was). At the end of that video clip you will see I picked “Network” and then “Connect” this sets up SR11 in Wifi setup mode, where it is now listening like a Wireless router in your house.

Here is my iPhone with the SR11 as my ‘wifi’ network device: WifiSetup.jpeg

Then on your phone within a browser you should see the following list of Wireless networks to select for your SR11 to join:

HomeNetwork.jpeg

Note: If it does not popup immediately - browse to http://192.168.1.1

Simple pick your home Wifi network from this list, enter the password and the SR11 will switch over to that wifi network from then on.

At that point it will be available for Roon or Airplay or both.

So the key option is really the toggle between Roon, Airplay or Mix (which means it will wait for both).

But let’s briefly get into the 2 key integration options:

Roon Integration

As a Roon endpoint, the FiiO SR11 excels, especially at this price point. Roon is known for its powerful music management capabilities, offering a rich, interactive experience with detailed metadata, high-resolution playback, and multiroom audio support. I won’t get into the details of Roon in this review, but it is the key feature of the SR11.

Setting up Roon is super easy with the SR11, once Roon is enabled on the SR11 menu, it should appear inside Roon’s app in the ‘Audio’ section as a Roon Ready device (though confusing it appears as FiiO M17):

RoonDeviceSetup.jpeg I imagine this name is a temporary name whíle FiiO work with Roon to certify the SR11 independently.

Though you can immediately rename it to an appropriate name. Roon - Rename Device.jpg

Once the SR11 is added it appears as an output device when playing music both on the PC / Mac: RoonSR11Output.jpeg

And on the Roon iOS and Android devices: Roon on iPhone.jpeg

Note: When I took this screenshot I had ‘Mix’ enabled on the SR11 so that it was available both as a Roon device but also availalbe via Airplay.

The crucial thing with the SR11 with Roon is you have complete control over the audio Signal Path (for EQ and other ’effects’ and that it fully lossless):

RoonLoselessAudio.jpeg

At its price point I think the SR11 is without competition as a Roon Ready endpoint (unless you are a hobbyist and have set up Roon on a Raspberry PI connected to a DAC).

USB DAC mode

As an alternative to SPDIF (optical or coaxial) output, if you have a USB DAC in your setup you can also connect to a usb output selected: Usb Mode.jpeg

Airplay Support

Airplay support is another highlight of the FiiO SR11. Airplay allows you to stream audio from all Apple devices (iPhones, iPads, Macbooks etc) and from iTunes on a computer. Airplay has also steadily been added to many other third party devices over the passed for years, so for example Sonos has excellent support for Airplay as do most soundbars.

Airplay Mode.jpeg

Because the SR11 supports Airplay 2 you can also group the SR11 with other airplay devices (or even have multiple SR11’s setup with Airplay enabled) and have them syncronised for multi-room playback.

Remote Control

The remote control, while functional, does have a slight learning curve due to the presence of three power buttons.

Remote.jpeg

While the multiple power buttons were confusing initially, but once accustomed, the remote itself is a handy tool for navigating through the streamer’s features without needing to interact with the device directly.

Though mainly I used this to control the volume and play / pause music when using the SR11 as a Roon Endpoint.

Competition

The FiiO SR11 faces stiff competition from some of the WiiM products, specifically the WiiM Pro or Wiim Pro plus which are also Roon certified but cost a little more than the SR11. However, the cheaper WiiM Mini lacks Roon certification.

But all the WiiM streamers do have an excellent mobile App for browsing and control playback and have lots of other capabilties that the SR11 lacks including Alexa integration, Spotify and Tidal Connect support, so you are not limited to using Roon or Airplay.

So the question is: Is Roon (or Airplay) the only way you want to stream? If so then the SR11 is a very competitive device.

Performance

Since this is a streamer with bit perfect digital output options, it is designed to hear the music as it was mastered and leave any colouration onto other audio equipment in your chain. So if I was to summarise, the sound you get from the SR11 it would be a neural-balanced sound signature with no bass or treble roll offs.

The device supports various high-resolution audio formats up to 768kHz-32bit/DSD256 (DoP), ensuring that users get the best possible sound quality from their music library. With Airplay output, PCM/DSD/MQA will be converted to 44.1kHz-16bit before output which is pretty typical of Airplay.

The aerial for Wifi and the dedicated ethernet port help provide connection stability, whether using Roon or Airplay, I had no problems with buffering or dropouts when using the SR11.

Rating

I have given this SR11 a pragmatic rating of 4-stars but in reality it this rating is very dependent on whether you use Roon or not. It lacks the ‘full streamer’ support you get with the WiiM products (or other more expensive streamers like the Eversolo DMP-A6) but if you just want a Roon endpoint this might be the perfect device for you.

Similarly, if you plan to use it just for Airplay, while it has more competition at this price point, it is a good option.

If you have a Roon account this is the cheapest and one of the best devices you can get to act as an end point. It price of $109.99 is incredible for a Roon Ready enabled streaming endpoint but given it currently also only has Airplay (but it may get some other endpoints like DLNA in future updates) it is a less compelling a device if you are not going to use Roon.

Conclusion

For Roon users, the FiiO SR11 is a five-star device. Its seamless integration with Roon, combined with its budget-friendly price and solid performance, makes it a standout choice.

For those who are not Roon users, the device still offers great value, particularly if you are heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem with Airplay. However, if you’re not using Roon, it would be worth taking a 2-week trial of Roon to check out how well Roon works with the SR11.

The FiiO SR11 is a fantastic device that offers tremendous value for Roon enthusiasts, and it stands as a strong competitor in the budget streamer market. Whether you’re a dedicated Roon user or looking to enhance your FiiO K11 setup with Airplay capabilities, the SR11 is a device that will serve you well.