Introduction
Of the several hundreds of audio brands operating today, very few manage to command the market awareness that FiiO does. In fact, go ask any person who’s purchased anything beyond wireless headphones/earphones, and there’s a good chance they have heard of FiiO. A lot of this has to do with FiiO having seemingly endless products in its lineup, which is remarkable when you think how most of them end up successful too. If anything, the brand has expanded in a time when most companies are consolidating or, worse, shutting down. My first ever personal audio purchase consisted of the FiiO E17 (Alpen) portable DAC/amp with the Sennheiser HD 598—both of which I have here to this day—so you can say I’ve been aware of FiiO for years too. We’ve reviewed several FiiO products on TechPowerUp, I’ve met FiiO representatives at audio shows, and the brand had continually invited me to visit them if I was ever in the area to take a look at their operations in person. I never thought I’d actually have the chance to do so, until it actually happened.
FiiO is based in Guangzhou, a city in Southern China that is quite far from my current home in the UK. It also happens to be within driving distance of Shenzhen, where I was in September to participate in the 2024 Shenzhen International Audio Show. SHENZHENAUDIO had not only invited me, and a few other media personnel, to the show, but also were more than happy to help arrange other things not even related to them. In fact, SHENZHENAUDIO doesn’t even currently sell FiiO products internationally, yet one of their staff members drove me and a few others two hours each way to visit FiiO after the show ended. While he was shy about getting credited for this, I feel I should express my thanks for this nonetheless. At FiiO, we met a lot of the brand’s higher-ups who took some time out of their schedule to go over their work and what to expect in the future. FiiO’s founder, James Chung, was not on site that day, although he was more than willing to do an online interview that’s added to this article. Needless to say I highly appreciate that, as I do also the other FiiO reps for accommodating us on this visit.
Industrial Park/Factory Tour
Factory tours can be fun if you have not done one of these before, allowing an inside look at how things are made. This is especially true for a manufacturer that has on-site design, engineering, and production facilities. We’ve visited Sapphire and Powercolor before, with the latter being in a new facility that I was quite impressed with. FiiO moved to a massive 15,000 m² industrial park of its own in 2022, consisting of four massive buildings that do everything in house. While obviously this visit couldn’t go through everything, I will also note FiiO did not stop anything or arrange something in particular for this visit—so it was basically a peek into daily operations. Driving into the park, I was not expecting to see an LED banner on the front with our names, welcoming us to FiiO. This was on building 1, which is the primary office facility that houses the R&D, design, engineering, sales, and marketing teams. FiiO gave a short presentation on the brand’s history before taking us around this building, and we also saw building 2 alongside, which is used as living quarters for employees who wish to stay there, along with a large canteen that serves free meals to employees thrice a day.
Upstairs on the fourth floor is a 30 m² audition room that is well-treated for room acoustics and isolated to prevent sound leakage in either direction. This also allows for visitors to try out various products, including speakers, without bothering others. FiiO had currently set up the upcoming SP5 speakers there, in addition to the upcoming TT13 turntable, the upcoming S15 streamer/DAC/amp, and the previously released R7 + R9 desktop streamer/DAC/amp units. There was also a set of KEF reference speakers for reference, with both speaker sets on floor stands. I didn’t want to spend too much time here with my own songs, so I instead tried what they had on hand and realized Chinese classical music, especially instrumental tracks, were right up my alley too.
On the same floor is a large 160 m² experiencing room that houses far too many patents and awards won by FiiO on the walls and cabinets, in addition to all the FiiO products currently being sold. These take up four massive tables and visitors are able to try everything out as needed. Here too I had the chance to try some upcoming products, including the S15 and the FP3 planar magnetic IEMs, as well as some I can’t mention just yet. I was glad there were cassettes, CDs, and vinyl records on hand to try the CP13, DM13, and TT13, respectively. A large room divider housed some of the older FiiO products, including those from the brand’s first years. I also liked the multiple pieces that showcased the internals of products, including the KA17 portable DAC/amp and the FH7 hybrid driver IEMs, as seen above.
On the other side of the dividers is a video recording area that FiiO uses to stream on its domestic social media channels. This area is also where a lot of the product photos are taken that are seen on the FiiO website, especially for the new desktop-class equipment. There were plenty of tables filled with props and FiiO merch too, and more private listening areas with bonsai trees and a tea set to pass the time. Not pictured here is the employee recreation area, although I did spend some time here to confirm my table tennis skills have vastly deteriorated since school, with Crinacle and FiiO’s marketing rep Yellow both besting me consistently.
Moving down to the second and third floors, we met the various other teams at FiiO in their offices, with most employees in a large office space and the higher ups getting their individual offices—at least some things are the same no matter which country you are in. The sales and marketing center takes over 2000 m² of space, and there’s not a lot to see here without disrupting their work and privacy. The same 2000 m² of space is given to the R&D team on another floor, and this was a lot more interesting. We were not allowed to take photos/videos there given the abundance of product prototypes and unannounced products here, although I will say I saw some very cool mobile players such as the upcoming JM21 DAP, as well as desktop-class tube amplifiers that are in the works. There was also a massive section with products from other brands too, including a huge headphones wall, and various testing equipment that I would have loved to have hands on with.
