"A Must-Get Device": FiiO BTA30 Pro by Ryan Ho

Note: This article is based upon the article "Best Value Bluetooth Dac - Fiio BTA30 Pro Review with Unboxing and Demo” made by Ryan Ho on his YouTube channel and is printed here in partnership with Ryan Ho. The review was originally posted on June 6th, 2022. It has been edited for clarity and length. You can purchase the FiiO BTA30 Pro Hi-Fi Bluetooth Transceiver on Apos Audio.

Intro

Hello, guys. It’s Ryan Ho back with another video. Today we’re going to talk about why the FiiO BTA30 Pro is a really good value and a very versatile device. The first cool thing about this device is that it’s extremely compact. The second cool thing is that this device works as a Bluetooth transceiver. The other cool thing is that this DAC uses the ES9038Q2M DAC chip, which is the same DAC chip used in some $1,000 devices. So you’re basically getting the top mobile DAC chip that you can get on a low-power DAC, and that’s pretty cool.

Modes

Let’s talk about the different modes you can use this thing in. The first one is DAC mode. You can connect an amp like the TOPPING A90 into it via RCA. Honestly, that mode sounds really good. The D90 obviously sounds a little more refined, a little wider, smoother, but the difference honestly between these two is not huge.

In the Bluetooth receiver mode, you can connect it to your iPhone and stream music into this device and then out through your headphones. You can transmit LDAC, if your device is capable.

In Bluetooth transceiver mode, you can transmit high resolution Bluetooth audio into it and out of it. One of the ways you can do that is to connect your iPhone or PC into this via USB and then transmit the signal to a wireless headphone or another Bluetooth-enabled DAC. Another way you can do that is to send Bluetooth files to it from you iPhone. Why would you do that? Essentially, iPhones aren’t capable of transmitting LDAC high resolution music. But you can use the BTA30 Pro as a bridge between your iPhone and another DAC, like the D90, and this allows you to stream LDAC files from your iPhone to another DAC. The BTA30 Pro even guarantees that it’s transmitting LDAC with a white LED light, so you don’t have to worry. The BTA30 Pro works with other codecs, too, like low latency aptX, which is a lot faster and less laggy than other Bluetooth codecs.

Sound

So how does this sound? I plugged it into the TOPPING A90 via RCA, and it sounds very neutral to me. It doesn’t seem like it’s very colored at all. You can definitely hear everything. For its price, it sounds really really good. Most people, I think, will use this in Bluetooth mode, so I tested that mode with LDAC. You lose a little bit of quality, because it’s wireless, but it still sounds really really good. I definitely think this is a device you should get. It comes in at only $130, and that’s a great price for what it does. Especially if you’re going to listen to your music in Bluetooth mode, where I think the limiting factor really isn’t the DAC. I think the limiting factor is the Bluetooth codec. So I think this is a perfect device for people who want to listen to their music through Bluetooth, whether it’s headphones or speakers.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, do I recommend the FiiO BTA30 Pro? I definitely do. I think this device really does a lot in a small form factor. I still can’t believe how small this is compared to other devices, and it works as a transceiver for Bluetooth.