We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-28 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a self-contained hi-res music player that streams, stores and drives demanding headphones, choose FiiO M21; if you need wired hi-res in-ear headphones you can plug into the phone you already own, choose 1MORE Penta Driver. These two products sit on opposite ends of the hi-res chain, and mixing them up is the fastest way to waste money. One is the source. The other is the transducer. In my opinion, the right pick comes down to whether the weak link in your setup is your playback hardware or your earbuds.
• FiiO M21 — biggest strength: A complete hi-res source in one box — Snapdragon 680, Android 13, quad CS43198 DACs and a fully balanced two-stage amp with a 4.4mm output. It plays, stores and amplifies.
• FiiO M21 — biggest trade-off: It's a 193 g dedicated device you have to carry, charge and manage separately from your phone, and it has no earbuds in the box. You still need headphones.
• 1MORE Penta Driver — biggest strength: A five-driver hybrid IEM (one DLC dynamic driver plus four planar units) with a detachable gold-plated MMCX cable and both 3.5mm and Type-C connectors — real hi-res hardware for a fraction of the complexity.
• 1MORE Penta Driver — biggest trade-off: It's wired and it's passive. No battery, no screen, no storage, no app ecosystem. It's only as good as the device feeding it.
• Who each pick is for: FiiO M21 for the listener building a dedicated hi-res rig and owning local files; 1MORE Penta Driver for the listener who wants hi-res sound straight out of a phone, laptop or handheld console.
The M21 is a digital audio player first and everything else second. FiiO built it around a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 on a 6nm process, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, running Android 13. That combination matters more than it sounds: a full Android build means the major music apps run natively, so you're not locked into one store or one library. You get a 4.7-inch LCD screen, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and support for MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, OGG and DSD. If your library is a mix of old MP3s and high-resolution downloads, the M21 handles both without you thinking about it.
Who should buy it: Anyone who wants one device that stores local hi-res files, streams from Android apps, and has enough output headroom to drive serious headphones — especially balanced ones. Who should skip it: If you listen almost entirely from your phone over Bluetooth, or you don't want to carry a second device, the M21 solves a problem you don't have. Remember you still need to supply your own headphones, and you should check the current price on Amazon before deciding.
1MORE Penta Driver: Who It's For
The Penta Driver is a wired in-ear monitor, and the name tells you the architecture: five drivers per side. A diamond-like-carbon dynamic driver handles the low end, and four planar units cover the rest. That hybrid layout is how 1MORE pursues an expansive soundstage with rich bass and clear highs in a single shell. Impedance is listed at 32 ohm, which is friendly enough that phones and laptops can drive it without extra amplification — a genuinely practical detail.
The fit engineering is more thought-through than most. The nozzles are curved at 45 degrees and the ear hooks are pre-formed, which is the kind of design that keeps an IEM seated during long sessions instead of slowly working its way loose. The shells are lightweight and multiple ear tip options are included. 1MORE states the tuning was done by engineer Luca Bignardi with the goal of preserving the emotion of a track as the artist intended — take that as a design claim, not a guarantee, but it does tell you the target is musical rather than clinical.
Connectivity is the quiet strength. The cable uses a gold-plated MMCX connector and high-conductivity OFC wire, and it's detachable, so you can swap cables or replace a worn one instead of retiring the whole pair. In the box you get both a 3.5mm and a Type-C connector, which covers smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and audio players. There's also a built-in MEMS microphone for calls and in-game chat, and the housing is zinc in dark gray. Noise control is sound isolation — passive, from the sealed fit — not active cancellation.
Who should buy it: Gamers, commuters and audiophiles who want hi-res in-ears that work with whatever they already own, and who value a replaceable cable. Who should skip it: If you want wireless freedom, if you need active noise cancellation for flights, or if you already own a good player and a good pair of over-ears.
• Best for hi-res file playback → FiiO M21. FLAC, WAV, OGG and DSD support with 64GB of internal storage and Android 13 app access.
• Best for balanced output → FiiO M21. The 4.4mm balanced jack and two-stage amp are the reason to pick it over a phone.
• Best for driving harder headphones → FiiO M21. Desktop Mode and the dedicated amplification stage exist precisely for this.
• Best for using what you already own → 1MORE Penta Driver. 3.5mm and Type-C connectors mean no new source required.
• Best for portability → 1MORE Penta Driver. A 193 g player versus two lightweight in-ear shells with pre-formed hooks.
• Best for voice calls and gaming chat → 1MORE Penta Driver. The MEMS microphone is built in; the M21 has no microphone listed.
• Best for long-term cable serviceability → 1MORE Penta Driver. The detachable MMCX design lets you replace the cable, not the earphones.
• Best for a single do-everything device → FiiO M21, provided you already own headphones you like.
I'd buy the FiiO M21. Not because the Penta Driver is weaker — it isn't — but because the M21 is the harder problem to solve any other way. A phone can feed a pair of 32 ohm IEMs. A phone cannot give you quad CS43198 DACs, a balanced 4.4mm output, Desktop Mode, or a jitter-reduced SPDIF transport. If you already have a decent player or dongle and just want better earphones, flip that decision and take the 1MORE Penta Driver. In my opinion, the M21 is the pick for anyone building the rig from scratch.
what is hi res headphones
Hi-res headphones are headphones designed to reproduce audio at higher resolution than standard CD quality, so they can resolve the extra detail in high-resolution files. Both products here are built for that job — the M21 as the playback source, the Penta Driver as the earphone. You need both ends of the chain to actually hear it.
what is hi res audio headphones
It describes the same idea from the audio side: headphones intended for high-resolution audio, typically with drivers and cabling that preserve detail rather than blur it. The 1MORE Penta Driver's DLC dynamic driver plus four planar units and its OFC cable are aimed at exactly that. The FiiO M21 supplies the hi-res signal those earphones need.
what are hi res headphones
They're earphones or headphones marketed and engineered for high-resolution playback rather than casual listening. The key practical point is that resolution is a chain — a hi-res file, a hi-res-capable source, and hi-res-capable headphones. The M21 covers the source; the Penta Driver covers the headphones.
which headphones support hi res lossless
Lossless support comes from the source and the connection, not the earphone alone. The FiiO M21 supports FLAC, WAV, OGG and DSD playback natively, which is where lossless actually lives. The 1MORE Penta Driver's detachable MMCX cable with gold-plated connectors and OFC wire is built to carry that signal with minimal distortion.
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