Both are portable players, $1999 against $1799. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?
The FiiO M17 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Cayin N7 on 565.
| Specification | Cayin N7 | FiiO M17 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 250 mW | 500 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 53 mW | 115 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 27 mW | 63 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 13 mW | 32 mW |
| Output impedance | 0.6 Ω | 1 Ω |
| Output noise | not published | 3.5 µV |
| Price | $1999 | $1799 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 565 | 567 |
A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.
2 headphones reach 100 dB on the FiiO M17 but not on the Cayin N7 — Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Titan.
14 headphones are left alone by the Cayin N7 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the FiiO M17 (64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio Volur, Campfire Audio Andromeda 2023, 11 more).
565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.
Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: Cayin N7 and FiiO M17. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.