FiiO M17 vs Lotoo PAW 6000

Short answer

More power: the FiiO M17, with 500 mW into 32 Ω; the Lotoo PAW 6000 has 300 mW (balanced: 3.00 W against 300 mW). The FiiO M17 drives 2 headphones to 100 dB that the Lotoo PAW 6000 cannot (Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Titan).
Quieter with sensitive IEMs: the Lotoo PAW 6000. 25 headphones stay below audible hiss on it but not on the FiiO M17 (64 Audio Fourte, AFUL Performer 8, Audio-Technica ATH-CKS1100, 22 more).
Price: the FiiO M17 costs $599 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are portable players, $1799 against $1200.

The FiiO M17 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Lotoo PAW 6000 on 565.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

Specification	FiiO M17	Lotoo PAW 6000
Power into 32Ω	500 mW	300 mW
Power into 150Ω	115 mW	64 mW
Power into 300Ω	63 mW	32 mW
Power into 600Ω	32 mW	16 mW
Output impedance	1 Ω	not published
Output noise	3.5 µV	0.975 µV
Price	$1799	$1200
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	565

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	FiiO M17	Lotoo PAW 6000
Socket	4.4mm	4.4mm
Power into 32Ω	3.0 W	300 mW
Power into 300Ω	250 mW	32 mW derived
Output impedance	2 Ω	not published
Output noise	7 µV	0.775 µV
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	565

Through the balanced sockets the FiiO M17 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here and the Lotoo PAW 6000 on 565. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

Load	FiiO M17	Lotoo PAW 6000
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Published	Derived
600 Ω	Derived	Derived

Both makers publish a power rating. FiiO M17 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; Lotoo PAW 6000 at 32 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω only the FiiO M17 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

2 headphones reach 100 dB on the FiiO M17 but not on the Lotoo PAW 6000 — Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Titan.

25 headphones stay below the audible-hiss threshold on the Lotoo PAW 6000 but cross it on the FiiO M17 (64 Audio Fourte, AFUL Performer 8, Audio-Technica ATH-CKS1100, 22 more).

565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

On real headphones

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Shure SE846: FiiO M17 has +40 dB of headroom there against +33 dB. 7 dB is about 4.9 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

Hiss below about 20 dB SPL is inaudible in a quiet room.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	FiiO M17 headroom	Lotoo PAW 6000 headroom	FiiO M17 hiss	Lotoo PAW 6000 hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+40 dB	+33 dB	25 dB	14 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+20 dB	+13 dB	5 dB	-6 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+25 dB	+22 dB	3 dB	-8 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+21 dB	+18 dB	-1 dB	-12 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+19 dB	+15 dB	-2 dB	-13 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+14 dB	+11 dB	-8 dB	-19 dB
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+10 dB	+7 dB	-12 dB	-23 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+7 dB	+5 dB	-14 dB	-25 dB

What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The FiiO M17 costs $599 more than the Lotoo PAW 6000. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 2 more models driven to 100 dB.

It does not run one way only: the cheaper Lotoo PAW 6000 keeps 25 models below the audible-hiss threshold that the FiiO M17 does not, which is the part worth checking against your own headphones before paying the difference.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Both pages in full

Each in full: FiiO M17 and Lotoo PAW 6000.

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