FiiO - K7

Do not work as specified

I have used many dac/amps in a very short span of time to find the right audio gear for me. At last I feel satisfied. The design and operation of the device is very good. It would be very difficult to exceed sound quality of this device in this budget by competitors. Fiio drivers r required in windows, a reminder to users. Aimp player or audirvana player for DSD playback can be used in windows with Fiio ASIO driver.
The sound signature is neutral with clear treble but the 3.5mm port lacks air and sparkle little bit. SoundStage is very narrow and personal in 3.5mm port when paired with iems. The sound signature is very authoritative and powerfully detailed on the leaner side. Treble is sharp but fortunately there is smoothness. The bass is very punchy and powerful but not loosing control, just right in quantity. Excellent almost natural sounding dac-amp. Just a bit on the leaner side.

4.4mm plug empowers the amp and brings out the amps tuning signature more. More treble energy, wider soundstage, extreme control & power in bass punch, faster decay. Presence of sparkle/air.

Volume control is quite good:- 25% power present in 70% of the dial. 75% power is present in the remaining 30% of dial making volume control easy.

Cons:- No balanced line in, can't modify digital PCM filters, single ended lacks sound stage therefore good for external speakers not iems. High gain and low gain modes have different Treble performance. This k7 is heavily tuned for Fiio FD5/7. I know Fd7 has muddy characteristic sound which many Youtube reviews even agree. But this K7 has too much energy in lower and mid treble region which is meant to empower the FD7. And lower mids are a touch thinner which is also purposefully done for FD5/7. Also recording noises get amplified to audible levels, which other dacs mostly suppress.

I want to add that my review is written over a period of 3 weeks, and I have tested many Iems/headphones in the mean time and came to this conclusion that SYNERGY is the most important factor to consider while buying audio equipment.

Synergy info:- Hifiman R9(silver plated balanced cable), IT01x(very slightly the treble feels inaccurate), Moondrop Aria (Bass punch can be hurting). Absolute no to any clarity enhancing/high resolving iems like moondrop chu etc. Probably will sound good with Fiio FD7(not tested with K7 yet) but I have listened to them before

Lastly it's good overall but sound signature could have been more musical if timbre and mids would have received a little more emphasis. Feels dry with my current iem. The 788+ is very very good but the dac implementation is not upto standard. Therefore k7 feels raw power and grunt without delicate delivery

Recently bought Hifiman Ananda SE (through HPZ - great product and delivery experience), and needed a more powerful amplifier. I have an EarMen Tr-Amp which is very well capable of driving it, but planars are supposed to scale better with more power, and hence the purchase. Initially, I wanted to go with XDuoo XA-10, but decided against it in the end due to the concerns on loose power terminal and its tendency to run hot.

Fiio K7 is very good for its price, sounds pretty much uncoloured and has got my favourite AKM DAC. I'm not a fan of ESS (in Tr-Amp), and I'm happy that I got one with AKM in this price bracket.

Sound quality is nice, airy, not too bright, has adequate thump as called for by the music, and works fine with sensitive IEMs like my IE200 or Final A5000. Volume control isn't linear - that's one to nit pick, but it does result in avoiding channel imbalance at all volume levels, as advertised. All in all, happy with the product.

Now, coming to the delivery, I have no clue why HPZ chose Smartr as their courier partner instead of the tried and tested BlueDart. They were sitting on my package for 2 days, not even attempting to call me, let alone deliver it. I had to find my way through them and their warehouse by calling their customer support, and drove myself there to pickup the package. I was told that they didn't get a delivery person to send it across - how convenient, and why do they run a delivery business in the first place without a contingency. HPZ - if you're trying to cut down on the delivery charges, please give me an option, and I'd happily pay for the shipping and go with a reliable courier service. Left a bad taste, despite liking the product, and I'd now think twice before ordering a pricey product from HPZ.

FiiO K7 has opened up the soundstage of my aging Audio-Technica ATH-M50, Bose QuietComfort 25 and KZ-ZSN Pro X. I've started to hear hitherto unheard of elements in the very same music files of all genres and all qualities that I've been listening to for years. I'm more impressed with the mids and highs with the voices coming out more clear and rounded. The difference in bass is not all that pronounced but still the bass guitar riffs have become more prominent. I'm thinking in terms of getting a new pair of headphones of at least 250 Ohms impedance to realise the full potential of the device. I'm perfectly happy with the purchase.

Got these mainly to drive my new HiFiman Edition XS. Was looking for a somewhat future proof option that could drive IEMs, high impedance headphones, and my current soundbar, and switch between them easily.

The K7's choice of 6.35 mm unbalanced output (and included 3.5mm converter that plugs into it) and 4.4 mm balanced output means you can plug in most IEMs, headphones, and speakers, and the low/high gain toggle means you'll have enough power to drive it as well.

Tried it with my 10+ Y/o ATH M50 while I was waiting for the XS to arrive, and it turned it into a completely different pair of headphones, like I had been listening to them underwater so far. Turning up the volume also turned it into a pair of weak speakers, heh. I had always cribbed about the volume being either too low or barely adequate on almost everything I played - that problem is certainly no more.

Turned up the volume on the K7 with the XS connected while on high gain (after removing it from my head) in order to see how loud it would go, like the M50 - and it tripped the overload protection. Certainly not doing that again but it's nice to know it's me-proof and prevents you from shooting your new expensive pair of headphones in the foot. YKWIM.

Got balanced cables and listened to the same segment of a song repeatedly while switching between balanced and unbalanced; the only difference I could make out was in the volume. The extra volume available is nice so I'll leave the other one as backup in case something happens to the balanced one.

I connected my laptop via the included USB cable and used an optical cable to run audio from my game consoles via HDMI to the TV and then to the K7. It's been free of lag and other problems as far as I can tell, and everything sounds great. Switching between inputs takes a second or so but according to a YT reviewer it's so you can get back to what you were on if you pressed it by accident; which makes sense and is a nice feature.

One thing I don't much care for is the K7 disappearing from Windows if you switch to another input; Windows automatically switches to whatever else is available and continues playing audio that way. Also, if you plug speakers in via aux along with the headphones, both play at the same time. So due to the above 2 reasons (and NOT that this has happened to me), but one has to be careful with the inputs & remember what is plugged in at all times in order to not unknowingly blast... unwanted noises (or even 'wanted' noises that you don't want to play at high volume ;)...at unearthly hours. However that's easily taken care of by paying a little attention to what you're doing.

As many online reviews said, the volume dial is a bit weird; if 'Off' is at 7 o'clock, you have to turn the dial to 10 or 11 o' clock to even start hearing anything - more if it's a quiet track. Again, it's another non-issue; more of a quirk that takes a bit of getting used to. RGB haters, stay away, as you can't turn off the ring around the volume dial or even change the color, as that apparently depends on the quality of what you're playing.

If you have a soundbar like I do, or want to play anything using a 3.5mm jack, like your phone (if it even has one - and/or you don't want to get the correct USB B to lightning or USB C cable) getting a 3.5 mm to RCA cable will let you switch between USB, Optical, Coaxial, and line in. Now I can switch between 3 sources (I don't have anything that uses Coaxial) - my TV - optical, laptop - USB, and phone - 3.5 mm - with the flip of a switch.

Build quality - built like a brick.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with my purchase; I'm all set w.r.t audio for the foreseeable future. It completes my setup and does everything I want or need it to do and more, and does it well.

Thanks for offering such great audio gear, as well as being patient and answering all my queries, Headphonezone!

TLDR:
Excellent and versatile beginner combo DAC/Amp!

Thank you Headphonezone.m for another great product. The setup I am using- 7Hz Legato with iPad on a K7 Fiio.
Great sound quality and clarity. The sound is more pleasant and textured. It was like turning on the HDR mode for music. 😁
Finesse audio compared to iPhone dongle which was the best that I had, then again, k7 is 20 times more expensive.
Good build and elegance.
Another Mini UPS by Cuzor helps making the entire thing portable.
The only difficulty I faced is that it is not working with iPhone 13. It’s not showing when connected to iPhone 13. Trying to solve that, any help is much appreciated. Thank you.

For this price, it is a deal !! One can connect 5 types of inputs at the same time & take the output from 4.4 mm balanced & 6.35/3.5 mm just by the click of a button...This device is pretty simple to operate, Music is fantastic & so is volume. I would have preferred if input chosen is also illuminated & it also shows the running sample & bit rate.A good device without any doubt at this price...

I came to know what was the difference between just being able to drive 300ohm loud or being able to give power to every frequency which in turn creates a very nice concert like soundstage. The headphones now even at 80% do not hurt my head but rather play each instruments very nicely .