FiiO - KA5

FiiO - KA5

Super

I have been using Fiio new K3 and the hidizs H9 pro and this one close to the Hidizs in sound quality with an add benefit of balanced 4.4mm out which really improves the sound and impact on both the channels also less heating than Hidizs but the New K3 although has a slightly softer sound with slightly less detail it has excellent Bass boost and gain for all bass lovers so at home on my pc I use the New K3 and on the move I use either the Hidizs with its balanced 2.2mm or the KA5 with its 4.4mm balanced.

Well, I bought the item because I thought a DAC like this would provide ample sound clarity as well as detail.

It certainly does that on my Fold 5 & I am generally quite pleased with the results.

Not being an Audiophile - though I listen to a lot of Hindustani Classical & Western Classical, @ least 2 hour a day, more often 3 or 4 - I had to be programmed by Headphone Zone on using the Display (to select different options & filters from the Menu) - many thanks to Adrian @ the Company for it (he took the trouble to call me twice).

I find that the FiiO KA5 provides ample detail - & moreover it does not, by default, boost the volume without adjusting the phone & DAC Volume Controls (I think this is a very good feature because it is perhaps meant to protect your headphone & furthermore, it gives you total control over how much volume you need).

The sound clarity & detail are amazing for a portable device - I do not like over warm & bassy output, preferring a mildly bright sound profile & the KA5 does exactly that while being only slightly warm withoutoverly toning down the brights & the sybilants etc).

Some reviews complain about how the KA 5 heats up - not @ all! In my case it is only mildly lukewarm even after 2 hours of use (you wouldn't eveen notice that warmth).

It does chew up battery - may be an extra 5 - 10 % an hour (but perhaps that is my phone which tends to need high battery consumption).

All in all, I am extremely pleased with the KA 5 (though I am yet to try it on the PC/Desktop).

Initial 2 day's experience was with 1 custom Jr thru 3.5mm was disenchanting. Was kind of thinking whether it was a wrong purchase. The 3rd day however, when I plugged Fiio Fh9 (my Star performer) in 4.4mm balanced, I was enchanted! Keeping the volume near minimum was enough. Mid range as well as lower and upper range Clarity, instrument separation and the enveloping presence is indeed impressive. The pump and power of Ka5 was distinct and evident

After making a lot of research - through forums, youtube, reading users' comments everywhere, I bought this masterpiece. I can't find any negative comments about this dac anywhere.
I am not an audiophile but I love listening to good quality music. I don't have any other dac to compare with. Lg g6 and Lg v30+, which have ess sabre quac dac, are my audio sources. They are very good but my Ath-m50x, Ath-M40x don't sound well, I think, may be because of lack of power. But, Fiio ka5 brings my pairs of headphones to life. What a sound, yaar! it seems like I am in heaven. It is a huge improvement over my previous sources. I don't have much idea about technical aspects of sounds but I simply judge it by listening to them. It has 5 sound filters which offer different sound signatures, at least, to my ears.
Build quality is fantastic, oled display indicates every information required and the 3-buttons can do everything without the need of Fiio control app. I personally like the volume control hold feature to go to previous or next track which is very convenient.
Only con I can find is its compatibility to smartphones when using it in usb exclusive mode. My LGs don't have any issue with it. But, with my Oppo reno10x zoom & Techno phantom X2, playback pauses for half a second frequently. I was about to return the dac because I thought I got a defective piece as I tried it in usb exclusive mode at first. I keep on researching various websites about how to solve the problem. Later, I found on fiio website that they are working on it. It turns out to be a software issue. They may solve it in the future firmware update. Even if they don't solve it, I will still keep it on account of its astonishing sound quality, as in normal mode, everything is fine and perfect.
Considering its build, display, convenience, power and most importantly, its sound, it's worth every single penny.
Edit - USB exclusive mode works perfectly with Neutron Music Player.

I own several AMP/DACs like the Astell and Kern XB10, Shanling UP4, Venture Electronics Avani and Abigail dongle DACs, Fiio BTA30 Pro, Fiio Q11, even a Fiio UTWS5 bluetooth AMP/DAC and finally the Fiio KA5.

Out of all of these, if I had to pick the best ones I've used (without considering price), it'd have to be the BTA30 Pro and the KA5. The BTA30 Pro is a desktop DAC with no AMP and I use it with a iFi ZEN Air CAN headphone amplifier and it sounds wonderful.

So imagine my surprise when the KA5 sounds just as beautiful, musical and impactful as my BTA30 Pro + iFi Zen Air CAN stack! Sure, it's not as LOUD but the thing runs off of USB power which is just limited to 500mA and still manges to get VERY LOUD even when powering a Hifiman Sundara on the balanced 4.4mm port.

Since I also have the Q11, I connected my Sundaras to the Q11 as well and they're marginally louder than the KA5. It's noticeable sure but it's not nearly loud enough to justify carrying the bulky Q11 around especially when it claims 650mW @ 32Ω of output power from the balanced 4.4mm output.

Don't get the wrong, the Q11 has its uses. Mainly it comes with a battery so you don't have to drain your phone while listening to music. However, despite being noticeably LOUDER than the KA5, the Q11 doesn't sound BETTER. The KA5 is noticeably more musical. I don't understand any audiphile words so I'm going to describe it the way I experience it. The Q11 sounds a bit artificial and the sound is 'in your face' while the KA5's sound sounds a bit further away and you can hear and 'feel' the nuance in the music that you can't from the Q11.

For instance, listening to my favorite EDM tracks, it almost feels like I'm right there in Goa grooving to those tracks when I first heard them in that dimly lit shack on the beach with the DJ blasting that song. With the Q11, don't get me wrong, it sounds marvellous as well but it doesn't have the nuance and details of the KA5 which makes it feel like 'you're right there'. Instead with the Q11, it sounds like you're having a really high quality listening experience but it's more 'clinical' and you can't 'feel' or 'connect' with the music and hear/feel the little things as much as you can with the KA5.

In conclusion, both are excellent DAC/AMPs but for me, the KA5 is just on another level. With the KA5, I can 'feel' and enjoy my music far more than I can with the Q11.

Now coming to the BTA30 Pro + Zen Air CAN, it's superior to the KA5 in that the setup can get louder and I essentially get the same sound quality and 'feeling' from this setup as well BUT it's a desktop setup that far too big and bulky and requires a power adapter, etc. Basically, you can't take it with you and with the KA5, you can experience almost the same thing when you're out with just your phone!

All of my experience has been with Spotify set to stream and download tracks at the highest quality level ("Very high"). I do not use FLAC, WAV, DSD, Tidal or what not. I don't believe in them and frankly, it's way more of a headache than I'm prepared for. I can happily say that the KA5 makes a noticeable difference even if you're someone like me who just uses Spotify and Youtube and doesn't bother with all the FLAC, WAC, MQA, DSD, Tidal, 100+ MB lossless audio file nonsense.

I used the KA5 and the Q11 with Hifiman Sundaras, 7Hz Timeless, Moondrop Chu, Moondrop Aria and QKZ x HBB IEMs. I plan to get a Moondrop Blessing 3 "Dusk edition" when it releases and try it with those as well but that'll have to wait. The KA5 gets loud enough to drive ALL of these IEMs and headphones to hearing loss levels of loudness (yes, even the Sundaras) when used with the 4.4mm balanced output so I do not for a second believe anyone who claims they're not loud enough.

As for the difference between the Q11 and KA5 in one sentence, the KA5 is far lighter and more musical and 'resolving' than the Q11 while the Q11 is more 'clinical' and comes with a giant battery. The Q11 has the same DAC in it as the KA5 but it has only one instead of two in the KA5 and maybe that's why the KA5 sounds more musical but trust me, there's a difference and it's very noticeable.

As for battery drain, since the KA5 uses USB power off of the host (computer or your phone) to power itself, it will drain your phone significantly faster than the Q11 will since the Q11 has it's own power source. In my testing with a USB multimeter, when being used as a UAC 2.0 device in Class AB mode, I noticed that the KA5 draws about 164mA (max) of current while it draws 156mA (max) in Class H mode. There's no difference in audio quality with either of these modes so I don't see any reason why anyone would want to use Class AB mode and get their phone battery drained even faster.

In my testing with a USB multimeter, it used about 1569 mAh (7903 mWh) in about 10 hours when connected to my PC as a UAC 2.0 audio device in Class H mode drawing about 155 mA current on average at 5.054 volts.

I got a long history with Fiio, still have a X5 miii DAP (buggy bahstad, sound gives me headache nowadays), had an early fh1 iem (lovely sound, no soundstage), so I was a little apprehensive about this one. However this one turned out different.

It's tiny, easy to use, can produce a nice sound if you play around with the filters, technically capable, puts up a nice soundstage with good separation with capable headphones, quite powerful too. Works great on android phone, win laptop, mac laptops.

my two iems that still survive works and sounds quite good with this one, till a very technical recording comes up, or something done with a wide sound effect. The iems are soundmagic e80c and final audio vr3000. These just fail at making a coherent sound in those situations, same with my friend's newer fiio, however my beyerdynamic and sennheiser headphones (both 32 ohm btw) just handle things like no big deal and works great with the little Fiio. So, you may need iem/headphones which are capable. it seems the Germans are just better at holding the 'ship' together. My next iem may not be oriental at all.