Fiio Q5s Portable DAC & THX Headphone Amp Review

[JohnYang1997]

This is what they respond in their own group chat(kinda like discord group/telegram group)
Said:
QUOTE
-We need to verify this.
-They measured K5Pro wrongly last time.
-Even though they corrected afterwards, there was still some damage/bad effects.
-I personally think as an objective approach review, it would be better to contact the manufacturer first before posting.
END QUOTE

I won't make comments. Just have a bit of taste.

 

[Veri]

Was Fiio K5 Pro wrongly measured though? IIRC it was a fair review, good power but not the best THD+N... at least nothing glaring, like in this Q5S. On the other hand, if the company sent this Q5S last year, it is not unfair of them to say it's a pity they weren't contacted right? Or maybe Amir did?

Bit of a painful situation.

 

[Jimbob54]

Was Fiio K5 Pro wrongly measured though? IIRC it was a fair review, good power but not the best THD+N... at least nothing glaring, like in this Q5S. On the other hand, if the company sent this Q5S last year, it is not unfair of them to say it's a pity they weren't contacted right? Or maybe Amir did?

Bit of a painful situation.

Cant really argue with that. Not really sure what common practice is in this or any industry though. If Amir was posting his findings in, for eg, Amazon reviews after a purchase, would good practice be to consult manuf. before posting? I doubt it.

I could imagine Amir's task would be further complicated if he had to both consult each manuf. before publishing and also enter dialogue to explain his findings, resolve inconsistencies with their own findings etc etc etc. Maybe if he thought the device was broken (physically). But in these circumstances, you have to think its just not a well measuring device by design. Dont release it to market in that case.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Cant really argue with that. Not really sure what common practice is in this or any industry though. If Amir was posting his findings in, for eg, Amazon reviews after a purchase, would good practice be to consult manuf. before posting? I doubt it.

I could imagine Amir's task would be further complicated if he had to both consult each manuf. before publishing and also enter dialogue to explain his findings, resolve inconsistencies with their own findings etc etc etc. Maybe if he thought the device was broken (physically). But in these circumstances, you have to think its just not a well measuring device by design. Dont release it to market in that case.

I still remember the Benchmark DAC3 review.

 

[wwenze]

Hard to work with manufacturer when he has to send the loaned item back to original owner quickly.

 

[pozz]

-They measured K5Pro wrongly last time.

Was Fiio K5 Pro wrongly measured though? IIRC it was a fair review, good power but not the best THD+N... at least nothing glaring, like in this Q5S. On the other hand, if the company sent this Q5S last year, it is not unfair of them to say it's a pity they weren't contacted right? Or maybe Amir did?

Bit of a painful situation.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../review-and-measurements-of-fiio-k5-pro.9118/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ments-of-fiio-k5-pro.9118/page-12#post-342098

@Veri check your post right under the one in the second link

It appears as though there was no error, just that the K5 Pro performance suffers if driven over 1V.

 

[JohnYang1997]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../review-and-measurements-of-fiio-k5-pro.9118/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ments-of-fiio-k5-pro.9118/page-12#post-342098

@Veri check your post right under the one in the second link

It appears as though there was no error, just that the K5 Pro performance suffers if driven over 1V.

My measurements of K5pro also confirmed the exact same performance as Amir. 0.008% at 2V, 0.001% at 1V.

 

[Veri]

It appears as though there was no error, just that the K5 Pro performance suffers if driven over 1V.

Right! One can't say something is measured "wrongly" when what they mean is they wanted it measured at half the usual line output. In fact I'd (usually) expect just about maximum performance when volume is maxed, THX amplifiers show this behaviour as do most DACs

 

[Sinquito]

What a shame, this is my most expensive DAC/AMP. Never really like it, specially for it's lack of power. I bought this at launch last year, a few weeks before I got a NX4 DSD which sounds better and has way more power. Plus the Topping was a 1/3 of the Fiio's price. Recently I bought an Apple Dongle and on PC works great, whish the cable was better though. On Android the Meizu DAC Pro works great out of the box and the Apple will sound a bit louder using USBAPP. I have another Fiio product which I definitely like more than the Q5s, the BTR5 is the same price (or less) than a single AMP module and do pretty much the same as the Q5s. Spent the $150 USD of the THX module on a BTR5 and an Apple Dongle/Meizu DAC I'd say.

 

[dmac6419]

My measurements of K5pro also confirmed the exact same performance as Amir. 0.008% at 2V, 0.001% at 1V.

Still better than boutique,cheaper too,y'all know women say size doesn't matter ,just saying.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Still better than boutique,cheaper too

It's quite ok. I was saying that Amir didn't measure k5pro wrongly.

 

[dmac6419]

What a shame, this is my most expensive DAC/AMP. Never really like it, specially for it's lack of power. I bought this at launch last year, a few weeks before I got a NX4 DSD which sounds better and has way more power. Plus the Topping was a 1/3 of the Fiio's price. Recently I bought an Apple Dongle and on PC works great, whish the cable was better though. On Android the Meizu DAC Pro works great out of the box and the Apple will sound a bit louder using USBAPP. I have another Fiio product which I definitely like more than the Q5s, the BTR5 is the same price (or less) than a single AMP module and do pretty much the same as the Q5s. Spent the $150 USD of the THX module on a BTR5 and an Apple Dongle/Meizu DAC I'd say.

but the nx4 dsd doesn't have a screen

 

[Jimbob54]

What a shame, this is my most expensive DAC/AMP. Never really like it, specially for it's lack of power. I bought this at launch last year, a few weeks before I got a NX4 DSD which sounds better and has way more power. Plus the Topping was a 1/3 of the Fiio's price. Recently I bought an Apple Dongle and on PC works great, whish the cable was better though. On Android the Meizu DAC Pro works great out of the box and the Apple will sound a bit louder using USBAPP. I have another Fiio product which I definitely like more than the Q5s, the BTR5 is the same price (or less) than a single AMP module and do pretty much the same as the Q5s. Spent the $150 USD of the THX module on a BTR5 and an Apple Dongle/Meizu DAC I'd say.

At least it isnt that huge and hugely expensive Hifiman noisebox DAC

 

[dmac6419]

It's quite ok. I was saying that Amir didn't measure k5pro wrongly.

Just messing with y'all,I have the k5,k5pro,m11,x3 they sound okay to me,lets see how the m15 measure since that a thousand bucks.

 

[Nango]

Flagship production. Done with this name.

 

[Veri]

lets see how the m15 measure since that a thousand bucks.

My expectations just got toned down lol

 

[mshenay]

Nicely done, I reviewed the original Q5 quite a while a go and simply hated it. I think the only positive I gave it was the Optical input as from my RockBoxed iRiver H140(R.i.p) optical out into Q5 sounded "normal." But it's USB performance was horrid, I caught a lot of flac for that review too, like thread edits, administrative PMs all for being honest and calling out another influential reviewer as shilling this... well you can imagine how "good" the predecessor of this line of products was to this lovely newer module :/

So it's nice to see some objective data behind why I likely didn't find it subjectively worthwhile.

Also

Fiio's Q5 is a portable DAC/Amp featuring a dual AK 4490EN Chipset and a focus on wireless connectivity via BluTooth. Priced at $349 via Amazon, the Q5 also has a module Amp design with a dedicated 3.5mm sigle ended line out, dedicated digital Coax/Optical input and both 3.5mm single ended and 2.5mm fully balanced output for the headphone amp section.

In terms of sound quality, I found the USB Performance to be some what stuffy or hazy sounding, as I mentioned previously. Overall it's performance was most impressive with Optical In and many of my subscribers and readers were also impressed with it's BluTooth Quality. Non the less with a hard wired optical in I found the Q5 to be;

• Fairly Neutral
• • Tonality did change slightly depending on the file format
  • At times it was very natural
  • Other times it was a bit hard and rougher sounding
• Having a thicker full low end
• Fairly Smooth on the Top
• Quite cohesive with good precision

So if you happen to own an older Digital Audio Player like the ole school iRiver Models the Q5 is a great way to use their Optical output and breath life back into them! I in-fact really enjoyed the pairing of the Q5 with my own iRiver H140. I had a Source with lot's of storage and a quick Graphic Interface and a DAC/Amp that I could pair it with so I got the best out of both devices!

An do take any praise with a grain of salt, I was at the time aiming to be some what optimistic as I had not yet settled on being brutality honest when I come across hot garbage...

 

[Gyroscopics]

I wonder how my FiiO M9 performs. I bought it on a whim.

 

[Sinquito]

but the nx4 dsd doesn't have a screen

Neither the Q5s. The screen on the BTR5 is pretty basic and only tells you the sample/BT codec and the volume. The screen on the my old Sony MW1 was way more useful.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Yikes, I get that the major issues seen here aren't audible, which might explain why I have generally enjoyed the Q5s/AM3D combination using the 4.4mm balanced input, but you would really expect/demand better engineering from FiiO. This is indeed a disappointment, but I am extremely glad that I sent the Q5s and AM3D to ASR to be measured.

Subjectively it does sound nice with my Edition X V2 and the Pioneer SE Monitor 5 that I have used with the balanced out, but that is still no excuse for results like this. FiiO, seriously, you should do much better work than this. Thank you to Amir for the disproportionately hard work that he had to put into this review. Now we know.

Is the DAC filter measured by Amir the only one, or just one of several options? Amir's comment implies that it is the only one, and of course it's very poor, barely a filter at all.