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Review and Measurements of Fiio K5 Pro

Topaloff

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Hello. What is the alternative to K5 Pro? I bought it, listened for two weeks and returned it back. It sounds very beautiful and powerful. But I didn’t like the soft sound of Fiio and AK4493 for Drum-n-bass. But i like format of combo.
Now i use Xonar U7 with CS4398 and it sounds ok. I want to upgrade the source. Maybe K5 and some DAC will be better? Headphones are damped Takstar pro 82 just for now.
 

Veri

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Now i use Xonar U7 with CS4398 and it sounds ok. I want to upgrade the source. Maybe K5 and some DAC will be better? Headphones are damped Takstar pro 82 just for now.
Something like Sabaj D5 or SMSL M500 would do you good. It's a whole other price class than K5 Pro, though.
 

dmac6419

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Hello. What is the alternative to K5 Pro? I bought it, listened for two weeks and returned it back. It sounds very beautiful and powerful. But I didn’t like the soft sound of Fiio and AK4493 for Drum-n-bass. But i like format of combo.
Now i use Xonar U7 with CS4398 and it sounds ok. I want to upgrade the source. Maybe K5 and some DAC will be better? Headphones are damped Takstar pro 82 just for now.
You want more bass try EQ and bass heavy headphones
 

Dreyfus

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Have you had any issues with the vol pot on the K5 Pro, yet?
Mine is a bit wiggly. There is some play when I turn it to the opposite direction. As if the screw to the knob wouldn't sit tight enough.

Tried to open it up and examine the pot from the inside. But I struggled with a large plastic cover screwed to the pcb, possibly also being fixed to the front plate somewhere. I don't won't to break anything. :rolleyes:
 

Dreyfus

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Is yours also muted until 9 o'clock? :rolleyes:

(tested with USB and optical in, line and headphone out)
 
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flipflop

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Is yours also muted until 9 o'clock? :rolleyes:

(tested with USB and optical in, line and headphone out)
Yes, I think this is intentional so that you don't risk damaging your ears if you accidentally turn it on on high gain with sensitive IEMs. The FAQ also recommends setting the pot between 9 and 3. It starts soft clipping past 3.
I usually listen at around 11. I've yet to go lower than 10 and higher than 12.
 

Rockfella

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Is yours also muted until 9 o'clock? :rolleyes:

(tested with USB and optical in, line and headphone out)
Mine too.
 

blse59

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Hi, how does the dac section on this compare to the dac section on the SMSL idea? I keep seeing comments here and there saying the Fiio K5 Pro's dac is average or mediocre. Are they referring to the AK4493 chip in general or Fiio's implementation of it? Is the Sabre ES9018Q2C chip in the idea better or worse?
 

JohnYang1997

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Hi, how does the dac section on this compare to the dac section on the SMSL idea? I keep seeing comments here and there saying the Fiio K5 Pro's dac is average or mediocre. Are they referring to the AK4493 chip in general or Fiio's implementation of it? Is the Sabre ES9018Q2C chip in the idea better or worse?
Implementation
 
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hey to all audioscience guy's , i wanna buy this desktop amp for my 50Ω sennheiser HD 599 .
1 - this amp can drive it at low gain ?
2- if i buy it, what software you are recommend to use on my laptop ? (for now using AIMP)
3-any rivals at 150$ ??
tnx
 

flipflop

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1roger

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hello guys. contemplating getting this headphone dac/amp as it seems to have everything needed to do well for me at a fair price. out of curiosity.. how will the SQ of this unit..more or less stack up to the performance of an old soundcard xonar essence st, and the headphone out on an AV receiver marantz sr5013. the usage will be flac files, high-res video and pc computer games. my phones atm are beyerdynamic dt990s but im looking at 1990s as perhaps my next set. thank you for any potential replies!
 
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Hello again guy’s
What is the best way connect this amp to laptop without lost quality! ??
Coaxial in , optical in , line in , usb in ........
What cable must buy it ?
I need to help someone,Im so confused!!!
Im not a pro.
 

flipflop

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how will the SQ of this unit..more or less stack up to the performance of an old soundcard xonar essence st, and the headphone out my AV receiver marantz sr5013.
It might sound a little bit better. Worst case is it sounds the same. Hard to tell without measurements.

What is the best way connect this amp to laptop without lost quality! ??
Coaxial in , optical in , line in , usb in ........
What cable must buy it ?
Just use the stock USB cable that comes with the K5 Pro.
 

L5730

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Hello. What is the alternative to K5 Pro? I bought it, listened for two weeks and returned it back. It sounds very beautiful and powerful. But I didn’t like the soft sound of Fiio and AK4493 for Drum-n-bass. But i like format of combo.
Now i use Xonar U7 with CS4398 and it sounds ok. I want to upgrade the source. Maybe K5 and some DAC will be better? Headphones are damped Takstar pro 82 just for now.

Can you define what you mean by a "soft sound"?

I've read people's subjective views on the Sabaj Da3 portable DAC/Headphone amp and the general idea (<not a pun*) is that it sounds a bit punchy compared to other options. Measurements haven't shown a source for this type of sound 'signature' and listening tests were very likely sighted and maybe not level matched very well or at all.
Generally, people say less favourable things about the sound signature of the ESS DAC chips vs TI Burr Brown or AKM. In my limited experience comparing a budget ESS based DAC against a TI Burr Brown based CD player, once level matched no differences were observable.
* "idea" there is a product by SMSL with this name that is more or less a clone of a sibling Sabaj product.

From DIY Audio Heaven:
Basically saying that a higher amp output impedance will skew to have more bass - but the overall volume will be A LOT lower.
K5 Pro has a pretty low output impedance.
1581600038485.png
 
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unusual question !
when i plugged in from my laptop to this amp , amp use only USB DAC ((XMOS XUF208)) and ak 4493 dac not in use???
 
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