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FiiO has released the USBDAC JA11, with an initial price of only $9 (69RMB) and support for PEQ DSD128 PCM384

Tbh if you want the best sound you will most probably need an EQ. Knowing how to dialing it in for your specific headohones and ears can be a challenge in itself though.
Completely second that! IMHO, JA11 is “good enough” for most IEMs and a large number of headphones, and you get 5x PEQ filters to “explore around” and hear what works best for a given pair of ears.

When one reaches this “best sound” level, JA11 is also “cheap enough” to leave them attached to the IEM/HP so you don’t have to constantly fiddle with the app…
 
Does anyone know why the EQ sounds so different when saved into the DAC versus running it through the FiiO Control app?
 
Does anyone know why the EQ sounds so different when saved into the DAC versus running it through the FiiO Control app?
I haven't tested its EQ accuracy for a while. The EQ set in the earlier firmware version WEB Control was not accurate. For example, if you set a 1KHz EQ, it may be 2kHz.
Perhaps this requires a frequency sweep test
 
This depends on the fact that if the device being driven is an earplug or a highly sensitive headphone, it usually only needs 20% of the voice to listen to music (KA11 even needs less than 10%, so I don't think I need a device with more power than KA11). If the active speaker is driven, I usually adjust the USB dangle to more than 80% or even 95% (because some DACs will have greater distortion when approaching 0db), and then adjust the knob of the speaker amplifier to a comfortable volume. This can also avoid making loud noises when plugging or unplugging audio cables.

As for the audio format, I usually use Windows WASPI or ASIO drivers, so that the audio can be output according to the sampling rate of the audio file, rather than SRC to a fixed sampling rate. It is worth mentioning that after installing Fiio's ASIO driver, the Windows system's built-in WASPI driver cannot automatically adapt to the audio file sampling rate and instead has a fixed SRC to 48KHZ. Therefore, if you want to use WASPI, you need to manually replace Fiio's DAC driver with a USB Composite Device driver.
How can I confirm if WASAPI is working, and it seems that JA11 has a maximum volume of only 60?
 
How can I confirm if WASAPI is working, and it seems that JA11 has a maximum volume of only 60?
I am not sure to understand what you mean with "volume of only 60"?

I did some tests on a W11 laptop (Foobar 2000 + WASAPI (Push) + JA11 set at 32bits/384kHz in WIndows + IEM w/ Mic.): no particular issue. Everything, including a 24/192 test track played fine. Tests were done with JA11 updated to V2.1 firmware.
Additional notes:
  • WIndows / Foobar volume control (0 to 100) worked fine.
  • I was able to record my voice (Windows Sound Recorder) while playing (concurrently).
  • The FiiO Control webapp remained fully operational during all the tests. However, playing with the PEQ on the fly definitely generates audible "clicks". There is also a short, but noticeable, delay between changing a filter and hearing the actual effect.
Side note on the the PEQ: JA11 gives you 5x filters, but only Peak, Low-Shelf, and High-Shelf are available ("P", "LS", "HS"). Band-Pass, Low-Pass, High-Pass, and All-Pass (phase shift) are greyed-out ("BP", "LP", "HP", "AP"). The 10x filters of all kind are available on other FiiO dongles, such as BTR13 or KA15. Perfectly acceptable on such a low-cost dongle IMO:
1733167348491.png
 
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I am not sure to understand what you mean with "volume of only 60"?
When using the Android app, there's an option for Device Volume that goes from 0-60 for some reason. This is separate from the PEQ master gain and doesn't show up in the Fiio Control web interface.
 
When using the Android app, there's an option for Device Volume that goes from 0-60 for some reason. This is separate from the PEQ master gain and doesn't show up in the Fiio Control web interface.
A cursory search indicates this 60-step volume is also applicable to other FiiO dongles/devices, so I suspect it is how FiiO implements volume control in their app—60-steps volume. I don’t think it is HW-related but don’t know for sure…

The PEQ gain has a very different purpose, although it certainly affects the output volume as well.
 
If you don’t need EQ and are seeking the best sound quality, I am not sure the JA11 is the best choice as far as dongle…
I tested the Philips 9500 and DT900 Pro X with both the Apple dongle and the JA11. Initially, I thought the JA11 was just an Apple dongle with DSD audio decoding. However, when I compared the two, I was amazed by how much better the JA11 performed. The dynamics of the vocals and instruments were stunning, and the soundstage positioning was incredibly clear. At this price point, I can’t think of a better option!
This depends on the fact that if the device being driven is an earplug or a highly sensitive headphone, it usually only needs 20% of the voice to listen to music (KA11 even needs less than 10%, so I don't think I need a device with more power than KA11). If the active speaker is driven, I usually adjust the USB dangle to more than 80% or even 95% (because some DACs will have greater distortion when approaching 0db), and then adjust the knob of the speaker amplifier to a comfortable volume. This can also avoid making loud noises when plugging or unplugging audio cables.

As for the audio format, I usually use Windows WASPI or ASIO drivers, so that the audio can be output according to the sampling rate of the audio file, rather than SRC to a fixed sampling rate. It is worth mentioning that after installing Fiio's ASIO driver, the Windows system's built-in WASPI driver cannot automatically adapt to the audio file sampling rate and instead has a fixed SRC to 48KHZ. Therefore, if you want to use WASPI, you need to manually replace Fiio's DAC driver with a USB Composite Device driver.
My WASAPI is functioning normally.
 
Is there a way at adjust channel balance via this devices internal adjustments?
I think it could be handy to have the option to fix channel imbalance on some less well made headphones/IEMs.
Thanks in advance.
 
Is there a way at adjust channel balance via this devices internal adjustments?
I think it could be handy to have the option to fix channel imbalance on some less well made headphones/IEMs.
Thanks in advance.
It can way to eq L and R channels with asio driver
 
My JA11 just arrived. When used with Android or Windows, there are sometimes crackling in the sound. Updated to the latest firmware, nothing changed. If I lower the volume of the device via Fiio Control to 30, these crackling become constant, like I'm listening to a dusty LP. It doesn't matter what bit rate I choose in settings or what app I'm listening to music in.
P.S. I've seen here that it helps someone to enable direct output to a USB DAC in the audio player settings on their phone, but my main use case is outputting audio from a Windows 11 device
 
My JA11 just arrived. When used with Android or Windows, there are sometimes crackling in the sound. Updated to the latest firmware, nothing changed. If I lower the volume of the device via Fiio Control to 30, these crackling become constant, like I'm listening to a dusty LP. It doesn't matter what bit rate I choose in settings or what app I'm listening to music in.
P.S. I've seen here that it helps someone to enable direct output to a USB DAC in the audio player settings on their phone, but my main use case is outputting audio from a Windows 11 device
Yes mine has that cracking issue also - I just disconnect and reconnect and it normally goes away - also happens for me with my MacBook Pro and iPhone.

For those interested I have a beta of some integration for these FiiO devices on my version of the 'Cringraph' / Squig DB's so for headphones - here:

For headphones:

For IEMs:

On Chrome or Edge (or similar but not Safari or Firefox) - it detects that I can read and write the PEQ filters from these devices and allows you to pull values from the connected device or push values to a particular slot on the device.

Note: With the JA11 I have to disconnect immediately after pushing the settings otherwise the settings are not correctly applied.

All comments welcome - it is really just an early beta that I hope to extend with other vendor devices in the next few months. I have a Moondrop FreeDSP / CDSP, Quarks 2 DSP, a HiMax / WalkPlay device and a few others but I am looking at how to correctly read / write values from those devices currently.
 
All comments welcome - it is really just an early beta that I hope to extend with other vendor devices in the next few months. I have a Moondrop FreeDSP / CDSP, Quarks 2 DSP, a HiMax / WalkPlay device and a few others but I am looking at how to correctly read / write values from those devices currently.
I had started to look into this, first with FreeDSP, using a (cheap) USB sniffer: I was trying to reverse-engineer the protocol used by the Moondrop Android app from the HID commands and device responses through USB. The sniffer and USB comm. capture part works fine but I'm no expert... so sorting out the relevant commands from all the USB communication stuff is still very much work in progress! :)

I have a bunch of these HW-based DSP devices...
 
I had started to look into this, first with FreeDSP, using a (cheap) USB sniffer: I was trying to reverse-engineer the protocol used by the Moondrop Android app from the HID commands and device responses through USB. The sniffer and USB comm. capture part works fine but I'm no expert... so sorting out the relevant commands from all the USB communication stuff is still very much work in progress! :)

I have a bunch of these HW-based DSP devices...
Yes I have a similar (probably the same) usb-sniffer capture device and I have a Wireshark capture. For the FiiO code I was able to capture their "Web HID" commands but even though I can see that the Moondrop devices all support WebHID ( they support the "SendReport" call ) the Moondrop App uses a lower level USB call, I have these payloads but either they haven't exposed the equivalent via this "SendReport" payload or I haven't figured out the payload correctly yet. There is a way of making low level USB calls from a browser - but I haven't tried it yet as I was hoping I could make all these devices work in very similar ways.

I did reach out to Moondrop the other day (and the crowd that make the uber cheap HiMAX usb-c dongle) so I am hopefully they can send me some official information. The FiiO WebHID payloads are super simple once you decode the protocol correctly.
 
Yes I have a similar (probably the same) usb-sniffer capture device and I have a Wireshark capture. For the FiiO code I was able to capture their "Web HID" commands but even though I can see that the Moondrop devices all support WebHID ( they support the "SendReport" call ) the Moondrop App uses a lower level USB call, I have these payloads but either they haven't exposed the equivalent via this "SendReport" payload or I haven't figured out the payload correctly yet. There is a way of making low level USB calls from a browser - but I haven't tried it yet as I was hoping I could make all these devices work in very similar ways.

I did reach out to Moondrop the other day (and the crowd that make the uber cheap HiMAX usb-c dongle) so I am hopefully they can send me some official information. The FiiO WebHID payloads are super simple once you decode the protocol correctly.
Since a Beagle board is way out of my price range, I originally started 'sniffing' ( :eek: ) USB with a Bugblat "minisniffer 2b", but have since used a Zishan "HS Sniffer 2.0" (AliExpress) with Wireshark. I also bought a Bluetooth WCH "BLE-Analyzer Pro" on AliExpress, but haven't used it yet...
 
My JA11 just arrived. When used with Android or Windows, there are sometimes crackling in the sound. Updated to the latest firmware, nothing changed. If I lower the volume of the device via Fiio Control to 30, these crackling become constant, like I'm listening to a dusty LP. It doesn't matter what bit rate I choose in settings or what app I'm listening to music in.
P.S. I've seen here that it helps someone to enable direct output to a USB DAC in the audio player settings on their phone, but my main use case is outputting audio from a Windows 11 device
Another data point: I have been using JA11 (fw v2.10) on my work laptop (W11, set to 32 bits / 384kHz resampling): no particular issue. There is a mild "pop" each time I change something on the EQ with the FiiO Control WebApp, but no crackling sound. Same thing with the JCALLY JM12 updated to JA11 fw.

EDIT: leaving work soon :) . I have listen to JA11 for about ~2 hrs, and JM12 for ~4 hrs. No crackling sound. I did notice a few stutters at time, but I suspect it was more a network-related issue (using Apple Music web player) than a JA11/JM12 problem.

EDIT2: I was listening using the Arpegear Hane IEM recently reviewed by Amir. With no EQ, and the "Global Gain" set to max. (+12dB) in the FiiO Control WebApp (I think it was not the default setting), power from the JA11/JM12 is plenty, more than I would ever need !!!
 
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To the people that flashed the Jcally JM12 succesfully to the JA11 firmware how did your dongle look? I found two versions online that look like the attached photos. Are they all able to be flashed. Did you test you dongle before and after flashing? Thank you.
 

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To the people that flashed the Jcally JM12 succesfully to the JA11 firmware how did your dongle look? I found two versions online that look like the attached photos. Are they all able to be flashed. Did you test you dongle before and after flashing? Thank you.
My JM12 looks like the 'jm12_2' photo with that wire mesh around the cable. Flashed it with JA11 firmware without issue. EQ works like a charm.
 
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