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

[Cleawave]

I purchased a KBEAR TC12 and have a few things to report.
I can't find much information on it, perhaps because it has only been on the market for a short time. (But then, it seems it was mentioned above before I posted this.)

After using it for a few days, I flashed it with JA11 firmware (2.1) following the information provided by its predecessors. It success without any problems.

When I set the volume to 3.0db in KTmicro's Windows application, surprisingly, I was able to obtain a volume and sound pressure that exceeded CX31993+MAX97720.
(In an environment where the TC12 is connected to the speakers, there is no sound crackling at all.)

It seems that the use of KTmicro tool and fiiocontrol.fiio.com (not at the same time) should be limited to one or the other.
This is because if you adjust the volume with KTmicro tool and then tweak the volume (or equalizer) with fiiocontrol.fiio.com, the volume status will become strange (and vice versa).

Once it becomes unstable, it can be restored by flashing the JA11 firmware again.

The other issue I noticed is that after flashing with JA11 firmware (2.1), when playing an audio file on a PC (Windows 11), the first 0.5 seconds of the file is skipped.
It occurs randomly when an audio file is played from a completely silent state. Once this happens, the symptom continues for a while.
Then, after a certain period of time, or at some other time, the symptom goes away. The conditions for occurrence and resolution are unknown.
(This was not remedied by reflashing the firmware.)

To be honest, I like the way the original (KT02H0 HIFI Audio) sounds before flashing with JA11 firmware, so I am thinking of buying another one.

 

[CedarX]

I purchased a KBEAR TC12 and have a few things to report.

If it was not for the marking, I could not distinguish the KBear TC12 from one of the JCally JM12 versions (the one with the clear cable). I think they are one and the same…

I am not sure what the FiiO gain control does exactly… It seems independent from the KTmicro volume settings, but not completely… and looks somewhat buggy (sadly, typical of FiiO?).

To be honest, I like the way the original (KT02H0 HIFI Audio) sounds before flashing with JA11 firmware, so I am thinking of buying another one.

Note that, if you downloaded the KTmicro tool from the TinHifi website, you can re-flash your TC12 with the (TinHifi) fw included in the zip file. I don’t know if it is exactly the same as the original TC12 fw, but it restores the full compatibility with the KTmicro tool—adjusting the volume, PEQ, and DRC parameters and save them to the TC12. Though you loose the convenience of FiiO Control: nicer Web app plus an Android app.

 

[Cleawave]

I am not sure what the FiiO gain control does exactly… It seems independent from the KTmicro volume settings, but not completely… and looks somewhat buggy (sadly, typical of FiiO?).

It seems that it is better to continue using the tool that adjusted the volume first.
The equalizer values are shared by both tools (apps), but not the volume control, which is unstable.

Note that, if you downloaded the KTmicro tool from the TinHifi website, you can re-flash your TC12 with the (TinHifi) fw included in the zip file.

This was a blind spot. Thanks for pointing that out.
I immediately flashed the TinHifi firmware, but unfortunately it was different from the original sound of TC12 and the sampling rate of 44100Hz series (88200Hz, 176400Hz...) could not be selected in the settings, I reverted back to the JA11 firmware.

I thought that the type of sampling rate that can be selected by OS depends on the hardware (DAC), but I didn't know that it is controlled by firmware.

 

[multiformous]

So I flashed the JM12 with the TinHifi KT02H20 firmware and noticed two things: I no longer get the crackle with that rumble polarity check test clip, and I can no longer select 44.1kHz as a sampling rate in Windows sound settings. So I can't use it in bit-perfect mode with UAPP on Android because it won't resample my 44.1kHz files -- neat to get rid of the crackle, but no exclusive mode in UAPP is a no-go for me. But after some fiddling with the KT USB APP tool I was able to figure out how to save EQ settings to the dongle. The only thing I'm not sure is the 'preamp' for EQ purposes; there's no global / master gain setting like in the Fiio Control app. So I'm guessing it's just this setting on the main volume page?

 

[Z-Saber]

Default Odo firmware also doesn't support 44.1kHz.

 

[multiformous]

Hm.. don't suppose there's a way to revert my JM12 back to JCally stock firmware, is there? It bugs me that I get crackle with Fiio JA11 firmware but not the TinHifi firmware... But the TinHifi firmware doesn't support 44.1kHz, so that's pretty useless to me if I can't use direct mode in UAPP.

 

[CedarX]

Hm.. don't suppose there's a way to revert my JM12 back to JCally stock firmware, is there? It bugs me that I get crackle with Fiio JA11 firmware but not the TinHifi firmware... But the TinHifi firmware doesn't support 44.1kHz, so that's pretty useless to me if I can't use direct mode in UAPP.

About the JA11 crackles: what is your ‘Global Gain’ setting in the FiiO Control WebApp?
It seems to me that the crackles disappear when I lower the gain to ~0 (had it at +12 as recommended here).

 

[multiformous]

About the JA11 crackles: what is your ‘Global Gain’ setting in the FiiO Control WebApp?
It seems to me that the crackles disappear when I lower the gain to ~0 (had it at +12 as recommended here).

Crackles for me regardless of the Global Gain setting. Crackles with EQ disabled completely. Crackles (though less pronounced) when I even set the DAC to 'Mute' in the KT USB tool like this. I have to turn it up, but just playing audio through JM12 with JA11 firmware with it muted like this I get crackle. But sounds clean with the TinHifi firmware on that polarity rumble test. Very strange.

 

[CedarX]

Crackles for me regardless of the Global Gain setting. Crackles with EQ disabled completely. Crackles (though less pronounced) when I even set the DAC to 'Mute' in the KT USB tool like this. I have to turn it up, but just playing audio through JM12 with JA11 firmware with it muted like this I get crackle. But sounds clean with the TinHifi firmware on that polarity rumble test. Very strange.

View attachment 434506

Ok, maybe I have to re-calibrate myself about these crackles...
To me, when I set the ‘Global Gain’ to ~0 in the FiiO Control WebApp, and the PGA 'DAC_L&R' to +3.0dB in the KTmicro tool, the crackles appear to be gone... and I still get more then enough volume.

I'm still trying to figure out how these different volume/gain controls work exactly... I think the 'Global Gain' setting in the FiiO Control app (-12 to +12, assumed to be dB) is the same as the Digital DAC volume in the KTmicro tool (-60.0 to +12.0 dB), but is different from the PGA (Programable Gain Analog, I assume) volume in the KTmicro tool (mute, -18.0 to +3.0 dB).

 

[multiformous]

Ok, maybe I have to re-calibrate myself about these crackles...
To me, when I set the ‘Global Gain’ to ~0 in the FiiO Control WebApp, and the PGA 'DAC_L&R' to +3.0dB in the KTmicro tool, the crackles appear to be gone... and I still get more then enough volume.
View attachment 434539

I'm still trying to figure out how these different volume/gain controls work exactly... I think the 'Global Gain' setting in the FiiO Control app (-12 to +12, assumed to be dB) is the same as the Digital DAC volume in the KTmicro tool (-60.0 to +12.0 dB), but is different from the PGA (Programable Gain Analog, I assume) volume in the KTmicro tool (mute, -18.0 to +3.0 dB).

I was testing the Fiio control volume settings ('global gain' and 'device volume') earlier and regardless of what I changed in the Fiio app, I couldn't see anywhere in the KT USB tool where those changes were reflected. Like, changing 'device volume' in Fiio app didn't change the "DAC -60 to +12" slider in the KT USB tool.

Changing the "DAC L&R" setting to +3dB or 0, or -3 or anything doesn't change the crackle for me. And this is with Fiio Global Gain at either -12 or 0, etc. Only thing that cures the crackle is flashing JM12 with that TinHifi firmware. No idea what it changes or how, but it's crackle-free after that.

 

[Cleawave]

TinHifi firmware is definitely more stable.
I reverted back to JA11 firmware after that, but I couldn't stand the symptom that the audio file starts playing from the position where it skips 0.5 seconds from the beginning,
I reflash the firmware to TinHifi firmware again, and since then, I have not experienced this symptom at all.

The only drawback is that I can no longer select a sample rate of 44100Hz (and multiples thereof), but I can't help it. I wish I could find another firmware...

 

[HissingFree]

I don't understand how to flash this Tinhifi firmware, can anyone explain it to me? I see a usb app which is the eq app it seems, and then a boot tool. I guess you use the boot tool. If I understand correctly, if I have JA11 firmware, I just select JA11 and then I press a button that loads a bin file, then I choose the "KT02H20_tinhifi.bin", then I press the write button, as translated here:

DAC Custom EQ

tinhifi DAC Custom EQ

www.tinhifi.com

 

[HissingFree]

So I have flashed the Tinhifi firmware, and you guys are right that this removes the crackling. However, what it does instead is increase the hissing, because I couldn't hear hissing before with either stock JM12 firmware or with JA11 flashed firmware, but now there is considerable hissing with this Tinhifi firmware. So this is not a fix, it is really just moving the issue from crackling before to hissing now, and it's a super evident hissing with very sensitive IEM, it's not slight hissing.
Flashed JA11 firmware again and now there is zero hissing but again craclking when doing that rumble test and in some circumstances such as pressing the test button in the audio configuration window, or when searching for something with CTRL+F without results.
This however is very weird, I also have Jcally JM6 Pro with huge hissing, like the hissing I was hearing with JM12 and Tinhifi firmware. Does this mean maybe there could be another firmware out there that improves hissing on that dongle? how could a firmware produce such a stark difference?

 

[HissingFree]

Tried fiddling with KTmicro tool settings in order to either fix the crackling with JA11 firmware or to fix the hissing with Tinhifi firmware, to no avail. It is such a shame that it's either crackling or hissing with this dongle with no in between, I wonder if it's related to the noise floor, because with less sensitive headphones, such as DT 770 Pro 32, I got no crackling with JA11 fw. So maybe there is no way to fix both issues at the same time as they are related in some way.
By the way, I remember similar crackling issues with stock JM12 firmware, so in that regard I lost nothing.
If there was a way to check what Tinhifi firmware does different compared to JA11 firmware to produce such a stark difference, it would be amazing, when I used the KTmicro tool and pressed sync, I did see no change in the DRC section.

 

[HissingFree]

It seems the KT USB tool accepts JA11 2.1 fw as input, even the boot tool, you can pass it the JA11 2.1 fw and it detects the firmware with a CRC and ready to be flashed.
There has to be a way to compare what both firmwares do internally, let's see if someone can achieve it, in the usb tool there is a reg section where one can supposedly read and update registers, and it seems it is reading values from the dongle in real time, would make for a good investigation.

 

[MCH]

EDIT: - I received the JCally PJ3 cable: definitely a KT0231H.

Worth ordering one? have you found anything interesting or different to the others?

 

[CedarX]

Worth ordering one? have you found anything interesting or different to the others?

So, the reason I'm saying it's a KT0231H, as listed in the PJ3 description, is because it definitely supports 24/384 (actually up to 32/384 on Windows...) and the KTmicro config tool sections are all messed up (EQ, DRC, etc.). So it's not a KT0211L...
The Register Read/Write section in the KTmicro tool and 'SAVE' option appear to work fine. Peaking around, I found that the KT0231H supports 6x PEQ for DAC & ADC instead of 5 for the other (older) KTmicro chips. There are probably other differences, but I haven't explored the registers map much.
I also noted that the much cheaper KZ upgrade cable (doesn't really have a name) appears to use the same chip.

Worth ordering? Don't know... Depends on what you're after!

 

[yafengabc]

So I have flashed the Tinhifi firmware, and you guys are right that this removes the crackling. However, what it does instead is increase the hissing, because I couldn't hear hissing before with either stock JM12 firmware or with JA11 flashed firmware, but now there is considerable hissing with this Tinhifi firmware. So this is not a fix, it is really just moving the issue from crackling before to hissing now, and it's a super evident hissing with very sensitive IEM, it's not slight hissing.
Flashed JA11 firmware again and now there is zero hissing but again craclking when doing that rumble test and in some circumstances such as pressing the test button in the audio configuration window, or when searching for something with CTRL+F without results.
This however is very weird, I also have Jcally JM6 Pro with huge hissing, like the hissing I was hearing with JM12 and Tinhifi firmware. Does this mean maybe there could be another firmware out there that improves hissing on that dongle? how could a firmware produce such a stark difference?

Please tell me under what circumstances this crackling will occur. After I reproduce it, I may be able to report the problem to the official staff.
In my recent test, the sound quality of the current JA11 firmware is quite good. There is no hissing sound like CX31993 at low volume (this depends on the phone. CX31993 has hissing sound on my Realme X50pro, but not on another vivo X200Pro). I haven't found any other obvious problems for the time being.
The only thing that annoys me is that the power consumption of JA11 is obviously higher than that of CX31993 (140mw vs 40mw)

 

[HissingFree]

Please tell me under what circumstances this crackling will occur. After I reproduce it, I may be able to report the problem to the official staff.
In my recent test, the sound quality of the current JA11 firmware is quite good. There is no hissing sound like CX31993 at low volume (this depends on the phone. CX31993 has hissing sound on my Realme X50pro, but not on another vivo X200Pro). I haven't found any other obvious problems for the time being.
The only thing that annoys me is that the power consumption of JA11 is obviously higher than that of CX31993 (140mw vs 40mw)

Crackling occurs in some scenarios, for example, in Windows, when pressing the test button in audio settings, there is crackling. Also, when searching something in a website with CTRL+F and there are no occurrences, the sound it makes has crackling in it. But the most evident is the polarity test, it happens not only in Windows but also in Android:

Online Stereo Polarity (Phase) Sound Test

Checks your loudpeakers wiring.

www.audiocheck.net

In the rumble in phase and rumble out of phase tests, it has very evident crackling.

In normal listening tracks I think I didn't spot crackling, maybe it happens in some specific tracks with very specific frequency variations.

But yeah, I notice zero hissing with sensitive headphones, so it is very good in that regard.


However, it's worth mentioning I don't have FiiO JA11, I have Jcally JM12 with the same KT02H20, I don't know if there is any hardware difference aside from the dac/amp that could make a difference.

 

[HissingFree]

I don't see a way to turn off eq in fiiocontrol website, is such important feature really missing? I only see it in the app.