FIIO KA11 DAC dongle

[Overseas]

Got the KA11 to replace the original Samsung dongle (which is so bad, almost useless). Very nice up to now, listening and streaming by the phone only. Fiio Control app works, but only for changing filters. Anyway I use Wavelet presets for the headphones. Plenty of power, I actually listen at step 1 and 2 from phone volume.

 

[Dedicado]

I had the KA11 and it does indeed have huge power output, I used a multimeter and a resistor and I got 2.52v with a 47ohm resistor. Noticed zero hissing with sensitive iem, whereas I can hear hissing with integrated laptop jack and with Jcally JM6 pro.
But, after like a month or so it would not reproduce audio, only once in a while and then it would turn off again, the device was being detected in windows and in the android app, but that's it, no audio at all. Maybe defective, maybe too much power for such little device, who knows, I got a refund and never tried another one.

The reason it is so powerful is because it uses SGM8262 opamp, it is not your standard CS43131 without dedicated opamp. I have also seen Jcally JM20 max on Aliexpress that claims to also be CS43131 + SGM8262, probably a very similar device, would be interesting to also test it, see if it is less buggy.

Not all headphones have balanced output, so having more power to unbalanced output is very useful, I think there needs to be improvement to unbalanced output power in the portable dac/amp market, this combo seems to be the way to go, only in a bigger package to manage heat better, something like Fiio KA13, maybe a bit smaller, without being dual chips.

The exact same thing happened to me, I remembered your words when it first happened, and it was increasingly worse until it became unusable. First it failed after around 5-10 minutes of usage, and then it failed all the time. When it failed, the dongle light went off along with the sound. But for some reason, rebooting my Android phone made it work again for a few minutes, unlike any amount of plugging and re-plugging which did nothing.

The store asked me to upgrade the firmware before sending a replacement, and after upgrading the firmware the dongle light was always on but the sound still went off and this time no reboot worked as a temporal fix.

By chance I saw a Crinacle video comparing USB dongles and he mentioned KA11 has a high RMA return in his store, which he attributes to the digital part of the circuit in the KA11 being in a more vulnerable place for tearing than other similar dongles, because once the signal is converted to analog, then it's much more tolerant to fault than when the signal is still digital. I'm not mentioning this because I have a high opinion of Crinacle (which I don't), but because it's one of the only instances of this kind of KA11 RMA problems I've found. The Aliexpress comments I've read so far only talk about how good the KA11 is, and it is... until it starts to fail. But you can only comment in the first 30 days or so after purchase, which could explain why there aren't many more complainings about its durability, for me it started to fail after two months.

I paid around 30% of its original cost as shipping cost for a replacement (China store), but I fear it will fail again because it looks like a general fault of this model.

In this state I can't recommend this model because 1-2 months failure time is totally unacceptable.

 

[HissingFree]

The exact same thing happened to me, I remembered your words when it first happened, and it was increasingly worse until it became unusable. First it failed after around 5-10 minutes of usage, and then it failed all the time. When it failed, the dongle light went off along with the sound. But for some reason, rebooting my Android phone made it work again for a few minutes, unlike any amount of plugging and re-plugging which did nothing.

The store asked me to upgrade the firmware before sending a replacement, and after upgrading the firmware the dongle light was always on but the sound still went off and this time no reboot worked as a temporal fix.

By chance I saw a Crinacle video comparing USB dongles and he mentioned KA11 has a high RMA return in his store, which he attributes to the digital part of the circuit in the KA11 being in a more vulnerable place for tearing than other similar dongles, because once the signal is converted to analog, then it's much more tolerant to fault than when the signal is still digital. I'm not mentioning this because I have a high opinion of Crinacle (which I don't), but because it's one of the only instances of this kind of KA11 RMA problems I've found. The Aliexpress comments I've read so far only talk about how good the KA11 is, and it is... until it starts to fail. But you can only comment in the first 30 days or so after purchase, which could explain why there aren't many more complainings about its durability, for me it started to fail after two months.

I paid around 30% of its original cost as shipping cost for a replacement (China store), but I fear it will fail again because it looks like a general fault of this model.

In this state I can't recommend this model because 1-2 months failure time is totally unacceptable.

Would be interesting to see if Jcally JM20 Max has the same issue (exact same specifications). Crinacle said the chip is in a different place compared to KA11, on KA11 it is close to the 3.5mm, whereas on JM20 Max it is on the usb-c end. So maybe the cable transporting analog instead of digital could help in this regard.

 

[Dedicado]

Would be interesting to see if Jcally JM20 Max has the same issue (exact same specifications). Crinacle said the chip is in a different place compared to KA11, on KA11 it is close to the 3.5mm, whereas on JM20 Max it is on the usb-c end. So maybe the cable transporting analog instead of digital could help in this regard.

The JM20 Max is similarly priced to the KA11 now, I would try it too because this minimal form factor is the most convenient for my use case, but if this replacement KA11 also fails on me I would prefer to jump to a KA13.

The KA13 when on Aliexpress sale is around twice the price of either a KA11 or a JM20 Max, but the bigger form factor could possibly mean more reliability.

I need juice for my planar IEMs but the KA13 seems enough in desktop mode. I read the only practical difference between the KA13 and the KA15, even though having different chips, is that the KA15 has hardware EQ but I use Android so I would have no problem there and the KA13 is significantly cheaper.

 

[Dedicado]

With "Fiio Control" for Android, which is Fiio software for pairing wireless devices and managing lower level options like sound level, I managed to diagnose that my failing KA11 more than likely has a problem of the cable being broken. There is a screen inside Fiio Control where you can see all the connected devices, and the KA11 goes on and off while touching the cable.

Since the light is always on, I guess the power cable still works but some of the data lines lost full contact. I don't know if the cable is standard USB or if it's a Fiio implementation, but it must be along those lines.

I've tested the replacement KA11 and for some reason it outputs a lower volume level than my previous KA11, even when set at maximum volume level inside Fiio Control which is 50. Previously I couldn't withstand the two higher volume steps but now I can comfortably listen at 100% volume. I'm still diagnosing it because the reason for a lower maximum output level could be the Android software updates since then, the EU bureaucrats really hate sound volume and they are pushing for even lower mandatory levels each year. Another possible reason is I'm using another pair of IEMs, they are exactly the same model but there could have been hardware differences in these months.

I know an expert at soldering and I'm asking him to try to repair the broken cable, at the very least for testing if the lower sound volume now comes from different KA11 hardware or not.

 

[crx]

I've been living with it for a month or so and using it with the HD600 to check on my mixes. I haven't used the Fiio Control mentioned above so idk if that would change things much.

It has a rather poor sound quality. Overall music profile is listenable and has some detail but the difference is surprisingly big when plugged into my audio interface, I expected it to be a bit less to be honest.

It also doesn't have a flat frequency response at normal listening levels. I think it mostly comes from a very noticeable lack of high end which makes records very dark (cymbals and vocals a bit harsh in that range) and that in turn makes certain stuff start sounding broadly overboosted, such as 1k are with vocals often sounds quite harsh/honky.

I was using it with my "music player" Pixel 2 phone. The adapter does get hot and has frequent random glitches/cutouts, I'd say once every other song on average (which I don't care about).

For 20 or 30 bucks I paid for it it's ok I guess, gets the job done, but just barely. I mean, I learned its shortcomings so I listen through it with a grain of salt so to say. For pleasure listening I definitely wouldn't recommend it with something like the HD600.

 

[HissingFree]

I've been living with it for a month or so and using it with the HD600 to check on my mixes. I haven't used the Fiio Control mentioned above so idk if that would change things much.

It has a rather poor sound quality. Overall music profile is listenable and has some detail but the difference is surprisingly big when plugged into my audio interface, I expected it to be a bit less to be honest.

It also doesn't have a flat frequency response at normal listening levels. I think it mostly comes from a very noticeable lack of high end which makes records very dark (cymbals and vocals a bit harsh in that range) and that in turn makes certain stuff start sounding broadly overboosted, such as 1k are with vocals often sounds quite harsh/honky.

I was using it with my "music player" Pixel 2 phone. The adapter does get hot and has frequent random glitches/cutouts, I'd say once every other song on average (which I don't care about).

For 20 or 30 bucks I paid for it it's ok I guess, gets the job done, but just barely. I mean, I learned its shortcomings so I listen through it with a grain of salt so to say. For pleasure listening I definitely wouldn't recommend it with something like the HD600.

You are probably not comparing them at equal spl, so the audio interface sounds "better" because of the extra volume. Or the audio interface colors the sound.

 

[KomodoDragon]

I've been living with it for a month or so and using it with the HD600 to check on my mixes. I haven't used the Fiio Control mentioned above so idk if that would change things much.

It has a rather poor sound quality. Overall music profile is listenable and has some detail but the difference is surprisingly big when plugged into my audio interface, I expected it to be a bit less to be honest.

It also doesn't have a flat frequency response at normal listening levels. I think it mostly comes from a very noticeable lack of high end which makes records very dark (cymbals and vocals a bit harsh in that range) and that in turn makes certain stuff start sounding broadly overboosted, such as 1k are with vocals often sounds quite harsh/honky.

I was using it with my "music player" Pixel 2 phone. The adapter does get hot and has frequent random glitches/cutouts, I'd say once every other song on average (which I don't care about).

For 20 or 30 bucks I paid for it it's ok I guess, gets the job done, but just barely. I mean, I learned its shortcomings so I listen through it with a grain of salt so to say. For pleasure listening I definitely wouldn't recommend it with something like the HD600.

I have not read all messages before and I can’t remember what my KA11 sounded like when I received mine.
What I can remember is it sounded really offending on some type of music. I hooked it to a loaner Android phone, and the dac filter or whaterever default choice didn’t make any sense to me. In my unit the default option simply must be changed. I suggest you do the same. It will not change the world, though. You should be careful when you change the setting, that the correct change takes effect. At least with my unit making the change was unreliable (confirm after replugging, give enough time to save setting).

I have both lightning and usb-C version. Lightning has no support for changing any settings and it always sounded fine as it is. After selecting the correct filter my usb C version sounds identical to the lightning. Factory setting might not have been successful on usb C model.

 

[crx]

You are probably not comparing them at equal spl, so the audio interface sounds "better" because of the extra volume. Or the audio interface colors the sound.

No, same volume. Audio interface doesn't color the sound.

 

[Dedicado]

My replacement KA11 unit is still working alright after around 45 days, I only had one scary moment when the sound skipped a few miliseconds, three times during a period of around 10 seconds.

That scary moment caused me to preemptively buy a (then) significantly discounted KA15 because, if this KA11 also fails within 2 months... then I'm having enough with the KA11 and the KA13 had a significant price increase in the last month, widening the price difference between the KA11 and the KA13 and making a discounted KA15 more cost effective.

The JM20 Max is significantly more expensive now (more than the KA11) and I read it's QC is still hit or miss.

Now that I can compare the KA11 and KA15, I can assure the KA11 is indeed very powerful, it's able to push planar IEMs (KZ PRX) with an unbalanced cable to similar levels than those of these planars but with a balanced cable in the non-desktop KA15 mode (the KA15 has both unbalanced and balanced).

If it wasn't for the reliability, the KA11 would be final solution to listening to planar IEMs on the go. But if you need the minimum profile, the KA11 could be cost effective because it's very much all you need while going light.