FiiO KA11 Portable DAC/Amp Review

[Vince3]

I bought a KA11 yesterday, and it's the best-performing piece of hi-fi gear I own. Paired with my Audio Technica MSR7 headphones, the clarity and details are astounding.

I've been thinking about whether I want my upgrade path to lean towards traditional components (Marantz, Yamaha, etc.) or the modern market of compact offerings (FiiO, Topping, etc.). The KA11 has dropped a sizable stone on the latter side of the scale.

 

[JohsonChou]

Can someone check me. Since this is so cheap and the amp output is so clean.
it seems to be more cost effective to buy this then just use the amp output to drive my speaker amp.
Line in should have higher input impedance than a headphone, allowing this to output full power, and be a $33 117 SINR DAC? Assuming it doesn't my AMP's input.
(compare to spending double or triple the money to buy a DAC with lineout).

 

[pioterd]

compare to spending double or triple the money to buy a DAC with lineout).

If 2.5V output is enough for your speaker amp, there is no need to spend more. KA11, UA mini, JM20Max - choose whatever you prefer. All of them give clean 2.5V output.

 

[lighthunt]

Does it work with Linux please? Have anyone tried and can confirm? Thank you

Edit: according to this, it should work, if anyone cares (I do)

• https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/934276.html
• https://linux-hardware.org/?id=usb:2972-0081

 

[Somafunk]

Another thumbs up for KA11 from DMS with practical headphone application shown,

 

[mc.god]

Does it work with Linux please? Have anyone tried and can confirm? Thank you

Edit: according to this, it should work, if anyone cares (I do)

• https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/934276.html
• https://linux-hardware.org/?id=usb:2972-0081

I own several dongles with same chipset of KA11 and all work great under Linux Mint out of the box.

 

[microfast]

Yes, you can. However, I’d advise against trying it, contrary to what other users have suggested.

If you flash the KA11 firmware onto the JM20 Max, you’ll get channel imbalance during volume adjustment (which can be fixed with a flag in UAPP), an annoying fade-in effect at the start of tracks (also present on macOS) that doesn’t exist with the original firmware, and some volume control issues on Windows.

I did it because I was not able to do work it correctly in DSD with Roon; after the Fiio firmware v. 0,08 flashing and using Fiio windows usb drivers v. 5.74-3 ( not use anymore Windows native uac2 ) it now works perfectly without any problems of volume, and you have even a good ASIO driver.

If you use it with Roon I do advise to do this ( for flash the Fiio firmware use an USB detective software for find the correct vendor ID and product ID .

 

[Simon1961]

I had two of these, both terminating in Lightning connectors, for older iDevices. One bought one month after the other, as I was impressed with the first one. Sounded great, but drained the devices' batteries quickly. They run very hot, and both died within a couple of months. Given there is no venting, I'd bet it was some kind of thermal runaway situation, where the chips cooked themselves.

 

[microfast]

My JM20 Max when connected to the Usb become just warm and this is not changed after flashing in it the Fiio firmware

 

[PurpaSmart]

I just got this. And I can't really tell a difference between it and my L50 + E50II stack. So I'm quite impressed to say the least.
It does run quite warm, and I could see the wire getting worn out with a lot of use.
The power usage is high enough to cause intermittent volume on lower-powered portable devices.

 

[yofi]

I got this dongle with an Amazon gift card at work and wow. It’s impressive. I’m kind of happy to just use this device at home. It’s got gobs of power. My K701, DT 1770 Pro and Grell OAE1 are all pretty happy running off of it. Happy to just use an Apple dongle for IEMs when I’m commuting, or my Fiio BTR15 Bluetooth dac/amp.

Any ideas for reinforcing the cable portion of the dongle so that it flexes less? Seems like it might be a good idea for longevity’s sake.

 

[JoeBrooklyn]

I had two of these, both terminating in Lightning connectors, for older iDevices. One bought one month after the other, as I was impressed with the first one. Sounded great, but drained the devices' batteries quickly. They run very hot, and both died within a couple of months. Given there is no venting, I'd bet it was some kind of thermal runaway situation, where the chips cooked themselves.

What are you driving with them?
I am using the lightning version with a iPhone 14 Pro Max to drive Topping Arpegear Hane IEMs and it barely gets warm. The battery drain after 2 hours is less that the Apple DAC dongle and slightly more than bluetooth AirPod 3 Pros.

 

[Simon1961]

What are you driving with them?
I am using the lightning version with a iPhone 14 Pro Max to drive Topping Arpegear Hane IEMs and it barely gets warm. The battery drain after 2 hours is less that the Apple DAC dongle and slightly more than bluetooth AirPod 3 Pros.

Using my old iPhone 11. Driving KZ PRX IEM (planar magnetic). I have read a dozen+ posts from people remarking about how hot they get, just like my experience was.

 

[sondzi]

Thanks @amirm !

Somewhat awkward that this actually performs (way) better than most "High End" xxxxx€$£ DACs...

so i just wanted to mention that @amirm is not accounting for DRE, so your experience will, not, be "better" than high end gear.


heres an accurate video, from Sharur.

 

[tccalvin]

so i just wanted to mention that @amirm is not accounting for DRE

Yes, we've had some disagreements about it. I think Amir should at the very least mention the issue going forward but he doesn't seem interested. Make of that what you will.

 

[CedarX]

so i just wanted to mention that @amirm is not accounting for DRE, so your experience will, not, be "better" than high end gear.


heres an accurate video, from Sharur.

On one hand, Sharur is right: pushing Cirrus Logic to do better… or it could hurt sales! But the CS431xx were introduced circa 2017: why DRE had not been an issue for all these years? So, the other hand… is that it may not be that big of an issue after all, and Sharur’s recommendation is probably excessive…

 

[redjr]

It’s utterly amazing what $33 will buy in our audio hobby. Who can complain!

 

[tccalvin]

On one hand, Sharur is right: pushing Cirrus Logic to do better… or it could hurt sales! But the CS431xx were introduced circa 2017: why DRE had not been an issue for all these years? So, the other hand… is that it may not be that big of an issue after all, and Sharur’s recommendation is probably excessive…

I think that if you're spending less than ~100€ then the CS chips are still a good option (in fact, just get a ~10€ Apple dongle...). Once you get into ESS kinda money... why not just get something better? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[sondzi]

On one hand, Sharur is right: pushing Cirrus Logic to do better… or it could hurt sales! But the CS431xx were introduced circa 2017: why DRE had not been an issue for all these years? So, the other hand… is that it may not be that big of an issue after all, and Sharur’s recommendation is probably excessive…

DRE, is not good. this forum is dedicated to sinad, and, well, if CS logic dacs use DRE than whats the point of measuring if its all "perfect" through Dynamic range enhancement???

 

[pioterd]

Considering SINAD in audible range, who cares? It can be DRE, it can be aggressive noise shaping out of 20hz-22khz range (why Amir doesn't show that?). You will get better and better SINAD, manufacturers know how to do that, to win this "ASR competition". Will you get better sound because of DRE or aggressive noise shaping? Not necessarily, even if you get >110dB SINAD. In the end of the day, you will probably find dac/Amp with SINAD around 90dB, without DRE, without that excessive noise shaping, with numerous harmonics, giving as good or even better sound than that devices which are ranked highest, just because of SINAD. SINAD is just ASR ranking parameter, it does don't mean always good sound, or lack of issues, even in audible range.