FiiO KA13 dongle has replaced my desktop DAC and amp stack, and thus technological progress marches on

[drewdawg999]

Rushed by the oncoming FiiO price increases due to tariffs on Chinese goods, and after ogling it for months, I finally took the plunge and acquired the KA13 dongle DAC and headphone amp. So glad I did, it is an outstanding piece of kit. It's not for connecting to my phone, too many interruptions on there to focus, no it's for my laptop, the hub for my large library of music spread across 4 external hard drives. Also I have made the jump from headphones to IEMs, it's just too hot in SoCal and headphones mess up my hair and get uncomfortable with hotspots. Having done so, don't believe I'm giving anything away in terms of sound quality, in fact I prefer the sound of IEMs now with all that micro-detail.

Previously I was using a DAC/amp stack consisting of the SMSL D-6 and the THX 789, a wonderful pairing that I simply adore. The 789 is quite powerful, got it to drive my inefficient planars i.e. my Audeze LCD-2, Hifiman HE-400, and the Modhouse Argon mk3, all utilizing the XLR output for maximum power. I needed that power since I was using heavy EQ on the LCD-2 and the HE-400. The Modhouse is just inefficient, I fooled around with EQ but decided I like it best as is, in its carefully tuned configuration. But since I've gone IEM, those headphones have been gathering dust. I was plugging all my IEMs into the 3.5mm output on the 789, oh so convenient, sound quality divine.

Now enter the KA13. Looks like a David vs Goliath kinda deal, here's a size comparison:

I prefer using the 4.4mm balanced output, though company measurements show its SINAD is actually worse than unbalanced. Well, it's only a point worse, still transparent beyond the point of audibility. But I enjoy feeding my earphones juice, I LOVE POWER! So I got a Tripowin Zonie balanced cable for my most inefficient set, the KZ PRX, like how they go together. Anyways, can't say this dongle performs better than my stack, it doesn't, but I'm not noticing any loss in sound quality. Still sounds divine to me. So is it time to ditch the stack? I suppose, unless I feel like listening to the Argon, the cans with the special basshead sauce. But it hasn't been Modhouse time for many months now...
(Pulled from the FiiO website):

I have other power hungry IEMs: the Tangzu x HBB Xuan Nv, which I coupled with the Dunu Lyre Mini modular cable. Also have the Hidizs MP145, and the Kiwi x HBB Punch, all unsatisfactory to my ears through unbalanced 3.5mm. Just not enough volume for me, or at least I could still stand it at full blast, which means no headroom. Suffice it to say, I like things quite LOUD. Still in the process of receiving balanced cables for the MP145 and the Punch, but pretty soon I'll have my full arsenal at my disposal, all sounding their balanced best.

So, the inexorable march of progress has hit my bedroom. I am officially downsizing, and freeing up 2 wall outlet plugs in the process. Man these tiny DAC chips are the cat's meow. Amazing they can cram a balanced output into such a tiny little thing. Yay for Chinese engineering. The KA13 has wound up as an excellent purchase, it's made me very happy, I enjoy great tunes in great fidelity deep into the night, addicted to music once again, listening to all my reference tracks again. Life for me is simple and good, just how I like it.

 

[jkim]

One quick question. Do you have an option for Class H/AB mode selection in the Fiio Control app?

 

[Somafunk]

I have other power hungry IEMs: the Tangzu x HBB Xuan Nv, which I coupled with the Dunu Lyre Mini modular cable. Also have the Hidizs MP145, and the Kiwi x HBB Punch, all unsatisfactory to my ears through unbalanced 3.5mm. Just not enough volume for me, or at least I could still stand it at full blast, which means no headroom. Suffice it to say, I like things quite LOUD. Still in the process of receiving balanced cables for the MP145 and the Punch, but pretty soon I'll have my full arsenal at my disposal, all sounding their balanced best.

So, the inexorable march of progress has hit my bedroom. I am officially downsizing, and freeing up 2 wall outlet plugs in the process. Man these tiny DAC chips are the cat's meow. Amazing they can cram a balanced output into such a tiny little thing. Yay for Chinese engineering. The KA13 has wound up as an excellent purchase, it's made me very happy, I enjoy great tunes in great fidelity deep into the night, addicted to music once again, listening to all my reference tracks again. Life for me is simple and good, just how I like it.

You’ll go deaf listening at such levels, I had the tangzu/HBB you mention and there was absolutely zero chance of me listening at full volume using the 3.5mm of my Aful Snowy Night dac/amp dongle on low gain of 1Vrms at 140mW.

Your KA13 puts out 170mW on 3.5mm but can do 500mW on desktop mode with 4.4mm.

The march of progress may have hit your bedroom but you’ll be hitting the audiologist very soon for hearing aids.

 

[drewdawg999]

One quick question. Do you have an option for Class H/AB mode selection in the Fiio Control app?

Haven't tried the app yet, haven't connected to the phone as it's Android only, and I'm primarily on PC. But I'll give it a try later.

 

[drewdawg999]

You’ll go deaf listening at such levels, I had the tangzu/HBB you mention and there was absolutely zero chance of me listening at full volume using the 3.5mm of my Aful Snowy Night dac/amp dongle on low gain of 1Vrms at 140mW.

Your KA13 puts out 170mW on 3.5mm but can do 500mW on desktop mode with 4.4mm.

The march of progress may have hit your bedroom but you’ll be hitting the audiologist very soon for hearing aids.

For the Xuan Nv, I don't enter desktop mode, and I'm not close to full blast or anything. Maybe peaks of 90-95dB, but not continuously that loud, probably avg 85dB. That may be considered dangerously loud for some, but I'm used to it. I only dimed it on the 3.5mm for a few seconds. But this set I may like particularly loud since it's a little warm and not that detailed. I have it so the bass gets pretty boomin' and slammin', not what this set is known for. I like lots of headroom, mostly for quiet recordings though.

 

[thelochias]

I just got one of these for portable mixing with my windows laptop and it sounds fantastic, and the FiiO ASIO Driver has been working great! I also happen to have a similar SMSL SU-8S + Monolith THX 887 for desktop mixing as well.

Just curious: would you happen to have any frequency response measurements for this? I’d like for this to be as flat as possible and id be willing to correct the EQ in their app just to make my Sonarworks/Slate VSX setup as accurate as possible.

 

[drewdawg999]

I just got one of these for portable mixing with my windows laptop and it sounds fantastic, and the FiiO ASIO Driver has been working great! I also happen to have a similar SMSL SU-8S + Monolith THX 887 for desktop mixing as well.

Just curious: would you happen to have any frequency response measurements for this? I’d like for this to be as flat as possible and id be willing to correct the EQ in their app just to make my Sonarworks/Slate VSX setup as accurate as possible.

Yes the FR curves are available at the KA13 parameters page I linked above the graphs. There's 4 of them and they all look perfectly flat to me.

 

[drewdawg999]

One quick question. Do you have an option for Class H/AB mode selection in the Fiio Control app?

Just tried it, connected to my Samsung phone, the Control App is pretty sparse and limited. No selection for those Class modes. Also tried listening to YT Music and the results were not good, glitchy with dropouts, I couldn't stand it for more than a couple minutes. There must be something I'm missing that I have to do, but it's pretty much unlistenable connected to my phone for music. Oh well, I don't have any premium subscriptions anyway so no big loss there. For music on my phone I only use free versions of Youtube, YT Music mainly, Spotify and Bandcamp. LOTS of ads so I don't use it much.

 

[drewdawg999]

So I got this doohickey adapter so I could try some full size headphones on the KA13. It's a balanced XLR to 4.4mm adapter.

And the arsenal of headphones I tried:

So these are an old Audeze LCD-2, the ZMF Atticus Cocobolo, Mod House Argon mk3, Sennheiser HD580, and the OG Hifiman HE-400. All of them equipped with XLR cables, none of them spring chickens, but a nice variety. How many of them did the KA13 drive to my satisfaction? None. Zero. Zip. I guess none of them are exactly easy to drive, but I was expecting so much more, 550mW in desktop mode and all. It's been established that I'm a high volume listener, and to be fair the KA13 could drive all of them to moderate volume, a little pleasurable but not enough for my insatiable ass. I need to rock, preferably with some bass rumble to tickle my ears, and the little dongle just couldn't do it. It was advertised as able to drive some high impedance headphones, so I'm disappointed it couldn't do better with the HD580 and the Atticus. My planars I kind of understand it having trouble with, so that's that. The adapter is pretty nice quality, ran me $21 and perhaps it was a waste, I dunno unless I get a FiiO M21 someday, a DAP which puts out 950mW in balanced desktop mode. That may not be enough for me either, as all these headphones (except the Argon) benefit from EQ. Oh well, so I have a reason to hang on to my THX 789 which is perfect for all these headphones.