FIIO KA15 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

[Alou]

The volume control issue (buttons needed to be pushed twice to change volume) is now fixed with the new firmware V1.1.5,they responded quickly!Now works quite good!

 

[Alou]

Regardless, I use it in 32-bit mode so hopefully it doesn't make a difference. (I put my melody at the back of ny computer, so I really don't want to have to press the buttons)

How would you get 32-bit mode in Android ?Its that the 32bit output option in an Android player (EG Neutron) ?

 

[IsaacOscar]

How would you get 32-bit mode in Android ?Its that the 32bit output option in an Android player (EG Neutron) ?

I use my Melody on my Windows computer.
On my Android Phone, I use the Fiio Tiny, which doesn't have its own separate volume.

 

[Alou]

There is usually the option on the driver control panel to be in 32bit mode,in Android i have only seen the option in Neutron player.

 

[IsaacOscar]

There is usually the option on the driver control panel to be in 32bit mode,in Android i have only seen the option in Neutron player.

Yes, I changed the Windows setting to 32-bit/384kHz (i.e. the highest setting).

Curiously Fiio's own music app doesn't let you set the bitrate (but it does take exclusive control of your DAC, so it might be setting it to 32-bit anyway). HiBy music player does have the option, and USB Audio Player Pro probably does as well (but I haven't bought it).

I use Spotify for music (it lets you add local files to playlists as well, which is useful for the occasional track that it doesn't have available for streaming); so I haven't bothered with any of the other players. They're also problematic though as they need to tack exclusive control of your DAC, so other apps can't play audio through it (which is good if your listening to music, but not if you pause the music so you can go watch a video on YouTube or something...)

 

[Alou]

Only 32bit is enough,going to 384kHz is not necessary ,you can keep the files original khz.

 

[tccalvin]

I use Spotify for music

Then I would recommend setting Windows to 44.1kHz (Spotify's rate) and letting your DAC upsample. It will do a much better job than your OS.

 

[Alou]

Only 32bit is enough,going to 384kHz is not necessary ,you can keep the files original khz.

You can use also use Foobar (Free) with ASIO driver from Fiio and ASIO plugin output from foobar for playing local files for best reproduction ,bypassing windows control!

 

[IsaacOscar]

Only 32bit is enough,going to 384kHz is not necessary ,you can keep the files original khz.

Yes I know that, but not all files have the same sample rate (my music is mostly Spotify lossless which uses 44.1kHz, but videos usual use 48kHz, and I have no idea what my computer games use...) so I assumed the highest number would be the best compromise (of course the LCM of 44.1kHz and 48kHz would be ideal, but thats 7.056 MHz)

 

[IsaacOscar]

You can use also use Foobar (Free) with ASIO driver from Fiio and ASIO plugin output from foobar for playing local files for best reproduction ,bypassing windows control!

Interestingly, when I installed that driver, and changed my sampling rate to higher than 48kHz (or was it 44.1kHz?) all normal Windows sound was absurdly buzzy, so i just uninstalled the damn thing (it's not like any programs I use even support ASIO)

 

[Alou]

You have to use the sample rate of the files what you play, don't change sample rates

 

[IsaacOscar]

You have to use the sample rate of the files what you play, don't change sample rates

So every time I go watch a video I have to change my OS settings? Oh and how do i work out the sample rate of a game? (some I could extract the game files and look for audio files...)

I don't think any of that is worth the effort when I haven't even noticed an audible difference!
So yeah, I'd rather just set the sampling rate once and be done with it..

 

[Alou]

So every time I go watch a video I have to change my OS settings? Oh and how do i work out the sample rate of a game? (some I could extract the game files and look for audio files...)

I don't think any of that is worth the effort when I haven't even noticed an audible difference!
So yeah, I'd rather just set the sampling rate once and be done with it..

Well yes thats what you do in windows or any other os. But with ASIO you bypass windows audio ,so you control audio from the app to the output of your device,thats what is used in pro audio.In any other case you choose a setting and leave it.For example if you have 44.1 and you play a video with vlc that 48khz VLC will do the conversion for you no need to change anything.But its always better to install use the driver of the device provided ,other wise you will just use generic usb audio .Some offer only windows drivers and others also offer ASIO.ASIO device driver can only be seen by an ASIO capable app.ASIO is no available of course in Android but you can bypass Android usb audio if you use a player that can acess the hardware directly ,Neutron,Hiby player,Fiio player etc!But in the end its up to you,go with what you like doing.

 

[IsaacOscar]

For example if you have 44.1 and you play a video with vlc that 48khz VLC will do the conversion for you no need to change anything.

Right, so my question is, if I am going to have all my audio on my computer sent to the DAC at the same sample rate, what is the best one to choose? (assuming say that everything I play is at 44.1kHz or 48kHz)

But its always better to install use the driver of the device provided ,other wise you will just use generic usb audio .

Right, but as I said the driver didn't work properly so I'm definitely don't think it's "better" than the generic one.

Some offer only windows drivers and others also offer ASIO.ASIO device driver can only be seen by an ASIO capable app.

Right, I don't have any ASIO apps. The driver Fiio provides is a Windows one, whcih also includes ASIO suppor, but it also affects non-ASIO audio (by breaking it when the sample rate is too high!!)

 

[tccalvin]

so I assumed the highest number would be the best compromise

That's the case for bit depth, but not sampling rate. Resampling quality is highly dependent on the type of filter used. Operating Systems don't prioritize maximum audio quality. Rather, they make compromises for latency, efficiency, resource usage etc.

Dedicated oversampling DACs do a much better job at filtering.

My default sample rate is 48kHz. That covers a lot of web content, games, movies etc.

The occasional 44.1kHz file will show up online, and for that I'll take the automatic resampling. I can't be bothered to check and switch every time.

When I listen to Spotify, I switch to 44.1kHz.

It all depends on what you listen to most often, and what source you want to prioritize.

EDIT: I should add that none of this will be easily audible. It's mainly for OCD...

 

[IsaacOscar]

My default sample rate is 48kHz. That covers a lot of web content, games, movies etc.

Curiously, the default for both my DACs is 32-bit/48 kHz, so I guess I'll leave it at that, thanks! (My headphones allegedly go up to 28kHz, so I guess if I want to annoy my cat with the 24–28 kHz noise I will have to up the sampling rate)

EDIT: I should add that none of this will be easily audible. It's mainly for OCD...

Of course! The only reason I bothered to change the setting to 384kHz is that I (stupidly) thought it was technically "better".

 

[Alou]

Curiously, the default for both my DACs is 32-bit/48 kHz, so I guess I'll leave it at that, thanks! (My headphones allegedly go up to 28kHz, so I guess if I want to annoy my cat with the 24–28 kHz noise I will have to up the sampling rate)


Of course! The only reason I bothered to change the setting to 384kHz is that I (stupidly) thought it was technically "better".

32-bit/48 kHz, is fine! Device drivers for audio are usually 2 ,the install both. One is a windows wdm drivers and the other is ASIO,IF you dont have ASIO app it wont be used,wdm driver will be used.

 

[Boese]

I Just received my Ka15, are the Buttons on youre devices also a bit loose ? When i Shake my Ka15 i can hear a bit rattle...

Sorry for my english

 

[Alou]

No,they are pretty solid!

 

[IsaacOscar]

Just to summarise the previous discussions about PEQ issues and have everything in one place, the following issues were discovered with Fiio's implementation (which have been confirmed on many of there devices, not just the KA15):

1. The "master gain" / "global gain" is not the same as the usual preamp: for most Fiio devices it should be set the desired pre-amp value plus +12dB, but for the Fiio tiny you should add +5dB. Moreover, the decimal part is always truncated, i.e. you only get 1dB precision, despite the GUI showing 0.1dB precision. (Discussion at #50, #51, #59, #65, #72, and #80)
2. The Q values for low and high shelf filters are interpreted incorrectly: you must multiply your desired Q value by √2 to get the correct behaviour (the graph displayed on the app will then be wrong, but the actual behaviour will be correct. (Discussion at #37, #46, #59, #72, and #80; the same issue was also documented by another website). EDIT: the K13 R2R doesn't have this problem!
3. On some smaller devices (such as the Tiny, and Jiezi. but not the QX13 or Melody), EQ profiles with high shelf filters can sometimes be horribly loud and distorted. I'm not sure the exact conditions that trigger this or any workaround, so it's best to first test any PEQ settings that include a high-shelf filter with your headphones not on your head to see if they get horribly loud. (Discussion at #85 and #86)
4. Not a bug, but an FYI: the "low shelf" and "high shelf" filters supported by Fiio correspond to Equalizer APO's LSC & HSC filters (those with a "center frequency"), and not the LS & HS ones (which take a "corner frequency"). You can use the formulas in #88 to convert them, or just use my converter script.
5. Not really a problem, but Fiio's PEQ implementation does not seem to depend on the sampling rate, in particular this means that if the sampling rate is lower than 96kHz, at higher frequencies the PEQ can behave slightly differently to other PEQ implementations like Equalizer APO that correctly take into account the sampling rate. (Discussion at #82 and #94)

I have allerted fiio to the first 3 problems. Hopefully they'll fix them and I can update this post. I'll also add more links to discussions if I come across any other helpful ones.

Also my EqualizerAPO conversion script automatically adjusts for #1, 2, and 4. But I don't know how to detect for issue #3, and I didn't see #5 as enough of a problem to try and fix.