Fiio Q5s Portable DAC & THX Headphone Amp Review

[Veri]

I actually forgot to mention this. The measurements as of right now show that the headphone out (either if this was tested with or without the included dac) measures much better and I would say also has no major flaws

than when he measured the line out (dac signal only) which shows the super slow roll off filter which is the cause of these flaws?

You are way over-estimating the slow filter's importance, there's plenty of devices that have pretty slow filters and don't show all of these flaws.

 

[A Surfer]

Yes, the filters unless I am misunderstanding things should have virtually no effect on the measured performance of key metrics. This was just a case of sloppy engineering by FiiO, sadly, and they got caught for it. The highly touted AM3D THX AAA amp module did not perform nearly as well as it should have and that has nothing to do with filters.

 

[pukemon]

interesting. the last few days I've researched the Q5s TC and see the ASR thread mentioned a few times and I just came across this morning and finished just now. What bothers me more are the reviews scattered across the web for this D/amp. I haven't heard it but not many reviews saying it have a "warmer" sound signature like AK dacs usually do. plus, there are several reviews that aren't jibberish, but you know how some reviewers are trying to write poetry about what they're hearing? well, some of the reviews seemed to be just people flaunting their vocabulary and didn't seem to jive with the overall review either. Of course, most of those were on Amazon so could be shills.

I was seriously thinking about getting this but not for $400 for damn sure. I wish the Topping NX4 was usb c. It shouldn't be a top criteria but for somebody who has been using mini USB on a CD5 for almost 7 years, I think going to type C and skipping micro is fine. still tempted on the NX4 now though because of price. thing is, I tend to do a lot of research on items that will get a lot of intimate personal use like a DAC/AMP would (plus just diagnosed asperger's at 45) so I try to buy one and done. If I don't like I would have to return and start over.

don't kill me for reviving this thread. was very interesting. I've never owned FiiO and they seem to be a fairly good company overall, especially for being Chinese. Just so few USA made options and the ones their are, gotta pay the price of labor. I had to say it like that because so many people devalue labor and don't even realize it these days. talking to you iPhone owners. A child may have scrapped for raw material or put your phone together. And some rich f$$$ got paid for it, not the kid.

to the batmobile.

 

[A Surfer]

interesting. the last few days I've researched the Q5s TC and see the ASR thread mentioned a few times and I just came across this morning and finished just now. What bothers me more are the reviews scattered across the web for this D/amp. I haven't heard it but not many reviews saying it have a "warmer" sound signature like AK dacs usually do. plus, there are several reviews that aren't jibberish, but you know how some reviewers are trying to write poetry about what they're hearing? well, some of the reviews seemed to be just people flaunting their vocabulary and didn't seem to jive with the overall review either. Of course, most of those were on Amazon so could be shills.

I was seriously thinking about getting this but not for $400 for damn sure. I wish the Topping NX4 was usb c. It shouldn't be a top criteria but for somebody who has been using mini USB on a CD5 for almost 7 years, I think going to type C and skipping micro is fine. still tempted on the NX4 now though because of price. thing is, I tend to do a lot of research on items that will get a lot of intimate personal use like a DAC/AMP would (plus just diagnosed asperger's at 45) so I try to buy one and done. If I don't like I would have to return and start over.

don't kill me for reviving this thread. was very interesting. I've never owned FiiO and they seem to be a fairly good company overall, especially for being Chinese. Just so few USA made options and the ones their are, gotta pay the price of labor. I had to say it like that because so many people devalue labor and don't even realize it these days. talking to you iPhone owners. A child may have scrapped for raw material or put your phone together. And some rich f$$$ got paid for it, not the kid.

to the batmobile.

The Q5 and Q5s both sound good, I have owned them both (still have the original Q5). The headphone you use will have much more to do with whether or not you perceive the sound as warm in any way. I didn't think Asperger's was still a diagnosis under the DSM 5? I believe it would be ASD. My ex was a bit of a specialist in this area as she worked at a major university well known for their student's with disabilities services and she was typically assigned to work with all Asperger/ASD clients so I was able to learn from her quite a bit about this syndrome.

As for the labour thing, sure it is true, but good luck avoiding exploiting other people to some extent or another. It just is very difficult and it will continue to get more difficult. As the worlds population soars you will see things become even more troubling in domestic labour markets as well. As long as there are many people looking for work, the employer has choices. Even something assembled in say the US, but using imported parts improves the scenario somewhat, but doesn't alleviate it.

Who knows though, the future is still unwritten, but sorry to be a bummer, but if history is a guide, and knowing that people are still animals (which we are) I would be lying if I said that I believe things will get better. Still, always worth hoping right? You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take so the world still needs to take a shot at improving.

 

[pukemon]

The Q5 and Q5s both sound good, I have owned them both (still have the original Q5). The headphone you use will have much more to do with whether or not you perceive the sound as warm in any way. I didn't think Asperger's was still a diagnosis under the DSM 5? I believe it would be ASD. My ex was a bit of a specialist in this area as she worked at a major university well known for their student's with disabilities services and she was typically assigned to work with all Asperger/ASD clients so I was able to learn from her quite a bit about this syndrome.

As for the labour thing, sure it is true, but good luck avoiding exploiting other people to some extent or another. It just is very difficult and it will continue to get more difficult. As the worlds population soars you will see things become even more troubling in domestic labour markets as well. As long as there are many people looking for work, the employer has choices. Even something assembled in say the US, but using imported parts improves the scenario somewhat, but doesn't alleviate it.

Who knows though, the future is still unwritten, but sorry to be a bummer, but if history is a guide, and knowing that people are still animals (which we are) I would be lying if I said that I believe things will get better. Still, always worth hoping right? You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take so the world still needs to take a shot at improving.

you're absolutely right about the aspie/asd thing. aspie is still commonly used thought technically I am autistic. mind talking to the 2 doctors that won't even test because "you don't look autistic". $^@%&$^%@

the Q5s TC is second on my list but there are a couple "the C connection was wonky" mentions and that drives my up the wall. I can't use my LGV20 anymore because of this, it's even bothersome for desktop use. I feel a little bit better about Q5s but Shenzhen isn't slavery proof. Lots of 1st world countries, including the US are falling victim to devalued labor. You have to be "mentally" blind, not aspie blind, to keep supporting these practices. I am one of those taking a break from buying crap on the internet, especially amazon and the owner, lex luthor.

I just emailed Topping to see if they have NX4 successor in the works with Type C connector. I might break down and get the NX4, even though I am impartial to Asahi Kasei DACs. if the iFi didn't have abysmal battery life I would seriously consider that but the company knows, lied about the battery life, lowered it and people still aren't hitting 8h, not to mention the battery drain while turned off. My 7yo C5D still gets 6h +- .5h and my humble little ES100 gets 6-8h easy.

Wrong thread but I threatened Topping nobody would buy their next product unless it got 10h+ with FLACs. Just kidding but I did mention a lot of people would be happy if it did.

Anybody want to trade a C5D for a Q5s TC or Topping NX4?

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I was sure Amir had reviewed a FiiO portable DAC/amp and it came out well, but I can’t find it.

Did I just dream that?

 

[AudioSceptic]

I was sure Amir had reviewed a FiiO portable DAC/amp and it came out well, but I can’t find it.

Did I just dream that?

The M15 came out well, but the price is crazy. <https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/fiio-m15-review-digital-audio-player.19366/>

 

[dtaylo1066]

Q5s here seems worse than it predecessors, which is sinful for any consumer products company. Either this unit was defective or they simply rushed it to market for the sake of an update, without appropriate QC. Fiio's niche is not that of state of the art, more that of value with some degree of quality, but there is no excuse for putting out a product with this type of measurment.

 

[m8o]

Crack is Whack!
This seller is obviously ON CRACK!

 

[pukemon]

That is a TC version and it's been there a few months. There are a few alTC on Amazon and eBay that have been selling for $500 and up the last month.

 

[m8o]

I'd be very curious to see the sell-thru numbers. lol

 

[pukemon]

I know a handful sold for $500 on Amazon last couple of weeks. eBay a couple sold for almost $500 a few weeks ago. Gave up my search looking for on for $360. I missed the last few on bhphoto.

 

[m8o]

Okay. ... that's not that obscene. But the test here is worse than something for $100 -- above $1000 is obscene -- and I'll say that as a FiiO fan who owns two of their DAPs and two of their amps.

 

[pukemon]

$500 is a lot to pay when many reviews are not satisfied with the power of the amp, the THX brand at that. And Fiio still has not given me an answer, private or public, and I see an occasional seker for the TC.

 

[Blake Klondike]

The device that you carry with you everywhere and all the time, your Smartphone.

I have one of these, and, as far as I have been able to determine, it does not work with my Galaxy S9. I noticed that the line out had audible distortion. Is it likely the Q5 has same issues?

 

[A Surfer]

$500 US for the Q5s and the AM3D module? Still too high today, based on what you can get for that money. Going back to when the Q5S and AM3D first came out, $500 US would be tops, but not obscene. Today that is obscene. As I speak I am charging my original Q5 with the AM3E module from the Q5s I sold which included the AM3D module, both were what Amir tested by the way. Subjectively they sound very nice, and if you could pay say $350US for the pairing of Q5s/AM3D it would still be a decent purchase if one considers the portability aspect.

I am at my old apartment where only some of my system remains on hand. My Gustard X16 and SMSL M200 are elsewhere and I wanted to listen to my speaker rig so I was happy to find my old Q5 in a drawer. I'm charging it up and will stream Bluetooth to it and it will sound quite nice as a DAC.

 

[A Surfer]

I have one of these, and, as far as I have been able to determine, it does not work with my Galaxy S9. I noticed that the line out had audible distortion. Is it likely the Q5 has same issues?

Not in my experience using the Q5 line out to at least two different LG phones (G4 and G7).