Fosi Audio K5 Pro Mini Stereo Gaming DAC Test

[Ruhral Khunnud]

Fosi Audio K5 Pro Mini Stereo Gaming DAC Review

Fosi Audio K5 Pro is a headphone amplifier for high quality music transfer from PC (Playstation, etc.) to headphones or active speakers. It can be easily connected to the PC via USB (A or C). Furthermore it can be used as a DAC on a Hi-Fi system.

The Fosi Audio K5 Pro does not claim to beat audiophile headphone amplifiers for more than 10 times the price. However, if you are looking for a high-quality device with very good sound and excellent price-performance ratio, this is your choice.



Optics, handling and connections

The amplifier-DAC combination is kept simple but has a very high-quality finish. The body and knobs for volume, bass and treble are made of metal and are excellent to use. The connections are gold-plated.

To turn on and off, you press the volume knob a bit longer, switching between USB, optical and coaxial input signal is done by a short press. The K5 also has a 3.5 mm microphone input.



Sound impression and comparisons

The sound impression of the Fosi Audio K5 Pro when used on a PC is excellent. The difference to my PC sound card is significant. However, since I don't have extremely high-quality PC active speakers or headphones and was curious how much more sound the K5 Pro has to offer, I tested it on my Hi-Fi system (Harman Kardon HK680 amplifier and Orbid Sound Jupiter speakers). In my test scenario, I connected a Teufel streamer directly to the amplifier and, for comparison, via optical cable to the K5 Pro, thus using the Fosi's DAC. From an audiophile point of view, I didn't have an ideal room for this, the differences weren't huge, but the K5 Pro made a better impression in terms of resolution, clarity of the treble and precision of the bass.



Conclusion

All in all, it can be said that Fosi Audio has succeeded in creating a more than respectable headphone amplifier with the K5 Pro. The integrated DAC and amplifier section harmonize excellently with each other. For the price, a clear buy recommendation.

Personally, I would have liked to see Bluetooth for transferring music from a smartphone and to Bluetooth headphones in order to cover an even wider range.

 

[André RT]

Hi...I am still testing one of these.
Overall perceptions:
The optical connection seems to be horrendous compared with usb.
The knobs have a rough rotation are misaligned and the volume/knob-button is quite loose and flimsy.
Overall sounds OK through USB, although
It has very little sound-stage on digital, and barely on usb... compared to a DX1 or IQAudio DAC Pro (Pi4-HAT).
These perceptions are based on 16 bit 44.1/48kHz sources though. Maybe that's a culprit.

 

[JLGF1]

The optical connection seems to be horrendous compared with usb.

Based on....?

The knobs have a rough rotation are misaligned and the volume/knob-button is quite loose and flimsy.

Sounds like you got a lemon; mine has no such issues.

 

[André RT]

Playing Spotify on windows 8. Older driver 4.xx
A B switching on Windows audio devices default on a pair of 560S. Changing the bit depth and sampling rate in immediate mode on the audio device properties. USB always sounded brighter. Power came from usb hub on a 1.5A port. Optical from the PC onboard Realtek digital output.

Thanks

 

[flaviowolff]

I'm interested on this unit, but it measured horribly here. Almost looks like the tone controls were acting reducing bass and treble, but the guy had set it flat. Not a good sign.

 

[JLGF1]

Unit sounds really good for measuring horrible. The tone controls aren't really that big of a deal. They can easily be adjusted to a neutral state or whatever your taste may be. I tweak them ever so slightly. It's like the difference between food with salt and food without.

After all, it's a $60 unit so don't expect SOA.

 

[flaviowolff]

Unit sounds really good for measuring horrible. The tone controls aren't really that big of a deal. They can easily be adjusted to a neutral state or whatever your taste may be. I tweak them ever so slightly. It's like the difference between food with salt and food without.

After all, it's a $60 unit so don't expect SOA.

Well, there was a notable dip on both the bass and the treble. That points to problems with the tone knobs or with something else. Not a negligible issue in my book. Even if you have bass and treble controls, it's good to know that when they are zeroed you have a somewhat flat output.

Or maybe he screwed up the measurements somehow.

 

[Guddu]

Unit sounds really good for measuring horrible. The tone controls aren't really that big of a deal. They can easily be adjusted to a neutral state or whatever your taste may be. I tweak them ever so slightly. It's like the difference between food with salt and food without.

After all, it's a $60 unit so don't expect SOA.

I actually got rid of mine after testing SMSL PS100 @30$.
You might actually get something better for 60$ these days.
Besides, Fosi are going to come up with more DACs soon.

 

[flaviowolff]

I actually got rid of mine after testing SMSL PS100 @30$.
You might actually get something better for 60$ these days.
Besides, Fosi are going to come up with more DACs soon.

What made me want the K5 Pro was the mic input. Sadly there aren't much budget dac/amps with one.

 

[Guddu]

What made me want the K5 Pro was the mic input. Sadly there aren't much budget dac/amps with one.

Mic input? Or output?
If you are looking for headphone amp then probably dongle dacs are better for this price range.
I have creative xfi amp, pretty good for less than 50, decent measurements, EQ available and easy operation. Might be something worth looking into if only usb input is needed.

 

[TonyJZX]

the russians tend to take to this products... with a screwdriver

aliexpress russia has a few board shots of this and for some reason Fosi decided to rubb off the markings on the dac chipset as if they got something to hide and yet one would ask... why would you do this on a GAMING $65 unit?

would the typical end user even care? if you do this kind of thing youre hiding it for some nefarious reason i guess

and so i reckon they must have found a batch of knock offs etc.

i have a fosi dac and they clearly say its the 9018k2m so its not as if they hide all their stuff