Pixelwarfare
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Fosi Audio K5 Pro teardown and review
The packaging comes with optical, USB-C/A cable, 3.5mm jack splitter for mic and headphone. The DAC is well built just like other Fosi products, solid gunmetal aluminium enclosure.
Front: All the aluminium knobs feel high quality. The tone controls have a midpoint tactile stop. The volume control uses a Taper-A pot, which also serves as a power and input switch.
Back: The USB-C port was slightly offset and the connector was a bit difficult to insert. Consider enlarging the hole for the USB-C port on the backplate a bit so that the connector doesn't rub against i
Teardown, cover removed. The unit is assembled with a decoder board that is detachable. When powering on the unit or changing input, there’s an audible click and that’s from the omron relay on the mainboard.
Daughter decoding board:
Mainboard with daughter board removed:
Works on Pixel 3a:
How does it sound?
First, I compared the K5 Pro to the onboard audio on my Asus B550A motherboard (SupremeFX S1220A), which is already pretty decent. However, when I played games, the motherboard produced a ton of coil whine noise that originated from my GPU. The DAC completely eliminated the coil whine noise when I used both the optical and USB modes.
As far as sound quality, I couldn't hear any difference between the S1220 and the K5 Pro when I used a QC25 headphone. I also tried switching between the optical and USB modes to see if I could hear any difference, but there was none. Some people don't like the tone controls because they affect the sound quality, but I found them very useful for adjusting the sound to my taste. I often tweak them depending on the content I'm listening to.
The playback bitrate of 96kHz works with USB, and 192kHz works with the optical. I didn't test the Coax input because I don't have one. The maximum microphone recording bitrate is 1 channel, 24bit, at 48kHz.
Room for improvement:
I suggest keeping the naming short and just including the model and brand name, like the TB10D. No need to print the entire 'MINI STEREO GAMING DAC' on the front.
It would be useful if the device could remember the last input mode when there is a power loss, as well as the last power mode. For example, if the device lost USB power while it was on, it should turn on again when the USB power is restored.
Consider enlarging the hole for the USB-C port on the backplate so that the connector doesn't rub against it.
The packaging comes with optical, USB-C/A cable, 3.5mm jack splitter for mic and headphone. The DAC is well built just like other Fosi products, solid gunmetal aluminium enclosure.
Front: All the aluminium knobs feel high quality. The tone controls have a midpoint tactile stop. The volume control uses a Taper-A pot, which also serves as a power and input switch.
Back: The USB-C port was slightly offset and the connector was a bit difficult to insert. Consider enlarging the hole for the USB-C port on the backplate a bit so that the connector doesn't rub against i
Teardown, cover removed. The unit is assembled with a decoder board that is detachable. When powering on the unit or changing input, there’s an audible click and that’s from the omron relay on the mainboard.
Daughter decoding board:
Mainboard with daughter board removed:
Works on Pixel 3a:
How does it sound?
First, I compared the K5 Pro to the onboard audio on my Asus B550A motherboard (SupremeFX S1220A), which is already pretty decent. However, when I played games, the motherboard produced a ton of coil whine noise that originated from my GPU. The DAC completely eliminated the coil whine noise when I used both the optical and USB modes.
As far as sound quality, I couldn't hear any difference between the S1220 and the K5 Pro when I used a QC25 headphone. I also tried switching between the optical and USB modes to see if I could hear any difference, but there was none. Some people don't like the tone controls because they affect the sound quality, but I found them very useful for adjusting the sound to my taste. I often tweak them depending on the content I'm listening to.
The playback bitrate of 96kHz works with USB, and 192kHz works with the optical. I didn't test the Coax input because I don't have one. The maximum microphone recording bitrate is 1 channel, 24bit, at 48kHz.
Room for improvement:
I suggest keeping the naming short and just including the model and brand name, like the TB10D. No need to print the entire 'MINI STEREO GAMING DAC' on the front.
It would be useful if the device could remember the last input mode when there is a power loss, as well as the last power mode. For example, if the device lost USB power while it was on, it should turn on again when the USB power is restored.
Consider enlarging the hole for the USB-C port on the backplate so that the connector doesn't rub against it.
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