FOSI Audio Q6 Stereo DAC Review

[amirm]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the FOSI Q6 stereo budget USB DAC. It currently sells for US $90. I am not sure who sent it to me.

I like the large and easy to use input selector. Much better than systems that force you to toggle through inputs. Back panel is what you expect:

A USB-A to USB-C/USB-A cable is provided. In the interest of time, I ran slightly abbreviated set of my DAC tests.

If you are not familiar with my DAC measurements, please watch this video:

And subscribe to the ASR youtube channel.

FOSI Audio Q6 DAC Measurements
It was a bit challenging to minimize USB induced ground noise but I almost got there:

Reducing input level by 1 dB got me close to 2.1 volt output with performance essentially the same, locking the unit well into to "excellent" category of all DACs tested:

Dynamic range is excellent for class:

There is a subwoofer output, whose purpose is beyond me as we need a switch to high pass filter the mains, not low pass the line out:

IMD performance is good:

You can see the impact of USB noise in Jitter test:

Above likely impacted the wideband THD vs Frequency:

Conclusions
The Q6 doesn't break any barrier but is competently designed for its price point with some innovation on input selection and such. Company likely knows by now that we don't need this kind of subwoofer output but is a harmless feature nevertheless.

Performance is good enough for me to put the Fosi Q6 on my recommendation list for a budget DAC.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

 

[amirm]

Reserved for @RickS to kindly post the specs.

 

[bachatero]

Same 20kHz issue as the equally simple and budget SMSL SU-1? Weird

 

[amirm]

They both use the AK4493 DAC chip and hence the same roll off in the filter.

 

[Nuyes]

Offers a wide range of input options, reasonable pricing, and solid performance — impressive overall.


Thanks for the measurements and in-depth review. Great work as always, @amirm !

 

[JSmith]

It currently sells for US $90.

Decent for the price, thanks for the testing.

Pic;

JSmith

 

[gvl]

The input switch knob is definitely overkill and eyesore. Most people never switch inputs during normal use, a small button to flip through inputs is fine as long as the selection persists across power cycling.

 

[BeQuietZen]

Great! One more garbage DAC to pollute our planet. And not for $30 - $50 but $90!

Topping E30 II Lite with remote and volume control for $99 (and much lower price with discounts) is technically superior and more useful product in every possible way. Just like SMSL SU-1 & C100 or the newer SMSL PS200 for the same/similar price.

A big disappointment from Fosi!

 

[GWolfman]

Interesting little box. Thanks for running this through the (abbreviated) gauntlet!

 

[respice finem]

It would IMHO make much more sense to have a switchable "real" sub out, with bass rolloff at 80 Hz, max. 100 Hz, and corresponding high pass for L+R.
But it is what it is.

 

[solderdude]

Let the Q6 op-amp rolling thread begin !

Weird that the control knob is not similar to that of the P4 (with a dimple instead of a white stripe).

I wonder why they ditched the unpopulated part (appears to have been indicators)

 

[ocinn]

It would IMHO make much more sense to have a switchable "real" sub out, with bass rolloff at 80 Hz, max. 100 Hz, and corresponding high pass for L+R.
But it is what it is.

Well the sub output on this doesn’t make any sense, because this device doesn’t have any sort of volume control. So if you were to use the sub output you’d need a 3ch outboard volume controller, or exclusively use software volume control.

But yeah, LPF sub outs have never sense to me on ANY consumer product.

99% of people are using powered subwoofers that already include a low pass filter.

There is no reason for any form of redundant LPF. A simple 4 position toggle switch to do a basic Off/60/80/100hz HPF on the main outputs, and then send full range on the mono sum sub out would be far more useful and would cover almost every conceivable basic home audio setup, any more than that, and you are in DSP territory.

 

[o0hh]

I hope they redesign the balanced dac one with this single centered knob. It is looking way better.

 

[respice finem]

One marginal profit might have been, in a sub/sat like setup, to shift the low frequency "burden" to the sub, thus allowing the sats to have lower THD.

 

[MCH]

Interesting they use a xmos "development free" ready made module. Seems that they can even do multichannel. Good to know they work well, would like to see if they can do volume control too.

https://en.eeworld.com.cn/news/mndz/eic691690.html

 

[welwynnick]

Great! One more garbage DAC to pollute our planet. And not for $30 - $50 but $90!
Topping E30 II Lite with remote and volume control for $99 (and much lower price with discounts) is technically superior and more useful product in every possible way. Just like SMSL SU-1 & C100 or the newer SMSL PS200 for the same/similar price.
A big disappointment from Fosi!

It's cheap. Is that really fair?

How quickly we forget that the Topping E30 II, good as it was, wasn't perfect either:

 

[tccalvin]

A shame that the big knob is not a digital volume...

That would've made it stand out compared to SU-1 and the like...

 

[sabih]

the best thing about this DAC is swappable opamp. Making it future proof [kind of].

 

[Veri]

the best thing about this DAC is swappable opamp. Making it future proof [kind of].

lol mm not really, opamps in the future don't have that much to gain so to speak to improve in this particular circuit, most are cutting edge already and work around a careful design.

Putting in shiny new op-amps is just brute forcing that original careful design. And would require testing and mechanical knowledge. An amateur would not know it's making the amp oscillate or overdrive. Etc..

 

[Power Pop 23]

The listing at Amazon (USA) for the Fosi Audio Q6 DAC contains quotes from ASR members 'lin4264', 'Happy Metal Guy', 'Pabliolie', and 'Lambda'

Amazon.com

Scroll down at the above link to see the quotes.