I am terrified about my purchase of the Fiio K5 Pro should I cancel the order?

[john5220]

Amir posted a review that showed how bad the SINAD of the K5 Pro was which was very bad, I am now wondering if I should have bought a Topping D10 and a JDS atom.

But the thing is Amir never says if these things are even audible or not so I am always confused by these reviews, what the hell do they even mean? ok its bad not good BUT is it audible? he says we will be fine leaving the K5 Pro on low gain to avoid the noise so what does this mean? is the K5 pro like those trash motherboard onboard? where high gain = distortion?

I really like the all in one package of the K5 pro and the fact that it is Aluminum. But these bad objective reviews and noway to know what it means in real life to the human ear, have me questioning my decision

I am using it with a HD58x

 

[john5220]

I have never heard a Fiio before but even here on audioscience people say avoid anything with under 83db SINAD and unfortunately the Fiio K5 Pro falls in that category.

This has me seriously reconsidering my purchase but I don't even know what SINAD even means. Why would Fiio build a bad product like this?

I really think I should cancel this K5 Pro order right now.... But then I will have to settle for plastic construction from JDS Atom hmmm the Fiio was perfect in every other way if not for this terrible SINAD results

I wonder how audible this even becomes in real life...

Judging from this link you would think this K5 Pro is really top notch stuff

https://www.fiio.com/k5pro

When in reality it has worse SINAD than onboard crap

 

[Rja4000]

Hi
In most case, the limiting factor is the Headphone amps, not the DAC.
It's the same here: The headphones amp is ranking in the middle of the Amps Amir tested, which is not too bad.
His comments on the HP amp are quite good too.

The DAC is delivering just enough performance for this HP amp.
You don't want to hang it to a HiFi with very good performance Amp - like Benchmark HPA4 or one of the THX options.
But that's not the deal.

At 150$, it's a good product, I guess.

 

[john5220]

Well I read some more reviews and senior audiophiles on porta.fi etc said the K5 Pro matches $3000 headphones nicely, the reviews mostly claimed that the K5 Pro is a near perfect DAC/AMP that sounds closer to a $400 DAC AMP

So I guess I am good to go, its unlikely I am going to hear any noise or any issues with this considering guys with $3000 headphones couldn't detect any issues when when comparing to far more expensive DAC/AMPS

I know you said the Amp in this is put more in the middle of amps Amir tested but people who reviewed this based on their ears they put the K5 Pro more towards the High End Amps of the audiophile world

To me this is more than Enough to no longer worry myself, I mean the scientific measurements may not be great but if audiophiles on top research websites cannot tell the difference based on their human ears, then why should I be worrying about the scientific results that a machine can measure, right?

This AMP DAC K5 Pro in all honesty looks fantastic from the research I have done

 

[Rja4000]

That's exactly the point with those "senior audiophile" reviews.

If you base your choices on those, you open the door to everything and its contrary. You'll never be in peace, because, tomorrow, they'll say a new DAC is much better and kills everything that existed before... Because that's what the makers need to go on earning money.

Measurements won't change their "mind" tomorrow, for some unknown (or unsaid) reason.

 

[solderdude]

I am terrified about my purchase of the Fiio K5 Pro should I cancel the order?

I am using it with a HD58x

short answer: No, don't cancel the order. Enjoy the HD58X with it.

 

[BDWoody]

even here on audioscience people say avoid anything with under 83db SINAD

Where does that come from? I don't think I've seen something quite so hard and fast as a dogmatic statement...?

I don't know that I would agree with that exactly... It is doubtful many could tell a difference under normal listening conditions between that one and any other decent unit.

I would say relax and just enjoy it...
Easier said than done...i know.

Look more into what the numbers mean and you won't feel like you have to rely on others opinions...most of which aren't worth much.

 

[john5220]

Ok everyone I chickened out and canceled the order of the K5 Pro, because part of this reason is my Dream has been to own a Topping D30 and a JDS Atom.

There is a reason for this, if I own a D30 DAC and a JDS Atom, I can guarantee myself that I have Audio perfection, from now until the end of time.

I have looked at all the tests Amir has done and studied this down to a science, there is legit no comparison to a D30 and Atom there simply is none at all. This if you look at the scientific data, is perfection it is a GUARANTEE that the human ear cannot detect anything better.

And to me this puts my mind at ease, it makes me feel whole and feel like it is a great time to be alive. Not sure if this makes sense to you guys but this is how I feel.

 

[raif71]

I bought K5 Pro and I'm more than happy with it but my happiness of the product does not mean much here, I'm afraid.

 

[frogmeat69]

The Topping D10 measured even better than the D30 from what I remember, and is cheaper. With the Atom you're looking at under $200 for a great desktop headphone rig, no need to freak out.
Honestly, the K5 Pro would probably been just fine for you with the HD58x cans, especially for the price.

 

[pozz]

@john5220 I hope you stick around. At some point you'll know enough about how these devices work that future purchases won't be as nerve-wracking.

 

[john5220]

The Topping D10 measured even better than the D30 from what I remember, and is cheaper. With the Atom you're looking at under $200 for a great desktop headphone rig, no need to freak out.
Honestly, the K5 Pro would probably been just fine for you with the HD58x cans, especially for the price.

yeah I feel you are right, if not for audioscience website I would have settled for the K5 Pro, but for some reason reading objective tests made me so uneasy if only Amir had put "nothing like bad news to start with the SNAID on K5 pro being so bad BUT it is inaudible so no worry" I would have had my mind at ease.

I left head fi to get away from subjective reviews only to realize my OCD is just as bad with objective reviews

 

[john5220]

@john5220 I hope you stick around. At some point you'll know enough about how these devices work that future purchases won't be as nerve-wracking.

I am now looking into the D30 and Liquid Spark Amp combo. But its just that absolute perfection regarding the Atoms thats itching me.
The results Amir got from that Atom review revealed that the Atom is perfection. Zeos said the Atom volume knob feels cheap and ****** tho and he recommended the liquid spark because of its metal body

Is it true the D10 is better than the D30? what of the issues with the D10 failing and going dead?

I am so excited having already own the HD 58x my headphone journey is over as these 58x are pretty much the limit of human hearing unless we talking Planar. Now I have to end my AMP DAC journey and finally get rid of this Asus Xonar DG sound card that has been bothering me for many many years constantly asking myself what if I had audiophile external DAC and AMP like everybody else what would it sound like? what does music perfection sound like?

I don't regret canceling the K5 Pro because I feel like I need the Atom or liquid spark with a Topping.

 

[raif71]

Now, talking about d10...what a product...cheap and it has coax out too.

yeah I feel you are right, if not for audioscience website I would have settled for the K5 Pro, but for some reason reading objective tests made me so uneasy if only Amir had put "nothing like bad news to start with the SNAID on K5 pro being so bad BUT it is inaudible so no worry" I would have had my mind at ease.

I left head fi to get away from subjective reviews only to realize my OCD is just as bad with objective reviews

Hey man...lighten up... Both sites are good imo...just need to find the middle ground from the 2 sites

 

[john5220]

Now, talking about d10...what a product...cheap and it has coax out too.

Hey man...lighten up... Both sites are good imo...just need to find the middle ground from the 2 sites

I don't think so, Jude on head fi assassinated the character of our beloved nwavguy and Amir just because nwavguy and Amir pointed out that Schiit products are overpriced trash.

We don't even know where our beloved nwavguy is today he has disappeared completely because Jude and Head Fi had 0 integrity and was bought out by Schiit. It is absolutely disgusting if you ask me

 

[raif71]

I don't think so, Jude on head fi assassinated the character of our beloved nwavguy and Amir just because nwavguy and Amir pointed out that Schiit products are overpriced trash.

We don't even know where our beloved nwavguy is today he has disappeared completely because Jude and Head Fi had 0 integrity and was bought out by Schiit. It is absolutely disgusting if you ask me

Well, that's their fight. Me, I'm on the fence and both sites have good stuff to offer, but again that's just me

 

[BDWoody]

I don't think so, Jude on head fi assassinated the character of our beloved nwavguy and Amir just because nwavguy and Amir pointed out that Schiit products are overpriced trash.

We don't even know where our beloved nwavguy is today he has disappeared completely because Jude and Head Fi had 0 integrity and was bought out by Schiit. It is absolutely disgusting if you ask me

It is sad to see the reactions at times. Perfection can mean so many different things...it is an impossible universal standard to meet. At the end of the day, any of these units will recreate that electrical signal to an astonishing degree of accuracy (That's what those charts show.) Slightly higher vs slightly lower measurements are incredibly unlikely to remove the joy from the music, if they could be distinguished to start with.

Despite some of the comments, I haven't heard anyone tell anyone on here that they shouldn't like something that they like. We are clipping the toenails on a flea with an electron microscope at these levels... Just enjoy your music...

 

[jak]

so like you, I'm a bit torn. I have both an atom+khadas tone board and a k5 pro here.

my impressions:

• I don't really hear a difference, other say K5 Pro sounds brighter
• Atom has channel imbalance at low volume, basically only right is audible
• K5 Pro has huge volume jumps at low volume, but no imbalance
• Atom+KTB is about twice as much money as the K5 Pro
• Atom consumes 3W off, 6W on; K5Pro not measurable off, 4W on - 17 kWh/5€ standby energy difference per year (0.3€/kWh)

I bought it for a HE4XX (and a DT880, and eventually a HD6XX I guess). HE4XX is not here yet (it arrived in my country 2 weeks ago... stupid ups mail innovations sending...), and I'm not home, so I can only judge from a Superlux HD668B and an old DT990, which sucks big time.

Suffice it to say, I think both options are meh, not really optimal.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

Of course these differences mentioned in the review are completely inaudible.

Audiosciencereview has a bit of a contradiction, where there are people (correctly) talking about double blind listening tests. But at the same time, there is a lot of time spent discussing completely inaudible differences between DACs (although this is fine as a hobby, it won't be something audible, so is not relevant for most consumers).

 

[BobbyTimmons]

Ok everyone I chickened out and canceled the order of the K5 Pro, because part of this reason is my Dream has been to own a Topping D30 and a JDS Atom.

There is a reason for this, if I own a D30 DAC and a JDS Atom, I can guarantee myself that I have Audio perfection, from now until the end of time.

There won't be any audible differences in terms of the DAC component of this - the important thing is the build quality and guarantee policy.

I have looked at all the tests Amir has done and studied this down to a science, there is legit no comparison to a D30 and Atom there simply is none at all. This if you look at the scientific data, is perfection it is a GUARANTEE that the human ear cannot detect anything better.

And to me this puts my mind at ease, it makes me feel whole and feel like it is a great time to be alive. Not sure if this makes sense to you guys but this is how I feel.

The DAC part of this will sound exactly the same - i.e. any differences between those DACs you mention will not be perceivable by human hearing.