Need a new and durable USB C dongle DAC/AMP for flying

[Somafunk]

FIIO QX13. Magnetically sticks to the iPad or phone case. Huge power and great DAC. It is small and light, but bigger than a dac where it is in the dongle. Magnitudes better though.

Also totally overpowered and little more than a battery draining device, perhaps only of use if you own the 1% of headphones that need so much power (slight exaggeration for effect)

And better how?,

 

[Mr. Reeee]

FIIO QX13. Magnetically sticks to the iPad or phone case. Huge power and great DAC. It is small and light, but bigger than a dac where it is in the dongle. Magnitudes better though.

It lacks a battery (I couldn’t find battery specs on the website), so with the color display, it would be a wicked battery drain when used with a phone or audio player.
It’s kinda chunky, too.

When I used the FIIO KA11 with my iPhone 16 Pro flying 2 round trips from NY to Madrid and NY to Rome, the battery level was at around 20% by the end of the flight. That includes time on the runway at both ends.

Using just an Apple USB-C to 3.5mm headphone dongle, the power level was over 50% by the end of the flight.
My headphones are Etymōtic ER4SR.

 

[max_headroom]

This thing (Shanling UA1 Plus) still works after it fell out of my car and spent a week on the road getting rained and driven on.

 

[jazbrokr]

Also totally overpowered and little more than a battery draining device, perhaps only of use if you own the 1% of headphones that need so much power (slight exaggeration for effect)

And better how?,

I use it with the side usb power input. Increases the output and saves the iPad battery. I use Noble Onyx and Shogun. I live near Bloom audio and have extensively compared iems. Empire, Volk, Thie audio, etc. I prefer the Noble. These high end iems like power and stay super clean when pushed. I have some lower end dongles and it is quite noticeable when comparing when using these iems, and I suppose if using many of the other tri and quadbrid designs. As much as I like the FIIO, it does not compare to my Luxsin X9 outputting into my dedicated headphone amp for at home use. I guess if one is using 100 buck iems it may be harder to hear the difference. I don’t buy anything without trying it first and I love iems with electrostatic tweeters and bone conducting drivers. Amazing sound and feel. Lastly, to open a real can of worms, I have two iBasso DAPs. The 340 sounds better than the 180. I got the 340 after I already had the 180 and was able to compare them. It was a large difference. Again, it is possible that lower end IEMs would level the playing field. FWIW, I have been feeling lately that I probably would be happy with the QX13 and iPad for the screen size. the DX340 does sound better, but the QX13 is really good. Just not as wide sounding and not quite as crisp. I do like messing with this stuff as a hobby since I can afford it. If I were on a budget, I would be happy with a few hundred dollars of IEM and dongle I suppose. My background is a music degree in audio engineering and performance so I listen to music coming from a different place, focusing on the production and instrumentation more than the song or lyrics. This is what I love about my setup. I hear stuff I never noticed before!

 

[jazbrokr]

It lacks a battery (I couldn’t find battery specs on the website), so with the color display, it would be a wicked battery drain when used with a phone or audio player.
It’s kinda chunky, too.

When I used the FIIO KA11 with my iPhone 16 Pro flying 2 round trips from NY to Madrid and NY to Rome, the battery level was at around 20% by the end of the flight. That includes time on the runway at both ends.

Using just an Apple USB-C to 3.5mm headphone dongle, the power level was over 50% by the end of the flight.
My headphones are Etymōtic ER4SR.

Actually quite small and light, at least IMO. No battery issues when used on flights or other several hour scenarios, or at home in best with the side usb port used to power it.

 

[IsaacOscar]

Actually quite small and light, at least IMO. No battery issues when used on flights or other several hour scenarios, or at home in best with the side usb port used to power it.

I was very surprised by this statement, until I realised I had the QX13 and Q15 confused:

 

[Carlo2AC]

Also totally overpowered and little more than a battery draining device, perhaps only of use if you own the 1% of headphones that need so much power (slight exaggeration for effect)

And better how?,

Surprisingly the QX13 is more efficient than the KA17