Qudelix-5K Bluetooth DAC & Headphone Amp

[Jimbob54]

Well, usually I listen to music with my headphones and IEMs using my Macbook, Soundsource and a dongle. That works great and is fine. Now I bought a Topping Dx3Pro+ for another part of my house where is a nice leather chair, but not much space for my MacBook and I just want to use my iPhone as source and the Dx3Pro+ as dac&amp, no extra dongle. But I still would like to have EQ. It seems that eqe with jailbreak is the best option, right?

Are these local files or streaming? If the latter which service? If its tidal or qobuz then I might have a leftfield solution

 

[Garrincha]

Are these local files or streaming? If the latter which service? If its tidal or qobuz then I might have a leftfield solution

It´s mostly streaming, Deezer and Qobuz. So what would be the solution?

 

[Jimbob54]

It´s mostly streaming, Deezer and Qobuz. So what would be the solution?

A second hand/ cheap android handset (WiFi, no sim), USB audio player Pro app with its eq add on (about £4 each). It can eq qobuz and pass through to any usb dac.

I've no idea what a second hand but safe android bare bones handset goes for these days though.

 

[Blorg]

You could also just try listening to the headphones directly off the Qudelix. It's more than enough for an IEM and it will power most full-size headphones too, particularly if you use the balanced output. The only place you'd likely run into issues would be if you are doing very large EQ adjustments using a large negative pre-amp, with a hard to drive headphone, and listen loud. Certainly not an issue with any IEM.

 

[Garrincha]

You could also just try listening to the headphones directly off the Qudelix. It's more than enough for an IEM and it will power most full-size headphones too, particularly if you use the balanced output. The only place you'd likely run into issues would be if you are doing very large EQ adjustments using a large negative pre-amp, with a hard to drive headphone, and listen loud. Certainly not an issue with any IEM.

I know. All the headphones (and IEMs) I currently have are driven comfortably with my dongles, no problem there (but I might buy some more difficult to drive in the future). I simply just bought the Topping DX3Pro+ and would like to use it with EQ and without my MacBook, it's just that.

 

[Nango]

Panther being too generous I suppose, apart from the Bluetooth ability why would anyone pick this over something like NX4DSD, am I missing something here

S. Corea vs. China.

 

[Vik]

On an iPhone, what's the best way (as in best gadhet to use) to charge the Qudelix while using it?

 

[wacomme]

On an iPhone, what's the best way (as in best gadhet to use) to charge the Qudelix while using it?

I don’t think it can be charged while in use on an iPhone - since you have to turn off charging.

 

[staticV3]

@Vik Audio transmission via USB or Bluetooth?

 

[wacomme]

@Vik Audio transmission via USB or Bluetooth?

Does that matter if it’s connected to an iPhone?

 

[staticV3]

Does that matter if it’s connected to an iPhone?

You can charge the 5K while sending audio to it from an iPhone via Bluetooth.
You can probably not charge the 5K while sending audio to it from an iPhone via Lightning to Type-C cable. Though you can charge the iPhone while doing so.

 

[wacomme]

You can charge the 5K while sending audio to it from an iPhone via Bluetooth.
You can probably not charge the 5K while sending audio to it from an iPhone via Lightning to Type-C cable. Though you can charge the iPhone while doing so.

Good to know about BT. I can confirm the latter does not work - took forever to figure out why the Qudelix wasn’t working!

 

[Vik]

@Vik Audio transmission via USB or Bluetooth?

I'm still in explore mode, and haven't found out whether using a cable will give me better results... whether I use Tidal, Apple Music or something else, it seems that it's using AAC. I want to use whatever gives me the best audio quality, but the UI is rather confusing. It tells me to deal with blue and red knobs, but they have no color, so just finding out how I could see these colors took some time. A tiny blue and red dot would have been great, and maybe a few words (Up, Down...).

Right now I'm struggling with finding out how I can turn off the built in mic. The app seems to contain 18 different pages, and has no search function. So please bear with me – so far I only regret that I have bought it. I'm not used to all those abbreviations (VBUS, QX-OVER, FS etc). When there's plenty of room to write Parametrical or Graphical EQ or Equalizer, why use PEQ and GEQ? Oh well.

Anyway, so far I have only used Bluetooth, in which case I can charge the Qudelix directly from my Mac or a 5w adapter, I guess. But if the best audio quality I can get with iPhone is AAC 256 kb, I hope I can get better results with a cable. I've had a look at the manual, but that opens up another world of abbreviations (BLE, A2DP...) Is there a 'Qudelix for Idiots' article somewhere? And can I even use LDAC on iPhones?

 

[wacomme]

I had the same frustrations as you. The Q5K is a PITA to learn. But once you learn it, it’s a great little device. The manual really does help. I have the Apple Camera Adapter. With it I get lossless audio, DSP, and I can charge my phone with another cable connected to the adapter and either my computer (usb) or AC. The Google app on the computer is also nice.

The Q5K is my go to dac/amp at work (connected to a PC or my phone via the camera adapter) and mobile (Bluetooth when moving about and sports; camera adapter and USB connection to iPhone when traveling and being less mobile).

 

[wacomme]

No LDAC on iPhones. I haven’t found any great instructions other than the manual. There’s some stuff out there, but I haven’t found anything comprehensive. Muddle through the learning curve and you’ll get there.

When there's plenty of room to write Parametrical or Graphical EQ or Equalizer, why use PEQ and GEQ? Oh well.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Vik]

I had the same frustrations as you. The Q5K is a PITA to learn. But once you learn it, it’s a great little device. The manual really does help. I have the Apple Camera Adapter. With it I get lossless audio, DSP, and I can charge my phone with another cable connected to the adapter and either my computer (usb) or AC. The Google app on the computer is also nice.

I actually have googled quite a bit. Re. DSP, I can also use the equalizer even if I'm on Bluetooth right now? I need to type in values manually in the EQ, but I assume that they will add a way to drag the faders up/down.

What do you mean by this?

I'm referring to this page in the app (one of several examples of using abbreviations when there's plenty of room to use normal words):

Anyway, it seems that I need to buy a camera kit and maybe an extra cable.
I found an 'How to get started'-article on their forum, btw:

Caseten's Qudelix-5K Quick Start Guide

Qudelix-5K Quick Start Guide by caseten The Qudelix-5K is not user-friendly and will be frustrating to use initially. The amount of options in it’s App can be overwhelming at first. Be patient. It has a ton of features, but the AutoEQ Preset feature is the ‘killer app’ of this device. You...

forum.qudelix.com

 

[wacomme]

I use the camera kit for USB (lossless), but there may be other cables that work. The camera cable is nice in that you can charge your phone while listening. Though, for moving around, the camera cable connected to the Q5K is rather awkward to carry. Thus, I use Bluetooth in those circumstances. You can use dsp in Bluetooth.

I set up eq files in the Google app on the computer - easier to enter. Though the standard set of eq settings is pretty extensive. Still, I set my own for easy access. Click the eq graph on your phone and it takes you to your custom eq settings (that took forever to discover).

 

[Vik]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the 'Google app on the computer'?

 

[staticV3]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the 'Google app on the computer'?

Qudelix

Qudelix-5K Bluetooth DAC AMP Remote Controller

chrome.google.com

 

[Blorg]

@Vik turn off built in mic is Input (bottom) -> Mic (top), you can set it to Earphone Inline Mic and then I presume it just won't work if your cable doesn't have a mic in it.

Oratory's (or for that matter Amir's) EQ profiles which are developed and checked manually are IMO better than the built in AutoEQ, most AutoEQ profiles sound quite bad to me. Easier to put them in using the Chrome app as @wacomme says.

You can get lightning to USB-C cables that should work and are more compact than the camera connection kit but I think they need to be wired in a certain way, more Apple weirdness. Fiio and a number of other manufacturers make one. Fiio LT-LT1, Lotoo Type C to Lightning OTG cable, ddHiFi MFi06. You might want to search a bit for confirmation a cable works with the Qudelix.