Question on portable Dacs

[MrSix18]

Hey guys! First post on here but been coming for Amirms reviews for years and check for them multiple times a week lol. Just needing a little bit of input.

Been a happy Qudelix 5k owner since release and have used it mainly in my truck and then when I travel I take it with me for my IEMs. But sadly it somehow found its way out of my truck into my driveway and then met a tire. So she's gone.

Been deciding on getting another but they still haven't updated it in all this years and their other dac just doesn't seem worth it for me. I have to use PEQ in my ram otherwise when I crank my music I get horrid distortion and the bass is pathetic. Recently put some infinity reference 3.5" speakers in the dash and now in the door but the amp in the truck is so weak and the subwoofer is so bad that when turned up past 20, it's pathetic but I'm able to dial down the Bass and the screeching treble far better than the stock EQ in the ram dash can do and it actually sounds great

Was looking at the fiio BTR's but have seen countless people complain about fiios peq integration and app stability and to be honest they don't always measure that well and the 5k is just so dang universal for 100$.

Any other options out there with PEQ or even I guess GEQ but with preamp slider? As long as I get my 2volt output I'm happy as the only balanced headphones I use are IEMs or my Elac speakers and WiiM Amp Ultra from.

Appreciate the help guys!

 

[Somafunk]

Was looking at the fiio BTR's but have seen countless people complain about fiios peq integration and app stability and to be honest they don't always measure that well and the 5k is just so dang universal for 100$.

Any other options out there with PEQ or even I guess GEQ but with preamp slider? As long as I get my 2volt output I'm happy as the only balanced headphones I use are IEMs or my Elac speakers and WiiM Amp Ultra from.

Qudelix 5k is still the dogs bollox despite being 6 yrs old, any improvement with the Fiio BTR’s dac performance will be drowned out by road noise, and Fiio software implementation is utterly dire.

Another thing that bugs me about Fiio (and other Chinese manufacturers tbf) is their pumping out of products with minuscule improvements every few weeks

Stick to Qudelix 5k, it’s still the goat Bluetooth dac/amp dongle

 

[unpluggged]

they still haven't updated it in all this years

This is far from truth. The unit has received countless updates, not only fixing rare bugs, but also bringing tons of new features. We are on third major FW version now. And they also updated the DAC/amp chips sometime in 2021 (ES9218p to ES9219c) when ESS replaced it in production.

And what is wrong there if a good product remains in production for long time? What is there to improve on in terms of hardware? This is an ideal wireless headphone adapter, and I can't imagine why there would be any need for a major replacement. We don't want it bigger, or heavier, or pricier. It can power any reasonably portable headphone/IEM and has all the features we need in such a device, and then some (but I wouldn't mind if they added a dynamic loudness feature like the one in the RME ADI-2 series). They even added integration with the AutoEQ database in their app some time ago (which is convenient, but not essential).

Or do you like it more the way their competitors from Shenzhen or Guangzhou do, by releasing half-baked devices with dreadful software and abandoning them after a couple of months, giving up not only on developing new features, but even on polishing out the existing ones?

 

[MrSix18]

This is far from truth. The unit has received countless updates, not only fixing rare bugs, but also bringing tons of new features. We are on third major FW version now. And they also updated the DAC/amp chips sometime in 2021 (ES9218p to ES9219c) when ESS replaced it in production.

And what is wrong there if a good product remains in production for long time? What is there to improve on in terms of hardware? This is an ideal wireless headphone adapter, and I can't imagine why there would be any need for a major replacement. We don't want it bigger, or heavier, or pricier. It can power any reasonably portable headphone/IEM and has all the features we need in such a device, and then some (but I wouldn't mind if they added a dynamic loudness feature like the one in the RME ADI-2 series). They even added integration with the AutoEQ database in their app some time ago (which is convenient, but not essential).

Or do you like it more the way their competitors from Shenzhen or Guangzhou do, by releasing half-baked devices with dreadful software and abandoning them after a couple of months, giving up not only on developing new features, but even on polishing out the existing ones?

Well first and foremost, I didn't realize I had made another account on here and couldn't remember it or have access to the old email so I made this one and I guess my reply was deleted and so was that account but I figured out this one and was able to login.

In my original post I meant they haven't updated the device in years.. I know they have regular firmware and feature updates, I just didn't know if something else was around that measured better or maybe had a bigger battery or who knows what other features. Considering Amirms reviews back when he measured it wasn't exactly perfect..

Also I clearly stated that Fiio and all them had half baked software/features and release DAC after dac/dap after dap with no real improvements in either.. so Idk what else to tell you..

I was asking if anything new came along, I've owned a 5k since the start.. I know what it has and doesn't have.. didn't know that was a crime to ask.. have a good one!

 

[MrSix18]

Qudelix 5k is still the dogs bollox despite being 6 yrs old, any improvement with the Fiio BTR’s dac performance will be drowned out by road noise, and Fiio software implementation is utterly dire.

Another thing that bugs me about Fiio (and other Chinese manufacturers tbf) is their pumping out of products with minuscule improvements every few weeks

Stick to Qudelix 5k, it’s still the goat Bluetooth dac/amp dongle

Thanks for the reply.. I guess I'm just going to be ordering a replacement lol.. and yeah there's like 5 Fiio BTR whatever's on Amazon right now all spaced 20$ a part and none of them seem to be much better than the other minus a few features..

I just didn't know if I missed anything new recently that was a step ahead of the 5k because it works fine with my laptop but when I travel for work I like to use it as a DAC plugged into the USBC Port and that was my original concern was it didn't measure well.. and I doubt going from the 9218p to 9219c chip really did anything but for 100$ it works like it should and would of easily kept going dispite the black almost completely scratched off and 6 years or so of use lol

Appreciate it !