Review and Measurements of Fiio K5 Pro

[4Real]

I'm very surprised this unit can sound so good on Mr. Speakers with such a poor SINAD.

@amirm
Can we have THD+N VS Power for the DAC?
THD+N VS Frequency?

In don't care about SINAD. Sometimes a low score means an amp or dac is just not working. In others the SINAD score catches things that you won't be able to hear. For the money the K5 Pro is one of the most versatile DAC / AMPs that you can get and it sounds great.

 

[4Real]

Very interesting measurements. I can't hear all that distortion the DAC has, but I guess that's a good thing.

Exactly. It sounds great , right?

 

[4Real]

In don't care about SINAD. Sometimes a low score means an amp or dac is just not working. In others the SINAD score catches things that you won't be able to hear. For the money the K5 Pro is one of the most versatile DAC / AMPs that you can get and it sounds great.

VERSATILITY and excellent sound!

 

[matts19]

I used to own K5 Pro and Topping E30/L30 at the same time. To my ears K5 Pro (AKM) sounded sweeter than the Topping pair which was way too clinical and cold for me. Even e30->K5 Pro combination was better than e30/L30 combo, which tells me that Fiio makes good amplifier section, regardless of the measurements shmeasuremets. I still miss the slightly warm and sweet presentation of K5 Pro (AKM) overall even as I moved onto higher gears. You wouldn't know K5 Pro was slightly warmer side of neutral until you listen to Topping!

 

[Veri]

I used to own K5 Pro and Topping E30/L30 at the same time. To my ears K5 Pro (AKM) sounded sweeter than the Topping pair which was way too clinical and cold for me. Even e30->K5 Pro combination was better than e30/L30 combo, which tells me that Fiio makes good amplifier section, regardless of the measurements shmeasuremets. I still miss the slightly warm and sweet presentation of K5 Pro (AKM) overall even as I moved onto higher gears. You wouldn't know K5 Pro was slightly warmer side of neutral until you listen to Topping!

Maybe just me but this doesn't look like anything 'warm' sounding. That's just a nasty spray of distortion which would be more indicative of a pretty sub-par design. With efficient headphones you'll be OK but with a needy planar headphone, that distortion will start to become audible and sound 'grunchy' and distorted.

 

[4Real]

I used to own K5 Pro and Topping E30/L30 at the same time. To my ears K5 Pro (AKM) sounded sweeter than the Topping pair which was way too clinical and cold for me. Even e30->K5 Pro combination was better than e30/L30 combo, which tells me that Fiio makes good amplifier section, regardless of the measurements shmeasuremets. I still miss the slightly warm and sweet presentation of K5 Pro (AKM) overall even as I moved onto higher gears. You wouldn't know K5 Pro was slightly warmer side of neutral until you listen to Topping!

the K5 is a great, versatile dac amp. the proof is in the sound!

 

[Phoney]

I have the Airpulse A100s which has been measured here. The problem I have is that I use them near-field and the volume control is rather sensitive for that use. It makes it so that I have to put the PC volume at 70% to make it less sensitive, and by doing so I believe that I reduce the bits. Even at 70% it's quite sensitive and already at the second level of volume it's loud enough. I also don't know how transparent the internal DAC is.

I also have the Fiio K5Pro which I'm using as a headphone amp. My question is what if I get an RCA to RCA cable and use the line out from the K5 as a dac/preamp to my active A100s? Could that make it so that I can use 100% volume on my PC and have the K5 act as an improved volume control without any issue?

 

[coolajami]

I have the Airpulse A100s which has been measured here. The problem I have is that I use them near-field and the volume control is rather sensitive for that use. It makes it so that I have to put the PC volume at 70% to make it less sensitive, and by doing so I believe that I reduce the bits. Even at 70% it's quite sensitive and already at the second level of volume it's loud enough. I also don't know how transparent the internal DAC is.

I also have the Fiio K5Pro which I'm using as a headphone amp. My question is what if I get an RCA to RCA cable and use the line out from the K5 as a dac/preamp to my active A100s? Could that make it so that I can use 100% volume on my PC and have the K5 act as an improved volume control without any issue?

That should work. I have a similar setup PC to K5 Pro (USB connection) and then RCA to RCA to active studio speakers. It's a bit of a nuisance that there are so many volume knobs in the way but if you pre-set up your PC and speaker volume, you could use the K5 Pro volume to open/close and adjust volume as required.

 

[Phoney]

That should work. I have a similar setup PC to K5 Pro (USB connection) and then RCA to RCA to active studio speakers. It's a bit of a nuisance that there are so many volume knobs in the way but if you pre-set up your PC and speaker volume, you could use the K5 Pro volume to open/close and adjust volume as required.

To my understanding reducing the volume of the PC means I'm losing bits (or dynamic range)? By using the PC at 100% and controlling the volume with the K5 instead of the speaker, this will not happen?

 

[Deleted member 58865]

I just ordered FiiO K5 Pro ESS. FiiO K5 Pro ESS had to be released because the manufacturer of the DAC chip of FiiO K5 Pro could not supply DAC chips.

I see that FiiO K5 Pro ESS is not going to be excellent, but it's going to be good enough for my ears. I have ATH-M40x headphones. I don't need expensive equipments. I just need something good enough to make me stop noticing bad audio.

My mainboard headphone output sends extreme amounts of audible distortions to my ears. I was extremely unhappy with audible distortions that sounded like the morse code. The morse code was painfully audible if there was no loud enough music.

The morse code was making me furious.

At least, FiiO K5 Pro ESS is not going to force me to hear the morse code.

 

[Deleted member 58865]

SINAD through line out was 81.5 ~ 90.

Does SINAD change for headphone output? This device is best used as a DAC/headphone amp combo.

 

[Veri]

SINAD through line out was 81.5 ~ 90.
Does SINAD change for headphone output? This device is best used as a DAC/headphone amp combo.

No, same ballpark.

 

[Deleted member 58865]

No, same ballpark.

16-bit audio's dynamic range is 98.09 dB.

With FiiO K5 Pro, I lose 98.09dB - 81.5dB = 16.59 dB of dynamic range.

https://headphone.guru/fiio-k5-pro-ess-desktop-dac-headphone-amplifier/ says

ESS ES9038Q2M DAC Chip; 50% lower Distortion, 6dB greater Channel Separation, and 3dB of increased Dynamic Range

This means SINAD for FiiO K5 Pro ESS is 84.5dB. The loss of dynamic range for 16-bit audio would be 98.09dB - 84.5dB = 13.59dB.
I think I can definitely hear ticking watches which produce sound at 20dB. Ticking watches would be 20dB - 13.59dB = 6.41dB above the noise floor.
Since I can hear 3 decibel difference on https://www.audiocheck.net/blindtests_level.php?lvl=3, I think FiiO K5 Pro ESS would let me hear ticking watches.

So, I will keep using FiiO K5 Pro ESS until it breaks.

 

[Deleted member 58865]

I wonder why these numbers don't actually show up on measurements. 110dB is already good enough for 16-bit audio.

 

[Veri]

I wonder why these numbers don't actually show up on measurements.

Because the Fiio K5 is a pretty poor performer outside of its in-house specifications. As measured by both @WolfX-700 at l7audiolab, as well as here on ASR.
Is it truly an issue, though? I guess not, probably it's good enough.

 

[donunus]

Sorry if I missed it but is the preamp output passive or active using the headphone amp circuit?

 

[Blorg]

Sorry if I missed it but is the preamp output passive or active using the headphone amp circuit?

The volume knob changes the preamp level but the gain setting doesn't affect it.

 

[popcorn]

Just curious, I use a Topping DX1 as the DAC hooked up to the K5 Pro ESS as an amp, how would the K5 Pro as a standalone amp compare to a Schiit Magni Heresy in terms of performance for headphones like K702 or R70x? Sorry, I’m quite new to reading amp and DAC measurements.

 

[Blorg]

Just curious, I use a Topping DX1 as the DAC hooked up to the K5 Pro ESS as an amp, how would the K5 Pro as a standalone amp compare to a Schiit Magni Heresy in terms of performance for headphones like K702 or R70x? Sorry, I’m quite new to reading amp and DAC measurements.

From a measurement point of view, it's much much worse. From an actual listening point of view, it would probably sound fine, I used the R70X and K701 with it and it was fine for those.

Not sure there are measurements of the analog in. Why would you bother using a DX1 DAC rather than the one built in to the Fiio?

 

[flipflop]

From a measurement point of view, it's much much worse.

Only if you disregard the channel balance measurements.