Review and Measurements of Fiio K5 Pro

[jak]

No audible difference when speakers connected to pre-outs VS internal sound Card!

Well, unless you have noise I guess that's kind of to be expected. Speakers distort a lot, so they're kind of the bottleneck in most systems.

And then you listen to them at like 80 dB in a room with ambient 30 dB, so you are at like 50 dB SNR I guess.

 

[Rockfella]

Well, unless you have noise I guess that's kind of to be expected. Speakers distort a lot, so they're kind of the bottleneck in most systems.

And then you listen to them at like 80 dB in a room with ambient 30 dB, so you are at like 50 dB SNR I guess.

Hmm that's all greek to me point is I don't hear any difference. Difference in headphones is there not speakers. (at least I can't hear any difference)

 

[Rockfella]

I will compare both more. I think the K5 Pro sounds fuller and better and the Xonar DX. Heck I am bit confused.

 

[raif71]

Perhaps you have a very capable soundcard @Rockfella . That's why you are not sensing any differences with the speakers. Your play source which is your PC and the Xonar is good already. Have you tried other sources for example phone, DAP, tablet etc with K5 to the speakers and the sources without K5 ie straight to speakers...maybe this will make a better comparison?

 

[Rockfella]

Perhaps you have a very capable soundcard @Rockfella . That's why you are not sensing any differences with the speakers. Your play source which is your PC and the Xonar is good already. Have you tried other sources for example phone, DAP, tablet etc with K5 to the speakers and the sources without K5 ie straight to speakers...maybe this will make a better comparison?

Yep you are right I guess. No i have not tried multiple sources but I will keep the K5 Pro because it sounds fuller/slightly louder than the sound card + the big volume control knob on this huge box type thing is a great +

 

[Mr:River]

I would like to ask Fiio K5 Pro owners if they too experience the following. When switching on and off with headphones connected, can you hear like two "clicks", one a few seconds after the other, on both channels of your headphones but louder on the right one? The clicks sound almost like the bumps on speakers when an amplifier has no speakers' protection and they get louder with higher gain settings and higher sensitivity headphones. I ask to know if this is normal or if I received a bad unit. Thank you.

This is normal, see in the figure where the power / audio starts L x R if you put the headphone plug slowly pausing you will notice that only sound on one side, the correct is to connect or disconnect with the amp off, this saves the Headphone speakers suffer from this poups.

 

[jak]

This is normal, see in the figure where the power / audio starts L x R if you put the headphone plug slowly pausing you will notice that only sound on one side, the correct is to connect or disconnect with the amp off, this saves the Headphone speakers suffer from this poups.

That's what ZTG does:

When switching on and off with headphones connected

 

[Rockfella]

Does it make sense to connect the K5 Pro using its RCA in coming out from sound card RCA out ? Or Shall I get rid of the sound card and use only the K5 pro?

 

[jak]

Does it make sense to connect the K5 Pro using its RCA in coming out from sound cards RCA out ? Or Shall I get rid of the sound card and use only the K5 pro?

That makes no sense at all.

 

[Veri]

Does it make sense to connect the K5 Pro using its RCA in coming out from sound cards RCA out ? Or Shall I get rid of the sound card and use only the K5 pro?

The K5 is amplifier limited rather than DAC limited, so you might as well use it as an all in one over USB, rather than via RCA. Unless you want to use some effects from internal sound card, maybe?

 

[Rockfella]

Sir you nailed it I am emotionally connected with the awesome Asus Xonar DX (bought in 2011) .. don't wanna part with it hence finding reasons to keep it in the equation Senseless as it may be

The K5 is amplifier limited rather than DAC limited, so you might as well use it as an all in one over USB, rather than via RCA. Unless you want to use some effects from internal sound card, maybe?

 

[Veri]

Sir you nailed it I am emotionally connected with the awesome Asus Xonar DX (bought in 2011) .. don't wanna part with it hence finding reasons to keep it in the equation Senseless as it may be

Just one 'problem' I have with this. The original K5 was actually a better amplifier than K5 Pro. Pro has a DAC included while original did not.
If you don't use the DAC, I would return K5 Pro and get K5 instead. See the difference:

K5 amp

K5 Pro amp

Of course if return is not possible and you are satisfied with using K5 Pro as an amp-only device, there's no problem using it.
I just wanted to point this out.

 

[Rockfella]

Thx @ Veri Returning is not an option + I like the DAC of K5 pro more than Xonar DX hence I am happy with the purchase overall just not overwhelmed as the old gear I have (Xonar DX and Fiio E10) is almost a decade old ... was expecting more from the K5 pro

I gave my Swans M50s to my younger bro who's running those from onboard sound. The DX will be perfect for him now

 

[ZTG]

I also experience the same, starting at 9h and finishing between 9h and 10h. But with the Fidelio X2 it happens at very low volume, even when system sound at max, I really need to search for it to notice it.


I also experience the same, but only at high gain is listenable.

Thank you for your answer. On my K5 Pro I always hear it, even at the lowest gain setting.

 

[ZTG]

This is normal, see in the figure where the power / audio starts L x R if you put the headphone plug slowly pausing you will notice that only sound on one side, the correct is to connect or disconnect with the amp off, this saves the Headphone speakers suffer from this poups.

Thanks for yor reply. I do connect or disconnect with the amp off. I hear the clicks in the headphone when I switch on and off. The second click comes with a short delay after the first one. They are slightly louder on the right channel.

 

[Rockfella]

Update:
I am now listening to songs that I previously never cared about. I can hear lyrics I could never hear before or did not pay attention. The clarity is very impressive and I have not heard anything like this before. I am using TinAudio T2 and just ordered BLON-03 from AliExpress which is better than T2 Pro and T3 and I am amazed at how T2 is currently sounding ... can't wait for the BLONs

 

[Rockfella]

The K5 is amplifier limited rather than DAC limited, so you might as well use it as an all in one over USB, rather than via RCA. Unless you want to use some effects from internal sound card, maybe?

Hi,
I get no audio in PC game (Medal Of Honour Airborne (2007). Although audio in rest everything else is good. What am I missing?

 

[Rockfella]

The K5 is amplifier limited rather than DAC limited, so you might as well use it as an all in one over USB, rather than via RCA. Unless you want to use some effects from internal sound card, maybe?

I have to use Sound card > RCA IN for gaming. Can't find a workaround to use K5 pro for gaming as of now.

 

[Veri]

Hi,
I get no audio in PC game (Medal Of Honour Airborne (2007). Although audio in rest everything else is good. What am I missing?

Maybe the game has its output specified to other device..?

 

[Shane D]

One question for current owners: If you are playing music through your powered speakers and you decide to plug in your headphones, do the speakers automatically go off? And they won't come on again until you unplug the headphones? I assumed this is the way they all work, but you know what they say about assume.

Thanks