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Review and Measurements of FiiO Q1 Mark II Portable DAC and Headphone Amp

Kyle / MrHeeHo

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Good review. Fiio has a pretty good rep, and looks like they might deserve it. Everything looks pretty good within its power limitations.
Fiio has gone out of their way to build a good image and will actually take criticism. They even post measurements for most of their products (scroll to the bottom of the page), though I can't find anything saying what they use for measurements
 

maxxevv

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But you can still order a 2.5mm balanced cable for $10-15. VEClan.com sells one for $5 even and have offered ones for $10 on Massdrop using the MD blue color. Amazon has a few for $15-20. Penon Audio has their own for $15. AliExpress has several as well. Many options. Most are very well constructed.

I was referring to the cost of making your own cables.
 
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amirm

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As requested, here is the frequency response and effect of Bass Boost (and low-gain without boost):

Fiio Q1 Mark II DSD DAC and Headphone Amplifier Frequency Response with Bass Boost Measurement.png
 

Timbo2

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And balanced vs unbalanced at 50 ohm load:

View attachment 14828

Balanced produces slightly more than 2X power and lower distortion prior to clipping.

Thank you! If it's not a big lift I'd be curious how the balanced output on the Sabaj DA3 did in comparison. Looking at the Fiio unbalanced output my guess is that it isn't as powerful.
 

antdroid

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I was referring to the cost of making your own cables.
Yea. It's definitely not for everyone because there is some initial capital and material costs and a learning curve, but soldering these things isn't rocket science either. Youtube taught me. :)
 
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amirm

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Thank you! If it's not a big lift I'd be curious how the balanced output on the Sabaj DA3 did in comparison. Looking at the Fiio unbalanced output my guess is that it isn't as powerful.
Your guess is correct:

Sabaj DA3 output power vs distortion balanced vs unbalanced measurement.png


I changed the X axis to watts which shows 20 milliwatt unbalanced versus 82 milliwatt balanced.

Interesting that in both cases balanced drive reduces noise and distortion!
 

Timbo2

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Your guess is correct:

View attachment 14829

I changed the X axis to watts which shows 20 milliwatt unbalanced versus 82 milliwatt balanced.

Interesting that in both cases balanced drive reduces noise and distortion!

I was curious if the balanced was going to show lower distortion similar to the Fiio. Interesting. I know the Sabaj uses TWO 9018q2c DACs. I wonder if that's part of the reason.
 

picasso16

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Please tell about audio qualities. Which sound resolution is better? and stage width?
 

favero_

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Hi,

Congratulations on your amazing job here! Just one question though. The Q1 mk2's processor of DSD and PCM are different. What are the differences sound quality wise? I ask that because in Foobar2000 I have the option to output through ASIO Fiio or DSD ASIO Fiio. And I keep going back and forth which output is more of my need.

For my untrained ears it seems that the DSD output has a wider soundstage, but the PCM more detail (maybe because the audio is closer). Any input on that for more trained ears and also even some measurements?

Thanks a lot!
 

Veri

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For my untrained ears it seems that the DSD output has a wider soundstage, but the PCM more detail (maybe because the audio is closer). Any input on that for more trained ears and also even some measurements?

Just taking a wild guess here but this is likely all in your head... :facepalm:
 

favero_

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Just taking a wild guess here but this is likely all in your head... :facepalm:
hahahahahhaha
That's a possibility too. But I did the blind test with a friend and he did with me and it's nitid the difference between one and the other. But who knows?
 
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amirm

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Hi,

Congratulations on your amazing job here! Just one question though. The Q1 mk2's processor of DSD and PCM are different. What are the differences sound quality wise?
Hi there. Welcome to the forum. Testing DSD is very difficult since there are no test tones in DSD.

What I plan to test sometime in the future is software like HQPlayer that converts PCM to DSD on the fly.
 

LuckyLuke575

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I have a FiiO Q1 Mk II, and I wonder if the higher gain setting affects sound quality in any way?
 

DivineCurrent

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I have a FiiO Q1 Mk II, and I wonder if the higher gain setting affects sound quality in any way?

If you take a look at the first post, Amir measured it in high gain. It looks like performance is not compromised even at max volume, so you should be fine. I also use it in high gain and I don't notice any problems.

I know this thread hasn't been very active, but I recently upgraded from the original Fiio Q1 (Mark I) to this Mark II model, and it's an amazing portable device. The main reason I upgraded was to have perfect channel matching with low impedance IEMs and portable headphones, as the JDS Labs Atom was giving me channel imbalance issues in that regard. The Q1 MK II has perfect channel balance even at the quietest volumes. I'm even using it with the Sennheiser HD 600 and 650, although it doesn't get loud enough with classical and other quiet recordings. Great for everything else though, and plenty loud enough with the Focal Elex. I'm considering getting a 2.5mm balanced cable for the Sennheisers to take advantage of that extra power.
 

LuckyLuke575

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If you take a look at the first post, Amir measured it in high gain. It looks like performance is not compromised even at max volume, so you should be fine. I also use it in high gain and I don't notice any problems.

I know this thread hasn't been very active, but I recently upgraded from the original Fiio Q1 (Mark I) to this Mark II model, and it's an amazing portable device. The main reason I upgraded was to have perfect channel matching with low impedance IEMs and portable headphones, as the JDS Labs Atom was giving me channel imbalance issues in that regard. The Q1 MK II has perfect channel balance even at the quietest volumes. I'm even using it with the Sennheiser HD 600 and 650, although it doesn't get loud enough with classical and other quiet recordings. Great for everything else though, and plenty loud enough with the Focal Elex. I'm considering getting a 2.5mm balanced cable for the Sennheisers to take advantage of that extra power.
Thanks for pointing that out.

It works great with the 2.5 mm balanced out. I actually have an Arctic Cables Mogami 2 meter cable terminated in 2.5 mm available for sale if you're interested (I bought it just before buying my Topping DX3 Pro and integrated stereo amp which I use with a custom 3.5 mm terminated cable from the same company now).
 

RauDio

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Is this the best DAC and amp you can get for under $125? Seems better on paper than the Fulla 3 and the E10K...
 

DivineCurrent

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Is this the best DAC and amp you can get for under $125? Seems better on paper than the Fulla 3 and the E10K...
I certainly think it is, but for $150 the FiiO K5 Pro has more power if you’re looking for a desktop setup.
 
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