what headphones do you own thread - i own dt150's :)
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The only p[roper hands on with the K15 I have seen yet, it's German but has auto audio translation via AI which seems OK to understand what's what. The review highlights some quirks with the left dial and how info is shown on the display.
FiiO K15 Review
The FiiO K15 Desktop DAC/AMP sells for $549 USD and it is our latest Recommended Buy Award winner. Find out what makes it so great now on HFN!
www.headfonia.com
FiiO K15 Review
James reviews the FiiO K15, a new integrated desktop dual AK4497S DAC and discrete Class AB headphone amplifier with WiFi and LAN capability. It is currently priced at $549. Disclaimer: I received this sample in
headfonics.com
Seems to be a number of annoying UX elements, like the 3 million preset EQs you can't hide or delete, custom EQs are all the way at the end of the list, the app seems basic and the local playback function seems a bit unpolished as well. It does have a web interface though so perhaps the PEQ is much better managed through that, similar to the X9's PEQ web interface from a browser.
Noticed the EQ mode has off and bypass, what's that all about, off should be the same as bypass lol. the volume display is also tiny.
From the other two reviews it sounds like the K15 is more musical than the K17, whereas the K17 is more analytical (as some would label, more "resolving"), but that isn't always a good thing for certain headphones or certain ears, as evidenced by the DX5 II, more musical/air is more aligned to my tastes, the AKM chips in the K15 are 2 years newer tahn those on the K17 as well.
My interest in it still remains as both the X9 and K15 have the same output power, and use AKM Velvet sound, so I want to hear how the K15 has been tuned on its musicality vs the X9 when both are in bypass.
Edit*
Ordered
Edit2: Cancelled order. It's the K13 R2R I'm interested in and am sticking by that lol.
Noticed the EQ mode has off and bypass, what's that all about, off should be the same as bypass lol. the volume display is also tiny.
From the other two reviews it sounds like the K15 is more musical than the K17, whereas the K17 is more analytical (as some would label, more "resolving"), but that isn't always a good thing for certain headphones or certain ears, as evidenced by the DX5 II, more musical/air is more aligned to my tastes, the AKM chips in the K15 are 2 years newer tahn those on the K17 as well.
My interest in it still remains as both the X9 and K15 have the same output power, and use AKM Velvet sound, so I want to hear how the K15 has been tuned on its musicality vs the X9 when both are in bypass.
Edit*
Ordered
Edit2: Cancelled order. It's the K13 R2R I'm interested in and am sticking by that lol.
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Caporegime
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The Fiio remote looks like its the same moulding as the X9 with slight variations in buttons at the bottom.
Yea the peq and ui stuff isnt in the best place but hopefully can be fixed with updates. realistically to me though i dont care too much about that and care more about its performance as source and long term suitability. I'm looking to replace my dac ive had for a decade and hoping to get the same out of its replacement.
well my use case is that I would use wired when my battery is dead so its considered off. Does that really make that big a difference?
To get maximum quality I would need to have the headphones turned on and be wired?
I am interested to find out what that results in. With the increased impedance and decreased sensitivity from having it turned off, it is going to need more voltage to drive to the same volume. I presume it's got a separate analogue in curcuit, which outputs to the other one, which can be powered or not from the in headphone battery. Perhaps having it on could apply some more gain from the headphone side. If not, then the gain needs to be applied from the other (pc or in between) side.
Things to check:
Make sure all volume settings in windows, main and device, are set to max. It's possible that the main volume is set to 100, but the output device itself is set to a lower value.
Use a dedicated headphone socket if your motherboard has one. I'm thinking it's likely though that it doesn't provide enough voltage to drive the headphones to a decent volume, despite the numbers above, and the internet, saying the headphones are easy to drive.
Get a usb headphone DAC Dongle to run your headphones. Don;t get the EU iphone dongle, it's lacking in power. Don't even have to go crazy on money the JMCally JM6 Pro would do fine. Iirc it can provide 1.4v into a 32 Ohm load, which should be plenty. It's less than a tenner, with the current AliExpress sale on.
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I think I need to let the dust settle on the K15 and K13 R2R and see if I'm interested in either. I tried watching the above review although it's hard going with the AI translation. I'm not sure I want, or like any of the media/screen/app stuff. I suspect the K13 is probably 'enough' for me. Although I've noticed I tend to use the current Fiio K7 more as a interface and pre-out for speakers. I don't really use the headphone out that much as I prefer my iFi and Gremlin for headphone music listening.
You can buy mrk's for cheap in 2 weeks when he's done with it
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You can buy mrk's for cheap in 2 weeks when he's done with it
lol
In all seriousness I think he'll be done and sold before I've even around to deciding to buy one!
Caporegime
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A full R2R Dac amp is tempting but I do not need a 5th headphone amp lol I am not even counting all the dongle DAC amps that i have.
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How many headphones do you have? An amp per headphone seems perfectly reasonable. This is what they mean by balanced, right?
Caporegime
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I have, in no particular order
Apple Dongle DAC x 2 (1 lightning, 1 USB-C)
Jcally DAC x 2
Xduoo XA-02
Onix Alpha
Musical Fidelity X-can v2
Topping DX5II
Luxsin X9
Headphones
Sony MDR7506
Sony XM4
Sennheiser HD580
Epos PC38X
Sennheiser HD600
Edition XS
Fosi Audio i5
Sennheiser Momentum
Wired IEM
Chu 2
Kiwi Cadenza
Wan’er 2
EW300
12 headphones and 11 DAC Amps
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Nearly there, space for one more DAC
I didn't realise you had a HD 580 alongside the 600. Seen a few of those pop up on eBay in various states. Again been tempted to pick one up to refurb, but then common sense kicks in.
Re: the K13 R2R I can see why it might not makes sense necessarily if you have highend gear already. One nice thing is the K13 & 15 both have balanced out for my Gremlin. However the K15 goes a step further and includes RCA inputs the K7 has along with RCA outputs. That would truly make it a control centre for me.
That does seem to be a thing with more expensive DAC/AMPs you get more I/O options.
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Caporegime
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Nearly there, space for one more DAC
I didn't realise you had a HD 580 alongside the 600. Seen a few of those pop up on eBay in various states. Again been tempted to pick one up to refurb, but then common sense kicks in.
Re: the K13 R2R I can see why it might not makes sense necessarily if you have highend gear already. One nice thing is the K13 & 15 both have balanced out for my Gremlin. However the K15 goes a step further and includes RCA inputs the K7 has along with RCA outputs. That would truly make it a control centre for me.
That does seem to be a thing with more expensive DAC/AMPs you get more I/O options.
Yeah, I paid like £65 for it, about 3 months before I got the HD600 all those years ago. It has been my daily for yearssss, which is why the HD600 stayed in the box. The plastic they use on this makes it very durable.
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580 Precision, or the special edition 580 Jubilee?
I've read some even prefer it to the 600 although again it's going to be subtleties I imagine.
Caporegime
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Yea, there were two releases. The Precision in 1993. And then the Jubilee special edition in 1995. The latter is very limited and has a carbon fibre paint job.
EDIT: I forgot the Jubilee debuts the metal grille. Where as the Precision has the plastic grey grilles. I imagine the Jubilee is worth much more because it was very limited.
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