[Andystereo]

the hd660s2 has 150ohms of impedance. if you use it balanced the K17 in low gain offers around 180mw into the 150ohms. pretty much the same power as many of the newer dongles. just sayin

Not 300ohms?

I'm not an expert, I was only responding to the user, in my opinion the Ka17 offers enough power to handle any type of over ear headphone! Unfortunately I can't compare it to dekstop systems because I don't have any! I've spent quite a bit with traditional speakers, I've been trying the world of headphones for a few months! (sorry, i use translator)

 

[FiiO]

Thank you FiiO, I ordered mine from your official store on AliExpress.

Dear friend,

Hi, if you ordered it recently, you may get the latest firmware. But if it comes with older firmware, you could update by yourself.

Best regards

 

[sofastreamer]

Not 300ohms?

I'm not an expert, I was only responding to the user, in my opinion the Ka17 offers enough power to handle any type of over ear headphone! Unfortunately I can't compare it to dekstop systems because I don't have any! I've spent quite a bit with traditional speakers, I've been trying the world of headphones for a few months! (sorry, i use translator)

honestly i just did a fast google search without double checking. i am on your side as i also think that 150mw is more than enough for most headphones.

 

[xxxstarmanxxx]

Does anyone know if you can roll back the firmware update to the original shipped one.

I'd like to do some comparison testing but don't want to update without knowing I can revert.

@FiiO is there a downloadable image of the original firmware available anywhere ???

 

[MidnightSun]

Does anyone know if you can roll back the firmware update to the original shipped one.

I'd like to do some comparison testing but don't want to update without knowing I can revert.

@FiiO is there a downloadable image of the original firmware available anywhere ???

v0.84 is here in the thread.

 

[Marktrix]

v0.84 is here in the thread.

I also got this MQA Bug mentioned in this thread.

 

[xxxstarmanxxx]

v0.84 is here in the thread.

v0.84 is here in the thread.

Thankyou for the heads up!
I can go testing without fear!

You're the dogs cogs for finding this for me! Cheers

 

[randomgump]

Hi everyone, anyone here tried both the KA17 and Q15? I’m dipping my toes into the world of DAC/AMP and can’t work out which to go for. I purely listen to music from Apple Music via my phone or iPad and simply use the apple dongle. I have a set of HD6xx and planning to acquire Arya Organics, the KA17 should be more than enough for my use case right?

 

[baskingshark]

Hi everyone, anyone here tried both the KA17 and Q15? I’m dipping my toes into the world of DAC/AMP and can’t work out which to go for. I purely listen to music from Apple Music via my phone or iPad and simply use the apple dongle. I have a set of HD6xx and planning to acquire Arya Organics, the KA17 should be more than enough for my use case right?

I think the iPhone by itself may have issues supplying enough power to the KA17, you might need to ask the others as I'm not an Apple user, but I saw many reports of this power discrepancy on forums. Thankfully, the FA17 has a separate USB-C port for power, so no worries if the iPhone has anemic power, just put an external power bank or something to power the FA17.

The PEQ is a gamechanger for those that wanna change the tonality of the stock KA17, but unfortunately it does not work on Apple phones currently, so PEQ is only available for Android Fiio control app.



Otherwise, the M15 has no LED screen, PEQ, app or DAC filter settings. It has no independent volume controller too.

The M15 is behind in power output, and can't drive too demanding stuff. KA17 on beast desktop mode 4.4 mm can hit 650 mW which should power everything out there other than outliers.

The M15 has weaker soundstage and imaging, with less dynamics. It also hisses with some sensitive IEMs, with EMI present on occasions.


In a nutshell, the M15 costs more, but actually doesn't perform as well as the cheaper KA17. Especially if you can power the KA17 well or can unlock its PEQ on Android, the KA17 is a better dongle. It can power the HD6XX on desktop mode 4.4 mm surely, but please don't attempt to power it via just an iPhone itself (possibly only the iPhone 15 has enough power? but I think the older iPhones have issues supplying enough power to the KA17?)

 

[randomgump]

I think the iPhone by itself may have issues supplying enough power to the KA17, you might need to ask the others as I'm not an Apple user, but I saw many reports of this power discrepancy on forums. Thankfully, the FA17 has a separate USB-C port for power, so no worries if the iPhone has anemic power, just put an external power bank or something to power the FA17.

The PEQ is a gamechanger for those that wanna change the tonality of the stock KA17, but unfortunately it does not work on Apple phones currently, so PEQ is only available for Android Fiio control app.



Otherwise, the M15 has no LED screen, PEQ, app or DAC filter settings. It has no independent volume controller too.

The M15 is behind in power output, and can't drive too demanding stuff. KA17 on beast desktop mode 4.4 mm can hit 650 mW which should power everything out there other than outliers.

The M15 has weaker soundstage and imaging, with less dynamics. It also hisses with some sensitive IEMs, with EMI present on occasions.


In a nutshell, the M15 costs more, but actually doesn't perform as well as the cheaper KA17. Especially if you can power the KA17 well or can unlock its PEQ on Android, the KA17 is a better dongle. It can power the HD6XX on desktop mode 4.4 mm surely, but please don't attempt to power it via just an iPhone itself (possibly only the iPhone 15 has enough power? but I think the older iPhones have issues supplying enough power to the KA17?)

Hey thank you for responding. I was eyeing the Q15 not the M15, what I’m struggling to gauge is how much power is enough. The desktop mode on the Q15 is double that of the KA17, but I’m paying for so many things I don’t need or will use vs the KA17.

 

[baskingshark]

Hey thank you for responding. I was eyeing the Q15 not the M15, what I’m struggling to gauge is how much power is enough. The desktop mode on the Q15 is double that of the KA17, but I’m paying for so many things I don’t need or will use vs the KA17.

Ah sorry, misread the Q15 for the M15.

What apple phone are u using BTW?

 

[randomgump]

Ah sorry, misread the Q15 for the M15.

What apple phone are u using BTW?

I have a iPad Pro M1 and IPhone 14pro. The iPad Pro can go way way louder, not sure why, i thought the dac amp dongle specs were the same.

 

[zeroshiki]

Hi everyone, anyone here tried both the KA17 and Q15? I’m dipping my toes into the world of DAC/AMP and can’t work out which to go for. I purely listen to music from Apple Music via my phone or iPad and simply use the apple dongle. I have a set of HD6xx and planning to acquire Arya Organics, the KA17 should be more than enough for my use case right?

For headphones i think Q15 would be better. I have both q15 and ka17, in my use case for iems, both perform well above their prices, and yet i think the q15 and ka17 sounds different.

The q15 sounds lusher, warmer, and musical, its addicting to hear music thru it. While the ka17 sounds neutral, more transparent, and brighter, also amazing for the asking price.

Both are really good. But for heaphones, again, i would definitely go for Q15.

 

[MidnightSun]

I also got this MQA Bug mentioned in this thread.

That sucks, man, I hope it'll be fixed somehow.

 

[besrdpenguin]

Heelo!Can anyone try ka17 with iphone 12?I’m interested will it work in desktop mode without any power supply?