31.1.2021

TL/DRThe Fiio K3 is classed as a DAC/headphone amp, though, it is far more than this! With 5 (yes five!) different outputs (two headphone outputs (balanced, single-ended) and a line, a COAX and an optical output) this portable DAC can be used as an audio interface in various setups (speakers, subwoofer, another DAC etc) with a price tag that other DACs yet to match. However, while it is portable, as a headphone Amp does not deliver a lot of power and it does not work well with mobile phones (iPhones will not power it up).Long Read:Positive Points:+ The Fiio K3 is advertised as a DAC/Headphone Amplifier (Amp) but it is much more than this: as a DAC performs very well for its price tag.It can decode up to 32/384 PCM and DSD256, that is pretty impressive for such a small device. There is a very limited selection of DACs on this price tag that can deliver the same level of decoding, as most DACs under £100 will top at 24/192 PCM.+ The best part of the device it's the connectivity. While it is advertised as a DAC it does not limit the output to the L/R RCA plus an headphone jack, as most DACs do. It has 5(five) different output ports: two headphone outputs (2.5mm balanced, 3.5mm standard single-ended), a standard 3.5 line out, a COAX and an optical output. Input is through a standard USB-C port, that is also very positive considering that this one of the few devices that they don't require the awkward USB-B cable.The number of ports is its strongest selling point as it can perform as an audio interface with various applications: it can split the output signal to various devices, such as speakers, subwoofer, another DAC etc while delivering a great performance as a DAC and a headphone amp.It may not be as cheap as a Behringer UCA222, however, it provides more outputs, plus a very decent DAC/AMP component, in a very competitive price for a DAC, while it remains extremely lightweight and portable.Negative points:- While the headphone amp will cover the requirements of most users, does not deliver a lot of power even for low impedance headphones. If you mean to use it with headphones with high sensitivity, that may not be a problem, otherwise it may let you down if you're looking to reach loudness levels over 90Db.- Another issue is that the portability tag seems to be a reference only on the size and weight of the K3. Indeed, is very light and it has a pretty small footprint. That said, it does not pair well with mobile devices; an iPhone will not power it up at all, while it will drain the battery of any android device fairly quickly.- On the other hand, as a desktop accessory is somehow impractical. The lightweight design makes it difficult to sit on a desk securely and any cable movement will displace it. Likewise, if you try to plug/unplug the headphone jack: you may need to hold it down to make sure would not move. If you want to stay in a place you need to pin in there somehow (double-sided velcro tape may be a solution).Same problem with the volume dial. It's very niche, with the RGB led lighting its side, but it seems to have been designed for use on-the-go. While it is large enough, the dial projecting on the edge of the metal case and it makes it awkward to try rotating it while laying on a desk.Finally, there is an RGB led, that colour change indicates the level of decoding that the K3 is performing. That does not seem to update quickly enough to keep up with the tracks playing on different encoding bitrates, leaving you to wonder if there is some issue with the decoding or it just slow response from the led controller.Conclusions:it is somehow unfair to compare this little device with desktop or portable DACs. As a DAC/Headphone Amp does not stand out and you may want to weight other options if this is the only thing you're looking for.However, I can see several reasons why someone will buy the Fiio K3. The multiple outputs truly turn the K3 on a great audio interface that packs also a satisfactory DAC and Headphone Amp. That makes it a very unique piece of gear, with no competition at this price tag. If you need multiple outputs packed with a good DAC at a great price, the Fiio K3 will not disappoint you.

21.5.2020

I have a few DACs including my most recent purchase (before this) of an iFi Zen DAC therefore I will be comparing the Fiio K3 to that as they are not worlds apart in price (£50 ish on Amazon). I am using this DAC with my laptop as the onboard sound was pretty rubbish no matter how much EQ'ing i did or the quality of headphones I plugged into it (and I have a few). I am currently road testing the K3 with a set of AKG 7xx's as they are my reference headphones and I know how well my others will perform based on how it sounds on these. If there is anything drastic I spot/hear over the next few weeks with my other headphones (702's, X2HRs, DT990's, HD6xx's)Build and quality:This is a very neat and well made little device.It looks like it should be heavy when you pick it up but its not. This means it is definitely portable and its size means it is easily thrown in your pocket to power some headphones on the move. It feels very well made and all the controls feel robust. The headphone socket (unbalanced) feels satisfying when you push in headphones and the volume control has a nice resistance to it.Ports/connectivity: This thing is loaded with ports. Input is via USB C but you get a USB A to C cable with the DAC so dont worry if you dont have USB C ports on your computer, you dont need them. It has balanced and unbalanced headphone outputs and the unbalanced sounds great and happily powers my 7xx's. I will try later with sonme 6xx's and DT990's which are harder to drive but there is plenty of headroom on the 7xx's so I really dont see there being an issue with the unit driving them. It also has bass and gain switch switches on the front and they work exactly as described. The bass is warm but not too much to my ears, some say it reaches too far into the mids but I really dont agree but listening is subjective. On the back it has Fibre/Optical (ToS), coaxial and line out ports. This is incredibale at this price and means if you wanted to you coul put it right at the heart of a HiFi system to act as converter from USB digital, to fibre or coaxial digital to an amp or line out to either an amp or powered speakers, for this money it is fantastic, the Zen DAC does not have many of these features.Sound: Most importantly how does it sound? Well great is the best way to describe it, it sounds vastly better than the laptop DAC, has plenty of detail, clarity, punchy bass and solid highs. It sounds like a DAC that should cost more than it does. Compared to the Zen DAC it is probably fractionally behind it in terms of soundstage and depth and the mids are a tiny bit muddier in comparison but not by much, I will no doubt eq this out over time. I really do like the sound of the Fiio and dont find myself desperately wanting to go and listen to the Zen over this. I have EQ'd this mostly to my liking so far (never ending journey for me as I am picky regardless of the kit :)) with Boom 3D and EQualify in spotify and found a nice balance I am happy with and the Fiio responded really well to it, some DACs dont respond well to EQ and Audiophiles detest them so this is good for those that are quite picky about their tone as I am and like a bit more bass and highs and supress the mids! I have tested this DAC with a range of music genres and it performs well in all. I was pleasently surprised how well it dealt with Metal as some of it is not recorded too well and often causes DACs to distort badly, the Fiio handled this well and only distorted when I really hit it hard way past what you should be listening at!Summary: I thoroughly recommend this DAC especially as a starter DAC or one to accompany a laptop. It vastly improves the sound and means working at my laptop is now much more pleasurable. This is a bargain at its current price especially with all the connectivity it has. For me its a no brainer, if youre in the market for a small DAC to connect to your computer then you will not go wrong with this.

17.12.2020

I've been using this DAC for over a year mainly on PC( desktop and laptop) and recently on a MAC Mini (2020); and with a set of Phillips Fidelio xr2h, sony mdr-1a, and Beats Studio 3 headphones. Sound quality is subjective, but nonetheless my thoughts are as follows.Headphone choice is important. On the Beats heard no real difference, but this is due to the limitations of the headphone (too much base, and mediocre mids and highs). With the other two headphones, the sound was clearer. The percentage of better clarity really depends on the PC/ MAC, and whether you are streaming/ downloading CD+ quality songs through Tidal or Amazon Music HD. My thoughts below are based on using Amazon Music HD which offers CD quality sound (16bit/44.1khz)and higher (24/44 and 24/96). Standard spotify and Amazon M are good but lower quality, so the margins of 'better' sound might be reduced. thats not to say spotify and other services aren't good, they are for 95% of people.If you are using a newer MAC, I would subjectively say that the overall sound quality from this fiio was 10% better at best, especially through the Phillips headphones. This is not to say that its a bad amp, its just that my MAC Mini's DAC (24/44khz) is actually pretty good already. The MAC's DAC is clear and has relatively good levels across the low, mid and high ranges. The Fiio does offer a slightly different sound and I would say that overall the low end base response is better (clearer too) on the fiio (+15% max- dependent on genre), mid range is slightly lower in volume (say -5%), and high notes are clearer and more responsive (+10%). lower mid-range can be sorted through an equaliser app if you are not using Apple Music, or through Apple Music (i believe it has a equaliser setting).On PC, the difference was more noticeable. Most PC case headphone plugs use terrible cheap wiring/cabling which absolutely destroys the quality of sound coming from the motherboard, no matter how good the onboard DAC is. On my expensive desktop I would say the Fiios are subjectively +15-20% better, even on the Beats every sound was clearer (just). On the cheapish work laptop (about £600) it was clearer and remove a tinny sound coming from the laptops headphone plug.So bottom line is, on newer MACs might be best to go for a slightly more powerful DAC/AMP combo like the K5. On decent non-gaming wired phones (over £100) there will be difference too. If you are looking for reasonably priced setup for most PCs paired with headphones from £60 - 200, then this will be a good start. One thing I will note is that I would not recommend headphones with over 80ohm impedance. Most headphones at the 70-200 price range are 32ohms or lower so this should not matter too much, but worth noting.

2.1.2019

Took a bit of a risk with there being very few reviews of this new FiiO amp and bought it to power my recently aquired Sennheiser HD598's. Initial impressions are very good. It's very compact (see photo for scale) and feels extremely well built. The volume wheel has a nice smooth action and it was recognised immediately by Windows 10 and drivers installed. It has no problem driving my Sennhesier's to a decent volume and the sound quality is excellent too. A noticeable improvement over my motherboards own output with no background noise, and just a really nice clean natural sound.Now for the small downside. When I next rebooted my PC, the DAC was not recognised. Strange I thought - unplug and replug - all back to normal.

5.2.2020

I use the K3 as my work audio device, and it really helps with adding some clarity in comparison to the Macbook Pro's built in DAC and headphone port. I love the compactness of the product, and despite the size of it, it feels very well built and not at all like it'll break very easily - it's very solid, and despite the price, it also feels well designed with regards to the knobs and switches, as they're very satisfying to turn or use.I've used it on both a Windows 10 machine and Macbook Pro without issue, though as per the product info, you'll need to install the driver for the K3 if you wish to use it with USB2 mode enabled on Windows 10 (there's a tiny switch on the back that allows you to change between USB1 and 2 - USB1 mode is plug and play).

20.7.2020

I'd become increasingly unhappy with the sound from my AKG 712 Pro headphones. They were expensive. But I was shopping around for a replacement because they just didn't sound great. And then I realised the problem wasn't the headphones buy the headphone output of my SMSL AD18 amplifier. The AD18 drives speakers well but the headphone output is lacking in low end.So I set about looking for another option. I settled on the Fiio K3 and I'm glad I did. I have it connected to my PC via USB. The audio quality from my AKG headphones is absolutely superb, all the low end is there now. Thanks to the volume control - which is an analogue knob connected to digital controls - there is zero channel imbalance even at the quieter end.The K3's outputs are very useful for me too.

10.10.2019

Well this one seems to have flown under the radar!On reading the specs, I thought it was worth giving this a go. I did not expect much as specs and sound quality often do not go hand in hand. In this case they do :-)What I have found is that the K3 is faithful device ie feed it good stuff and you will get good stuff in return. Feed it rubbish and it will not hide the rubbish.What has pleased me most is the way this device works with Windows 10 (latest version being used) - no ASIO driver needed...true plug and play! Really does play HiRes files and DSD.As a test of it's capabilities, I set up HQPlayer to output to the K3 and used Roon to serve up HiRes audio. Plugged my ancient AKG K702s into the K3,

12.5.2020

I have owned and frequently used the FiiO USB E10 for eight years. I'm a huge fan of both the upgraded sound quality and the external dial for volume which allows discrete analog adjustments in minor increments to dial in your exact level of sound. I use the E10 both at home and at work and even travel with it.This year i decided to add the new K3 for my office and travel, and dedicate the E10 for home. Primary decisions to upgrade included the native USB-C connector allowing for direct connection to my newer Macbook Pro (not requiring a USB dongle when traveling is nice) and to be able to upgrade to the 2.5mm Balanced connector for my office /

15.7.2019

I am using this device paired with my 1More over-ear triple driver headphones, Hifiman/MD 4XX, and Tin T2 IEM (all using balanced cables) - paired with both my Pixel 3XL, Chromebook, and a Mac laptop - sources are largely streaming, but so actual high res audio has been tested.All my gear is low impedance, so the power capability of this device is a great match. The 4XX seems to be the hardest to drive of my three pieces - and I've found I can turn it all the way up without significant distortion. It is certainly louder than you normally want at high gain, all while providing good sound.I could get picky about the inputs for this device, but considering it is doing the job of devices five times more expensive I'm fine with a single input source.

22.4.2020

Didn't know what to expect really. Spent hours and days reviewing these devices as I have a pair of Sennheiser HD580 headphones to drive.Back in the day they were connected to my old Technics standalone Amps and just sounded perfect. I brushed away the cobwebs and started to use them again and was advised they need something to drive them. So this came top for me with costs to consider but I'm not convinced they make a massive difference. The gain certainly improves a bit of depth and loudness but in terms of what some people describe as much better, I'm not sure I hear it.To be fair to the product they will greatly depend on the type of music and how well you can hear.While my hearing appears fine I'm in my 50's and listen to progressive house and trance.

31.3.2019

I bought this on recommendation of ZReviews/Zeospantera. It is absolutely amazing for all but my 300ohm Sennheisers. I added 3m dual lock Velcro hooks to bottom and now the sliding problem is resolved. I bring it with me for moving between desks, connecting between my computers and USB-C Android devices.Kinda a niche DAC/amp. If you are strictly desktop, there are more powerful options. I highly recommend balanced input to really get all the power out of it.Powers my Hifiman HE-4xx beautifully along with my 32ohm dynamics. On max everything, my Sennheiser HD6xx will make sound to volume, but never to really driving them. It distorts some frequencies at high-gain 100% on 300ohm,

8.10.2019

Excellent DAC / Amp! I use a 2018 MacBook Pro 15" to produce music using Pro Tools 12. At home, I use the Apollo Twin Duo interface to power Focal Trio monitors. Away from home, I use the AKG ATH-m50x headphones (for sub bass levels) and the Sennheiser HD650 headphones for more precise mixing (flatter frequency response). The FiiO K3 provides a substantial amount of extra gain for the headphones, and the clarity/definition and the dynamic range improved compared to the built-in soundcard (which is already pretty good for a laptop!). I noticed the Bass Boost switch gives me a similar frequency response that the built-in soundcard provided, and with the Bass Boost switch turned off,

3.3.2020

TESTED ON THE SENNHEISER 650HDDon't buy if you own a MacBook from 2018+. The built-in DAC on the Mac is excellent and more than suitable enough. I have tested with and without and the Macbook sounds cleaner with more live space to me. With this device, it sounds identical, but more contained.The only benefit I have observed are the Bass and Gain switch.Bass: Adds an acceptable amount of Bass, without sounding distorted or too artificial.Gain: Does add a natural boost to the gain. However, you lose some Clarity.Conclusion: I'll be returning it as there is virtually no difference to the sound, other than the bass/gain option. If you must, just buy an AMP as it will provide these features.

12.2.2019

Really nice compact dac amp , struggles to drive anything over 100ohm , hd58x for instance sound rather bad when driven by the k3 but higher impedance of 50ohm or the more common 32ohm is no problem and it sounds great with sich devices , it can just drive fostex t50rp mk3 to acceptable levels. No match for a good dedicated amp though. The dac is really nice, i use my k3 as a usb to optical and coaxial (simultanously) converter which feeds my other dacs . I only use the headphone amp to drive IEM's or my takstar pro 82 when at my desk. Buy this for its versatility not for its headphone amp capabilities unless you have really sensitive ear/headphones.

13.4.2019

Very compact and easy to use with my laptop in the office. Used it with HD58X, HD600 ,HD599 and HD569. All have a good increase of audio quality compared to on-board audio. However, anyone trying to power 250ohm + headphones should be using the 2.5mm trrs connect instead. You can get a cable for around 30 pounds.Slight Con: It does get a little bit hot after 2 hours of music. 45°C ishupdate:The HD600 300ohm worked fine for me even with the 3.5mm connector using high gain. I do listen only up to ~80dB or even lower while working. volume knob is kept constant at 5 o'clock with computer volume adjusted to 50-80.

FiiO K3 - Reviews

Info

Analysis

Detail