[Moon5123]

In my experience, in-ear headphones and dynamic full-size headphones sound very good on the Fiio K9 Pro. But the planar full-size headphones (Hifiman Arya, Kennerton Thekk, DC Ether С Flow) are not fully disclosed by this device. The low frequencies are too simple. The stage and spatial resolution of the instruments are not good enough, especially in complex symphonic compositions. Vocals don't sound so good in opera arias. The output of sound through an additional amplifier significantly improves the situation.

I have now replaced my Fiio K9 Pro with a Hifiman Serenade r2r device with a built-in A-class amplifier. And I am very pleased with the result - with Serenade, full-size planars sound noticeably better and full-fledged

I am also interested in Serenade, I did not liked Hifimam earlier R2R offerings.

Just wondering how this will fair. Plus it have class A amp, which means we can easily pair with some dry sounding headphones or speakers.

Did you finished enjoying it, how does it sound?

 

[Dimitry188]

Did you finished enjoying it, how does it sound?

Yes, the sound is very good there. All my planar headphones sound great with a Serenade.

The only drawback of Serenade is that is that low-impedance in-ear headphones with Serenade make noise if you listen to them through a balanced output.
Other owners wrote that there is no such effect through the "normal" 6.3 mm output, but I did not have the opportunity to check this.

 

[llysender]

Yes, the sound is very good there. All my planar headphones sound great with a Serenade.

The only drawback of Serenade is that is that low-impedance in-ear headphones with Serenade make noise if you listen to them through a balanced output.
Other owners wrote that there is no such effect through the "normal" 6.3 mm output, but I did not have the opportunity to check this.

wait the drawback of serenade isnt the lack of complete lack of texture/microdetails? I was really sad when I head it that it wasnt engaging at all where only the dynamics were being highlighted but all the fine detail is gone. Much prefer EF600 over seranade.

Then again I respect the sound seranade is going for. Being highly dynamic, contolled yet very still quite forgiving. Just not the dragon Im chasing.
Also might have been the headphones I was testing it with being the HEK steath, ADX5000 and FD7 not playing nice.

Oh yeah I forgot why I came here, @FiiO not sure if you are the right person to ask but Fiio Control doesnt connect to the K9 pro AKM anymore for some reason.

 

[Dimitry188]

wait the drawback of serenade isnt the lack of complete lack of texture/microdetails?

Probably, a lot depends on the headphones. I was Serenading Kennerton Thek and Hifiman Arya headphones and they sounded really good.
Very comfortable and correct sound.

Yes, there were fewer details than with my bundle Singxer SDA6 + Aune S17 Pro, but it was almost twice as expensive.

 

[FiiO]

wait the drawback of serenade isnt the lack of complete lack of texture/microdetails? I was really sad when I head it that it wasnt engaging at all where only the dynamics were being highlighted but all the fine detail is gone. Much prefer EF600 over seranade.

Then again I respect the sound seranade is going for. Being highly dynamic, contolled yet very still quite forgiving. Just not the dragon Im chasing.
Also might have been the headphones I was testing it with being the HEK steath, ADX5000 and FD7 not playing nice.

Oh yeah I forgot why I came here, @FiiO not sure if you are the right person to ask but Fiio Control doesnt connect to the K9 pro AKM anymore for some reason.

Dear friend,

Is your K9 Pro AKM suddenly unable to connect to the Fiio Control App? You can try again after updating the Fiio Control App: https://forum.fiio.com/note/showNoteContent.do?id=202105071628040377809&tid=17

Best regards

 

[llysender]

Dear friend,

Is your K9 Pro AKM suddenly unable to connect to the Fiio Control App? You can try again after updating the Fiio Control App: https://forum.fiio.com/note/showNoteContent.do?id=202105071628040377809&tid=17

Best regards

I've installed the latest version on the Fiio website but it still won't let me connect. Is there a way to reset the k9 pro's connected devices pairings?

 

[FSerj]

Hello!
There is such a question. I listen to music mainly through HIFIMAN Edition XS headphones. EVGA Nu Audio hardware, I listen to all genres. I decided to update the source, there are two options at the same price, both used, Fiio K9 PRO AKM and the regular version of Fiio K9. Who has an opinion on this? Which option should you prefer?

 

[dpump]

The K9 Pro AKM would be my choice.

 

[FSerj]

The K9 Pro AKM would be my choice.

Thanks for the quick response. Please give reasons for your choice.
Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

 

[dpump]

K9 Pro AKM was the original K9 Pro and was a limited addition due to the limited number of AKM DAC chips. It sold for $200 to $250 more than the current K9. Both the K9 Pro AKM and the current K9 Pro ESS have a more robust build and better sound quality than the K9. If you can buy a used K9 Pro AKM for the same price as used K9, you are getting the K9 Pro AKM for about half of the original price. That's an easy choice in my mind. I own one the first K9 Pro AKM and I have no plans of ever getting rid of it.

 

[Riversalt]

K9 Pro AKM was the original K9 Pro and was a limited addition due to the limited number of AKM DAC chips. It sold for $200 to $250 more than the current K9. Both the K9 Pro AKM and the current K9 Pro ESS have a more robust build and better sound quality than the K9. If you can buy a used K9 Pro AKM for the same price as used K9, you are getting the K9 Pro AKM for about half of the original price. That's an easy choice in my mind. I own one the first K9 Pro AKM and I have no plans of ever getting rid of it.

The New K9 AKM 4499EX should be a middle ground between the old AKM pro and the common k9.

But some are saying that the new AKM4499EX chips lose in quality to the older chips, the best way is to wait for the reviews of this new K9, I think that Fiio used its experience with past bugs to better make this new version, looking forward to the reviews and opinions In general, I'm thinking about buying one soon for my Hifiman R9.

 

[FSerj]

K9 Pro AKM was the original K9 Pro and was a limited addition due to the limited number of AKM DAC chips. It sold for $200 to $250 more than the current K9. Both the K9 Pro AKM and the current K9 Pro ESS have a more robust build and better sound quality than the K9. If you can buy a used K9 Pro AKM for the same price as used K9, you are getting the K9 Pro AKM for about half of the original price. That's an easy choice in my mind. I own one the first K9 Pro AKM and I have no plans of ever getting rid of it.

Thank you very much for the answer. I apologize for the importunity, but I have one more question, did you use the DAC without removing the plastic case, or did you remove it for a more efficient cooling of the circuits?

 

[haiI]

The New K9 AKM 4499EX should be a middle ground between the old AKM pro and the common k9.

But some are saying that the new AKM4499EX chips lose in quality to the older chips, the best way is to wait for the reviews of this new K9, I think that Fiio used its experience with past bugs to better make this new version, looking forward to the reviews and opinions In general, I'm thinking about buying one soon for my Hifiman R9.

The new 4499EX chip is essentially half of the old 4499EQ chip. The old chip was a 4 channel chip, new is 2 channel. So for a truly balanced/dual mono design you would need 2 of the new 4499.

 

[FSerj]

When I will buy a used Fiio K9 PRO AKM, what details should I pay attention to?

 

[Riversalt]

The new 4499EX chip is essentially half of the old 4499EQ chip. The old chip was a 4 channel chip, new is 2 channel. So for a truly balanced/dual mono design you would need 2 of the new 4499.

A way to cut costs and remain balanced, whether the sound will be good or not we will know soon with the comparisons that will be made, I hope it will be something better than my current Fiio K7.

I hope that very soon Fiio will present a new K9-X with the same PSU and Amp source as the new Fiio R9, 7.5w at 32Ohms.