Compact Portable DAC and Amplifier FiiO&Jade Audio KA1 Is Officially Released!

[Ichos]

Thanks for the reply.On/off as in plugging/unplugging the USB dac.

Then there is no pop noise.

 

[Engineria]

I just bought the KA1 from AMP3 online. My background is a music producer and audiophile and I was looking for a solution to keep using my superior wired headphones rather than bluetooth with my OPPO Find X5 Pro (Android) mobile phone.

My first impressions were how tiny this DAC/AMP actually is, the box was resonable sized, but the KA1 is tiny, very impressive.

I connected it up to my phone via the native USB-C connector and plugged in my over ear Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250 Ohm) headphones.
I was suprised how loud the KA1 is, and how much punch and bass there is. Despite what I have read online, the frequency response of the KA1 is definitely not neutral, it is actually quite bass heavy, and mids and treble are reduced compared to a reference source (Roland Octocapture) that I use to mix and produce music with. There is a lot more sub-bass and low end using the KA1. Having said that, I did enjoy the sound, and the tone particularly suits modern Pop and electronic music.

I tried the KA1 with some smaller on ear Audio Technica ATH-ES55 (40 ohm) headphones. This was less enjoyable, there was certainly a lot of punch, but these headphones didn't cope well with the bass, which was muddying the sound too much, and a lot of detail was lost from the vocals and treble.

With my last try with in earphones from Audio Technica ATH-CKR30 (16 Ohm) I found the sweet spot! The bass is massive, good punch and the mid-range vocals and treble are there, and well balanced. The KA1 and ATH-CKR30 earphones sound awesome together, and make a nice portable solution.


Overall, for the price of $50/£41, it is a bargain, and produces a decent amount of volume, bass and punch even with large headphones. The tone isn't always neutral but I think is quite dependent upon the matching earphones/headphones and impedance. I would still recommend it over the el cheapo 3.5mm leads with DACs built in, and the free one that came with my phone which was very poor.

I am hoping there is an Android App to go with it.

 

[FiiO]

I just bought the KA1 from AMP3 online. My background is a music producer and audiophile and I was looking for a solution to keep using my superior wired headphones rather than bluetooth with my OPPO Find X5 Pro (Android) mobile phone.

My first impressions were how tiny this DAC/AMP actually is, the box was resonable sized, but the KA1 is tiny, very impressive.

I connected it up to my phone via the native USB-C connector and plugged in my over ear Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250 Ohm) headphones.
I was suprised how loud the KA1 is, and how much punch and bass there is. Despite what I have read online, the frequency response of the KA1 is definitely not neutral, it is actually quite bass heavy, and mids and treble are reduced compared to a reference source (Roland Octocapture) that I use to mix and produce music with. There is a lot more sub-bass and low end using the KA1. Having said that, I did enjoy the sound, and the tone particularly suits modern Pop and electronic music.

I tried the KA1 with some smaller on ear Audio Technica ATH-ES55 (40 ohm) headphones. This was less enjoyable, there was certainly a lot of punch, but these headphones didn't cope well with the bass, which was muddying the sound too much, and a lot of detail was lost from the vocals and treble.

With my last try with in earphones from Audio Technica ATH-CKR30 (16 Ohm) I found the sweet spot! The bass is massive, good punch and the mid-range vocals and treble are there, and well balanced. The KA1 and ATH-CKR30 earphones sound awesome together, and make a nice portable solution.


Overall, for the price of $50/£41, it is a bargain, and produces a decent amount of volume, bass and punch even with large headphones. The tone isn't always neutral but I think is quite dependent upon the matching earphones/headphones and impedance. I would still recommend it over the el cheapo 3.5mm leads with DACs built in, and the free one that came with my phone which was very poor.

I am hoping there is an Android App to go with it.

Dear Engineria,

The engineer are still working in the APP control support for KA1. We will release it when it is available.

Best regards

 

[pat9486]

I would like to know about the KA1 and aria SE pairing...will it have enough power to decently drive the aria SE (32ohm)?...I was also considering the hidisz s3 pro because it has 55mW@32Ohms, but I heard it gets quite hot after a couple hours of use. I don't intend to use it for cans just iems. The S3 is difficult to source in the UK...I don't want to pay shipping on top of the 75 dollar price. Amazon has it listed for £75 which is £30 more than the KA1. Currently I have been using the Samsung dongle with the JVC ha-fx1x @16Ohms and I get plenty loud volume from that setup....please advise.

 

[Engineria]

I would like to know about the KA1 and aria SE pairing...will it have enough power to decently drive the aria SE (32ohm)?...I was also considering the hidisz s3 pro because it has 55mW@32Ohms, but I heard it gets quite hot after a couple hours of use. I don't intend to use it for cans just iems. The S3 is difficult to source in the UK...I don't want to pay shipping on top of the 75 dollar price. Amazon has it listed for £75 which is £30 more than the KA1. Currently I have been using the Samsung dongle with the JVC ha-fx1x @16Ohms and I get plenty loud volume from that setup....please advise.

I found a calculator for the loudness of headphones and earphones at https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/

From Aria's website the SE earphones are 122 dB/V rms sensitivity at 1 kHz.
I plugged this into the calculator.

For 110 dB SPL which is very loud, the KA1 would need to supply 2mW, and the KA1 can actually go up to 45 mW (at 32 Ohm).

So yes the KA1 will be loud enough, and probably go to 123 db SPL which is louder than a rock concert.

 

[Ichos]

I would like to know about the KA1 and aria SE pairing...will it have enough power to decently drive the aria SE (32ohm)?...I was also considering the hidisz s3 pro because it has 55mW@32Ohms, but I heard it gets quite hot after a couple hours of use. I don't intend to use it for cans just iems. The S3 is difficult to source in the UK...I don't want to pay shipping on top of the 75 dollar price. Amazon has it listed for £75 which is £30 more than the KA1. Currently I have been using the Samsung dongle with the JVC ha-fx1x @16Ohms and I get plenty loud volume from that setup....please advise.

Most of my review was done with the FiiO KA1, I never reached for the max setting.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/moondrop-aria-snow-edition.25942/review/28821/

 

[pat9486]

I found a calculator for the loudness of headphones and earphones at https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/

From Aria's website the SE earphones are 122 dB/V rms sensitivity at 1 kHz.
I plugged this into the calculator.

For 110 dB SPL which is very loud, the KA1 would need to supply 2mW, and the KA1 can actually go up to 45 mW (at 32 Ohm).

So yes the KA1 will be loud enough, and probably go to 123 db SPL which is louder than a rock concert.

Thank you very much for such an informative response...I feel confident in going ahead with my purchase.

 

[pat9486]

Most of my review was done with the FiiO KA1, I never reached for the max setting.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/moondrop-aria-snow-edition.25942/review/28821/

Thankyou for your response.

 

[Atx360]

I just got my KA1 and for some reason, Usb Audio Player Pro upsample goes upto 768Khz even Fiio control app shows 768Khz. Why is this happening?

 

[FiiO]

I just got my KA1 and for some reason, Usb Audio Player Pro upsample goes upto 768Khz even Fiio control app shows 768Khz. Why is this happening?

Dear friend,

You may check whether you enabled upsample or similar option in UAPP?

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

Dear friends,

Check the following picture to get the comparisons of our KA series products~