DAC and Headphone Amplifier · Streaming Media Receiver · Local Playback All in One Unit, FIIO K17 Is Officially Released!

[Wyllio]

Can someone with K17 check whether it's possible to assign an EQ preset per input/output combo? eg. I'd like to have an eq profile set for the headphone out, but also a different eq for either rear line out or optical for my active monitors. I'd like to avoid messing around with the menus to change the eq aside from switching the inputs/outputs themselves.

If I use one of the default EQ profiles, it stays on the selected EQ setting irrespective of changing the selected output.

 

[sutonpu]

SMSL h400+DO400 and K17
Which one will you choose?
My feelings are leaning toward K17!

 

[kr0mka]

If I use one of the default EQ profiles, it stays on the selected EQ setting irrespective of changing the selected output.

Thanks, would make sense the default ones are global or unassigned to an output though. Could you try doing a custom one through the pc app/webapp or through bt on fiio control to see if any extra features appear there?

 

[sutonpu]

Is it possible to fix the lineout output to the upper limit?

https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/998787.html
If you look here
In the case of simultaneous front and rear output, does the rear output always go through the volume?

 

[HIGHDOWN]

No video or written review of this yet? I'm surprised.

 

[Ben86]

No video or written review of this yet? I'm surprised.

No videos, no written reviews and no head-fi impressions

 

[djkindred]

Going to spend some time with mine today.

 

[itsnein]

no head-fi impressions

I burn mine for 100 hours
Plan to spend this weekend to try in different setups.
- roon-ready
- usb-dac from laptop
- external high-end streamer via usb to k17
On weekdays, no time for that.

 

[xenithon]

Hi all. Had two quick questions
- does anyone know if I'd be able to playback music from a microSD card using a microSD to USB adapter? And if so would it just work with the USB-A at the back or also with a microSD to USB-C adapter?
- is there a mobile app that I can use on my phone (iOS) to control local / streaming playback on the K17?

 

[karloil]

Yeah, I've owned some Fiio products before. They churn out a lot of products and the hardware, build is pretty good but software side needs a lot of work, too many bugs and optimization issues.

I just noticed the same issue on my unit as well. Switching between PRE and PO the screen still says the gain is in L but turning the knob to M and then back to L in both instances reduces the volume on my IEMs.

This is what sucks with FiiO - they come out with attractive products but their firmware is quite questionable. I have a few FiiO products and their firmware update is really inconsistent or none at all. Attractive at 1st but you are left hanging later on.

Eyeing this K17 as well but seeing the feedback that the issue was present before in a previous product and is still carried over to a new product is a cause of pause for me.

 

[FiiO]

Is it possible to fix the lineout output to the upper limit?

https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/998787.html
If you look here
In the case of simultaneous front and rear output, does the rear output always go through the volume?

Dear friend,

Hi, yes, if you would like to use headphone out and line out at the same time, you could select 'PO+PRE'mode and the volume is adjustable at that time.

Best regards

 

[sutonpu]

Dear friend,

Hi, yes, if you would like to use headphone out and line out at the same time, you could select 'PO+PRE'mode and the volume is adjustable at that time.

Best regards

I ordered K17
thank you!
It would be helpful if there was a mode that could fix the line output when outputting to headphones.

Since it is connected to K17 → integrated amplifier!
I looked into SMSL and found that it is possible to do that!

 

[itsnein]

My impressions regarding sound.
TLDR - nice all-in-one unit

Disclaimer: I am not a reviewer. So describing sound how I feel. It could differ from how other people hear it.

Setup:

• Roon core on NAS
• Macbook
• Kennerton Rognir headphones
• Fiio Q7
• good power&ethernet coords
• Lumin U2 (just to try with) - 5x cost of K17

music: Nightiwish, Doors, Rammstein, Taylor swift, Blackmores Night, Pink Floyd


long read:

My first impressions were very strange. Sound thin, not impressive. With a lack of bass control. And a little bit bright. The only thing I liked in the sound out of the box - was folk music with a lot of acoustic instruments.

So I decided to burn it for 100 hours. Just a random playlist on average volume with connected headphones.

After burnout:
I would say that the sound is colored (like most of AK) but close to neutral. In comparison with K9 pro (AK) - k17 is more neutral. But in comparison to Q7 - k17 is more colored. Something between. Details were on average level. I didn’t hear extra-high details. I would still say it is a little bright dac/amp. But after burning, the bass got more punch and weight. But its sound is not as massive/weighted as Cayin ha3a when I tried it half a year ago. Heights become more refined, no sibilants as in the beginning. Mid-range - I really like it a little bit colored but just enough to be not boring. Sound stage from small to average.

It is also important to find a proper Gain. Looks like Gain - is not linear. I find the sound on Low+Medium - very thin, even after burnout. High works pretty well. But the best for me is Super-High - with low volume (I am hearing near 25 / 100). This gives bass more weight.

Then I tried different options

• roon-ready (streaming)
• usb to macbook
• usb to Lumin U2 streamer (roon-ready on Lumin)

In all, what I heard before with the roon (streaming DAC) - the roon option sounds much better than USB. Teac UD-701, Matrix Element X2. But here in k17 - no. I would say that USB and roon-ready mode sounds almost the same. Or even USB is better a little Looks like the streaming part was implemented for convenient usage, not optimized for quality.
And with the external streamer(Lumin U2), it is a BIG difference. Sound becomes more detailed, Bass - here it is! I’ve found it and the sound stage increased, but it is still not big.

Then I just remembered that I have an unused synergistic research purple fuse. I put it, and here - WOW. Now I really like the sound. Much more details, and overall more balanced. A little bit more bass and punch. I am not sure that it is reasonable to put a 200$ fuse to 900$ dollar device, maybe a cheaper option could also work very well. But for me, it was a huge improvement. So I would recommend to all owners to play with it.

A short comparison.

• it’s definitely not a level of teac ud-701. Soundstage, details, warm sound, bass representation, halftones - all this much better on teac. Unfortunately, I can’t put such a big device on my table and need a smaller solution.
• With Fiio K9 pro - I would say they are very close. I can’t say one is better than another. The sound is a little different from what I remember. Maybe I am wrong, and mamery lets me down. But if you don’t need streaming - and K9 Pro (AK) works well - possibly no reason to change. Or you need more power on amp.
• With Fiio Q7 - K17 much, much better. Especially on mid and high tones.

So, for me, it is an excellent all-in-one device (with updated fuse). It definitely sounds for its price. But we should not expect it to sound like a separate high-end streamer + high-end DAC + great headphone AMP

TODO:
It’s very interesting to me to try it with external headphone AMP. Just to compare the difference. Something like Cayin ha3a that is a good match to my headphones. But had to postpone it until summer.

 

[Ben86]

My impressions regarding sound.
TLDR - nice all-in-one unit

Disclaimer: I am not a reviewer. So describing sound how I feel. It could differ from how other people hear it.

Setup:

• Roon core on NAS
• Macbook
• Kennerton Rognir headphones
• Fiio Q7
• good power&ethernet coords
• Lumin U2 (just to try with) - 5x cost of K17

music: Nightiwish, Doors, Rammstein, Taylor swift, Blackmores Night, Pink Floyd


long read:

My first impressions were very strange. Sound thin, not impressive. With a lack of bass control. And a little bit bright. The only thing I liked in the sound out of the box - was folk music with a lot of acoustic instruments.

So I decided to burn it for 100 hours. Just a random playlist on average volume with connected headphones.

After burnout:
I would say that the sound is colored (like most of AK) but close to neutral. In comparison with K9 pro (AK) - k17 is more neutral. But in comparison to Q7 - k17 is more colored. Something between. Details were on average level. I didn’t hear extra-high details. I would still say it is a little bright dac/amp. But after burning, the bass got more punch and weight. But its sound is not as massive/weighted as Cayin ha3a when I tried it half a year ago. Heights become more refined, no sibilants as in the beginning. Mid-range - I really like it a little bit colored but just enough to be not boring. Sound stage from small to average.

It is also important to find a proper Gain. Looks like Gain - is not linear. I find the sound on Low+Medium - very thin, even after burnout. High works pretty well. But the best for me is Super-High - with low volume (I am hearing near 25 / 100). This gives bass more weight.

Then I tried different options

• roon-ready (streaming)
• usb to macbook
• usb to Lumin U2 streamer (roon-ready on Lumin)

In all, what I heard before with the roon (streaming DAC) - the roon option sounds much better than USB. Teac UD-701, Matrix Element X2. But here in k17 - no. I would say that USB and roon-ready mode sounds almost the same. Or even USB is better a little Looks like the streaming part was implemented for convenient usage, not optimized for quality.
And with the external streamer(Lumin U2), it is a BIG difference. Sound becomes more detailed, Bass - here it is! I’ve found it and the sound stage increased, but it is still not big.

Then I just remembered that I have an unused synergistic research purple fuse. I put it, and here - WOW. Now I really like the sound. Much more details, and overall more balanced. A little bit more bass and punch. I am not sure that it is reasonable to put a 200$ fuse to 900$ dollar device, maybe a cheaper option could also work very well. But for me, it was a huge improvement. So I would recommend to all owners to play with it.

A short comparison.

• it’s definitely not a level of teac ud-701. Soundstage, details, warm sound, bass representation, halftones - all this much better on teac. Unfortunately, I can’t put such a big device on my table and need a smaller solution.
• With Fiio K9 pro - I would say they are very close. I can’t say one is better than another. The sound is a little different from what I remember. Maybe I am wrong, and mamery lets me down. But if you don’t need streaming - and K9 Pro (AK) works well - possibly no reason to change. Or you need more power on amp.
• With Fiio Q7 - K17 much, much better. Especially on mid and high tones.

So, for me, it is an excellent all-in-one device (with updated fuse). It definitely sounds for its price. But we should not expect it to sound like a separate high-end streamer + high-end DAC + great headphone AMP

TODO:
It’s very interesting to me to try it with external headphone AMP. Just to compare the difference. Something like Cayin ha3a that is a good match to my headphones. But had to postpone it until summer.

Thank You very much for a great review! As far as I understand you weren't very impressed with the overall sound quality. It's probably still the same typical FiiO sound signature in K17 which leans to thin, brighter and more analytical I had high hopes for this K17, but I'll probably skip it for now.

 

[FiiO]

@FiiO First bug found.

When listening on LOW-gain:
Initial
PO
change to PRE and back to PO
gain jumps H/SH (not sure exactly).

When initial gain M/L/SH - all good.

I just noticed the same issue on my unit as well. Switching between PRE and PO the screen still says the gain is in L but turning the knob to M and then back to L in both instances reduces the volume on my IEMs.

As for the self-noise of the unit, there is none that I can hear with the IEMs that I own. Even on UH gain and the volume set to 100, the noise floor is completely silent coming from the 4.4mm output. The K17 also supports UAC 1.0 and UAC 2.0, you can switch between the two in the settings menu.

We most likely won't have an answer from FiiO until after February 10th, for Chinese New Year.

Dear friend,

Here is the feedback I got from the engineer. Are you switching from PRE to PO+PRE?
Generally ,when using the same volume at the same gain, the output volume is consistent. But the exception is that when switching from PO+PRE to PRE. The gain is valid for PO. (In PO+PRE output, gain is valid. )
But for PRE output, the gain is invalid. So the output level of the same line out port and same gain in PRE mode will be higher than the PO+PRE mode.

Best regards