Temudschin
New Head-Fier
I recieved mine today. I like the retro style of the K17, it is definitly a nice little tool to play around. My first impression: Sound wise I'm not that impressed so far.....but hey I just started...
DAC and Headphone Amplifier · Streaming Media Receiver · Local Playback All in One Unit, FIIO K17 Is Officially Released!
- Thread starter FiiO
- Start date
A quick review compared to your RME ADI-2-DAC FS would be nice if you have the time. Maybe a DAC only comparison?
Temudschin
New Head-Fier
I'm on the fence to send it back as well.
As far as I expirienced, it is always a tradeoff with these all in one boxes.
As i said before, to me soundwise the K17 lacks the "wow" factor. I will keep on testing it, but to be honest, I am not that convinced my perception will change over time.
I'm a bone head, I got silver... i figured it couldn't be that hard to read.
Temudschin
New Head-Fier
That's a hard one.
1. The reason why i bought the K17 was to use it as an all in one unit on my working desk. At least for my use case there is no point and after all no space on my desk for an extra amp. Obviously I could give it a bit of a warmer soundsignature by connecting it to my s17pro headphone amp.
2. The RME is, after all those years, still my goto DAC. Just a marvelous piece of "german engineering"
So I will be biased, when comparing those two.3.I don't know if I'm doing the K17 justice by comparing those two. After all it is not the same product cathegory
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Klonatans
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 30, 2014
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DACs don't have properties like soundstage. Soundstage is defined by speakers' radiation pattern or in the case of headphones' by earcup design and driver placement.
SkippyBE
New Head-Fier
The K17 arrived last week.
Here some first impressions.
It took me some time to get the firmware updates done but at the end all went well and the device works properly.
I played around with some different settings: USB/PC; Bluetooth/Samsung S22; Streaming/ROON Qobuz-Tidal.
For my sound impressions I tested with 3 different headphones (haven't tried my IEM's yet): Empy II, HD800s and HE1000 Stealth, all balanced output. The HD800s sound best in Ultra High Gain (EQ Jazz), both the other cups in Super High Gain (No EQ). I was utterly impressed with the sound of the HEKS, they really shine in combo with the K17.
In an earlier post someone stated that he wasn't yet impressed with the out of the box sound, to be honest I experienced the opposite.
Coming from the FiiO Q7 I won't say it's a night/day difference but the K17 is definitely a huge leap forward sound wise: less clinical, fuller sound yet still detailed, good dynamics and great soundstage. Don't get me wrong, the Q7 is a great device but I prefer the musicality of the K17.
Now it's time for some nitpicking (we're audiophiles after all
)
When switching from Stream to USB or vice versa I always have to change the output in Roon accordingly. (Could be a ROON issue as well, not sure)
The display only shows album art/song title while streaming, not via USB (I assume the most commonly used feature of the K17) nor Bluetooth.
To conclude: so far really happy with my purchase. I think price/quality this is a top notch device.
Here some first impressions.
It took me some time to get the firmware updates done but at the end all went well and the device works properly.
I played around with some different settings: USB/PC; Bluetooth/Samsung S22; Streaming/ROON Qobuz-Tidal.
For my sound impressions I tested with 3 different headphones (haven't tried my IEM's yet): Empy II, HD800s and HE1000 Stealth, all balanced output. The HD800s sound best in Ultra High Gain (EQ Jazz), both the other cups in Super High Gain (No EQ). I was utterly impressed with the sound of the HEKS, they really shine in combo with the K17.
In an earlier post someone stated that he wasn't yet impressed with the out of the box sound, to be honest I experienced the opposite.
Coming from the FiiO Q7 I won't say it's a night/day difference but the K17 is definitely a huge leap forward sound wise: less clinical, fuller sound yet still detailed, good dynamics and great soundstage. Don't get me wrong, the Q7 is a great device but I prefer the musicality of the K17.
Now it's time for some nitpicking (we're audiophiles after all
)When switching from Stream to USB or vice versa I always have to change the output in Roon accordingly. (Could be a ROON issue as well, not sure)
The display only shows album art/song title while streaming, not via USB (I assume the most commonly used feature of the K17) nor Bluetooth.
To conclude: so far really happy with my purchase. I think price/quality this is a top notch device.
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Even a well set-up pair of speakers can only reproduce the audio fed to them. If the digital processing of the music has degraded the timing information, which is necessary for our brain to interpret the location of sounds, you'll end up with what you hear from cheap DACs, which is a flat soundstage with no depth. It has nothing to do with whether a DAC was designed for studio use or not.
So, you're half correct. Music has a soundstage, but many DACs fail to reproduce it accurately. I have had DACs here with filter selection options, and you could clearly hear, through both speakers and some headphones that the perceived position of the vocals and instruments would shift depending on the filter selection.
Temudschin
New Head-Fier
It always depends on what you are looking for. I wasn't impressed, because to my ears the K17 sounds very similar to most Chinese manufacturers.
I was looking for that extra musical sound. Like the S17 pro, for example, does quite well. And at least to my ears, the K17 doesn't deliver that.
FiiO-Yellow
Sponsor: FiiO
Hi, i am sorry, we have not yet tested this format. So hard to say whether it can support now. We recommend FAT32、NTFS、EXFAT.
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scracy
500+ Head-Fier
New firmware V1.99 available not sure what's changed, no mention of it on FiiO website
Anyway a beautiful pairing sonic bliss 
Anyway a beautiful pairing sonic bliss
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SkippyBE
New Head-Fier
Indeed, no info so far.New firmware V1.99 available not sure what's changed, no mention of it on FiiO website
The ever reliable Wavetheory did a nice review
Fiio - a couple of responses to my previous post.
1. Separate sound profiles for both ears. Your balance L/R option is indeed a godsend. However, I got a hearing test recently and 4K onwards my frequency response needs separate L/R EQ profiles. The RME does this. You can too. Note: the older you get, the better gear you can afford, yet the HiFi market doesn't even bother to cater for us. Address this, please.
2. OK, the Chinese market doesn't like EQ, but us folks in the West do. Provide at the very least a bass/treble option - even using those two knobs on the side of the unit. I just want to reach over and add a bit more bass to a song, or max out the treble while I'm playing something that needs a bit more zizz. I do not want to fart around with a 31 band EQ. Life is too short.
This unit represents an opportunity. Exploit that opportunity, please 机会
Fiio - a couple of responses to my previous post.
1. Separate sound profiles for both ears. Your balance L/R option is indeed a godsend. However, I got a hearing test recently and 4K onwards my frequency response needs separate L/R EQ profiles. The RME does this. You can too. Note: the older you get, the better gear you can afford, yet the HiFi market doesn't even bother to cater for us. Address this, please.
2. OK, the Chinese market doesn't like EQ, but us folks in the West do. Provide at the very least a bass/treble option - even using those two knobs on the side of the unit. I just want to reach over and add a bit more bass to a song, or max out the treble while I'm playing something that needs a bit more zizz. I do not want to fart around with a 31 band EQ. Life is too short.
This unit represents an opportunity. Exploit that opportunity, please 机会
MisterDoItNice
New Head-Fier
Does anyone here have any experience with both the Topping DX9 and the Fiio K17? I’m trying to find out how these two units compare.
