[anli]

Del

 

[BenKatz]

Dear friend,

I checked with the product manager and the cabe with microphone could reduce the sound quality. But due to individual preferences, some people may not feel the difference.

Best regards

I was also wondering why the default setting for gain on the BTR5 is "high" ?

As far as I knew, high gain affects sound quality, as it introduces more noise floor correct?

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Thanks for this, then to clarify the moment I've attached the BTR5 to my PC via USB-C port, I can disable charging and it will not rely on the USB-C as its power or it will use the battery all through-out? If it's the latter, I think I will purchase the FiiO K3 instead as it can be attached to the phone (K30 Pro Zoom) and PC as well - minus the headache of micro-managing the battery unlike the BTR5. What worries me is the audio ports, as it seems FiiO has a history of forgetting to put some quality on those XD. I already have the Deoxit ready though I think no amount of cleaning will fix a broken jack from the get go

Don't be scared about that.
I use my BTR5 with bluetooth for work and via usb to my Surface while at home/ at the office.
Charging is always on on mine.
Never had an issue with.

 

[goodyfresh]

So here's a question I'm sure has come up before, but I'm having trouble finding answers: What actually sounds better, the BTR5 or the BTR3K? I know the BTR5 has more power, but I'm wondering which of the two units has better sound-quality when compared using proper volume-matching.

I'm also wondering if the BTR3K could adequately power something like the Sennheiser HD560s (120ohm impedance, 108db/1V and 99db/mW sensitivity) to get the most out of their sound from its single-ended 3.5mm output, or whether I'd be better served by the BTR5 for that.

 

[Octavius]

Even BTR 5 through the balance couldn't drive Sennheiser 560, there is no enough power for it ( less than 20mW through the 3.5mm). I've tried 660s, no chances. Also in specs for BTR5, for 3.5mm are recommended headphones from 16 to 100 ohms.

 

[goodyfresh]

Even BTR 5 through the balance couldn't drive Sennheiser 560, there is no enough power for it ( less than 20mW through the 3.5mm). I've tried 660s, no chances. Also in specs for BTR5, for 3.5mm are recommended headphones from 16 to 100 ohms.

Huh, strange... The 660s are a lot harder to drive than the 560s... the former is 150 ohms with 96db/MW sensitivity, the latter is 120 ohms with 99db/MW. People in the dedicated 560s thread say the BTR5 is plenty to drive them unless I want them to reach like, DANGEROUS volume levels, lol.

 

[BenKatz]

Dear friend,

I checked with the product manager and the cabe with microphone could reduce the sound quality. But due to individual preferences, some people may not feel the difference.

Best regards

Hello Again - I was wondering, what type or reduction of sound quality? Interference/crossfeed, lowered frequency response, or is it simply that the mic/buttons module acts as a "resistor" and adds resistance (higher ohms) to the wire itself?

Thank you!

 

[goodyfresh]

Has anyone here been able to compare the sound of the BTR5 as a USB DAC to that of the Fiio K3 and could give impressions on that?

 

[FiiO]

Has anyone here been able to compare the sound of the BTR5 as a USB DAC to that of the Fiio K3 and could give impressions on that?

Dear friend,

You could have a try in the local stores if there is local store in your city: https://www.fiio.com/wheretobuy

The BTR5 has Bluetooth function as well and the K3 supports coaxial/optical output. So you could choose the one which could meet your need most.

Best regards

 

[goodyfresh]

Dear friend,

You could have a try in the local stores if there is local store in your city: https://www.fiio.com/wheretobuy

The BTR5 has Bluetooth function as well and the K3 supports coaxial/optical output. So you could choose the one which could meet your need most.

Best regards

No stores dealing in Fiio products are OPEN anywhere near me, and even if they were, I'm not willing to go to them during current conditions since I am in a heavily populated area of the United States.

That's why I'm asking if anyone here has had the chance to compare the Fiio K3 to the BTR5 when the latter is used purely as a USB DAC.

If you had to answer, which one would you say probably would/should sound better? Would it be the K3 since it is meant purely as a USB DAC and doesn't have the additional electronics for Bluetooth, and also because it has the better volume-control? Or would it be the BTR5 since it's a newer product with newer technology?

 

[sebek]

In your experience, the balanced output of the BTR5 only makes sense with headphones and iems that are less easy to drive or does it always sound better than the unbalanced one?

 

[Ichos]

It always sounds better because it takes full advantage of the internal balanced circuit.
Greater clarity , definition and detail plus enhanced soundstage and dynamics.

 

[Ichos]

@goodyfresh

Well guess what , I have both!!!

I will not talk sound signature as this is very subjective and I don't have the time to dive into more detail.

Regarding power and drive authority the K3 is better especially from the single ended out that you are interested.

The circuit is far better with dedicated low pass filter and driver op amps vs the ESS dac chip that has everything embedded into it.

So you get better authority and slam thanks to higher voltage swing and current flow.

If desktop use was my case then I have surely preferred the K3.

Too lazy to take photos.

Happy new year.

 

[goodyfresh]

@Ichos Thank you for the information! Happy new year to you as well.

 

[goodyfresh]

Sorry for the double-post but I have a VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION, you guys:

Is there any way to force the BTR5 to use APTX-LL instead of standard APTX on Windows 10? It's driving me nuts; I love this thing as a USB DAC but it's pretty much useless to me for Bluetooth when it comes to watching videos due to the standard Bluetooth lag/latency that's enough to be extremely noticeable in video-content. I paired the BTR5 with my phone and used the Fiio Control app; I tried to deselect all the audio codecs besides APTX-LL so that the BTR5 will be forced to only ever use low-latency, but instead of applying that setting, it automatically selects both APTX-LL AND normal APTX. I have found no way to force the BTR5 to only operate in low-latency mode.

Unfortunately, as we all know Windows 10 is really stupid with Bluetooth audio, and won't send low-latency signal to the BTR5 unless I can find some way to force the BTR5 to only run in APTX-LL. Unless I'm wrong about that; is there some way to force Windows to use APTX-LL? My laptop has an Intel Bluetooth chipset that I'm pretty sure supports ALL codecs including APTX-LL, but that's useless to me if I can't get it to actually transmit using the codec I want.

If I can't resolve this issue then I will return the BTR5 and just get the Fiio K3 instead, since the BTR5's Bluetooth feature (which is supposed to be its main selling-point) is completely useless to me if I can't stream videos on Windows 10 with low enough latency to make them watchable.