FiiO K1--smaller and better for less

[Larethio]

Which device is working? The FiiO K1? Please share more details please, the K1 doesn't work with Samsung and Sony mobile phones, it would be a big surprise if with HTC it would work without glitches.

Yes. I'm surprised too. The K1 works with the HTC One m9. I'm not sure how it effects the battery life though.

 

[h1f1add1cted]

What ROM are you using? What USB cable / OTG adapter are you using? Which apps did you use for music playback? The FiiO K1 works on my devices (Samsung and Sony) at least few minutes and than it disconnects with the "not enough power" error message, I can reconnect and it continues working, but always glitches and interruption... If I put a passive USB OTG hub between it runs for hours without any issue, but it drains more power from the phones battery as usual, because of the passive USB hub.
 

 

[Larethio]

What ROM are you using? What USB cable / OTG adapter are you using? Which apps did you use for music playback? The FiiO K1 works on my devices (Samsung and Sony) at least few minutes and than it disconnects with the "not enough power" error message, I can reconnect and it continues working, but always glitches and interruption... If I put a passive USB OTG hub between it runs for hours without any issue, but it drains more power from the phones battery as usual, because of the passive USB hub.
 

I am using the micro USB to micro USB that came with my e18 kunlun. I am running viper one 3.5 rom. I'm also using Poweramp for music playback. I've received no power error.

 

[h1f1add1cted]

Very interesting but still makes no sense at all for me, that Samsung and Sony devices (shared here in this thread) don't work, but again thanks for sharing, hard to believe that this is device depended. Really weird acting.

 

[twister6]

  Very interesting but still makes no sense at all for me, that Samsung and Sony devices (shared here in this thread) don't work, but again thanks for sharing, hard to believe that this is device depended. Really weird acting.

 
Keep in mind, I'm running a stock Lollipop on my Note 4.  No plans to install any custom ROMs.

 

[h1f1add1cted]

My Samsung and Sony decvices are rooted and I tried with stock ROM, (different) custom ROMs, different Android versions from 4.4.4 up to 5.1.1 and different kernels and much more, always the same, it does not work. This is what I mean - this can't be software caused, this must be hardware caused, we need to see more K1 users on testing with other devices.

 

[mohdkhamsya]

Been listening to this tiny thing for the past hour. Best $40 ever spent!

 

[twister6]

  Been listening to this tiny thing for the past hour. Best $40 ever spent!

 
What is your source and headphones?  Always great to know

 

[mohdkhamsya]

   
What is your source and headphones?  Always great to know

 
 
Oh sorry my bad. Well I'm just running it off my PC now. Using my Noble 4 with Black Dragon cables. I have a set audition list, lossless music on foobar. I usually use my Mi Note (which has a Sabre 9018 dac and TI amp integrated inside and sounds perfectly fine) as a portable music player while the Grace m9xx anchors my desktop audio setup (powered miccas and Fidelio X2). I really didn't expect much from the K1. Like many of us on Head Fi, I have gone through countless headphones, iems, dacs and amps from different tiers to the point that I'm no longer that easily impressed by new things anymore. But damn this is quite an amazing little stick! 

 

[nbakid2000]

I have a V-Moda XS headphone set right now. I have two options for DACs with this. I'm setting up my friend with his first good headphone system on the cheap (birthday/Christmas). He also just built a tower computer. So, I have the XS headphones already. Would a FiiO E07K Andes DAC/Amp work better or a FiiO K1 Portable DAC + Headphone Amplifier? The first is $56 on Amazon, the second is $40. 


 

 

[mohdkhamsya]

Just an update of my impressions on the K1. Using it with my laptop, I can definitely hear background noise or what some here have termed the dreaded hiss. With my PC, I don't hear the hiss. So I guess the USB circuitry or power supply in my PC is much better than my laptop. For the record, I have a custom assembled PC with high end parts and I use a Dell XPS 13 laptop (not plugged in). Still using my Noble 4 with black dragons. Still enjoying the dynamism of the K1. Very very enjoyable for a tiny, $40 DAC/AMP.    

 

[ting811994]

I tried connecting the k1 to my iphone and ipad with the apple camera lightning to usb adapter, does not work...sometimes I get a message saying the k1 is not supported. And it's doing crazy things with the volume control on my devices, it's adjusting the volume automatically and then it just turns the volume all the way to the top. But still, nothing is playing through and all I can hear is electrical sound noise. Though I saw on Fiio's facebook page, their representative said the K1 "should work" with ios devices...
 
So, it's not just an android issue now...

 

[Brooko]

  I tried connecting the k1 to my iphone and ipad with the apple camera lightning to usb adapter, does not work...sometimes I get a message saying the k1 is not supported. And it's doing crazy things with the volume control on my devices, it's adjusting the volume automatically and then it just turns the volume all the way to the top. But still, nothing is playing through and all I can hear is electrical sound noise. Though I saw on Fiio's facebook page, their representative said the K1 "should work" with ios devices...
 
So, it's not just an android issue now...

 
It's all about power draw.  Won't work with my iPhone 5S, but does work with lightning CCK with iPad Mini.

 

[nbakid2000]

Ended up getting these for the V-Moda XS I got for my friend. $40, and it's better which is better than anything he's ever had (ie, nothing). Plus questionable sound quality reviews about the FiiO E07K Andes DAC/Amp. 

 

[greenflash]

I used my K1 to drive my CKKIII headphone amp with no problem. Driving the much higher impedance load of an amp input versus any headphone/earphone should not present a problem for a device like the K1. If it is, I'd like to hear the explanation for that!

Me too indeed. For now my better options are the E10K (available in the local market at a moderate price but not cheap), a K1 with the odd Fiio warning (half the price of the E10K), and some cool usb soundcard like the Creative HD for a little more than the E10K. Also the 5.1 version which is the cheapest. Hard to tell.