FIIO K11/K11 R2R, Truly Balanced, Truly Brilliant! Desktop DAC and Headphone Amplifier

[BrokeAudiophileMan]

I've had the Fiio K11 for about 10 days now. I also have K7. K7 is upstairs, K11 is downstairs.
My impressions are basically that while both amps sound like a Fiio, the K11 has nothing on the K7 in terms of sound quality, attack, and the general "fullness" of the sound. Now, of course, the $130 K11 was never going to be as good as the $180-200 K7, but I was actually surprised by how much of a difference there was. It's understandable of course, K7 uses THX amps, K11 does not. K7 has more power.

In short, if you have no amp, and are choosing between the K11 and K7, get the K7. It's less convenient to use because it's larger, bulkier, and lacks a display, but all those things don't make up for the K11's lower quality user experience when it comes to sound quality. Don't get me wrong- I LIKE both amps. They are both good. I'm not returning anything. But if you had to choose and were only going to have one amp, the K7 is better.

Having said that, the K11 does have a weirdly magical synergy with my Shure SRH840A headphones, which are cheapies but nice cheapies, and it also sounds very nice and energetic with 7Hz Timeless IEMs, though the experience might be far too treble-aggressive for some people. But I like it.

 

[Peib]

I've had the Fiio K11 for about 10 days now. I also have K7. K7 is upstairs, K11 is downstairs.
My impressions are basically that while both amps sound like a Fiio, the K11 has nothing on the K7 in terms of sound quality, attack, and the general "fullness" of the sound. Now, of course, the $130 K11 was never going to be as good as the $180-200 K7, but I was actually surprised by how much of a difference there was. It's understandable of course, K7 uses THX amps, K11 does not. K7 has more power.

In short, if you have no amp, and are choosing between the K11 and K7, get the K7. It's less convenient to use because it's larger, bulkier, and lacks a display, but all those things don't make up for the K11's lower quality user experience when it comes to sound quality. Don't get me wrong- I LIKE both amps. They are both good. I'm not returning anything. But if you had to choose and were only going to have one amp, the K7 is better.

Having said that, the K11 does have a weirdly magical synergy with my Shure SRH840A headphones, which are cheapies but nice cheapies, and it also sounds very nice and energetic with 7Hz Timeless IEMs, though the experience might be far too treble-aggressive for some people. But I like it.

Thanks for sharing this. Now I have doubts again. What I dont like about k7 is how ugly is it. Fiio k11 looks truly beautiful. Im going to pair it with sundaras

 

[Angel III]

Thanks for sharing this. Now I have doubts again. What I dont like about k7 is how ugly is it. Fiio k11 looks truly beautiful. Im going to pair it with sundaras

I agree, I suggest Fiio not change anything, but simply remove the rounded edges. The amplifiers must be simple but electronically excellent.. if they are a bit bulky it doesn't hurt, the electronics ventilate better (praise for the K7 here).

 

[sapporo444]

Does anyone know when the Fiio KA11 R2R is releasing? I'm itching to buy a dac/amp, so I'm between that one, Fiio K7BT and SMSL DL200.

 

[Ichos]

Does anyone know when the Fiio KA11 R2R is releasing? I'm itching to buy a dac/amp, so I'm between that one, Fiio K7BT and SMSL DL200.

Very soon. A couple of weeks or a little more.

 

[FiiO]

Does anyone know when the Fiio KA11 R2R is releasing? I'm itching to buy a dac/amp, so I'm between that one, Fiio K7BT and SMSL DL200.

Dear friend,

Hi, yes, K11 R2R is coming very soon, just few days left.

Best regardsa

 

[rexbinary]

What is better/different on R2R?

 

[Hyde00]

What is better/different on R2R?

Generally speaking, some people find R2R more organic and natural sounding. At the cost of sometimes more warm and fuzzy sounding.

Where as delta sigma chips (ESS, AKM, Cirrus Logic) tend to be more digital sounding but a little bit more precise and detailed.

Different tradeoff, but most high end DAC tend to be R2R DACs. It's also more expensive to produce than delta sigma DACs.

Also depending a lot on the company's implementation. I guess only a few days left to find out lol.

 

[sapporo444]

Generally speaking, some people find R2R more organic and natural sounding. At the cost of sometimes more warm and fuzzy sounding.

Where as delta sigma chips (ESS, AKM, Cirrus Logic) tend to be more digital sounding but a little bit more precise and detailed.

Different tradeoff, but most high end DAC tend to be R2R DACs. It's also more expensive to produce than delta sigma DACs.

Also depending a lot on the company's implementation. I guess only a few days left to find out lol.

Sounds perfect! That's exactly what I've been reading about R2R DACs, so if the reviews are good, I'm definitely buying one.

 

[djdtm]

July 4, Crazy Thursday, 19:30 pm,

FiiO Official Weibo

8 hours ago
From Weibo web version
Edited

[Live Preview]

FiiO's first R2R product - desktop DAC headphone amplifier K11 R2R!
Before the sale, we invited K11 R2R project leader Ren Gong to explain it to us on site.

July 4, Crazy Thursday, 19:30 pm, welcome everyone to interact on site!
MagClip magnetic suction kit, storage box HB7 and other FiiO peripheral gifts will randomly drop in the live broadcast room, don't miss it!

 

[Hyde00]

Ohhhhh only a few days left, it says July 5th, 2024, at 10:00 am it will go on sale. Though it didn't specify time zone lol, probably China time (GMT+8).

Also it looks like it is 24 bit and has 48 resistor per channel, then L+R and then double again for balanced = 48 x 2 x 2 = 192 resistors.

 

[sapporo444]

I'm glad they maintained the form factor, I thought it would be a bit bigger since the DAC was different.

I guess the reviews come out on July 5th as well? I'm also wondering if the power output from the AMP is the same as the base model.

 

[FiiO]

I'm glad they maintained the form factor, I thought it would be a bit bigger since the DAC was different.

I guess the reviews come out on July 5th as well? I'm also wondering if the power output from the AMP is the same as the base model.

Dear friend,

Hi, the output power of K11 R2R is nearly the same as K11.

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

Some reviewers have received the K11 R2R and shared some pictures to us.

 

[Hyde00]

Some reviewers have received the K11 R2R and shared some pictures to us.

Ohhh nice!

Looking forward to the reviews!

I think you guys occupy a nice area where it's not too competitive yet.

i.e.

R2R Dongles = We have RU6, RU7, FC6.
Budget R2R Desktop DAC/Amp = Where this device is at, along with the discontinued R2R-11 MK2.
Higher End Desktop R2R DAC/Amp = EF400, EF500, EF599, EF600.
Budget R2R Desktop DAC = Modi Multibit 2
Higher End Desktop R2R DAC = Getting saturated.

Also curious how this unit would sound as DAC only through line out, since Modi Multibit 2 also occupy a very lonely space lol.