[drummerman1]

Great feedback. Thank you

 

[drummerman1]

Perhaps one more question. How is the black holding up re. finger prints?

 

[Cassandle]

I’ve enjoyed mine so far. It’s my first headphone amp (been using an Apple dongle up to now). More than enough power for the HD600s. It’s smaller and heavier than I expected. Pretty happy with the build quality for the price, and the silver looks very smart.

One annoying thing is sometimes when I switch it on, the screen seems to be locked on ‘USB in’ and doesn’t respond to any presses of the button, and won’t even switch off. No sound plays either. I have to unplug it and switch it back on again to get the rest of the controls back.

 

[FiiO]

I’ve enjoyed mine so far. It’s my first headphone amp (been using an Apple dongle up to now). More than enough power for the HD600s. It’s smaller and heavier than I expected. Pretty happy with the build quality for the price, and the silver looks very smart.

One annoying thing is sometimes when I switch it on, the screen seems to be locked on ‘USB in’ and doesn’t respond to any presses of the button, and won’t even switch off. No sound plays either. I have to unplug it and switch it back on again to get the rest of the controls back.

Dear friend,

Sorry to hear about that. Are there any certain operation for this issue? We failed to reproduce it still. Thanks in advance!

Best regards

 

[NeLey169]

What is the difference between USB 1 and 2

Dear friend,

Sorry to hear about that. Are there any certain operation for this issue? We failed to reproduce it still. Thanks in advance!

Best regards

 

[ubertriad]

I’ve enjoyed mine so far. It’s my first headphone amp (been using an Apple dongle up to now). More than enough power for the HD600s. It’s smaller and heavier than I expected. Pretty happy with the build quality for the price, and the silver looks very smart.

One annoying thing is sometimes when I switch it on, the screen seems to be locked on ‘USB in’ and doesn’t respond to any presses of the button, and won’t even switch off. No sound plays either. I have to unplug it and switch it back on again to get the rest of the controls back.

I also had this problem today, except unplugging and pluggin back in didn't fix it. I had to unplug both the power and the usb cable, then turn it back on, then plug the USB in again.

Are you using the the USB cable that came with the K11?

 

[Cassandle]

I also had this problem today, except unplugging and pluggin back in didn't fix it. I had to unplug both the power and the usb cable, then turn it back on, then plug the USB in again.

Are you using the the USB cable that came with the K11?

I am yeah. It’s a slightly worrying issue.

 

[Cassandle]

Dear friend,

Sorry to hear about that. Are there any certain operation for this issue? We failed to reproduce it still. Thanks in advance!

Best regards

Thanks for reaching out. I think it happens when the K11 is already connected to my iPad Pro (using the stock USB-C to USB-A cable, then an Apple USB-A to USB-C adaptor) when I switch on the Fiio. It doesn’t happen when I switch everything on and then connect to the iPad.

I’m not 100% sure though, and as it’s not happened for a few days I haven’t replicated it again either.

If it happens again, I‘ll be sure to remember the steps and report it here.

 

[ahmonge]

Thanks for reaching out. I think it happens when the K11 is already connected to my iPad Pro (using the stock USB-C to USB-A cable, then an Apple USB-A to USB-C adaptor) when I switch on the Fiio

Have you tried an USB C to USB C cable?

 

[ubertriad]

Dear friend,

Sorry to hear about that. Are there any certain operation for this issue? We failed to reproduce it still. Thanks in advance!

Best regards

It just happened again, twice now in a week. I'm going to try a different USB C cable and will report back if it happens again.

If it continues to bug out with a different cable, I'll have to return it

EDIT: FYI, I'm plugging straight into my desktop motherboard, no adapters.

 

[ubertriad]

It just happened again, twice now in a week. I'm going to try a different USB C cable and will report back if it happens again.

If it continues to bug out with a different cable, I'll have to return it

EDIT: FYI, I'm plugging straight into my desktop motherboard, no adapters.

Still bugged with a different USB C cable.

Is FIIO looking into this, considering many people have this problem?

 

[ubertriad]

OK, I think I have narrowed down the problem. If there is sound already playing (youtube, music, games, etc) when I turn it on, then it will not get past the USB IN screen and will be completely unresponsive. I have repeated the test several times, and it happens 100% of the time so far.

Stopping the sound, changing output device on the PC, unplugging the USB cable, has no effect, the unit remains frozen. I have to unplug the power cable from the K11, then either unplug the USB cable or stop the audio, before turning the K11 back on.

Interrestingly, turning the K11 on with the USB unplugged, then plugging in while audio is playing isn't a problem, it's only the above scenario that causes the unit to lock up.

This is quite a significant flaw, and I would be forced to return the K11. Luckily, I have a (partial) solution.

Switch to UAC 1 in the menu and the problem goes away. Repeating the above test causes no freezing and everything is fine.

I can live with this, I wasn't too bothered about high resolution audio anyway. But you might be and you might not want to i) unplug USB or ii) stop all audio, before turning on your K11. So Fiio should fix this, imho.

 

[worms]

I need help on which way I should go and if my next steps are appropriate.
I'm going to buy a better DAC/AMP for my computer than what's on the motherboard: ALC 4080.
I had a FiOO K11 at home for a week, to my surprise it played better than the ALC 4080. listening on a KZ AS16.
The music became more joyful, better stereo, it was captivating, I liked it very much.
A colleague suggested I take the FiOO K7 for listening now, because it will definitely be a shot in 10.
I am just now conducting the listening. Everything has improved, it sounds so impeccable, perfect with amazing momentum and stage width and depth. Only there is one problem, I have a feeling that this joy has disappeared somewhere, the music does not thrill me so much anymore, my leg is not stomping. I also have the feeling that everything has slowed down and is dragging, I don't know how to describe it.

I would like all that the K7 gives, but with more joy with something that the K11 had, and I don't know which direction I should go.
My plan is still to listen to, SMSL M500 III, K9 AKM, JDS Element III Boosted, Aune s9c. These are much more expensive blocks and I can't explain to myself spending so much money, but will any of them give me what I'm looking for?

The K11 is a nice piece of equipment, but if I'm going to buy, I'd like to buy well so I wouldn't be looking for other equipment in a while.
I'm not experienced in audio, if I wrote something wrong I apologize.
My English from the translator is probably not the best either.
I hope someone can help me.
Thank you,

 

[ubertriad]

Go back to the K11. Spending 5-10x on more expensive amps isn't necessarily going to bring the joy back.

 

[Hyde00]

I had a FiOO K11 at home for a week, to my surprise it played better than the ALC 4080. listening on a KZ AS16.

Oh how come you only had it for a week, did you return it to try other gear?

My plan is still to listen to, SMSL M500 III, K9 AKM, JDS Element III Boosted, Aune s9c. These are much more expensive blocks and I can't explain to myself spending so much money, but will any of them give me what I'm looking for?

Trying different dac/amp is kind of like trying different food, you could "upgrade" from your amazing $20 burger that you really like to a $40 pasta, or $120 steak, or $240 super fancy foie gras.

But sometimes you just want burger or maybe you don't like foie gras? But maybe steak is nicer than a burger?

So unless you have patience or disposable income, it could potentially take a while until you find your "upgrade".

For example I think I started from Denon D2000, then bought and sold maybe 4-5 headphones then upgrade to D5200, then bought and sold another 2-3 headphones then bought Lawton TH900.

A lot of the time resolution goes up but tonal balance changes, so you're kind of getting better but also getting sideways.

K11 = neutral sounding
K7 = super neutral sounding
SMSL M500 III = warm sounding
K9 AKM = not sure
JDS Element III = slightly warm sounding
Aune S9C = not sure

The music became more joyful, better stereo, it was captivating, I liked it very much.

Go back to the K11. Spending 5-10x on more expensive amps isn't necessarily going to bring the joy back.

So basically if you already like K11 I'd buy K11 first and use it for a while. Until the time comes you find it lacking then you could try other gear while sitting on K11.

Upgrading is not exactly as simple of a process as we think.

I've been doing this for a long time because it's my hobby so I don't mind trying different things for fun (even if it fails). But it does cost a lot of money over time.

Hope this helps lol.

EDIT: Though you could always try all the gears you want to try then circle back to K11 later, that works too lol.

Sometimes you don't know if you'd like something until you have it in your hands.