FiiO K7/K7BT Desktop DAC&Headphone AMP Discussion | XLR Balance | Dual THX AAA | Xmos | ...

[Kean FiiO]

MQA support will be highly appreciated.
Will this be first lunch on crowdfunding first?

I also choose between ESS and AKM4497.
But ESS support（hardware）MQA rendering，which makes me very excited

Know the relay based volume control out of my R28 or the NFB 10.33.
OK. the space usage of the AGD's belongs to the power stage and on the R28 to the R2R dac.
Don't know another one till now. Thanks for the hint.

There are many ways to achieve more detailed volume adjustments, such as designing variable gain and using high-performance electronic volume chips.
For each gain, there is a different volume curve corresponding with it. Just as our K5pro， which has 3 level gain and NJW1195 for fine volume adjust.

 

[Suppa92]

[QUOTE =“ zworykin，帖子：15505536，成员：420049”]
上面的渲染图确实显示了RCA和XLR输出，因此我认为您已经在这里介绍了。

我同意上面提到的对USB-B输入的偏好；与USB-C相比，台式机产品似乎非常标准。

我也同意上面的想法，那就是拥有3.5毫米插孔会很好。我非常喜欢避免使用任何适配器。也许它可以走到上面显示的4.4的位置，并且可以将4.4移到XLR旁边，将平衡的东西放在一起？（而且我想，如果我们处于“没有适配器的白日梦”领域，也许您甚至还可以在那儿获得2.5的平衡！）
[/引用]

Thank your advises
In fact, you already know the answer, we will have a complete interface to connect external DAC and external AMP
For USB B or USB C, we should consider which one is more universal. Because their reliability is very good， and I will use the full pins USB C interface.
Is the 3.5mm earphones interface so important? After all, connecting desktop devices are headphones.



I am very excited to see everyone's positive feedback. I will pick some more common questions to explain：
1，Since the K7 is not a flagship one, the price will not be very high. So we are going to make K7 excellent first，and announce the price later
2，Even with THX AAA 789, we can achieve very high power, more than 3W, and the sound quality is very good also; so I prefer to THX AAA 789
3，We are evaluating the new ESS DAC， because it can support MQA , do you like MQA?
Share the photo of THX module we are testing

Agree with First Two points completely, except the Third.

I think MQA must be a feature in the "Flagship" models and keep K7 more affordable.
Already some manufactures does this (example: Topping D90 DAC), they provide Non-MQA version of the same device for lower price and MQA version for higher price.
I personally think MQA is not an extremely important feature among majority of us who shop affordable devices like K7.

Make a special version of K7 with MQA for higher price or move that sort of features(like Femto clocks,Dual Dac chips, &etc) to "Flagship" models.
And keep K7 affordable to fight the competition.

BTW, I also prefer AKM chips than ESS.

 

[elira]

I think MQA is a gimmick.

 

[gto88]

[QUOTE =“ zworykin，帖子：15505536，成员：420049”]
上面的渲染图确实显示了RCA和XLR输出，因此我认为您已经在这里介绍了。

我同意上面提到的对USB-B输入的偏好；与USB-C相比，台式机产品似乎非常标准。

我也同意上面的想法，那就是拥有3.5毫米插孔会很好。我非常喜欢避免使用任何适配器。也许它可以走到上面显示的4.4的位置，并且可以将4.4移到XLR旁边，将平衡的东西放在一起？（而且我想，如果我们处于“没有适配器的白日梦”领域，也许您甚至还可以在那儿获得2.5的平衡！）
[/引用]

Thank your advises
In fact, you already know the answer, we will have a complete interface to connect external DAC and external AMP
For USB B or USB C, we should consider which one is more universal. Because their reliability is very good， and I will use the full pins USB C interface.
Is the 3.5mm earphones interface so important? After all, connecting desktop devices are headphones.



I am very excited to see everyone's positive feedback. I will pick some more common questions to explain：
1，Since the K7 is not a flagship one, the price will not be very high. So we are going to make K7 excellent first，and announce the price later
2，Even with THX AAA 789, we can achieve very high power, more than 3W, and the sound quality is very good also; so I prefer to THX AAA 789
3，We are evaluating the new ESS DAC， because it can support MQA , do you like MQA?
Share the photo of THX module we are testing

I heard that 789 is not real full balanced design?

 

[Suppa92]

Another request.
Keep headphone output impedance lower than 1 Ohm.
Support to use High current drawing planar magnetic headphone which has very low impedance like 8 Ohms.
Many people who shops for budget DAC Amp combo like K7 may be interested in using K7 with Headphones like Verum 1 which rated at 8 Ohms.

 

[Nisachar]

What were the odds ?
All of my external DAC+Amps have been from Fiio.

I had an e18 kunlun that just kind of died a little while ago and I replaced it with a Q Mark II and a K5 Pro.
The K5pro feeds edifier S350 DB powered speakers as well as Audeze LCD-X and a rather well worn Audio Technica ATH MSR7.

the Qmark II is reserved for the. Fiio F9 Pro IEMs for its 2.5” balanced output.

I am on the lookout for a new desktop DAC/AMP System that will replace the K5 Pro (which will go into another setup ) because I am getting the HD800s and looking for something that supports it as well my existent cans, iems and speakers....basically a high quality all in one for the desktop.
I was tempted to get the Monolith 124459 Desktop until a little google search for upcoming Fiio dacs landed me on this page....and wow... if Fiio can rival the monolith with a better price point..sign me up.

 

[jerick70]

This looks fantastic! So you are saying there is going to be a TOTL version of this too?

A couple of additions I would like to see.....
1) LCD screen like the Cayin iDAC-6 MK2, and Oppo HA-1. A touch screen would be cool too.
2) Remote control for the K7
3) USB media control in windows like Oppo HA-1. So you can control your windows media app (JRiver, Tidal, Qobuz, Foobar, Audirvana, ect) via the K7 remote.
4) Galvanic isolated USB interface. Hiss and usb noises sucks.
5) More inputs and outputs to make this a true preamp, or a matching pre-amp to accompany this killer device.
6) I2S interface via an HDMI or Mini-HDMI port

 

[Chris Kaoss]

This looks fantastic! So you are saying there is going to be a TOTL version of this too?

A couple of additions I would like to see.....
1) LCD screen like the Cayin iDAC-6 MK2, and Oppo HA-1. A touch screen would be cool too.
2) Remote control for the K7
3) USB media control in windows like Oppo HA-1. So you can control your windows media app (JRiver, Tidal, Qobuz, Foobar, Audirvana, ect) via the K7 remote.
4) Galvanic isolated USB interface. Hiss and usb noises sucks.
5) More inputs and outputs to make this a true preamp, or a matching pre-amp to accompany this killer device.
6) I2S interface via an HDMI or Mini-HDMI port

I agree with #2 and #4 for the K7 Pro.

The rest belongs to the upcoming TOTL K 007 Ultra Pro HyperX.

 

[XERO1]

Maybe the K7 could be the world's first DAC-amp to use the just announced AKM AK4498EQ DAC chip and its companion AK4191EQ 64-bit delta-sigma modulator chip!

https://www.akm.com/global/en/products/audio/audio-dac/ak4498eq/

 

[mobbaddict]

probably because both have a per-unit licensing cost and if 90% of the buyers don't use it... just added cost.

There are plenty of cheap speakers and amps that have Chromecast and/or Airplay built-in, I don't think it's a matter of costs. Have a look below for examples:
https://www.son-video.com/selection/chromecast-built-in-tous-les-produits-compatibles
https://www.son-video.com/selection/airplay-apple-produits-compatibles

You're free to believe it's useless but I'm sure many users who stream their music would find this feature super useful. In the meantime the only alternative is the Chromecast audio.

 

[XueMin Ren]

What were the odds ?
All of my external DAC+Amps have been from Fiio.

I had an e18 kunlun that just kind of died a little while ago and I replaced it with a Q Mark II and a K5 Pro.
The K5pro feeds edifier S350 DB powered speakers as well as Audeze LCD-X and a rather well worn Audio Technica ATH MSR7.

the Qmark II is reserved for the. Fiio F9 Pro IEMs for its 2.5” balanced output.

I am on the lookout for a new desktop DAC/AMP System that will replace the K5 Pro (which will go into another setup ) because I am getting the HD800s and looking for something that supports it as well my existent cans, iems and speakers....basically a high quality all in one for the desktop.
I was tempted to get the Monolith 124459 Desktop until a little google search for upcoming Fiio dacs landed me on this page....and wow... if Fiio can rival the monolith with a better price point..sign me up.

The cost performance of FiiO products has been very high, which you can rest assured.And K7 will meet your needs .

I heard that 789 is not real full balanced design?

Yes, the original design was stereo

THX888 original design circuit, the output impedance of < 2 Ω

Another request.
Keep headphone output impedance lower than 1 Ohm.
Support to use High current drawing planar magnetic headphone which has very low impedance like 8 Ohms.
Many people who shops for budget DAC Amp combo like K7 may be interested in using K7 with Headphones like Verum 1 which rated at 8 Ohms.

THX888 original design circuit, the output impedance < 2 Ω

 

[killaHz]

Switchable filter presets?

 

[episiarch]

The next use case I'm buying for is a better DAC/amp for work, and this looks like a promising possibility. The things I'm looking for are

• Excellent sound quality
• Compact design that does not draw attention to itself. (K5Pro's illumination around the volume knob is off-putting for my use case)
• 3.5mm headphone output so that I don't need an ugly converter or cable swap on my IEMs (another K5pro failing for me)
• Black finish with no (or extremely minimal) shiny chrome bits (K5pro's shiny switches stand out)
• Smoothly-operating volume knob that is easy to "ride" on conference calls (participants are at ridiculously different volumes and I need to adjust continually)

K7 is honestly overkill for this, but I'd probably jump on it if it had 3.5mm out, a black finish, and isn't too physically big.

 

[XERO1]

And for a purely aesthetic preference, I would love to see all of the headphone jacks grouped together on one side of the volume knob and all of the selectors, switches and buttons grouped together on the opposite side.

 

[Kean FiiO]

Yes, the original design was stereo

Yes, the original design was stereo

For understanding of balanced circuit architecture, you can refer to M11Pro or AM3D, they use THX AAA 78.
I think THX AAA 788 can achieve real balanced output and it's output impedance is very low.
Because the final specification must meet the THX certification requirements before they can be sold