[gabriely]

Having owned both the K7 and now the K9 I can honestly say the build quality is substantially better on the K9. Noise floor wise they are both about the same no real difference using IEM's that I can hear. Layering wise and instrument placement wise the K9 is a long way in front of the K7, soundstage is also wider on the K9. Bass wise the K9 has more weight and impact to it relative to the K7. Overall the sound presentation of the K7 is smoother than the K9 but the K9 is cleaner. My favourite K9 pairing would be with FiiO's own FD7 which is sublime. Whether it's worth 3 times the price of a K7 that's debatable, for some yes for others no the laws of diminishing returns applies here. You could argue does the K9 Pro justify its price relative to the K9? Bottom line with audio price is not relative to performance.

Thank you for sharing. Lot of insight here, and a lot I agree with. K9's build quality is indeed substantially better - the K7 feels like a cheap toy comparatively, and that alone personally makes the K9 super appealing.

Having spent some more time on all devices (K7, K9, K9 Pro ESS) yeah I think the K9 is great at its price point. Sonically, I agree that layering & instrument placing on the K9 is just a level up from the K7. I will also agree the bass has more authority - I'm not saying there's more bass, but yes what bass it does have is slightly more compelling.

As much as I like the K9, why I'm apprehensive to outright say that the K9 is worth triple the price of the K7 however, is because listening to music on the K9 (with Arya Stealth), it definitely feels like there's a level of fuzz veiling whatever music I'm listening to. I don't get much hiss on IEMs when there's no music playing, but when music is playing there's definitely something tangible and noticeable on my Arya. This is to a similar or perhaps slightly greater extent than the K7, and is a phenomenon I don't experience at all on the K9 Pro ESS.

This is why though I most certainly agree with what you said about diminishing returns, and that price isn't relative to performance, I'm not 120% certain the K9 is worth triple the price of the K7. To be clear I still think the K9 is a great device - if not for this above observation I would've said it's a no-brainer blind buy at its price because the K9 is an upgrade and a triumph in every other way.

The good news is, my experience seems to be a one-off (maybe there's just something up with the one unit I tried), but if this is a replicable phenomenon then of course it would be something to think about when spending this money while we're in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

 

[GunGrave]

Thank you both for the comparisson, this was very informative.

 

[scracy]

Thank you for sharing. Lot of insight here, and a lot I agree with. K9's build quality is indeed substantially better - the K7 feels like a cheap toy comparatively, and that alone personally makes the K9 super appealing.

Having spent some more time on all devices (K7, K9, K9 Pro ESS) yeah I think the K9 is great at its price point. Sonically, I agree that layering & instrument placing on the K9 is just a level up from the K7. I will also agree the bass has more authority - I'm not saying there's more bass, but yes what bass it does have is slightly more compelling.

As much as I like the K9, why I'm apprehensive to outright say that the K9 is worth triple the price of the K7 however, is because listening to music on the K9 (with Arya Stealth), it definitely feels like there's a level of fuzz veiling whatever music I'm listening to. I don't get much hiss on IEMs when there's no music playing, but when music is playing there's definitely something tangible and noticeable on my Arya. This is to a similar or perhaps slightly greater extent than the K7, and is a phenomenon I don't experience at all on the K9 Pro ESS.

This is why though I most certainly agree with what you said about diminishing returns, and that price isn't relative to performance, I'm not 120% certain the K9 is worth triple the price of the K7. To be clear I still think the K9 is a great device - if not for this above observation I would've said it's a no-brainer blind buy at its price because the K9 is an upgrade and a triumph in every other way.

The good news is, my experience seems to be a one-off (maybe there's just something up with the one unit I tried), but if this is a replicable phenomenon then of course it would be something to think about when spending this money while we're in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

I'm not sure exactly what you are referring too as I havent expierenced any fuzz some veiling initially (lack of clarity and openess) but that was largely gone after around 20-25hours of use. Did you expierence this same fuzz veiling with the IEM's you used, I'm just curious. It may be bad pairing between the two, I expierenced that with the K7 and HD660S as I noted at the time in the K7 thread. Hopefully @Dsnuts and or @Ichos will post a review of the FiiO K9 at some stage, it will interesting to read what their thoughts are.

 

[gabriely]

I'm not sure exactly what you are referring too as I havent expierenced any fuzz some veiling initially (lack of clarity and openess) but that was largely gone after around 20-25hours of use. Did you expierence this same fuzz veiling with the IEM's you used, I'm just curious. It may be bad pairing between the two, I expierenced that with the K7 and HD660S as I noted at the time in the K7 thread. Hopefully @Dsnuts and or @Ichos will post a review of the FiiO K9 at some stage, it will interesting to read what their thoughts are.

I did not demo it with an IEM unfortunately - just the Arya Stealth at the moment! I believe a pairing issue could be what's up - it's very possible and certainly on the table. Although the K9 is new and I am aware that there are issues with materials shortages, hence why there is only one demo unit in Singapore, and no stock for sale - I'm sure if this was a more widespread issue more reviewers and users would have spoken about it by now.

 

[scracy]

I did not demo it with an IEM unfortunately - just the Arya Stealth at the moment! I believe a pairing issue could be what's up - it's very possible and certainly on the table. Although the K9 is new and I am aware that there are issues with materials shortages, hence why there is only one demo unit in Singapore, and no stock for sale - I'm sure if this was a more widespread issue more reviewers and users would have spoken about it by now.

K9 is very hard to come by in Australia too. Personally I purchased the K9 to use exclusively with my IEM collection using the balanced 4.4mm connection. Also I have noticed an improvement in overall sound quality when switching to medium gain on the K9, not that my IEM's require that much power but there is a noticeable difference in soundstage width and depth with the medium gain setting, can't explain why.

 

[KaiFi]

So I've seen a few of you mention "noise floor". Are you saying that with over-ear headphones you can hear audible hiss? At what volume? This might be a dealbreaker for me, since I currently own a couple cheaper amps where this isn't a problem.

 

[EdgeDC]

So I've seen a few of you mention "noise floor". Are you saying that with over-ear headphones you can hear audible hiss? At what volume? This might be a dealbreaker for me, since I currently own a couple cheaper amps where this isn't a problem.

The noise floor simply means how quiet it is when it is on, but when there is no sound playing at all. Some people have an audio track that is intentionally dead silent to test it.

For the most part, you are not going to hear any hiss with most over-ear headphones - the most noticeable will be with some very, very sensitive IEMs, but it depends entirely on which piece of listening equipment you are using, and how sensitive they are. The sensitivity and impedance of the headphones/IEMs are a general indication of where the noise floor starts to matter:

• Low sensitivity, high impedance headphones/IEMs - very unlikely you'll ever notice a hiss problem
• High sensitivity, low impedance headphones/IEMs - you may notice a hiss problem, but that is what people are talking about with the "noise floor". On an amp with a very low noise floor, even with super sensitive headphones/IEMs, it is not an issue.

 

[Kegra]

Just received mine.

I immediately have a few questions:

1. The box came without a factory film - is this a normal situation? I ordered from the official FiiO store on AliExpress. It's just that all their previous boxes were packed in factory film.

2. The characteristics of the device claim support for PCM 32 bit 768K , but in the Windows 10 settings, only 32 bit 384K is available to me. Why is the 768K option not displayed? FiiO driver version 5.50.

3. When switching the gain level, there is a delay of 2-3 seconds, that is, the sound volume does not change immediately. Is this a normal situation? XMOS firmware version 1.30.

 

[scracy]

Just received mine.

I immediately have a few questions:

1. The box came without a factory film - is this a normal situation? I ordered from the official FiiO store on AliExpress. It's just that all their previous boxes were packed in factory film.

2. The characteristics of the device claim support for PCM 32 bit 768K , but in the Windows 10 settings, only 32 bit 384K is available to me. Why is the 768K option not displayed? FiiO driver version 5.50.

3. When switching the gain level, there is a delay of 2-3 seconds, that is, the sound volume does not change immediately. Is this a normal situation? XMOS firmware version 1.30.

1.Mine didn't come with factory film either however mine was boxed within another plain box and packed really well as result.

2.Dont know haven't expierenced that issue as I only use 16Bit FLAC files and the Windows 10 driver not the FiiO one.

3.Not sure what you mean here? I use medium gain on mine set volume to around 75% and use Windows system volume to do the rest via a macro on my mouse. I haven't updated xmos firmware though.

 

[Kegra]

Not sure what you mean here? I use medium gain on mine set volume to around 75% and use Windows system volume to do the rest via a macro on my mouse.

I mean, when music is playing in the headphones and you switch the gain from L to M, or from M to H, or vice versa, the volume of the music being played does not change immediately, but after 2-3 seconds. We are not talking about changing the volume in the Windows settings or using the scroll wheel on the K9, we are only talking about changing the volume level when the position of the gain button is changed, when the music is already playing in the conditional foobar2000. On my old K3, the volume of the music being played changed instantly when the gain was changed.

There is some firmware updates for the K9.

I don't know, I found only one update for XMOS firmware version 1.30 on the FiiO website: https://forum.fiio.com/note/showNoteContent.do?id=202304271138393227751 Out of the box was version 1.29. There is also a firmware update for Bluetooth version 1.1, it was 1.0 out of the box. I did not find any other firmware.

 

[Kegra]

I mean, when music is playing in the headphones and you switch the gain from L to M, or from M to H, or vice versa, the volume of the music being played does not change immediately, but after 2-3 seconds. We are not talking about changing the volume in the Windows settings or using the scroll wheel on the K9, we are only talking about changing the volume level when the position of the gain button is changed, when the music is already playing in the conditional foobar2000. On my old K3, the volume of the music being played changed instantly when the gain was changed.

Here is the delay I'm talking about: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HcZX3klyhigNPkCzMK6996dvysBssWvP/view?usp=sharing

 

[Kegra]

Having owned both the K7 and now the K9 I can honestly say the build quality is substantially better on the K9.

In terms of looks, the K7 does feel like a cheap toy compared to the K9, but in terms of build, the K7 is more solid with all its buttons and controls than the K9. K9 has rattling gain and output controls, for comparison, I showed K3 and K7 in the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HjAAgIyIS0Qt9iDN5_xUOM4px_pZZl7n/view?usp=sharing

It may seem that I find fault and are generally dissatisfied with the purchase, but this is not so. It's just always interesting to compare a new device with those already in the collection according to certain criteria. By the sound of K9, I definitely like it more, but I need more time for a clear listening and comparison.

 

[scracy]

I mean, when music is playing in the headphones and you switch the gain from L to M, or from M to H, or vice versa, the volume of the music being played does not change immediately, but after 2-3 seconds. We are not talking about changing the volume in the Windows settings or using the scroll wheel on the K9, we are only talking about changing the volume level when the position of the gain button is changed, when the music is already playing in the conditional foobar2000. On my old K3, the volume of the music being played changed instantly when the gain was changed.

I don't know, I found only one update for XMOS firmware version 1.30 on the FiiO website: https://forum.fiio.com/note/showNoteContent.do?id=202304271138393227751 Out of the box was version 1.29. There is also a firmware update for Bluetooth version 1.1, it was 1.0 out of the box. I did not find any other firmware.

We have different use scenarios by the sound of it, I don't switch the gain switch with headphones or IEM's playing music or plugged in as it could potentially damage them. I haven't noticed any rattles with gain switches on my unit either, but I didn't go looking for them either. I'm still running the original xmos firmware.
Edit:The gain and output switches are a little loose on my unit too but normal for the type of switch that it is, it's not a toggle switch like the K7 has.

 

[Kegra]

In general, I contacted FiiO support by mail, I am attaching screenshots of their answers here for everyone who is interested.

1. Regarding the packaging, there is information at this link: https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/805005.html

2. Windows itself does not accept frequencies higher than 384K, therefore the frequency of 768K cannot be seen in the general list of settings. However, K9 has no problems with playing such a frequency using its driver with ASIO support in various players, for example, in foobar2000.

3. The delay in changing the volume of the sound at the moment the gain control is switched is normal.

 

[Kegra]

By the way, maybe this is a stupid question, I apologize in advance, but I don’t understand - is there a difference between a balanced 4.4 mm output and a balanced XLR4? Conditional FiiO FT3 how best to connect?