[Dimitry188]

Guys, hi.
I'm still confused why my K9 PRO ESS sounds with my Arya V3 Stealth, AKxEE Odyssey, CA Solaris 2020, etc. pretty MEDIOCRE. Connection is only 4.4 balanced.
No, I definitely don’t have any technical problems or defects. Just the sound from k9 pro is at the level of pocket dongles for $200-300. But this shouldn’t be the case; the difference should be noticeable by ear. I'm using a phone and a type c input, maybe this is the problem?

The output mode is bitperfect, I'm sure of it, because during MQA output the ring glows purple.

Any ideas? Should I try playing with filters on K9, or will they not change the picture either?

Unfortunately, Fiio K9 Pro's capabilities are not enough to provide the right sound with Arya headphones.
These are very high-level headphones, they need a sound source of the appropriate level.
Which K9 Pro is NOT.
Especially at low frequencies.

Even Hifiman Serenade does not reveal all the possibilities of Arya.

An amplifier Aune S17 Pro is very good for Arya.
And to it - some kind of DAC of a sufficiently high level.
Only then can you hear all the possibilities of these headphones. It's almost a top.

Or you can connect an additional amplifier to your K9 Pro. For example, Singxer SA-1. The sound will get much better.

 

[makbrown]

Unfortunately, Fiio K9 Pro's capabilities are not enough to provide the right sound with Arya headphones.
These are very high-level headphones, they need a sound source of the appropriate level.
Which K9 Pro is NOT.
Especially at low frequencies.

Even Hifiman Serenade does not reveal all the possibilities of Arya.

An amplifier Aune S17 Pro is very good for Arya.
And to it - some kind of DAC of a sufficiently high level.
Only then can you hear all the possibilities of these headphones. It's almost a top.

Or you can connect an additional amplifier to your K9 Pro. For example, Singxer SA-1. The sound will get much better.

Is the problem with the K9 Pro only in the amplifier part, or in the DAC too? The DAC seems to be good

 

[makbrown]

Are there any owners of k9 pro ess and Arya in the thread to confirm this theory? That k9 pro ess is not enough for Arya

 

[Ichos]

Are there any owners of k9 pro ess and Arya in the thread to confirm this theory? That k9 pro ess is not enough for Arya

The K9 PRO ESS is perfectly fine for the Arya Stealth and Organic.

 

[Voohoo]

Are there any owners of k9 pro ess and Arya in the thread to confirm this theory? That k9 pro ess is not enough for Arya

I run my Arya Organic with the K9 Pro AKM and the FiiO KA13 dongle and it sounds awesome with both. I only have a Schiit Jotunheim V1 to compare with. The Jotunheim has more power but sounds more grainy than the K9.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Unfortunately, Fiio K9 Pro's capabilities are not enough to provide the right sound with Arya headphones.
These are very high-level headphones, they need a sound source of the appropriate level.
Which K9 Pro is NOT.
Especially at low frequencies.

Even Hifiman Serenade does not reveal all the possibilities of Arya.

An amplifier Aune S17 Pro is very good for Arya.
And to it - some kind of DAC of a sufficiently high level.
Only then can you hear all the possibilities of these headphones. It's almost a top.

Or you can connect an additional amplifier to your K9 Pro. For example, Singxer SA-1. The sound will get much better.

See https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rec...nely-curious-objectivist.972411/post-18078699 (post #9) for my detailed "impressions" of how the FiiO K9 Pro ESS held up against a few other amps and DACs for driving the Meze Elite which I know is at least in my own measurements quite superior to HiFiMan eggs in bass and multi-tone distortion performance. I don't know if you have personally heard the K9 Pro ESS or done so in volume-matched conditions, but I know what I personally hear and don't hear.

@makbrown It is unfortunate that you still find discontent with your unit. Is there any way for you to hear another FiiO K9 Pro ESS unit or have yours exchanged on warranty? And I presume the 115 V versus 220 V switch was set correctly.

 

[Dimitry188]

I don't know if you have personally heard the K9 Pro ESS or done so in volume-matched conditions,

I've been using Fiio K9 Pro ESS for about two years, so I had every opportunity to explore its capabilities carefully, comprehensively and with a lot of headphones.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

I've been using Fiio K9 Pro ESS for about two years, so I had every opportunity to explore its capabilities carefully, comprehensively and with a lot of headphones.

How do you find the HiFiMan Serenade compared to the FiiO K9 Pro ESS as an R2R and Class A combo?

 

[Dimitry188]

How do you find the HiFiMan Serenade compared to the FiiO K9 Pro ESS as an R2R and Class A combo?

For full-size planars, Serenade is much better than Fiio K9 Pro.
The sound is quite good and full-fledged.

At the same time, Serenade slightly smooths (reduces detail) the sound and therefore sounds a little simpler than my current main setup - Singxer SDA-6 + Aune s17 Pro.

And with Serenade (unlike Fiio K9 Pro), sensitive in-ear headphones make noise.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

For full-size planars, Serenade is much better than Fiio K9 Pro.
The sound is quite good and full-fledged.

At the same time, Serenade slightly smooths (reduces detail) the sound and therefore sounds a little simpler than my current main setup - Singxer SDA-6 + Aune s17 Pro.

And with Serenade (unlike Fiio K9 Pro), sensitive in-ear headphones make noise.

Is the FiiO K9 Pro ESS sounding dull, flabby, weak, or even more smoothed compared to your Serenade? Or is it sounding harsh? Did your FiiO K9 Pro ESS ever sound "good" early on in your ownership of it? Are you using the balanced connections or adjusting the gain? Maybe there really is some unit variation that had you experiencing issues similar to makbrown inconsistent with what a number of us have reported. Or maybe it isn't agreeing well with your local mains power, whether or not it is mains noise or the DAC/amp's circuitry for handling 220 V assuming that you are in fact in Russia. @makbrown Is your local mains 110-115 V or 220-230 V? Is anyone else here with their unit set to 220 V finding issues with the sound? One thing I will admit is that while https://www.fiio.com/k9proess_parameters officially lists a "recommended" supply of 110-115 V, mains power in North America is currently 120 V (on average, I believe), whether or not that makes a difference in yielding a "more detailed and dynamic" amp.

 

[Voohoo]

Just in case any of you haven't heard yet, FiiO announced their new K19 DAC/amp flagship earlier this week.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Just in case any of you haven't heard yet, FiiO announced their new K19 DAC/amp flagship earlier this week.

There was word of it in early March. At least by my ears in my two recent encounters with it at a shop, the only advantage was loudness and more features; https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rec...nely-curious-objectivist.972411/post-18078699 (post #9) for more details. The lack of analog inputs is a bummer for my use case. It gets pretty warm when left on standby in its sideways orientation with the included rubber feet. I also much prefer the K9s' smooth volume knob to the K19's tactile knob, though I would have wished such had smaller volume increments and actually made use of the entire arc of motion of the knob.

 

[Dimitry188]

Is the FiiO K9 Pro ESS sounding dull, flabby, weak, or even more smoothed compared to your Serenade? Or is it sounding harsh?

Fiio K9 Pro significantly simplifies the low frequencies of top-end planar headphones. In this sense, it is not suitable for such headphones.
The easiest way to formulate this is that the Fiio K9 Pro lacks a general level.
That is, with K9 Pro you don't get the full sound that these headphones are capable of.

Otherwise, it is an excellent device. One of the best for its price.
But it is important to know its limitations.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Fiio K9 Pro significantly simplifies the low frequencies of top-end planar headphones. In this sense, it is not suitable for such headphones.
The easiest way to formulate this is that the Fiio K9 Pro lacks a general level.
That is, with K9 Pro you don't get the full sound that these headphones are capable of.

Otherwise, it is an excellent device. One of the best for its price.
But it is important to know its limitations.

Could you share an example track demonstrating how the FiiO K9 Pro ESS "significantly simplifies the low frequencies"? If for "top-end planar headphones", you are talking about the DCA Expanse (which I have heard driven plenty loud on high gain, though indeed close to maxing out my amp) or Susvara, sure, the K9 Pro ESS may indeed be objectively not powerful enough to drive those headphones to the desired dynamic peaks, but for more efficient planars like the HE1000se or Meze Elite (easily run at 3 o'clock low gain out of the balanced outputs), I would disagree. I had already described in https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rec...nely-curious-objectivist.972411/post-18078699 (post #9) that for my ears, the K9 Pro ESS held up well against the more powerful RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE in driving the unEQed Meze Elite; after using a multimeter to more precisely volume match the DAC/amps, any impressions of the RME seeming more detailed in bass or drum skin rendering eventually disappeared mind at one point reversed. In short, I would advise against making sweeping generalizations of gear's perceived performance.

 

[llysender]

Could you share an example track demonstrating how the FiiO K9 Pro ESS "significantly simplifies the low frequencies"? If for "top-end planar headphones", you are talking about the DCA Expanse (which I have heard driven plenty loud on high gain, though indeed close to maxing out my amp) or Susvara, sure, the K9 Pro ESS may indeed be objectively not powerful enough to drive those headphones to the desired dynamic peaks, but for more efficient planars like the HE1000se or Meze Elite (easily run at 3 o'clock low gain out of the balanced outputs), I would disagree. I had already described in https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rec...nely-curious-objectivist.972411/post-18078699 (post #9) that for my ears, the K9 Pro ESS held up well against the more powerful RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE in driving the unEQed Meze Elite; after using a multimeter to more precisely volume match the DAC/amps, any impressions of the RME seeming more detailed in bass or drum skin rendering eventually disappeared mind at one point reversed. In short, I would advise against making sweeping generalizations of gear's perceived performance.

hmmmm I didnt know that there was a serenade vs K9 pro going on. The main thing with the serenade is that it has a wetter more distorted bass with a nice warmish with a moderate lower treble boost making it alot more "fun" sounding. Also unlike the K9 pro(granted I only A/Bed with the AKM version) the hifiman himalaya chips tend to squish everything to the front in a 2Dish but well saperated image which may sound more detailed at first but alot of the nuance is lost compared to the K9 pro.

One thing that is correct is that the seranade has much more headroom than the K9 pro. But then again the serenade is alot more noisy as well and the noise floor can be head at my normal listening volumes on the quad era-1 and the demo HEK steath.

Overall unless you need to blast your music I much prefer the K9 pro for its smooth and relexing yet very detailed signature. Then again I can kind of see the dry and articulate bass as being "simpified" if he wants wet and nasty bass. Personally if you wanted a clean Hifiman himalaya sound the EF600 is much better than the serenade imo.