[FiiO]

just tried to do a bluetooth connection with win7 . win7 saw the k9pro device, but when trying to connect it said it has no bluetooth driver for the bluetooth device.
FiiO USB drivers are installed and others I did not find - hoped the usb drivers include bluetooth drivers too.
@FiiO: is it possible at all to use k9pro from windows as bluetooth dac (the same way I would do it from a android device)? I can use bluetooth headset in windwos, so theoretically it should be possible.

Dear friend,

We tried that the K9Pro could work as Bluetooth amplifier in Windows and MAC.

Best regards

 

[looki look]

Dear friend,

We tried that the K9Pro could work as Bluetooth amplifier in Windows and MAC.

Best regards

I tried firmware b15 and b18 and with both I can't make it work.
win7: bluetooth device k9pro can be seen, but win7 device installation fails because it can't find a driver
win11: bluetooth device k9pro does not appear in the device list, so I can't connect
probably the beta firmware is the problem?

 

[FiiO]

I tried firmware b15 and b18 and with both I can't make it work.
win7: bluetooth device k9pro can be seen, but win7 device installation fails because it can't find a driver
win11: bluetooth device k9pro does not appear in the device list, so I can't connect
probably the beta firmware is the problem?

Dear friend,

The beta firmware is not Bluetooth firmware so it should not affect Bluetooth connection.
The Bluetooth transmitter is in your computer or the Ugreen one?
My colleague tried to find a Ugreen driver, you could check whether it helps: https://www.lulian.cn/download/22-cn.html

Best regards

 

[Voohoo]

The story of Dual 9038Pro value-for-money all-in-one DAC/Amp FiiO K9 Pro--From JamesFiiO

Chapter 1 K9 | K9 Pro AKM | K9 Pro ESS Summary

Although I have introduced the K9 Pro ESS version, I would like to give more details since some users may feel confused about the K9 series.
The K9 and K9 Pro are two products with different positioning, but according to our naming convention, you can guess that the appearances and functions of the K9 and K9 Pro are basically the same.
By the way, the K9 using dual ES9068AS DAC chips will have a more competitive price. Budget users can consider pulling a trigger.
While the K9 Pro AKM and ESS versions were accidents. It was because of the AKM fire, we only had 2000 pieces of AK4499 chips available. As a consequence, we made 3 decisions.
1. Since the sales of the music player should be greater, the M17 originally planned to use the AK4499 gave concessions to using the ES9038PRO.
2. Due to the small quantity of the DAC chip, if each K9 Pro used 2 DACs as the original plan, there would be fewer final products. That is why we decided to equip the K9 Pro with just a single chip.
3. The K9 Pro will be evolved into two sub-models, namely the K9 Pro AKM with 1 AK4499 DAC, and the K9 Pro ESS with 2 ES9038Pro DACs.
Therefore, in our product series, the K9 and K9 Pro are positioned differently. Of course, the K9 Pro is much stronger, while the K9 Pro AKM and ESS versions are of the same level. The core difference is actually the model of the DAC as well as its quantity equipped in the device.
So which one of the two versions of the K9 Pro is stronger and better? To be honest, although there are some differences in the audio parameters between the two versions, the K9 Pro ESS would be a notch above the K9 Pro AKM due to the use of dual DACs. But in terms of sound performance, the main difference comes from the sound style differences between AKM and ESS companies. AKM's is more musical, while ESS's has higher quality. The two can be said to be rivals, so it would be hard to say who’s the winner.
If we put aside the sound differences of the two versions, I personally think the K9 Pro AKM4499 version is a better choice (the appearance difference is to distinguish them, where the volume knob is PVD processed, but not made of genuine gold).
The first reason is that the K9 Pro AKM is cheaper. In fact, since the AK4499 is already an out of print chip, it is reasonable for us to price the AKM version the same as that of the ESS version. However, we think it is not so friendly to our users in this way.
The second reason is that the AK4499 chip has been discontinued. So the AKM version of the K9 Pro is limited. There are only about 500 units available in China. When a thing is rare, it becomes precious. Therefore, the value of the K9 Pro AKM version will be longer maintained compared to the ESS version.
So, which version of the K9 Pro do you prefer?

I've been going through this thread and this is the explanation I needed. I didn't understand why there was an ESS version being released to make the lineup more confusing. Based on this I think I want the AKM version.

But if I run balanced is there an advantage to having dual DACs? I guess it would then be "fully balanced" but not sure if this is actually an advantage.

 

[Telin]

I didn't understand why there was an ESS version being released to make the lineup more confusing.

The released the AKM version knowing that they couldn't make enough of them due the fire at AKM factory and the resulting chip shortages.

So they introduced the dual es9038pro version to "justify" the even higher asking price then the AKM version while it doesn't really add anything. It will sell of course as most people still assume that more is automatically better.

But if I run balanced is there an advantage to having dual DACs?

None whatsoever

I guess it would then be "fully balanced" but not sure if this is actually an advantage.

Again no.
You don't need 2 DAC chips to get "fully" balanced

There is no real world advantage in dual ES9038pro setup for the user. Only one who gains something is the manufacturer who can jackup the price due audiophile believe 2 is better then one and are willing to pay stupid amounts of money for it.

 

[ATimoff]

Good general question. The main idea is to move from the scarce AK4499 to the mass and affordable ES9038Pro. The question of two DACs is debatable. For example, this is a marketing approach. But there is an engineering point of view. Each chip has several built-in channels. The AK4499 chip has 4 built-in channels. The ES9038Pro chip has 8 built-in channels. They can be connected in parallel within the same chip. This results in a proportional improvement in SNR in the mono channel. Look at the comparison table. Does it look like this case? But there is one requirement. The circuit around the DAC, in any case, should be of the highest quality. Also remember that these chips produce different sound. Some people like the sound of ESS. And someone for AKM. It's good to have a choice!

 

[Moon5123]

Good general question. The main idea is to move from the scarce AK4499 to the mass and affordable ES9038Pro. The question of two DACs is debatable. For example, this is a marketing approach. But there is an engineering point of view. Each chip has several built-in channels. The AK4499 chip has 4 built-in channels. The ES9038Pro chip has 8 built-in channels. They can be connected in parallel within the same chip. This results in a proportional improvement in SNR in the mono channel. Look at the comparison table. Does it look like this case? But there is one requirement. The circuit around the DAC, in any case, should be of the highest quality. Also remember that these chips produce different sound. Some people like the sound of ESS. And someone for AKM. It's good to have a choice!

SNR improve sound quality in the sense detail retrieval, better sound stage,etc ? Other than the noise it is reducing which are any ways not heard by users unless using very sensitive IEMs.
Just wondering will ESS version will improve the already good sound quality of AKM version.

 

[TheNameIsGerald]

dear @FiiO , can i please ask for a clarification on the MQA implementation of the K9 Pro:
1. your product page says "The K9 Pro supports MQA Renderer" while the MQA page says "provide full decoding". So is the K9 Pro an MQA renderer or full decoder?
2. will this be the same for the K9 Pro ESS? (There is no product page yet for the ESS version)

thank you

 

[looki look]

Dear friend,

The beta firmware is not Bluetooth firmware so it should not affect Bluetooth connection.
The Bluetooth transmitter is in your computer or the Ugreen one?
My colleague tried to find a Ugreen driver, you could check whether it helps: https://www.lulian.cn/download/22-cn.html


Best regards

It meanwhile works on a win10pro pc (internal ASUS/Intelchip pci express wireless/bluetooth card)
and on a win11pro mini pc (internal m2 intel ax210 wireless/bluetooth card)
I don't know why. I only moved the k9pro to the win10 room (disconnected power cord), but there it did not work. now i'm back in
the other room with the k9pro and now it works on win11 and just testet with win10 in the other romm without moving k9pro and now it workes there too.

For the win7 machine I even bought a new asus usb-bt500 (bluetooth 5.0) usbstick. I see k9pro in device list, but the icon swaps from headphone Icon to "unknown/other" icon.
And when I click to connect/pair it gives an error message "couldn't connect in the expected time". here 2 screenshots with the 2 icons - on win10/11 I see it twice with hp icon and a "2 rectangle" icon.
this icon is shown only sometimes:

most of the time it appears with this icon:

 

[john57]

dear @FiiO , can i please ask for a clarification on the MQA implementation of the K9 Pro:
1. your product page says "The K9 Pro supports MQA Renderer" while the MQA page says "provide full decoding". So is the K9 Pro an MQA renderer or full decoder?
2. will this be the same for the K9 Pro ESS? (There is no product page yet for the ESS version)

thank you

From post 617

"Hello
FiiO K9 Pro MQA only suppor MQA Renderer, as we have shown on the official website.
The reason why we can't use MQA Full decoder is because AKM4499 and XMOS XUF208 in the list of MQA can only support to Renderer, other Products may reach to do MQA Full decoder because of the different DAC chips and XMOS chips used."

 

[ATimoff]

@Moon5123 For many, a signal-to-noise ratio of about -100 dB is sufficient. There will be no audible difference. Owners of the AKM version have nothing to worry about. In case of ECC version: this parameter indicates excess potential in DAC circuitry and other technical solutions. We see that "Fio" did not stint. For sound in headphones, the "crosstalk" parameter is important - not lower than -55..-60dB. This greatly affects the quality of the scene. In theory, "crosstalk" should also be slightly improved with this channel separation. Let's hope. But for some reason this characteristic is not shown to us. And another thought. Over time, due to the temperature degradation of the elements, all parameters will begin to sag. The initial excess is welcome. And do not forget about the different sound of DACs of these brands. Personally, I'm used to the excess granularity of ECC. It's more analytical, but tiresome for extended listening... The digital filter will have to be adjusted.

 

[ATimoff]

I'm sorry! Difficulties of machine translation. "not lower than -55..-60dB." Understand as "not worse than -55..-60dB".

 

[Moon5123]

@Moon5123 For many, a signal-to-noise ratio of about -100 dB is sufficient. There will be no audible difference. Owners of the AKM version have nothing to worry about. In case of ECC version: this parameter indicates excess potential in DAC circuitry and other technical solutions. We see that "Fio" did not stint. For sound in headphones, the "crosstalk" parameter is important - not lower than -55..-60dB. This greatly affects the quality of the scene. In theory, "crosstalk" should also be slightly improved with this channel separation. Let's hope. But for some reason this characteristic is not shown to us. And another thought. Over time, due to the temperature degradation of the elements, all parameters will begin to sag. The initial excess is welcome. And do not forget about the different sound of DACs of these brands. Personally, I'm used to the excess granularity of ECC. It's more analytical, but tiresome for extended listening... The digital filter will have to be adjusted.

Thanks for the detailed explanation.
But will fiio tune ESS version to be analytical, like the analytical thx amp they tuned to warm sound.
Can not the AKM version can be made to sound analytical with a analytical amps like smsl su9 or other thx dedicated amps?

 

[TheNameIsGerald]

From post 617

"Hello
FiiO K9 Pro MQA only suppor MQA Renderer, as we have shown on the official website.
The reason why we can't use MQA Full decoder is because AKM4499 and XMOS XUF208 in the list of MQA can only support to Renderer, other Products may reach to do MQA Full decoder because of the different DAC chips and XMOS chips used."

thank you for digging up post #617 So the ESS variant might be a full decoder - we'll have to wait and see.

 

[ATimoff]

@Moon5123 It seems that from a marketing point of view, a softer sound is more in demand. Suitable for most. Analytical audio can be tedious and expensive. In our case, an increase in SNR may indirectly indicate that the "ESS brightness" is not completely killed. It suits me. Something else worries me. Lack of rave reviews from the sound on the RCA connector. Am I wrong? This should be the best way out, along with the neighboring balanced one! It is not for nothing that in the top models, operational amplifiers for RCA are installed on removable panels. To upgrade chips. By the way. This can be a competitive advantage. "Change chips, find your sound!" In the meantime, let's wait for the big presentation of the characteristics.