[quawn0418]

Do you know the concept of "paid reviews"?

Honestly dude, i sold my adi-2 and singxer sa-1 after i purchased the k9 (akm)…so maybe there’s just something wrong with your unit. The k9 sounds amazing, I’m also a Canjam regular and have demoed many dacs and amps costing way more. Feels like cayin sent you lol

 

[padawan25]

Do you know the concept of "paid reviews"?

Ya...not once did I use " professional reviewer" as an example. I'm talking about forums just like this one. many many positive reviews, just about everywhere......from everyday users like me.

I'm starting to think your poor review post isn't quite on the level..............

 

[Bozon]

Honestly dude, i sold my adi-2 and singxer sa-1 after i purchased the k9 (akm)…so maybe there’s just something wrong with your unit. The k9 sounds amazing, I’m also a Canjam regular and have demoed many dacs and amps costing way more. Feels like cayin sent you lol

Nope. Just my experience with this particular DAC (and many others). So, by your assumption, I was sent by RME, Topping, Cayin, Arcam (I also use a CD50S SACD/DAC from this brand), NAD (I have a C658 as preamp/DAC/Streamer as well) and Astell&Kern to denigrate Fiio?

I believe that yours sounds good. However, I am not very convinced to risk another 900 dollars (this is how much this product costs here) to buy a second unit to test if mine is a lemon. (I might be more willing to purchase an ESS version instead, however)

 

[Bozon]

Ya...not once did I use " professional reviewer" as an example. I'm talking about forums just like this one. many many positive reviews, just about everywhere......from everyday users like me.

I'm starting to think your poor review post isn't quite on the level..............

I am very sorry for this misunderstanding. BTW not all are positive reviews. I only managed to find one objective review here:

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/fiio-k9pro/

And those measurements, while not bad are by no means state of the art.

I have tested the K9 Pro as an analog preamp too feeding it from the RCA inputs and my experience regarding the SQ was also poor (actually very similar to the DAC section). Side to side with my NAD C658 (which is NOT state of the art by any means) feeding the same power amplifier I also found big differences. While the NAD sounds sharp focused on the sound stage. The Fiio sounds diffused and poorly balanced.

 

[Bozon]

Question: Did the sound of yours K9 Pros improved after a burning period? how much time?

I detected that my unit has lowered its brightness a bit (it is still bright sounding but less than before).

 

[desertsilver]

I am very sorry for this misunderstanding. BTW not all are positive reviews. I only managed to find one objective review here:

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/fiio-k9pro/

And those measurements, while not bad are by no means state of the art.

I have tested the K9 Pro as an analog preamp too feeding it from the RCA inputs and my experience regarding the SQ was also poor (actually very similar to the DAC section). Side to side with my NAD C658 (which is NOT state of the art by any means) feeding the same power amplifier I also found big differences. While the NAD sounds sharp focused on the sound stage. The Fiio sounds diffused and poorly balanced.

For complete fairness, the author of the cited review specifically says the test was done a 'prototype', a pre-production unit, and not representative to the final product.

 

[desertsilver]

Question: Did the sound of yours K9 Pros improved after a burning period? how much time?

I detected that my unit has lowered its brightness a bit (it is still bright sounding but less than before).

Not a big fan of burn-in, I think it has more to do with the music material, headphone or speakers. Frankly speaking, I am a pretty low-fi person, don't think the DAC make a big difference comparing with analog components given it has good chips and decent manufacture quality. I think the amp part of the K9 does a good job driving my run of the mill headphones, AKG 702 & Beyer 770Pro. K9 has good control on low frequency, and pretty neutral on highs. One thing that I was really impressed with K9 is that I heard distinguished new details the very first time I listened to it with my AKG.

 

[Bozon]

For complete fairness, the author of the cited review specifically says the test was done a 'prototype', a pre-production unit, and not representative to the final product.

it is possible that the "final" product measures different. But since no other measurements are available, I believe that the ones on the link are correct.

Maybe the manufacturer could provide some?

 

[Bozon]

Not a big fan of burn-in, I think it has more to do with the music material, headphone or speakers. Frankly speaking, I am a pretty low-fi person, don't think the DAC make a big difference comparing with analog components given it has good chips and decent manufacture quality. I think the amp part of the K9 does a good job driving my run of the mill headphones, AKG 702 & Beyer 770Pro. K9 has good control on low frequency, and pretty neutral on highs. One thing that I was really impressed with K9 is that I heard distinguished new details the very first time I listened to it with my AKG.

Absolutely incorrect. As I mentioned on my previous posts, I had a lot of digital sources with me and had a big bunch on the past that I have sold. They ALL sound different. Not once I could not differentiate one from another.

 

[desertsilver]

Absolutely incorrect. As I mentioned on my previous posts, I had a lot of digital sources with me and had a big bunch on the past that I have sold. They ALL sound different. Not once I could not differentiate one from another.

I respect your opinion, we all have different thoughts on different gears. For myself, I'm moving on from DAC/Amp for now and set my eyes on a pair of Hifiman...Cheers!

 

[FiiO]

@FiiO on low gain (headphone mode) (AKM version), the volume knob has a dead zone between 0 and 25%. You have to turn the volume up to 25% to hear anything. You hear nothing. Is this fixed in the new firmware?

Dear friend,

This is a normal feature of the potentiometer. It has 15° allowance and the structure will leave allowance.

Best regards

 

[TommyGeenexus]

@FiiO on low gain (headphone mode) (AKM version), the volume knob has a dead zone between 0 and 25%. You have to turn the volume up to 25% to hear anything. You hear nothing. Is this fixed in the new firmware?

The first few degrees do not influence the volume at all. The volume level is at 0 till the first few degrees, only then it starts to rise (the K9 sends bluetooth volume level commands so you can read the volume % precisely).

 

[Impossible]

Just got my k9 pro yesterday and I love this thing.

I'm so glad I got rid of my topping d90se and A90 combo.

The k9 pro has put the life into my music again and it's more detailed.

E.g. On the track Tron legacy - flyn lives. Towards the end there if a flute, on the topping its faint and way way in the distance. On the k9 pro is clear and present.

On the topping it "felt" like the notes were stretched and flattened. But the k9 pro doesn't do that.

I can't wait to get home and listen to music. Unlike the topping.

I tried a lot of dac's and amps but the k9 pro blows them away. Including chord tt2 with upsampler, rme adi 2. The chord was basicly no base and exaggerated top end with sibilance.

 

[Bozon]

Just got my k9 pro yesterday and I love this thing.

I'm so glad I got rid of my topping d90se and A90 combo.

The k9 pro has put the life into my music again and it's more detailed.

E.g. On the track Tron legacy - flyn lives. Towards the end there if a flute, on the topping its faint and way way in the distance. On the k9 pro is clear and present.

On the topping it "felt" like the notes were stretched and flattened. But the k9 pro doesn't do that.

I can't wait to get home and listen to music. Unlike the topping.

What K9 pro version did you got (AKM or ESS) ?

Mine is AKM and sounds awful. I have made some extensive tests and there are some frequencies that doesn't reproduce. It also sounds bright and very tiresome. I suspect I got a lemon, but before purchasing a new one I want to be sure what version works better.

 

[Impossible]

What K9 pro version did you got (AKM or ESS) ?

Mine is AKM and sounds awful. I have made some extensive tests and there are some frequencies that doesn't reproduce. It also sounds bright and very tiresome. I suspect I got a lemon, but before purchasing a new one I want to be sure what version works better.

ESS

What are you listening with and what is your output? Is the akm fully balanced? What gain are you using?

I tried the m17 on se and balanced was better.