[akelew]

Recently bought a KA13 and i love it, but would have bought a higher quality like KA5 if it had the extra power.. Now theres the KA17 with i assume better quality, the power on tap PLUS parametric EQ and it's got me wondering.. But feel like its excessive spending..

 

[kelp]

Dear friend,

FiiO Control iOS version does not support KA17. But you could adjust the setting via an Android device, and the setting will be saved in the KA17.

Best regards

I don’t have an Android device and don’t think it’s worth buying one just to configure this.

Is iOS app support on your roadmap for the KA17?

 

[bru87tr]

I’m not sure why simple settings on the device would be a problem on the IOS app.

 

[kelp]

I’m not sure why simple settings on the device would be a problem on the IOS app.

Totally speculating, but it sounds like engineering resources are the bottleneck. FiiO put out a very ambitious roadmap at the start of the year and might have had to rush things to market as they blew through their deadlines. I bet they also have more in-house Android expertise because of their DAPs.

They do support configuring EQ and other settings via an iOS App on the BTR15, but it looks iOS FiiO Control has to use Bluetooth to connect to the BTR15, even when it's plugged into USB-C. If I turn Bluetooth off, FiiO Control can't connect. Also the EQ doesn't actually work right on the BTR15 if connected over USB-C currently.

Maybe also some iOS specific challenge with controlling an extra device over USB-C that I'm not aware of? Tempted to chase down some info about that in Apple's developer documentation, but don't have time right now.

 

[JohnLock]

hi, there's mqa support?

 

[Osaris]

hi, there's mqa support?

Yes

 

[FiiO]

Hi Fiio. Does the KA17 has 1 or 2 ESS chips?

Dear friend,

Hi, the KA17 has 2xES9068Q.

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

I don’t have an Android device and don’t think it’s worth buying one just to configure this.

Is iOS app support on your roadmap for the KA17?

Dear friend,

Sorry no, the iOS devices have the limitation so we could not add the iOS APP support for KA17 unless iOS devices remove the limitation.

Best regards

 

[JamesFiiO]

Totally speculating, but it sounds like engineering resources are the bottleneck. FiiO put out a very ambitious roadmap at the start of the year and might have had to rush things to market as they blew through their deadlines. I bet they also have more in-house Android expertise because of their DAPs.

They do support configuring EQ and other settings via an iOS App on the BTR15, but it looks iOS FiiO Control has to use Bluetooth to connect to the BTR15, even when it's plugged into USB-C. If I turn Bluetooth off, FiiO Control can't connect. Also the EQ doesn't actually work right on the BTR15 if connected over USB-C currently.

Maybe also some iOS specific challenge with controlling an extra device over USB-C that I'm not aware of? Tempted to chase down some info about that in Apple's developer documentation, but don't have time right now.

We would be very happy if you can help us find any HIFI dongle which can be controlled by a APP in iPhone. It is quite difficult to explain how the IOS works , or our engineer is not smart enough, but it is not we are unwilling to design a APP to control our device, it can help the sales, why not ?

 

[Andrew Seeley]

help the sales, why not ?

Quite Well - Delivered,

 

[kelp]

We would be very happy if you can help us find any HIFI dongle which can be controlled by a APP in iPhone. It is quite difficult to explain how the IOS works , or our engineer is not smart enough, but it is not we are unwilling to design a APP to control our device, it can help the sales, why not ?

Thanks for the response, and sorry if my speculation came off as rude.

I'm not an expert in this area, but after a bit of research it seems like you'd need to join the Apple MFi Program and design your devices with an authentication chip provided by Apple. The downside for FiiO is then you'd probably have to pay a royalty to Apple for every device you ship, regardless of if the customer uses iOS or not. Or you'd have to have a 2nd SKU for iOS users.

That 2nd SKU option sounds similar to how many over the ear wireless gaming headphones have an Xbox SKU, and sometimes that Xbox SKU costs a bit more, like with the Audeze Maxwell. I would pay $10 or $20 more for an iOS configurable KA17.

But either way, sounds like you couldn't make the KA17 or similar devices work with iPhone/iPad. It would need to be a new hardware revision to include the Apple MFi chip. Or you'd need to have Bluetooth.

I hope nothing I said above is inaccurate, or that I'll be corrected if it's wrong. I just got curious and wanted to understand how this worked.

Thanks!

 

[JamesFiiO]

Thanks for the response, and sorry if my speculation came off as rude.

I'm not an expert in this area, but after a bit of research it seems like you'd need to join the Apple MFi Program and design your devices with an authentication chip provided by Apple. The downside for FiiO is then you'd probably have to pay a royalty to Apple for every device you ship, regardless of if the customer uses iOS or not. Or you'd have to have a 2nd SKU for iOS users.

That 2nd SKU option sounds similar to how many over the ear wireless gaming headphones have an Xbox SKU, and sometimes that Xbox SKU costs a bit more, like with the Audeze Maxwell. I would pay $10 or $20 more for an iOS configurable KA17.

But either way, sounds like you couldn't make the KA17 or similar devices work with iPhone/iPad. It would need to be a new hardware revision to include the Apple MFi chip. Or you'd need to have Bluetooth.

I hope nothing I said above is inaccurate, or that I'll be corrected if it's wrong. I just got curious and wanted to understand how this worked.

Thanks!

I can't comment the rule of Apple cause they are a great company, but the TYPE C should be an open standard. to supports the MFi, it is not only the cost of the MFi chip but also other requirements which is too difficult to us.

We know it because we had been MFi member but finally removed by Apple.

For the second solution, we already have some bluetooth headphone amp which can works in both situaion, as dongle or bluetooth device so it is not necessary to add a new SKU.

Anyway we are so sorry about this but hope you can understand and we hope we can find a way to

 

[akelew]

It's unfortunate loss of convenience, but you can still change everything including parametric eq directly through the device itself from my understanding..

 

[quaddac]

Is PEQ global for all outputs, including SPDIF, and has the ability to correct also for MQA files from Tidal?

 

[akelew]

Not supported on UAC1 and pcm only up to 192/24. I don't believe it would work for MQA. Not that thats a problem really.