[ClieOS]

BTW: Can anybody explain me what the filters do? Which filter describes best "analogue" sound? Which filter (number) is your favourite?

Digital filter is like seasoning, everyone has his/her own preference. You can only find what 'taste' best for you by trying them all out by yourself.

 

[HifiFrog]

I have a question regarding the impedance rating for the KA5.
The KA5 is rated for headphones with an impedance of 16 - 150Ω (or 16 - 300Ω for balanced output).
https://www.fiio.com/KA5_parameters

Currently there are a few IEMs on the market with lower impedance.

Two random examples:

• Kinera Celest Plutus Beast with 8Ω.
• TANSIO MIRAI X 10th Anniversary with 10Ω.

Is it safe to use these IEMs with the KA5?

 

[FiiO]

I have a question regarding the impedance rating for the KA5.
The KA5 is rated for headphones with an impedance of 16 - 150Ω (or 16 - 300Ω for balanced output).
https://www.fiio.com/KA5_parameters

Currently there are a few IEMs on the market with lower impedance.

Two random examples:

• Kinera Celest Plutus Beast with 8Ω.
• TANSIO MIRAI X 10th Anniversary with 10Ω.

Is it safe to use these IEMs with the KA5?

Dear friend,

The KA5 could connect to the IEMs with lower impedance. But please do not set the volume in higher volume when connecting to low impedance headphone or there may be distortion.

Best regards

 

[Hellknight[FA]]

Bought a KA5 with a pair of MP145 (4,4 mm) for my Galaxy S23 yesterday and what should I say...

A fine piece of craftmanship!

There is no hiss or something else - the sound quality can only be limited by the listening material .

But one strange thing is that the fiio android music player doesnt work nicely with my KA5 (FIIO Music + FIIO Control).

Sound is muffled and is only audible with the FIIO app after the FIIO app is started. No sound from other music players or the smartphone norification sounds. And there where "cellphone crackling" noises.

After uninstalling FIIO Music and restarting the smartphone everything was stellar again

Using the standard Samsung Music and VRadio (Radio Paradise FLAC stream ) + FIIO Control now.

 

[FiiO Kang]

When you opened the FIIO music player, did you select exclusive mode?

 

[FiiO Kang]

Bought a KA5 with a pair of MP145 (4,4 mm) for my Galaxy S23 yesterday and what should I say...

A fine piece of craftmanship!

There is no hiss or something else - the sound quality can only be limited by the listening material .

But one strange thing is that the fiio android music player doesnt work nicely with my KA5 (FIIO Music + FIIO Control).

Sound is muffled and is only audible with the FIIO app after the FIIO app is started. No sound from other music players or the smartphone norification sounds. And there where "cellphone crackling" noises.

After uninstalling FIIO Music and restarting the smartphone everything was stellar again

Using the standard Samsung Music and VRadio (Radio Paradise FLAC stream ) + FIIO Control now.

When you opened the FIIO music player, did you select exclusive mode?

 

[Hellknight[FA]]

When you opened the FIIO music player, did you select exclusive mode?

The smartphone asked me if i want to use the app with the KA5 and I checked "Yes". Is this the exclusive mode?


I also discovered that when I play tracks from the standard media player (Samsung Music) the shown sample rate on the display with normal m4a and mp3 (vbr) is always 48 khz and with 384 khz FLAC files is 192 khz.

With USB Player Pro its 44 khz with mp3 and m4a files and 384 khz with 384 khz FLAC files.


Is this an android restriction and the exclusive mode bypasses this?


Another discovery:

While 4g and 5g EMI protection is great it is non existant on EDGE or lower signals (typical crackling when smartphone tries to establish connection).

Enabling Plane Mode solved this, so no biggie because I want to hear my music without being disturbed



A last thing: I could not reproduce the "muffled" sound so I assume it was a user fault / Smartphone bug .


I am very satisfied with this (my first) amp and almost shocked how much better sound quality is compared to good bluetooth headphones (Momentum 3 or 4) is.

 

[Hellknight[FA]]

Update:

Tried the FIIO music app again and everything is fine now. Sampling rate is as it is shown on usb player pro .

But it seems that the FIIO Control app is somehow tucked into the music app, so no reason to install the separate Control app (perhaps that caused problems).

One question though. Is it better to max out the volume in the FIIO music app and control it via the KA5 or vice versa?

I have selected low gain and 60 step volume in the control app.

Sorry for writing so much (1st hf-amp ).



edit: skip title forward, backwards and Pause buttons of the KA5 seems not to be supported by FIIO Music. But the screen activates when pressing those buttons

 

[sgiesen]

If I recall correctly, Android downsamples every Hi-res audio file to 48kHz and reduces the bit depth to 16bits when using default audio output. iPhone Series 15 with USB-C got UAC 2.0 audio interface and they output bit-perfect audio stream by default.

 

[bru87tr]

I got muffled sound before, and it was slow sounding music from my Hiby fc4. Weird and got to be a smartphone issue.

 

[FiiO]

If I recall correctly, Android downsamples every Hi-res audio file to 48kHz and reduces the bit depth to 16bits when using default audio output. iPhone Series 15 with USB-C got UAC 2.0 audio interface and they output bit-perfect audio stream by default.

Dear friend,

If you are using the APP which supports USB exclusive mode, there will not be SRC in Android mobile phone output.

Best regards

 

[Hellknight[FA]]

Back again with a few observations for the developers:

I did a few tests with my KA5 / MP145 Combo and found out the following:

Samsung Galaxy S23 (One UI 6.1)
App Volume Max, KA5 Volume 22 / 60, low gain

Samsung Music (not exclusive)

Source KA5 display
44 khz 48 khz
48 khz 48 khz
352 khz 192 khz

other: no dropouts while surfing or starting apps, buttons on KA5 work (Title / Volume).


FIIO Music (exclusive mode)

Source KA5 display
44 khz 44 khz
48 khz 48 khz
352 khz 352 khz

other: dropouts while surfing or starting apps, buttons on KA5 dont work for title / pause, Volume works (checked this in white mode and then title skip seemed to work - weird).


USB Player Pro (exclusive mode)

Source KA5 display
44 khz 44 khz
48 khz 48 khz
352 khz 352 khz

other: no dropouts while surfing or starting apps, buttons on KA5 work.

 

[Hellknight[FA]]

Update:

Fixed the problems with FiiO Music:
- Non functional media button are fixed by deactivating gapless
- Stuttering is fixed by activating the last checkbox under USB exclusive mode (... background bla...)

So now this HF amp is perfect!

 

[SergeantJav]

Edit: New cable worked

So updated to new iOS… 17.4.1 on my iPhone 14 Pro Max and now the Fiio KA5 (firmware 01.30) has stopped working… Fiio customer services have been quick to respond but early days…
I have tried different OTG cables and had a look in settings, restarted phone checked the USB 1 and 2 fix etc but nothing obvious …they suggested turning down volume on the phone but that hasn’t made any difference… the volume comes from phone and the device either powers up but no sound or occasionally doesn’t even connect with at least one “this device is not supported message”
Anyone else having this issue? Seems to be something that happens every so often with Apple updates with a quick Google …
The original apple dongle is working…but I want my Fiio back…
Only other thing I do notice with the Fiio is interference when phone connects to different masts…

 

[sgiesen]

So updated to new iOS… 17.4.1 on my iPhone 14 Pro Max and now the Fiio KA5 (firmware 01.30) has stopped working… Fiio customer services have been quick to respond but early days…
I have tried different OTG cables and had a look in settings, restarted phone checked the USB 1 and 2 fix etc but nothing obvious …they suggested turning down volume on the phone but that hasn’t made any difference… the volume comes from phone and the device either powers up but no sound or occasionally doesn’t even connect with at least one “this device is not supported message”
Anyone else having this issue? Seems to be something that happens every so often with Apple updates with a quick Google …
The original apple dongle is working…but I want my Fiio back…
Only other thing I do notice with the Fiio is interference when phone connects to different masts…

strange, I have the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iOS 17.4.1 and everything is working fine ...