White Hat Bob
New Head-Fier
FiiO KA5 Impressions and KA3 Comparisons
Setup: The KA5 and KA3 were connected to a Samsung S22 Android 12 Smartphone, using the Poweramp player (build 956 full version 64-bit using its own device driver, bypassing Android's device driver), playing FLAC 24 bit/192 kHz or DSD256 files from the storage on the phone. Listening was done on Focal Clear OG headphones and Empire Ears Odin IEMs both with 4.4mm balanced connectors. Three songs were used for testing; 1) Norah Jones "Don't Know Why" (FLAC 24bit/192 kHz), 2) Leonard Cohen "You Want It Darker" (FLAC 24 bit/44.1 kHz), and 3) Gabriel Mervine "1964" (DSD 256).
Physical: The KA3 and KA5 are almost identical physically in every way except that the KA5 is slightly wider, and has buttons and an OLED screen. The KA5 comes with both USB-C to USB-C cable and USB-C to Lightning, plus a USB-A to USB-C adapter. There is no SPDIF 3.5mm to RCA connector cable.
Settings: Both the KA3 and KA5 have five Lowpass Filter Options, Device Volume, and Channel Balance. The KA3 has a Low and High Impedance Setting that the KA5 does not have. In addition to settings related to the buttons and the OLED screen that the KA3 does not have, the KA5 has SPDIF Out and Class AB or Class H "DAC Work" options (testing was done using the AB setting). I did a quick test and could not hear a difference between the AB and H setting with my ears and my equipment.
Noise Floor: KA3 has an audible noise floor I could hear on my IEMs in High Gain, but I could not hear any noise in Low Gain. The KA5 is dead silent and does NOT have an audible noise floor in either Low or High Gain on the IEM I used in testing.
Gain: The KA5 can play about 10% louder than the KA3. The volume of the KA3 is only controlled through the smartphone. The KA5 is also controllable using the smartphone but has its own device volume control. In comparing output volume, both devices were set to high gain (KA3 also set to Low Impedance i.e., under 120 ohms per my headphones), and in the case of the KA5, set to High Gain 100% device volume level (120 Levels setting), thereby making the comparisons by the phone volume setting.
At the upper end of my comfortable listening level with my relatively easy-to-drive low-impedance Focal Clear OG's, the KA3 is at 70% of max phone volume, and the KA5 is at 60% of max phone volume. That's the typical amount of volume headroom I see with my other dongle DAC/Amps. I don't have any higher-impedance headphones to test, but if I did have much harder-to-drive headphones, I want to hear from someone who has tested the KA3/KA5 with them.
SPDIF: The KA5 is the first small dongle DAC/Amp I've seen with SPDIF out, which is something I can actually use. Using a special 3.5 single-ended to RCA adapter that came with my FiiO M11 ESS Plus, I connected to the KA5 SPDIF connection on my Schiit Bifrost 2/64 DAC. My Jotunheim 2 Preamp listening levels with my Clear OG were reached with the volume knob at the 12 o'clock position with the KA5 with the phone volume at 50% of max. Everything worked as expected and sounded as good or better than USB from my iMac. It was a hoot to drive my desktop system at high resolution with my smartphone without resorting to a wireless or USB connection.
Subjective Listening: Be advised that I was born in the 1950's, so my perceptions of soundstage, detail, timbre, bass, midrange, and treble are perhaps dulled by age. However, two other measures I believe in; 1) listening fatigue (e.g., time until you say, "I need a break") and 2) emotional response (e.g., "this sounds good!") are perhaps sharpened by age so I add these to my assessment.
Generally, you can hear the differences between the KA3's ESS (ES9038Q2M)/Semiteh (RT6863D) DAC/Op Amp combo and the KA5's Cirrus Logic (CS43198) chips that other reviews talk about in reviews of other devices that use these chips. The differences are small but noticeable and worth mentioning. Both chipsets do not disappoint, and the differences do just fall within the range normally associated with personal listening preferences as opposed to being demonstrably better. Which is to say, they both sound really good and as good or better than any of my other dongle DAC/Amps.
To my ears on my equipment, the KA3 nudges out the KA5 in detail, clarity, and treble, but the KA5 eases ahead with a bigger soundstage, clearer timbre, and the bass and midrange sound fuller and more authentic. Listening fatigue presents later with the KA5 than with the KA3. Also, I find myself more often thinking, this song sounds really good with the KA5 than with the KA3. The difference in sound was least detectable with the FLAC 24bit/44.1 kHz song, more so with the FLAC 24 bit/192 kHz song, and significant with the DSD 256 song. I am guessing that the ESS and Cirrus DACs are very similar sonically, but the KA5 is winning out overall because of the Cirrus Logic op amps in the KA5 sound better than the Semiteh op amp in the KA3.
Conclusions: The which-is-better device determination is heavily impacted by the most common "use case" for a dongle DAC/Amp. My use case is primarily when I'm mobile, typically walking, running, or cycling, rather than at my desk or in a car or transit (in the last decade, I've walked, run, or cycled halfway around the world; that's right over 13,000 miles/21,000 km). I've tried a large DAP, midsized dongle DAC/Amps with a battery and buttons, and smaller dongle DAC/Amps without a battery but with and without buttons.
In the end, my FiiO M11 ESS Plus is wonderful, but too big for being mobile (without car/transit), the FiiO BTR7 and Earmen Colibri are not so big but still big enough that they need to be clipped to your belt, a problem cycling and when wearing coats in winter, and the KA3 and Sparrow was just right in size to just hang on the cable, but I had to keep pulling the smartphone out of my pocket to pause/play/change and adjust the volume. My listening mobile time is typically 2 to 4 hours, so all battery solutions work for me. It's just like Goldilocks; the KA5 is just right by being very small with buttons and sounding as great as the other options!
I would have been happy to pay the $40 US more for the KA5 than the KA3 just to get the buttons so I could leave my smartphone in my pocket, but the boost in sound quality and an additional SPDIF steaming source is a significant bonus. The KA5 is my new Daily Driver when mobile.
Notes: - In photos, KA3 is on left, and KA5 is on right. Size Comparisons photo Left to Right - Earmen Sparrow, FiiO KA3, FiiO KA5, FiiO BTR7, Earmen Colibri. The US Quarter Coin in photos for size is approximately 2.4 cm in diameter.
Setup: The KA5 and KA3 were connected to a Samsung S22 Android 12 Smartphone, using the Poweramp player (build 956 full version 64-bit using its own device driver, bypassing Android's device driver), playing FLAC 24 bit/192 kHz or DSD256 files from the storage on the phone. Listening was done on Focal Clear OG headphones and Empire Ears Odin IEMs both with 4.4mm balanced connectors. Three songs were used for testing; 1) Norah Jones "Don't Know Why" (FLAC 24bit/192 kHz), 2) Leonard Cohen "You Want It Darker" (FLAC 24 bit/44.1 kHz), and 3) Gabriel Mervine "1964" (DSD 256).
Physical: The KA3 and KA5 are almost identical physically in every way except that the KA5 is slightly wider, and has buttons and an OLED screen. The KA5 comes with both USB-C to USB-C cable and USB-C to Lightning, plus a USB-A to USB-C adapter. There is no SPDIF 3.5mm to RCA connector cable.
Settings: Both the KA3 and KA5 have five Lowpass Filter Options, Device Volume, and Channel Balance. The KA3 has a Low and High Impedance Setting that the KA5 does not have. In addition to settings related to the buttons and the OLED screen that the KA3 does not have, the KA5 has SPDIF Out and Class AB or Class H "DAC Work" options (testing was done using the AB setting). I did a quick test and could not hear a difference between the AB and H setting with my ears and my equipment.
Noise Floor: KA3 has an audible noise floor I could hear on my IEMs in High Gain, but I could not hear any noise in Low Gain. The KA5 is dead silent and does NOT have an audible noise floor in either Low or High Gain on the IEM I used in testing.
Gain: The KA5 can play about 10% louder than the KA3. The volume of the KA3 is only controlled through the smartphone. The KA5 is also controllable using the smartphone but has its own device volume control. In comparing output volume, both devices were set to high gain (KA3 also set to Low Impedance i.e., under 120 ohms per my headphones), and in the case of the KA5, set to High Gain 100% device volume level (120 Levels setting), thereby making the comparisons by the phone volume setting.
At the upper end of my comfortable listening level with my relatively easy-to-drive low-impedance Focal Clear OG's, the KA3 is at 70% of max phone volume, and the KA5 is at 60% of max phone volume. That's the typical amount of volume headroom I see with my other dongle DAC/Amps. I don't have any higher-impedance headphones to test, but if I did have much harder-to-drive headphones, I want to hear from someone who has tested the KA3/KA5 with them.
SPDIF: The KA5 is the first small dongle DAC/Amp I've seen with SPDIF out, which is something I can actually use. Using a special 3.5 single-ended to RCA adapter that came with my FiiO M11 ESS Plus, I connected to the KA5 SPDIF connection on my Schiit Bifrost 2/64 DAC. My Jotunheim 2 Preamp listening levels with my Clear OG were reached with the volume knob at the 12 o'clock position with the KA5 with the phone volume at 50% of max. Everything worked as expected and sounded as good or better than USB from my iMac. It was a hoot to drive my desktop system at high resolution with my smartphone without resorting to a wireless or USB connection.
Subjective Listening: Be advised that I was born in the 1950's, so my perceptions of soundstage, detail, timbre, bass, midrange, and treble are perhaps dulled by age. However, two other measures I believe in; 1) listening fatigue (e.g., time until you say, "I need a break") and 2) emotional response (e.g., "this sounds good!") are perhaps sharpened by age so I add these to my assessment.
Generally, you can hear the differences between the KA3's ESS (ES9038Q2M)/Semiteh (RT6863D) DAC/Op Amp combo and the KA5's Cirrus Logic (CS43198) chips that other reviews talk about in reviews of other devices that use these chips. The differences are small but noticeable and worth mentioning. Both chipsets do not disappoint, and the differences do just fall within the range normally associated with personal listening preferences as opposed to being demonstrably better. Which is to say, they both sound really good and as good or better than any of my other dongle DAC/Amps.
To my ears on my equipment, the KA3 nudges out the KA5 in detail, clarity, and treble, but the KA5 eases ahead with a bigger soundstage, clearer timbre, and the bass and midrange sound fuller and more authentic. Listening fatigue presents later with the KA5 than with the KA3. Also, I find myself more often thinking, this song sounds really good with the KA5 than with the KA3. The difference in sound was least detectable with the FLAC 24bit/44.1 kHz song, more so with the FLAC 24 bit/192 kHz song, and significant with the DSD 256 song. I am guessing that the ESS and Cirrus DACs are very similar sonically, but the KA5 is winning out overall because of the Cirrus Logic op amps in the KA5 sound better than the Semiteh op amp in the KA3.
Conclusions: The which-is-better device determination is heavily impacted by the most common "use case" for a dongle DAC/Amp. My use case is primarily when I'm mobile, typically walking, running, or cycling, rather than at my desk or in a car or transit (in the last decade, I've walked, run, or cycled halfway around the world; that's right over 13,000 miles/21,000 km). I've tried a large DAP, midsized dongle DAC/Amps with a battery and buttons, and smaller dongle DAC/Amps without a battery but with and without buttons.
In the end, my FiiO M11 ESS Plus is wonderful, but too big for being mobile (without car/transit), the FiiO BTR7 and Earmen Colibri are not so big but still big enough that they need to be clipped to your belt, a problem cycling and when wearing coats in winter, and the KA3 and Sparrow was just right in size to just hang on the cable, but I had to keep pulling the smartphone out of my pocket to pause/play/change and adjust the volume. My listening mobile time is typically 2 to 4 hours, so all battery solutions work for me. It's just like Goldilocks; the KA5 is just right by being very small with buttons and sounding as great as the other options!
I would have been happy to pay the $40 US more for the KA5 than the KA3 just to get the buttons so I could leave my smartphone in my pocket, but the boost in sound quality and an additional SPDIF steaming source is a significant bonus. The KA5 is my new Daily Driver when mobile.
Notes: - In photos, KA3 is on left, and KA5 is on right. Size Comparisons photo Left to Right - Earmen Sparrow, FiiO KA3, FiiO KA5, FiiO BTR7, Earmen Colibri. The US Quarter Coin in photos for size is approximately 2.4 cm in diameter.
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