[FiiO Q5s Type C ‖ Q5s] Bluetooth DSD-capable Amplifier,AK4493x2,768k/32bit
Sep 19, 2019 at 3:35 PM Post #1,891 of 3,226
Sep 19, 2019 at 3:44 PM Post #1,892 of 3,226
Interesting. I swapped back to the AM3E and surprisingly the hissing is reduced to almost inaudible compared to AM3D. I'm guessing the slightly higher output impedance helps the AM3E.
Yes it has hiss it is also my most hissing source
 
Sep 20, 2019 at 2:35 PM Post #1,895 of 3,226
It came without being able to charge and when plugged into the PC and powered up it sounded awful. MQA wouldnt work either even with drivers. Support from ifi was abysmal so I decided I didn't want to own something by a company who A shipped a broken product and B wouldn't support it.
 
Sep 20, 2019 at 2:51 PM Post #1,896 of 3,226
I've had the xDSD for 6 months and the Q5s for about a week.
for me, the TL;DR is that the ifi xdsd sounds better, but the q5s has more creature comforts/features.

my primary use cases for these devices are streaming from Tidal over bluetooth or usb from an Android smart phone or windows 10 laptop. Used with a variety of headphones/earphones(tanchjim oxygen, noble k10c, focal elex, sennheiser hd58x, shure srh840), so wanted a more powerful portable dac/amp

some thoughts
- switching to bluetooth from usb mode in the xdsd is a pain, you have to switch off the unit and power on with a specific combinations of buttons that I keep forgetting
- xdsd uses a semi proprietary usb connector for input
- xdsd uses a 3.5mm TRRS for balanced out. So had to get adapters as 2.5mm TRRS or 4.4mm pentacon is a lot more common
- Q5s is quite a bit heavier/larger than the xdsd. for me, the xDSD was bordering the edge on being pants pocketable.
- I like the stepped volume control on the xDSD better
- I bought the Q5s because I thought the app would allow me to save EQ profiles onto the device and have it apply system wide(like the Earstudio ES100), but alas it doesn't work like this. This would've been the main reason I would jump over from the xDSD
- the xDSD sounds better than the Q5s in my opinion. I just love the natural and resolving sound of the burr brown dacs to the AKM or CS or Sabre dacs. The Q5s, like most devices with an AKM chip, has this sort of unnatrual timbre to the upper frequencies

The line out is single-ended. If you don't mind me asking, what was so bad about the ifi xDSD?
 
Sep 20, 2019 at 2:56 PM Post #1,897 of 3,226
I've had the xDSD for 6 months and the Q5s for about a week.
for me, the TL;DR is that the ifi xdsd sounds better, but the q5s has more creature comforts/features.

my primary use cases for these devices are streaming from Tidal over bluetooth or usb from an Android smart phone or windows 10 laptop. Used with a variety of headphones/earphones(tanchjim oxygen, noble k10c, focal elex, sennheiser hd58x, shure srh840), so wanted a more powerful portable dac/amp

some thoughts
- switching to bluetooth from usb mode in the xdsd is a pain, you have to switch off the unit and power on with a specific combinations of buttons that I keep forgetting
- xdsd uses a semi proprietary usb connector for input
- xdsd uses a 3.5mm TRRS for balanced out. So had to get adapters as 2.5mm TRRS or 4.4mm pentacon is a lot more common
- Q5s is quite a bit heavier/larger than the xdsd. for me, the xDSD was bordering the edge on being pants pocketable.
- I like the stepped volume control on the xDSD better
- I bought the Q5s because I thought the app would allow me to save EQ profiles onto the device and have it apply system wide(like the Earstudio ES100), but alas it doesn't work like this. This would've been the main reason I would jump over from the xDSD
- the xDSD sounds better than the Q5s in my opinion. I just love the natural and resolving sound of the burr brown dacs to the AKM or CS or Sabre dacs. The Q5s, like most devices with an AKM chip, has this sort of unnatrual timbre to the upper frequencies



I'm kind of bummed to hear this. I may just get a Chord Mojo then and just deal with no Bluetooth. When it gets here Monday we'll see.
 
Sep 20, 2019 at 3:10 PM Post #1,898 of 3,226
My q5s worked whit my s10+ over usb. For a few days and now it dont work anymore
 
Sep 20, 2019 at 4:08 PM Post #1,899 of 3,226
I got the Q5s with the THX module and sound is pretty good. However, I'm hearing a decent amount of background hiss. Granted, I'm trying these with my new 4 ohm EE Wraith but compared to my other sources, it's the worse. I hear this both in wired and wireless modes. Is this consistent with what others are experiencing with sensitive IEMs?

Edit - using balanced out.
I think that the AM3D just doesn't play nice with sensitive IEMs. It causes background hiss on my BGVP DM6 and DM7 (single-ended and balanced), but my full-size headphones (HD 600, HD 650) are dead silent.
 
Sep 20, 2019 at 5:08 PM Post #1,900 of 3,226
what kind of cable are you using? I think it needs to be an OTG cable
Other thing is to check your developer settings and make sure the "Disable USB Audio Routing" is not enabled

My q5s worked whit my s10+ over usb. For a few days and now it dont work anymore
 
Sep 20, 2019 at 5:15 PM Post #1,901 of 3,226
what kind of cable are you using? I think it needs to be an OTG cable
Other thing is to check your developer settings and make sure the "Disable USB Audio Routing" is not enabled
I know how to use it. It is just the s10+ who have problems whit usb dac amps. Thank you for your help
 
Sep 21, 2019 at 1:16 AM Post #1,902 of 3,226
Recabled my ER4 to 2.5mm balanced some time ago, bought Fiio CL-06 together with Q5S, thinking I will have a formidable walk-around set up with my MI A1. But.... turns out CL-06 cannot coexists with 2.5mm balanced cable. Sigh...........
 
Sep 21, 2019 at 4:58 AM Post #1,903 of 3,226
Recabled my ER4 to 2.5mm balanced some time ago, bought Fiio CL-06 together with Q5S, thinking I will have a formidable walk-around set up with my MI A1. But.... turns out CL-06 cannot coexists with 2.5mm balanced cable. Sigh...........

You can't do this?


IMG_1969_LR_small.jpg
 
Sep 21, 2019 at 5:08 AM Post #1,905 of 3,226
Recabled my ER4 to 2.5mm balanced some time ago, bought Fiio CL-06 together with Q5S, thinking I will have a formidable walk-around set up with my MI A1. But.... turns out CL-06 cannot coexists with 2.5mm balanced cable. Sigh...........
Fiio has a pretty nice 4.4mm male to 2.5mm female adapter that you can get for not too much money. If you can't find any other solution, you can try it. 4.4mm out is unobstructed by the CL06.
 

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