[KG12]

Q5S with included Fiio rubber band [the larger one] and lanyard courtesy of my Fiio BTR 3!

 

[DSpezzia]

Quick question as this place is a wealth of knowledge. Playing Bluetooth from my phone to the Q5S would I be better maxing the volume on the phone and not the Q5S? I know with my old BTR3 you had to max the volume on the phone to get the most out of it. Or would 50/50 be advised. It's not had any issues with driving anything yet just want to get the most out of it.

 

[bowei006]

Quick question as this place is a wealth of knowledge. Playing Bluetooth from my phone to the Q5S would I be better maxing the volume on the phone and not the Q5S? I know with my old BTR3 you had to max the volume on the phone to get the most out of it. Or would 50/50 be advised. It's not had any issues with driving anything yet just want to get the most out of it.

You could do 100% on phone and then control with Q5S. If I recall, the implementation with BT is basically all smoke and mirrors. Volume 10 on your phone doesn't mean the BT signal has lower digital audio signalling. It's just a command scheme to the client device (Q5S in this case) which the Q5S can then implement with a linked volume control or seperate.

Digital clipping and loss of bits was fixed by upsampling years ago.

 

[DSpezzia]

You could do 100% on phone and then control with Q5S. If I recall, the implementation with BT is basically all smoke and mirrors. Volume 10 on your phone doesn't mean the BT signal has lower digital audio signalling. It's just a command scheme to the client device (Q5S in this case) which the Q5S can then implement with a linked volume control or seperate.

Digital clipping and loss of bits was fixed by upsampling years ago.

Thank you for the response. Yeah I have tried both and could not tell any difference but it's still nice to have it confirmed by someone else

 

[abitdeef]

That's how I have it, 100% of phone volume, and then I use the nice (superior) volume control of the Q5s to control my desired listening level.

 

[bgtip]

Is it a lot difference in sound quality between K3 and Q5s?

I can hear significant difference. Personal impressions so take them with a grain of salt. Both K3 and Q5s listened on balanced output only. Tried briefly single-ended, didn't like it. K3 sounds 'digital' and artificial, and the sound is not big but rather small and stuffy. Q5s (with AM3E) sounds natural, like I don't listen to headphones but I am present in the room and there is nothing between the band and me. The sound feels airy and comes effortlessly. Q5s sounds warmer to me which isn't ideal, I really want AM3D but still N/A in UK. The bass goes deeper with Q5s. The bass boost is actually useful with Q5s, with K3 it just blows up the bass.
K3 is more forgiving to poorly recorded tracks and mp3s, specially with EDM, which sounds horrendous with Q5s if the record is less than stellar. This was a surprise to me.
In conclusion when you go Q5s you don't go back.

 

[DSpezzia]

In conclusion when you go Q5s you don't go back.

Yeah I can go along with that

 

[megabigeye]

I did a quick one now. Short answer: The xDSD is a bit more "musical" and the Q5s more what I'd describe as "smooth and even". Couldn't pick one as being more detailed with a level-matched comparison. Both were connected via coax to an M11.

Can you clarify what you mean by "musical" and "smooth and even?"

Thanks.

 

[paul_uk_81]

I was toying between the ES100 and the Q5s for using on my commute and went with the Q5s: I thought if Bluetooth didn’t work or sounded really bad id always have the lightning connector as an option. Well I’m using it now with my iPhone XS and it works great, very happy! Wish it was a tiny bit thinner though.

If anyone was close to ordering I’d recommend it.

 

[Currawong]

Can you clarify what you mean by "musical" and "smooth and even?"

Thanks.

The xDSD presents the music with a feeling of more front-to-back depth, with notes stepping out from the musical image. There's more feeling. The Q5S less.

Is that was Stock AMP on the Q5s or THX AAA AMP?

Thanks.

I don't have the AAA amp.

 

[maxngck]

Quick question as this place is a wealth of knowledge. Playing Bluetooth from my phone to the Q5S would I be better maxing the volume on the phone and not the Q5S? I know with my old BTR3 you had to max the volume on the phone to get the most out of it. Or would 50/50 be advised. It's not had any issues with driving anything yet just want to get the most out of it.

Hi

For me i fix my Q5S volume knob position then play around with the phone volume. My rational is that when using BT, Q5S is always in my pocket but phone is on my hand most of the time. So i could just adjust the phone volume more conveniently instead of the volume knob on Q5S. Also, different songs album volume is not same. So may need to adjust the volume most of the time. My Q5S volume knob normally i set it at the below photo position when turn on.

 

[megabigeye]

The xDSD presents the music with a feeling of more front-to-back depth, with notes stepping out from the musical image. There's more feeling. The Q5S less.

Interesting. Thank you.

 

[KopaneDePooj]

Quick question as this place is a wealth of knowledge. Playing Bluetooth from my phone to the Q5S would I be better maxing the volume on the phone and not the Q5S? I know with my old BTR3 you had to max the volume on the phone to get the most out of it. Or would 50/50 be advised. It's not had any issues with driving anything yet just want to get the most out of it.

As others, I set the phone Bluetooth volume to max and only use the Q5 volume. Android volume has fewer and rougher volume steps vs. the Q5 wheel which you can adjust very smoothly at the exact desired level. If you want even smoother control range at Q5 wheel, I guess it would be no problem dialing the volume down 2-3 steps in Android, but I wouldn't keep it at 50%.
Tip! >> you can operate the volume wheel through jeans fabric, no need to take the Q5 out

 

[mikroski]

I can hear significant difference. Personal impressions so take them with a grain of salt. Both K3 and Q5s listened on balanced output only. Tried briefly single-ended, didn't like it. K3 sounds 'digital' and artificial, and the sound is not big but rather small and stuffy. Q5s (with AM3E) sounds natural, like I don't listen to headphones but I am present in the room and there is nothing between the band and me. The sound feels airy and comes effortlessly. Q5s sounds warmer to me which isn't ideal, I really want AM3D but still N/A in UK. The bass goes deeper with Q5s. The bass boost is actually useful with Q5s, with K3 it just blows up the bass.
K3 is more forgiving to poorly recorded tracks and mp3s, specially with EDM, which sounds horrendous with Q5s if the record is less than stellar. This was a surprise to me.
In conclusion when you go Q5s you don't go back.

Thanks for input.

I'm really want to buy Q5s. But, I will use it as PC DAC only. I reluctance to buy DAC/AMP with built-in battery. Because if battery fail, I have to replace it. K3 will not have this issue since it use power supply from computer USB port.

Keep using K3 or change to Q5s, very hard to make a decision.

 

[maxngck]

Thanks for input.

I'm really want to buy Q5s. But, I will use it as PC DAC only. I reluctance to buy DAC/AMP with built-in battery. Because if battery fail, I have to replace it. K3 will not have this issue since it use power supply from computer USB port.

Keep using K3 or change to Q5s, very hard to make a decision.

How about the new K5pro? Not sure if it is released. Since u r using only for pc, mayb k5 or k5pro is an option for u.