[makbrown]

Hi guys.
I bought fiio k9 pro ess for my Arya V3.
Didn’t get a good sound, and some guys told that k9 pro ess cannot reveal Arya for good sound. Is it true?
And I should get another dac/amp for a full strength sound of Arya?

 

[Light - Man]

Personally, I wont be responding to you anymore on this topic, as you seem to ignore all advice.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Hi guys.
I bought fiio k9 pro ess for my Arya V3.
Didn’t get a good sound, and some guys told that k9 pro ess cannot reveal Arya for good sound. Is it true?
And I should get another dac/amp for a full strength sound of Arya?

At this point, either the Arya Stealth's tuning is not to your liking or it is not sealing well on your head, which is best remedied either by adjusting the fit, checking out another headphone or trying out EQ, else seeing if a decent balanced cable helps extract more power out of the amp (have you tried the other gain settings?), else you will find yourself in the subjective rabbit-hole of purchasing gear in hope of making a headphone sound "at its best". For some, the "truth" exists in the gear's measurements while for others, the "truth" is in what you yourself perceive.

Some of it could be your personal experience relative to reviewers' or others' subjective claims. Are you discontent with the tonality, or is it not sounding as "wide" or "expansive" as you expected? Some reviews early on would have made me assume the Arya Stealth or HE1000se would make symphonic music sound "wide" and real; I've long since learned that not even a $4k Meze Elite (owned), $6k X9000 with T8000 energizer (with my FiiO K9 Pro ESS as the DAC), or the Sennheiser HE-1 will do that without personal HRTF measurements and DSP.

Which headphone were you previously using, and what counts as "good sound" to you? For me, it means "neutral tonality imaged in front of me as through speakers, or as though I were in the live concert hall", which certainly requires DSP.

Is the Arya sounding too bright? Are vocals too recessed? Does it sound muddy, bloated, or veiled (lacking in clarity or openness)? Does it sound dull, "held-back", or congested? Does it not sound "detailed" enough? Are transients not sounding sharp enough?

 

[makbrown]

At this point, either the Arya Stealth's tuning is not to your liking or it is not sealing well on your head, which is best remedied either by adjusting the fit, checking out another headphone or trying out EQ, else seeing if a decent balanced cable helps extract more power out of the amp (have you tried the other gain settings?), else you will find yourself in the subjective rabbit-hole of purchasing gear in hope of making a headphone sound "at its best". For some, the "truth" exists in the gear's measurements while for others, the "truth" is in what you yourself perceive.

Some of it could be your personal experience relative to reviewers' or others' subjective claims. Are you discontent with the tonality, or is it not sounding as "wide" or "expansive" as you expected? Some reviews early on would have made me assume the Arya Stealth or HE1000se would make symphonic music sound "wide" and real; I've long since learned that not even a $4k Meze Elite (owned), $6k X9000 with T8000 energizer (with my FiiO K9 Pro ESS as the DAC), or the Sennheiser HE-1 will do that without personal HRTF measurements and DSP.

Which headphone were you previously using, and what counts as "good sound" to you? For me, it means "neutral tonality imaged in front of me as through speakers, or as though I were in the live concert hall", which certainly requires DSP.

Is the Arya sounding too bright? Are vocals too recessed? Does it sound muddy, bloated, or veiled (lacking in clarity or openness)? Does it sound dull, "held-back", or congested? Does it not sound "detailed" enough? Are transients not sounding sharp enough?

So, I bought Arya used along with the Meze PCUHD 4.4 cable (420€). I think this is a good cable. Accordingly, Arya has been burned-up for over 200+ hours by the previous owner.

At the time of purchase, I only had mojo2, hiby fc6 and L&P W2 as sources. The first 2 only have 3.5 output, and since I only had PCUHD 4.4, I only listened to L&P + tidal exclusive. It was fantastic (in all the best ways). It must be said that L&P is a wonderful dongle, but the 230mW output does not give much hope. However, it was so great that my wife said it was the best thing she had ever heard in her life))

And the next day they brought me the K9 pro ess, new, packaged. I let it warm up to room temperature and turned it on. It seemed that the sound was not impressive at all. I owned a k7 akm and it seemed much brighter. My wife said it was much worse than L&P W2...

My guesses why this is:
1. Too high expectations (heh).
2. Psychoacoustics played a role, and the first sensations (with L&P W2) covered the second.
3. K9 was simply not burned-up out of the box; it took several hours to reach normal parameters.
4. ESS is not my sound..
5. The path and connection methods need to be changed.

Before this, I had HD660s and Ananda Nano as full-size headphones. Arya finished them off, all that remains is to deal with k9.
Also, I own some great IEMs, like AKxEE Odyssey, Solaris 2020 etc so I know what is the great sound.

 

[AmadisDeGaula]

So, I bought Arya used along with the Meze PCUHD 4.4 cable (420€). I think this is a good cable. Accordingly, Arya has been burned-up for over 200+ hours by the previous owner.

At the time of purchase, I only had mojo2, hiby fc6 and L&P W2 as sources. The first 2 only have 3.5 output, and since I only had PCUHD 4.4, I only listened to L&P + tidal exclusive. It was fantastic (in all the best ways). It must be said that L&P is a wonderful dongle, but the 230mW output does not give much hope. However, it was so great that my wife said it was the best thing she had ever heard in her life))

And the next day they brought me the K9 pro ess, new, packaged. I let it warm up to room temperature and turned it on. It seemed that the sound was not impressive at all. I owned a k7 akm and it seemed much brighter. My wife said it was much worse than L&P W2...

My guesses why this is:
1. Too high expectations (heh).
2. Psychoacoustics played a role, and the first sensations (with L&P W2) covered the second.
3. K9 was simply not burned-up out of the box; it took several hours to reach normal parameters.
4. ESS is not my sound..
5. The path and connection methods need to be changed.

Before this, I had HD660s and Ananda Nano as full-size headphones. Arya finished them off, all that remains is to deal with k9.
Also, I own some great IEMs, like AKxEE Odyssey, Solaris 2020 etc so I know what is the great sound.

Man it's just thoses thx amplifiers... It's not even about the cost. Thx amplifiers sound congested, unnatural and bright, they're detailed ok but that's not the point of a enjoyable listen to my ears. Just try even a low cost class A amplifier, (for example aune x1sgt, and if you have the budget a burson, let it warm up for 40 minutes, you won't believe your ears. Even the aune is open, wide, dynamic with good punch in the bass and pretty natural timbre. It's not about money but about the design of theses things.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

So, I bought Arya used along with the Meze PCUHD 4.4 cable (420€). I think this is a good cable. Accordingly, Arya has been burned-up for over 200+ hours by the previous owner.

At the time of purchase, I only had mojo2, hiby fc6 and L&P W2 as sources. The first 2 only have 3.5 output, and since I only had PCUHD 4.4, I only listened to L&P + tidal exclusive. It was fantastic (in all the best ways). It must be said that L&P is a wonderful dongle, but the 230mW output does not give much hope. However, it was so great that my wife said it was the best thing she had ever heard in her life))

And the next day they brought me the K9 pro ess, new, packaged. I let it warm up to room temperature and turned it on. It seemed that the sound was not impressive at all. I owned a k7 akm and it seemed much brighter. My wife said it was much worse than L&P W2...

My guesses why this is:
1. Too high expectations (heh).
2. Psychoacoustics played a role, and the first sensations (with L&P W2) covered the second.
3. K9 was simply not burned-up out of the box; it took several hours to reach normal parameters.
4. ESS is not my sound..
5. The path and connection methods need to be changed.

Before this, I had HD660s and Ananda Nano as full-size headphones. Arya finished them off, all that remains is to deal with k9.
Also, I own some great IEMs, like AKxEE Odyssey, Solaris 2020 etc so I know what is the great sound.

Do you have a more detailed description of what sounded wrong other than "much worse"? Looking at https://goldensound.audio/2021/09/08/luxury-and-precision-w2-measurements/, on the surface, it seems like a pretty good dongle, but indeed "portable R2R", whether or not this was a case where the "soft and natural" lore behind R2R is somehow actually taking effect, whereby maybe you are finding the K9 Pro ESS too "aggressive" in its detail presentations (unless you are finding the opposite insofar as you described the K7 AKM as having seemed "much brighter"; was this in a side-by-side comparison, as I personally would not trust audio memory?). My only real experience with DACs and amps other than my own were at an audio show and finding that with a cursory volume match, the Eleven Audio Broadway and Formula S amps as well as the Woo Audio TUBE mini each driving three separate Diana MR units sounded just as rich, detailed, and "big" as my EQed Meze Elite at home driven by the K9 Pro ESS (take what you may regarding audio memory). This of course cannot speak for others' experiences.

AmadisDeGaula's recommendation of the Aune X1s GT is interesting insofar as it uses an ESS chip with a large "ESS hump", whether or not that lends evidence to the "problem" being with the THX amp stage which I and a number of others don't seem to have a problem with. Would it sound just as congested if you didn't know it was a THX amp? I wouldn't know until the test were done.

Perhaps some like a more relaxed listen. I personally like sitting a bit closer on the orchestra level of a concert hall where the strings are exquisitely textured and the sound quite "aggressive". The K9 Pro ESS plus DSP for correcting tonality and stereo imaging does that for me.

I suppose I am curious as to any decent lower-end R2R + Class A pairings folks might recommend to a curious objectivist, whether or not HiFiMan's offerings are "any good". Something worth its desk space without my having skipped to saving up for a Holo Audio May and Bliss KTE.

 

[makbrown]

Do you have a more detailed description of what sounded wrong other than "much worse"? Looking at https://goldensound.audio/2021/09/08/luxury-and-precision-w2-measurements/, on the surface, it seems like a pretty good dongle, but indeed "portable R2R", whether or not this was a case where the "soft and natural" lore behind R2R is somehow actually taking effect, whereby maybe you are finding the K9 Pro ESS too "aggressive" in its detail presentations (unless you are finding the opposite insofar as you described the K7 AKM as having seemed "much brighter"; was this in a side-by-side comparison, as I personally would not trust audio memory?). My only real experience with DACs and amps other than my own were at an audio show and finding that with a cursory volume match, the Eleven Audio Broadway and Formula S amps as well as the Woo Audio TUBE mini each driving three separate Diana MR units sounded just as rich, detailed, and "big" as my EQed Meze Elite at home driven by the K9 Pro ESS (take what you may regarding audio memory). This of course cannot speak for others' experiences.

AmadisDeGaula's recommendation of the Aune X1s GT is interesting insofar as it uses an ESS chip with a large "ESS hump", whether or not that lends evidence to the "problem" being with the THX amp stage which I and a number of others don't seem to have a problem with. Would it sound just as congested if you didn't know it was a THX amp? I wouldn't know until the test were done.

Perhaps some like a more relaxed listen. I personally like sitting a bit closer on the orchestra level of a concert hall where the strings are exquisitely textured and the sound quite "aggressive". The K9 Pro ESS plus DSP for correcting tonality and stereo imaging does that for me.

I suppose I am curious as to any decent lower-end R2R + Class A pairings folks might recommend to a curious objectivist, whether or not HiFiMan's offerings are "any good". Something worth its desk space without my having skipped to saving up for a Holo Audio May and Bliss KTE.

No, L&P W2 it’s not portable r2r, it’s dual CS43198.
But my second dongle fc6 - yes, it is r2r and I like it Didn’t try it even with Arya yet, but I not sure that 100mW is a good idea for Arya.

I once heard a calmer sound on K9, not detailed, not bright, lifeless. I was very surprised because I was expecting fireworks and splashes of champagne. Instead, I heard something dull, unanalytical and completely uninteresting. Feeling this, I let my wife listen to it, and she confirmed my feelings verbatim. I am sure that the connection was in bit-perfect mode, since the backlight of the volume wheel changed color, up to lilac (mqa). I have to do a lot of testing with different headphones, sources, settings, cables to understand what’s wrong with my new fiio k9 pro ess.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

No, L&P W2 it’s not portable r2r, it’s dual CS43198.
But my second dongle fc6 - yes, it is r2r and I like it Didn’t try it even with Arya yet, but I not sure that 100mW is a good idea for Arya.

I once heard a calmer sound on K9, not detailed, not bright, lifeless. I was very surprised because I was expecting fireworks and splashes of champagne. Instead, I heard something dull, unanalytical and completely uninteresting. Feeling this, I let my wife listen to it, and she confirmed my feelings verbatim. I am sure that the connection was in bit-perfect mode, since the backlight of the volume wheel changed color, up to lilac (mqa). I have to do a lot of testing with different headphones, sources, settings, cables to understand what’s wrong with my new fiio k9 pro ess.

Could you give the name of some example tracks? I'd like to check with my Arya Stealth and basic 4.4 mm Meze silver-plated upgrade cable out of curiosity. Also see if FLAC or other non-MQA makes a difference; and you did see https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/557559.html, particularly the need for the OTG connection?

(And forgive my cursory reading of that measurement link; I see that it was the company that was generally known for R2R DAPs.)

 

[makbrown]

Could you give the name of some example tracks? I'd like to check with my Arya Stealth and basic 4.4 mm Meze silver-plated upgrade cable out of curiosity. Also see if FLAC or other non-MQA makes a difference; and you did see https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/557559.html, particularly the need for the OTG connection?

(And forgive my cursory reading of that measurement link; I see that it was the company that was generally known for R2R DAPs.)

Sure I have proper OTG connection, because color of wheel is changen, so it is bit-perfect.

Couple of tested tracks

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Sure I have proper OTG connection, because color of wheel is changen, so it is bit-perfect.

Couple of tested tracks

Oracle "Timmy Trumpet" definitely be slamming enough to make this classical music dude smile. Sharp treble synth. This is on low gain with the volume pot at 1.5 o'clock and my EQs disabled. I think it sounds excellent even through YouTube, albeit with no other gear to compare it with. Sounds plenty "expansive" within the confines of the headphone drivers (I personally can't get things to image beyond the drivers without DSP). Not dull at all, a whole lot going on. "That's some nice music."

Dash Berlin, Emma Hewitt "Waiting" perhaps comes off as a relatively more relaxed track to me. Synths are textured. Vocals are reasonably balanced.

ATB "Ecstasy" is clear and engaging with an air of ambient fullness. Synth tones are of reasonable tactility. Spatial imaging comes off nicely. Bass thumps have moderate tactility. A lot of things going on, reasonably spread out within the limitations of headphone imaging.

I'll get back to the rest later.

In short, it's "fireworks and splashes of champagne" at least to my ears.

I hope you can find out what's going on with your setup.

 

[makbrown]

Oracle "Timmy Trumpet" definitely be slamming enough to make this classical music dude smile. Sharp treble synth. This is on low gain with the volume pot at 1.5 o'clock and my EQs disabled. I think it sounds excellent even through YouTube, albeit with no other gear to compare it with. Sounds plenty "expansive" within the confines of the headphone drivers (I personally can't get things to image beyond the drivers without DSP). Not dull at all, a whole lot going on. "That's some nice music."

Dash Berlin, Emma Hewitt "Waiting" perhaps comes off as a relatively more relaxed track to me. Synths are textured. Vocals are reasonably balanced.

ATB "Ecstasy" is clear and engaging with an air of ambient fullness. Synth tones are of reasonable tactility. Spatial imaging comes off nicely. Bass thumps have moderate tactility. A lot of things going on, reasonable spread out within the limitations of headphone imaging.

I'll get back to the rest later.

In short, it's "fireworks and splashes of champagne" at least to my ears.

I hope you can find out what's going on with your setup.

Oracle "Timmy Trumpet" definitely be slamming enough to make this classical music dude smile. Sharp treble synth. This is on low gain with the volume pot at 1.5 o'clock and my EQs disabled. I think it sounds excellent even through YouTube, albeit with no other gear to compare it with. Sounds plenty "expansive" within the confines of the headphone drivers (I personally can't get things to image beyond the drivers without DSP). Not dull at all, a whole lot going on. "That's some nice music."

Dash Berlin, Emma Hewitt "Waiting" perhaps comes off as a relatively more relaxed track to me. Synths are textured. Vocals are reasonably balanced.

ATB "Ecstasy" is clear and engaging with an air of ambient fullness. Synth tones are of reasonable tactility. Spatial imaging comes off nicely. Bass thumps have moderate tactility. A lot of things going on, reasonable spread out within the limitations of headphone imaging.

I'll get back to the rest later.

In short, it's "fireworks and splashes of champagne" at least to my ears.

I hope you can find out what's going on with your setup.

Thanks a lot! You saved my evening
If you have time, please listen to Alien Flame - Shometyle https://tidal.com/track/297807511

For me it is reference track for determining the quality/quantity of bass

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Thanks a lot! You saved my evening
If you have time, please listen to Alien Flame - Shometyle https://tidal.com/track/297807511

For me it is reference track for determining the quality/quantity of bass

Using YouTube Topic or official videos where possible insofar as I only have an Idagio subscription and if ever may opt for Qobuz.

The Blaze "PRELUDE". Full and deep bass. Crackle effect on the left driver. I suppose textured pulsing motif and synths. I could call it a "spherical microcosm" lest that be too flowery.

Infected Mushroom "Becoming Insane". Damned sharp and incisive guitar transients coming from each driver. Maybe some slightly beyond-driver vocal effects. It is simply quite engaging. Switching to one of my headphones set up for neutral DSP speaker simulation, the imaging experience is of course different between having a coherent stereo line in front of you as opposed to having that line wrapped into an arc between the drivers and maybe sometimes a bit to the backs of the ears as in my large headphones. Textured. Aggressive. "Very technical". Not much differences through my EQed Meze Elite with premium silver cable. I can't think there to be anything missing. A lot of things overlaid, its being feasible to hone in on the parts, be it certain vocal or guitar parts in the background. Not at all "congested".

Liaze, Equal "2003". Reasonably tactile and deep bass thumps. Main vocal an inch or so in front of my face, its sounding fine with treble content (like from the tongue) rendered. Ambient components show through. Accordion or similar is textured. Articulate. Sounds as wide as I would expect from the Arya Stealth.

shometyle "ALIEN FLAME". Clear. Blaring (in the sense that those "blare" sounds are as blaring as they should be). Textured. The bass thumps feel leaner compared to the other tracks. The deeper bass swells are reasonable. Articulate metallic effects. The bass thumps can be accompanied with texture details. "Tings" imaging ahead and up; unless this was mixed for binaural playback, for me, any literal "holography" or height differences in imaging are HRTF-related "errors" to me from a speaker reference. Those tings are also reasonably focused, though one can hone into the attack envelope; I suppose it was in the last few tings that they sharpened the attack, unless the attack earlier in the track was being masked by the other sounds; I wouldn't know.

Cardi B "Bodak Yellow". Maybe I'm hearing YouTube compression/mastering in the vocals. That was in the music video; maybe it does sound a mite better/clearer in the Topic video. Not much to say other than that the Topic video's recording sounds clear.

FluxPavilion "I Can't Stop". Sharp bass transients, nothing crazy, or craziness is likely not in the mix. Textured and articulate. The track comes off as maybe having more "space" between the sound sources as opposed to be filled with ambient fullness, which is to say, perhaps an intentional clarity or "economy of sound". The left-right echoing of vocals is around the front left and right for me if not from the headphone drivers. "As separated as ever within the confines of headphones." "All the content is there."

Pendulum "The Island, Pt. II (Dusk)". Wide. Quite articulate. Every part of the "brrrps" or whatever are defined. It's an exercise of listening for details in the synth decay or whatever. Organ is imaged ahead, maybe favouring the front right. The drums after then are maybe inside my head, at least the higher-frequency transients. It again sounds very "separated". Bass impact is reasonable. I can hear the details of the drum membranes in the flanking drums that close the track, those transients feeling reasonably vivid and tactile (insofar as other recordings through the same chain could sound yet more vivid).

Avicii "Seek Bromance (Avicii Vocal...)". I checked out both the "Edit" and "Extended" versions. Large and clear. Detailed. Spacious ambience in the lulls. Reasonably sharp imaging and tactility of the percussion taps. Coherent. Quiet background vocals and effects around the left driver (in the extended version) can be discerned.

I've personally only ever heard "congestion" as a result of tonal issues with the upper bass and lower midrange being too forward, or treble content being overemphasized and masking everything or making everything sound noisy, this being resolved with EQ if not "mental burn-in" per my getting used to a tonality. I doubt that the L&P W2 and FiiO K9 Pro ESS differ tonally; one test you could do is to compare the sound of pink noise through both, making sure to get the volume as close as possible.

 

[makbrown]

Using YouTube Topic or official videos where possible insofar as I only have an Idagio subscription and if ever may opt for Qobuz.

The Blaze "PRELUDE". Full and deep bass. Crackle effect on the left driver. I suppose textured pulsing motif and synths. I could call it a "spherical microcosm" lest that be too flowery.

Infected Mushroom "Becoming Insane". Damned sharp and incisive guitar transients coming from each driver. Maybe some slightly beyond-driver vocal effects. It is simply quite engaging. Switching to one of my headphones set up for neutral DSP speaker simulation, the imaging experience is of course different between having a coherent stereo line in front of you as opposed to having that line wrapped into an arc between the drivers and maybe sometimes a bit to the backs of the ears as in my large headphones. Textured. Aggressive. "Very technical". Not much differences through my EQed Meze Elite with premium silver cable. I can't think there to be anything missing. A lot of things overlaid, its being feasible to hone in on the parts, be it certain vocal or guitar parts in the background. Not at all "congested".

Liaze, Equal "2003". Reasonably tactile and deep bass thumps. Main vocal an inch or so in front of my face, its sounding fine with treble content (like from the tongue) rendered. Ambient components show through. Accordion or similar is textured. Articulate. Sounds as wide as I would expect from the Arya Stealth.

shometyle "ALIEN FLAME". Clear. Blaring (in the sense that those "blare" sounds are as blaring as they should be). Textured. The bass thumps feel leaner compared to the other tracks. The deeper bass swells are reasonable. Articulate metallic effects. The bass thumps can be accompanied with texture details. "Tings" imaging ahead and up; unless this was mixed for binaural playback, for me, any literal "holography" or height differences in imaging are HRTF-related "errors" to me from a speaker reference. Those tings are also reasonably focused, though one can hone into the attack envelope; I suppose it was in the last few tings that they sharpened the attack, unless the attack earlier in the track was being masked by the other sounds; I wouldn't know.

Cardi B "Bodak Yellow". Maybe I'm hearing YouTube compression/mastering in the vocals. That was in the music video; maybe it does sound a mite better/clearer in the Topic video. Not much to say other than that the Topic video's recording sounds clear.

FluxPavilion "I Can't Stop". Sharp bass transients, nothing crazy, or craziness is likely not in the mix. Textured and articulate. The track comes off as maybe having more "space" between the sound sources as opposed to be filled with ambient fullness, which is to say, perhaps an intentional clarity or "economy of sound". The left-right echoing of vocals is around the front left and right for me if not from the headphone drivers. "As separated as ever within the confines of headphones." "All the content is there."

Pendulum "The Island, Pt. II (Dusk)". Wide. Quite articulate. Every part of the "brrrps" or whatever are defined. It's an exercise of listening for details in the synth decay or whatever. Organ is imaged ahead, maybe favouring the front right. The drums after then are maybe inside my head, at least the higher-frequency transients. It again sounds very "separated". Bass impact is reasonable. I can hear the details of the drum membranes in the flanking drums that close the track, those transients feeling reasonably vivid and tactile (insofar as other recordings through the same chain could sound yet more vivid).

Avicii "Seek Bromance (Avicii Vocal...)". I checked out both the "Edit" and "Extended" versions. Large and clear. Detailed. Spacious ambience in the lulls. Reasonably sharp imaging and tactility of the percussion taps. Coherent. Quiet background vocals and effects around the left driver (in the extended version) can be discerned.

I've personally only ever heard "congestion" as a result of tonal issues with the upper bass and lower midrange being too forward, or treble content being overemphasized and masking everything or making everything sound noisy, this being resolved with EQ if not "mental burn-in" per my getting used to a tonality. I doubt that the L&P W2 and FiiO K9 Pro ESS differ tonally; one test you could do is to compare the sound of pink noise through both, making sure to get the volume as close as possible.

This is very inspiring. It was k9 pro ess + arya stealth? what was the source and connection?
In my case it was:
1. iphone + tidal + otg type c - lighting
2. Android + hiby music (tidal) + mqa plugin + ddhifi tc07s
3. Macbook + tidal + ddhifi tc07s
4. Macbook + Audirvana (tidal) + ddhifi tc07s.

Theoretically, it is doesn’t matter hot exactly it get a bit-perfect digital signal.
Is it supposed to sound the same?

 

[MrHaelscheir]

This is very inspiring. It was k9 pro ess + arya stealth? what was the source and connection?
In my case it was:
1. iphone + tidal + otg type c - lighting
2. Android + hiby music (tidal) + mqa plugin + ddhifi tc07s
3. Macbook + tidal + ddhifi tc07s
4. Macbook + Audirvana (tidal) + ddhifi tc07s.

Theoretically, it is doesn’t matter hot exactly it get a bit-perfect digital signal.
Is it supposed to sound the same?

All my impressions of your tracks were through the best YouTube recordings I could find (I would fail a FLAC versus MP3 320 kbps ABX test; you can try https://abx.digitalfeed.net/ for yourself) on a Windows system. Equalizer APO was still running, but the EQ filters were disabled. The PC was then driving the FiiO K9 Pro ESS with the included USB A to USB B cable. The Arya Stealth was connected to the DAC/amp with the Meze 99 Series Silver-Plated Upgrade Cable with 4.4 mm balanced termination (I do not hear any reliable differences from the Lavricables Grand of similar length that I use with my HE1000se for looks and feel). But again, I currently don't have class A or R2R to compare with.

Indeed, theoretically, "bits are bits", whereby if you or someone else hears a difference, that is you or them.

I'll assume you have all digital volume controls maxed?

 

[makbrown]

I'll assume you have all digital volume controls maxed?

Yes, in exclusive/bit-perfect mode the volume is controlled on the DAC, and on the transport the maximum volume is always blocked.

If you are full of admiration even on YT/320, there is something wrong with me either with k9 or with my ears/feelings/expectations.
I will thoroughly test both
The most important thing is that I rejected the theory that k9 pro ess and Arya Stealth are incompatible