[Nellie75]

I had the same problem and it was definitely driver related. Uninstalled the Fiio driver and suddenly had more than double the power/volume.
I wonder how many people buying the KA3 are thinking it's a weak dongle because of that.
@FiiO needs to address that issue. They still haven't proposed a solution to me about the popping sound after one month. Pretty disappointing customer support.

What is the driver version? Mine says "driver up to date" but my Kbear Lightning dongle is louder than the KA3's 3.5mm at the same volume on my iPhone.

 

[Nas Volokin]

I had the same problem and it was definitely driver related. Uninstalled the Fiio driver and suddenly had more than double the power/volume.
I wonder how many people buying the KA3 are thinking it's a weak dongle because of that.
@FiiO needs to address that issue. They still haven't proposed a solution to me about the popping sound after one month. Pretty disappointing customer support.

I'll try that but I don't have that popping sound you just described

 

[Nas Volokin]

What is the driver version? Mine says "driver up to date" but my Kbear Lightning dongle is louder than the KA3's 3.5mm at the same volume on my iPhone.

That driver is for windows and it's their latest posted in the website https://www.fiio.com/driver_download
I don't think Iphone or Android phone issue in that matter can be resolved by the update. I also noticed it slightly quiet than my BTR5 on Xiaomi mi 10

 

[senorx12562]

I had the same problem and it was definitely driver related. Uninstalled the Fiio driver and suddenly had more than double the power/volume.
I wonder how many people buying the KA3 are thinking it's a weak dongle because of that.
@FiiO needs to address that issue. They still haven't proposed a solution to me about the popping sound after one month. Pretty disappointing customer support.

What driver did you use on windows after uninstalling it? Btw, I have not experienced the popping thing at all.

That driver is for windows and it's their latest posted in the website https://www.fiio.com/driver_download
I don't think Iphone or Android phone issue in that matter can be resolved by the update. I also noticed it slightly quiet than my BTR5 on Xiaomi mi 10

Not sure it is helpful to compare a dongle like the ka3, or any other dongle w/o it's own power source like a battery, to a bt dongle especially when the source is a portable device with the inherent limits they impose on current available for external devices. That's not to say that there isn't a problem with the fiio windows driver as well, though I haven't experienced a problem myself.

 

[Alex Ulrik]

What driver did you use on windows after uninstalling it? Btw, I have not experienced the popping thing at all.

Not sure it is helpful to compare a dongle like the ka3, or any other dongle w/o it's own power source like a battery) to a bt dongle especially when the source is a portable device with the inherent limits they impose on current available for external devices. That's not to say that there isn't a problem with the fiio windows driver as well, though I haven't experienced a problem myself.

Windows 11 automatically installed the Microsoft USB Audio 2.0 driver.
The popping sound is very faint with less sensitive devices, and maybe a hardware issue with my particular unit unfortunately. Can't know for sure if @FiiO won't even talk to me properly.
I held them to a higher standard than other chi-fi companies, I guess I was wrong.

 

[Nellie75]

That driver is for windows and it's their latest posted in the website https://www.fiio.com/driver_download
I don't think Iphone or Android phone issue in that matter can be resolved by the update. I also noticed it slightly quiet than my BTR5 on Xiaomi mi 10

I assumed the windows driver would update the KA3 and that it would then use that new driver for other sources as well, like android or ios. I guess not.

I can change settings in the Fiio Control App when the KA3 is connected to android. I assumed those settings (like hi-gain or lo-gain) would also be used when using the KA3 with an iPhone.

 

[senorx12562]

I assumed the windows driver would update the KA3 and that it would then use that new driver for other sources as well, like android or ios. I guess not.

I can change settings in the Fiio Control App when the KA3 is connected to android. I assumed those settings (like hi-gain or lo-gain) would also be used when using the KA3 with an iPhone.

My understanding was that the gain setting should stay at whichever setting was chosen in the android app even across different source devices, until and unless the setting is changed in the Android app. I honestly don't think I would get the ka3 (or maybe a dongle of any kind w/o a battery) if I was an apple guy. The lack of an app for ios would just be the final straw.

 

[Nas Volokin]

Not sure it is helpful to compare a dongle like the ka3, or any other dongle w/o it's own power source like a battery) to a bt dongle especially when the source is a portable device with the inherent limits they impose on current available for external devices. That's not to say that there isn't a problem with the fiio windows driver as well, though I haven't experienced a problem myself.

OK but I use my BTR5 almost non stop wired so it's getting it's power from the source and what this has to do with dongle's loudness?
Dude, uninstalling the Fiio driver actually made the loudness not 2 but 5 times bigger with me lol. It's like before I listened to 55-60 volume on Windows and now 10!!! Huge change

 

[Amber Rain]

@FiiO
+ anyone else...

Hi, new KA3 owner here!

I am having difficulty in installing Fiio Control App on my Fiio M9 (it is the only android device I have at the moment - I have a Windows 10 PC, but from what I understand you cannot change the settings using this). The Fiio Control app file won't load / stage, is there something I can do to make it work?

I bought the device mainly for use with my iPhone and Mac and I would like to alter the gain / impedance settings on the KA3. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[senorx12562]

OK but I use my BTR5 almost non stop wired so it's getting it's power from the source and what this has to do with dongle's loudness?

Happy for you. Like mine too. As for your question, whether the dongle has to pull current from the source device's battery has everything to do with how loud it will get, not to mention various kinds of artifacts or distortion due to a limit on the amount of current available from a mobile source, especially iPhone. This has been discussed ad nauseum here and in other threads about this class of device.

 

[senorx12562]

@FiiO
+ anyone else...

Hi, new KA3 owner here!

I am having difficulty in installing Fiio Control App on my Fiio M9 (it is the only android device I have at the moment - I have a Windows 10 PC, but from what I understand you cannot change the settings using this). The Fiio Control app file won't load / stage, is there something I can do to make it work?

I bought the device mainly for use with my iPhone and Mac and I would like to alter the gain / impedance settings on the KA3. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

My guess is that the version of Android the m9 runs is not supported by the app, but fiio certainly should know.

 

[Alex Ulrik]

Dude, uninstalling the Fiio driver actually made the loudness not 2 but 5 times bigger with me lol. It's like before I listened to 55-60 volume on Windows and now 10!!! Huge change

I might have understated lol
It's several times louder, I had to change to low gain and set volume limit.

 

[Nas Volokin]

Happy for you. Like mine too. As for your question, whether the dongle has to pull current from the source device's battery has everything to do with how loud it will get, not to mention various kinds of artifacts or distortion due to a limit on the amount of current available from a mobile source, especially iPhone. This has been discussed ad nauseum here and in other threads about this class of device.

OK I might agree to your logic although I never read anything about it so let's assume it's correct!
The thing is I'm happy that I removed the Fiio driver and revert it to Windows one so now it plays even louder than BTR5 so thats a good thing in my book
As for Android I'm pleased with how it is

 

[senorx12562]

OK I might agree to your logic although I never read anything about it so let's assume it's correct!
The thing is I'm happy that I removed the Fiio driver and revert it to Windows one so now it plays even louder than BTR5 so thats a good thing in my book
As for Android I'm pleased with how it is

I'm sure someone at fiio will know, but I believe the only time the btr5 draws current from the source device is when it is set to charge. If it is not set to charge, I believe the power to amplify the signal is from the btr5's battery, even if wired. I tried using the generic windows driver instead of the fiio driver for windows (jrmc allows one to choose which driver to use) and noticed no difference in volume (at 80%). But the change in volume in that last 20% is huge, at least with a high-sensitivity/low impedance on-ear set of cans (senn Momentum on-ear). But no matter which driver I use, a song recorded at a low level combined with my Sundaras is not loud enough at 100%. But this is also true with the W2 and the btr5, so I don't see it as a bug, but rather an attempt to pair devices that are only marginally compatible. Actually, the m11pro isn't much better driving the Sundaras. But if one listens mostly to music recorded in the last 15-20 years, one might not even notice a problem.

 

[Nas Volokin]

OK I'm not using that high sensitive earphones , mines are 32Ohms but difference with windows driver is huge. I currently reverted to version 10.0.19041.1 (06/12/2019) and it sound louder than anything I threw at it before