[Hypops]

My amp has an RCA input, but that's connected to the DAC and I'm not about the constantly plugging and unplugging cables life. And it's situated in a way that makes that difficult anyway.

It also has a 3.5mm input, which I can connect any dongle with a 3.5mm output to easily (what I'm doing now).

So either I need an amp with two separate RCA inputs, a 3.5mm input (what I have now) or multiple USB inputs. Haven't found one.

The real solution is probably getting an amp/dac that also supports Bluetooth with LDAC and I'd be happy to just use that during the day.

Gotcha. Yeah, that does sound like your best option. As another option, you could try an RCA switch. Some are both inexpensive and audibly transparent. But it would also mean more gear-clutter and more switches to flip when you're listening to music.

As for OLED, to each their own but I'm not gonna put unnecessary hours on it and I'd also be using multiple keyboards at that point to even control the music, lol. Way too much hassle for little benefit.

Yeah, all about what works for you. I have a USB switch that I use for my keyboard to swap between my laptop (work) and PC (play). But again, this adds to the clutter and number of switches to flip.

 

[kalibri]

So, if the Qudelix says 90+ but tends to report higher than reality, then...safe to assume that I'm not listening at dangerous volume? That's all I really want to know!

Yes, even if the 5k reports 100+ in reality it's more like 80dBSPL

 

[vlad335]

I just hooked up the 5K to the PC and loaded the Qudelix extension. Wow! Really cool.

Thanks to everyone who helped me in this thread. Ordered the cable from AliExpress and now I wait...

Cable arrived today. Sounds fantastic. Can't plug the 3.5 cable in because the 2.5 connector is too thick. Don't need it anyway.

Do the headphone presets work when the 5K is in DAC mode?

 

[Hypops]

Cable arrived today. Sounds fantastic. Can't plug the 3.5 cable in because the 2.5 connector is too thick. Don't need it anyway.

Do the headphone presets work when the 5K is in DAC mode?

I’m pretty sure there is no dedicated DAC mode that bypasses the amp. IIRC the DAC, amp, and DSP are all on one chip.

 

[zilax002]

@kalibri @ext23 On the topic of the SPL readings (which vexed and irritated me greatly a couple months ago), I've noticed the following (on recent/up-to-date firmware):

Without EQ, the SPL readings seem plausible to me. I have no way of verifying the numbers, but they correspond roughly to what I'd expect and, say, those hearing safety charts that list the decibel levels of common noises. The number under "Volume" seems to be the max possible SPL, but if you navigate to "Input" you can see "Level RMS" and "Sound Pressure" which seem to be two different ways of displaying the 5K's actual estimate for the current volume.

But as soon as I turn EQ on (which, in my test case, is an EQ profile for the Sennheiser IE200 with a -6 db pre-amp) the readings totally break.

Here's the before and after. Within the same song, the estimate goes from 79 decibels to 87 decibels. This is during the same stretch of a song, with very similar volume.

The 87 decibels being the EQ profile with a -6 db pre-amp. This is obviously absurd and inaccurate. I've actually lowered the volume by at least 6 decibels, and yet somehow the Qudelix reports an 8 db increase. Which is actually mild, as far as this issue is concerned.

I've noted up to as much as a 15 db increase between the reported volume pre-EQ and post-EQ, during subjectively similar loud portions of music. And we're not talking classical music with huge dynamic range here; just standard modern music with a modest or low variation between the quietest and loudest portions of a song.

Note the large variation in the Level RMS (dB) reading. You might think the screencaps are captured during a much quieter part of the song, but that's not the case. If I'm guessing, the -6 db pre-amp is being factored into the Level RMS (dB) reading. And yet somehow the "Sound Pressure" rises dramatically, though the music is actually much quieter as soon as I activate the EQ with -6 db pre-amp (naturally).

These are my observations. If anyone with more technical acumen can explain why this is happening (assuming it's not just a bug/broken readings from Qudelix) I'd be appreciative.

But the TLDR is: SPL readings seem ballpark accurate without EQ, but as soon as I use an EQ profile the readings are totally worthless.

 

[Hypops]

@kalibri @ext23But the TLDR is: SPL readings seem ballpark accurate without EQ, but as soon as I use an EQ profile the readings are totally worthless.

Sorry, I might have missed this. Does that SPL calculation factor in your specific headphone's impedance and sensitivity?

I know that in the 5K's PEQ profiles you can input this information for every saved profile, but I don't know if it carries that information over into its SPL estimate. If it does, awesome. If it doesn't, then the estimate is meaningless.

 

[zilax002]

Sorry, I might have missed this. Does that SPL calculation factor in your specific headphone's impedance and sensitivity?

I know that in the 5K's PEQ profiles you can input this information for every saved profile, but I don't know if it carries that information over into its SPL estimate. If it does, awesome. If it doesn't, then the estimate is meaningless.

The 5K asks for impedance and sensitivity to produce those readings, yes. And the "max volume" displayed in the Volume section changes if you change profiles. Based on that I've assumed the 5K uses those numbers for the SPL estimate. But maybe it's not.

 

[zilax002]

@Hypops Sidenote: I'm ... from Albuquerque.

Weird seeing a Head-Fi user from there, given it's not a huge place. (Minneapolis is ostensibly a much bigger city, but I haven't seen many Head-Fi users claiming Mpls either.)

 

[Hypops]

@Hypops Sidenote: I'm ... from Albuquerque.

Weird seeing a Head-Fi user from there, given it's not a huge place. (Minneapolis is ostensibly a much bigger city, but I haven't seen many Head-Fi users claiming Mpls either.)

It was thanks to someone on Head-Fi that I actually found out there's a boutique DAC company here in town (Mojo Audio). I've got a go-to "audio guy" in town who I get vintage gear from. And I found a pro audio company that will do excellent repairs on that same vintage gear. But, yeah, not much in the way of headphone culture. Mostly just people into vintage speakers, speaker amps, and whatnot.

Albuquerque's a small city, but it's also got a strong gravitational pull for folks from all over ("Land of Entrapment," etc). Going on 8 years here for me, and the longer I'm here, the cooler and stranger this place becomes.

 

[kalibri]

Without EQ, the SPL readings seem plausible to me.

The measurements are not weighted so even if they seem in the ballpark at some points are still worthless. Until they add A or C weighting do not treat the numbers with any kind of confidence at all, especially if you intend to protect your hearing.

 

[kalibri]

Sorry, I might have missed this. Does that SPL calculation factor in your specific headphone's impedance and sensitivity?

Yes, but the measurements are not weighted so they are not precise. To have any sort of precision, A or C weighting should be used, especially if used to protect one's hearing.

 

[Tom Brown]

Is there a way to return my Q5K to v2.x.x firmware? Perhaps a guide on the net that Google is not aware of?

Any help to get my Q5K going again would be hugely appreciated!

 

[CactusPete23]

Is there a way to return my Q5K to v2.x.x firmware? Perhaps a guide on the net that Google is not aware of?

Any help to get my Q5K going again would be hugely appreciated!

Sorry, did you explain somewhere what happened to your 5K? What is it doing or not doing... Did this happen after a firmware upgrade or something? Or ???
- Difficult to offer advise without knowing anything but your request to g back to v2.x.x firmware. I looked for any previous messages about your "problem", but found none.

 

[Tom Brown]

This is my first post on the subject.

I have looked for firmware files and cannot find on the Qudelix site or elsewhere. They seem to be exclusively available via the app. The manual says nothing about back leveling firmware.

I upgraded to v3.0.3 and now I need to get back to anything before v3.

In the mean time, I will order one from Amazon and hope it has older firmware. It probably will be. If it's new, I can just return it.

 

[kalibri]

I upgraded to v3.0.3 and now I need to get back to anything before v3.

Do you have any issues with v3? It's working flawlessly here.