Haven't tried a GoBlu, but I have an iFi xCan and there's definitely some level of hiss or high frequency electronic whine through the 3.5 output. You can reduce it by turning the volume up to 100% on the digital source and adjusting the volume with the knob, but it's still there and you can hear it at very quiet moments in songs. I can't hear anything like that on the 5K, in contrast.
At least on my sample, with my Sennheiser IE900 and Beyer Dynamics Xelento at a low level volume in a quite slepping room, there is clearly some amp hiss when music becomes active with LDAC (between tracks) and permanently in DAC mode via USB-C. So it was really annoying for reading books or trying to have some rest on my bed.
From iFi team member, they know that there can be such issue from the amp part, so I have sent back my iFI Go Blo before one month.
I am sure you are right, but whether this matters depends on your own use model. Battery could be a significant determinant for some, but I suspect that most who look for the flexibility of a BT dongle that can connect to any earphones or headphones (up to drive power limitations) aren’t going to fault the battery on the 5K vs a dedicated BT device like AirPods or Ananda BT.
For me, my only complaint was the buttons. They are easy to press accidentally and take some getting used to. There is a small bump on one of them which controls playback/power and the side without the bump controls volume. To turn on and off, I press the BL and BR buttons together (think this was an optional setting they added due to user feedback). Took me a while to get used to and stop accidentally pressing the wrong button. Everything else is great for me.
I have no issues with battery on mine. It depends on what you are driving with the 5K. I generally sure mine with IEMs (single ended and balanced, Performance Mode, Normal Output Power) which are easy to drive so I have never run out of battery. I sometimes forget to turn it off or fall asleep while listening and wonder why I can't hear my phone call the next day, only to find the 5K still connected. My volume with the SE846 is currently set to -49db. I have also tried using it with my Aeon 2 Noire for fun (High Power and balanced mode) and it can drive them to reasonable volume but will use much more battery as well in the process (I usually use a RME ADI-2 instead for the Aeons). Really depends on what you are trying to use it for.
It is really an excellent device for the price and size. I definitely prefer the convenience of it vs. my V60, which I rarely use anymore.
I think the device is worthwhile whether you use Parametric EQ or not. Many comments describe how the positives outweigh the negatives.
I'll point out that if you use the 5K with one output device and one set of headphones, once you set it up it is the best personalized dongle. With that you get the versatility to adapt to many headphones. And you can use it as both a USB dongle for the maximum sound quality or as a bluetooth receiver (with built-in microphone) that will provide excellent sound quality on IOS devices and Android devices with LDAP.
Parametric EQ is the most versatile way to improve the frequency response of any headphone. To get started, you can use the Auto EQ presets. You just scroll to your headphone manufacturer and headphone. The EQ will be downloaded into the 5K itself. There are hundreds of headphones and IEMs provided. You can look at the settings and tweak them and that enables you to understand how it works--based on actual sound quality changes rather than theory.
Are you aware of any other battery operated dongle with higher power? The 5K provides 240 mW in balanced mode. The iFi Blu provides 245 mW balanced. Unlikely to be a detectable difference. There are a couple of dongles that get up to around 160 to 180 mW with a single-ended connection, which is more than the 5k when used as single-ended. But, with balanced connection I am not aware of a more powerful DAC/Amp dongle. They all use one of the same 2-3 popular chipsets.
There are analog battery operated amplifiers--no DAC--that have power in excess of 1 W (1000 mW) from Topping and Fiio. These surely work though you'd still need a DAC (although you could get away with the $9 Apple dongle), but the amplifier is roughly the size/weight of a smartphone. That's fine sitting at home or work but gets to be a big package on the go.
More power would be nice but you can't have all three of high output, long battery life and light/small.
I've been trying to think about this for the past minute or so, and to be honest I can't really think of a particular weakness of the Qudelix 5K that's worthwhile enough to be mentioned here, a fleeting post on an internet forum. That says a lot about the Qudelix 5K, I think.
I'll second many of the comments above. This thing hits way above its price tag. While I think the buttons kind of suck, I have it set to turn on with a double press, then I don't use them again (and it's in a case). I use the app or my phone for control. Otherwise, it's amazing. I don't really use PEQ that much unless I find settings from someone I share a signature preference with, but I'd like to eventually understand it. It's great to have so many save slots, you can have one or more for all your gear.
Are you aware of any other battery operated dongle with higher power? The 5K provides 240 mW in balanced mode. The iFi Blu provides 245 mW balanced. Unlikely to be a detectable difference. There are a couple of dongles that get up to around 160 to 180 mW with a single-ended connection, which is more than the 5k when used as single-ended. But, with balanced connection I am not aware of a more powerful DAC/Amp dongle. They all use one of the same 2-3 popular chipsets.
There are analog battery operated amplifiers--no DAC--that have power in excess of 1 W (1000 mW) from Topping and Fiio. These surely work though you'd still need a DAC (although you could get away with the $9 Apple dongle), but the amplifier is roughly the size/weight of a smartphone. That's fine sitting at home or work but gets to be a big package on the go.
More power would be nice but you can't have all three of high output, long battery life and light/small.
So, my Qudelix arrived today in the UK (1 day early!) and I've got it up and running. So far so good. Now at last I can listen to Amazon HD with some degree of quality on an iPhone.
I've been using the autoeq settings for my iems (ER4P, Tin Hifi P1 Plus, and T2 Plus) all sound very nice. However, I do feel that I could do with a slightly more elevated bass - does this mean I'm stuck with experimenting with the PEQ settings or can I do something simpler with the GEC?
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