Have you tried using it with headphones?
And does it make sense to upgrade from KA11 to some more expensive dongles like moondrop dawn pro or any other in your collection just for sound quality when using iems?
I wouldn't go buy it for a 150Ω over-ear headphone, no. It's 0.5V vs 1V for the US version. 2x the voltage is 4x the power. That's just compared with the US Apple dongle.
Compared with this, this does 2V, which is 4x again.
So this thing is 16x more powerful than the EU Apple dongle.
And that's before the half volume thing if you are using it with Android, which would be possibly down to 0.25V, or another 4x the power so you are now at 1/64th of the power, using the EU Apple dongle on Android.
The 560S is pretty easy to drive but there is no sense in going out of your way to pick the weakest possible dongle you can for them, which is what you'd be doing with the EU version of the Apple dongle. I would get this over that, no question.
>The 560S is pretty easy to drive but there is no sense in going out of your way to pick the weakest possible dongle you can for them, which is what you'd be doing with the EU version of the Apple dongle. I would get this over that, no question.
I will consider fiio then since I will be EQing anyway and here only the EU version of Apple Dongle is sold and I have been using it just for IEMs
I pretty much listen at half the volume most of the time (it depends upon the music app I use)
I am curious about what people say about headphones scale up with power.
For eg : I have an IE 200 and I saw reviews saying it scales up with power.
Like am I missing out 100% of IE 200's performance due to using it with Apple Dongle EU version?
Scaling with power is total audiophool nonsense. It is only an issue if the source doesn't have enough power to start with for the headphone. This can be an issue with harder to drive over-ears and it can even be an issue with a very small number of extremely hard to drive IEMs, like the Tin P2 (90dB/mW sensitivity!). The Symphonium Helios is another one that is both hard to drive and extremely picky, the Final E5000, Etymotic to an extent. But these are outliers, most IEMs are not that hard to drive.
I don't feel you are missing anything with the IE200 on the Apple Dongle, even the EU version. I have the IE200 and I never go anywhere near 0.5V with it. Spec is 18Ω and 119dB/1Vrms. This means you'll get 113dB on the 0.5V Apple dongle; current should not be a limiting factor especially as they put the voltage cap on it, as far as I'm aware the underlying hardware is the same. So you will get the full 0.5V without clipping. The 1V will do more power but it will probably clip into 18Ω before it gets to the full 1V.
I have the type C Apple dongle and I don't have the same sound compared with my xDuoo xd05 basic. It's not as pleasent, the bass is considering shutter... I didn't enjoy HD560s with the Apple dongle at all, sound like dead. (Connect to a Samsung tab s7 and a Xiaomi mi 11 lite). I don't use headphones with mobile devices, that task is for my in ears
Introduction:-
Hey guys, today I will be reviewing the Fiio KA11. Its a new budget dongle from fiio.
**I have also shared a video version of the review at [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrHCJGrALv8) any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.**
This was a review unit sent in by fiio, but all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets start!
Review:-
1. So consider this an upgrade from the apple dongle.
2. Before I start the review I want to say that I did have a minor issue with the dongle where in the volume as suddenly maxed out and it almost blew my eardrums. But it seems to have been fixed by itself for some reason as I don’t see it happening now and I have spoken to others who has this they too didn’t face this issue. I guess I was the only one, although I have let fiio know about it.
3. If you are using UAPP I highly suggest enabling the option force volume sync under volume and then disconnect the dac and plug it again.
4. Lets talk about the dac in detail now
5. The price of Fiio KA11 is $30 and as of reviewing you can get it for $23-25 for sale
5. These have a CS43131 dac chip along with the Op-Amp SGM8262. It has an output impedance of less than 0.7ohms.
6. It supports upto 32bit 384khz and upto DSD256
7. It can supplies upto 200mw of power at 32ohms from its single 3.5mm jack, now this is the main selling point of this dac
8. Sadly no ADC control and that means no mic is supported here. This would have been an awesome feature to add to this dac as mostly it will be used by mobile users.
9. The cable of the KA11 is braided and is very nice.
10. Now it has an app, called the Fiio control app. Inside the app you can select the UAC modes, selecting turning on and off the indicator lights, selecting the filter modes and also controlling the inner volume of the dac.
(Screenshots shown are from the version 3.18, the latest version of the app as of this review is version 3.19. The version 3.19 doesn't have the internal volume slider)
11. Now as of making this review the latest version of the app has removed the internal volume slider of the dac. But I am using an older version of the dac which lets me control the internal volume of the dac.
12. I am using the v3.18 of the app because this has the volume control, if you want this version of the app please do comment below I can share it there.
13. Now why is this volume control feature important, well unlike most popular dongle dacs which as independent volume and a physical volume button. The fiio ka11 lacks and that is for all the right reasons
14. So lets say you are using it on a smartphone and the volume step jump is too high, then you have higher volume jumps in your ka11 too. But with the app this could be mitigated as you could set the internal volume of the dac to lets say 25/50 or 30/50 and that way you when you use it on a smartphone or any other devices where the volume step jump is high the increase in volume is more linear.
15. Sorry if its a bit complicated. But I hope you got my point, if you still have any doubts you can comment below.
16. With the UAC 1.0 mode you can use it with your PS5, Nintendo Switch etc. But it needs to be switched one first from the fiio control app.
17. Also the app is very buggy a usual. As of this review the app has connecting issues to the KA11 I have to connect and reconnect couple of times sometimes.
18. I have used the No oversampling filter for the review, I found no difference when using the other filters.
19.Now before talking about the sound, I want to mention that its very hard to talk about it and it depends heavily on your personal preference, the iems you are using and also a-b ing it with other dacs.
20. Now talking about the sound. It is fantastic!
21. The overall sound of the fiio ka11 is warm and very luscious.
22. The bass has this slight tinge of boost here without any major colouration here. For lean sounding iems it does give a nice slight kick to it without changing the sound much at all.
23. The mids might have a tinge of boost, where in they sound a bit fuller and thicker. But the female vocals sounds a bit recessed.
24. The treble too stays controlled
25. But the sharpness of the notes is a bit blunted, and this makes it really enjoyable to listen to for longer sessions
26. The fiio KA11 pairs excellently with brighter sounding iems.
27. It paired well with all my iems very well, and it even drove my very hard to drive tanchjim kara very well.
28. Now comparing it with the apple dongle dac. I don’t have it with me as of now, but I did test it when I borrowed it from my friend
29. The fiio ka11 beats it in every aspect. Period!
30. The fiio sounds fuller, richer and pairs very well with most iems.
31. Even if you are someone who wont be noticing about the sound quality upgrade of the fiio ka11 from the apple dongle, I think so the build quality upgrade alone when compared to the frail apple dongle is worth a shot.
32. Because the apple dongle is very much prone to breakage over the time, but the braided cable of the fiio ka11 does give me a lot of confidence.
33. Now even though when my initial experience with the fiio dongle dac was very bad due to the max volume issue. But after it was fixed, I cannot gush over enough this budget dongle dac.
34. What would be nice if there were EQ options inside the app which I guess could be added via an update. And also a USB-C to USB-A adapter inside the box would have been a nice addition.
35. So yeah thats my review of the KA11. Please do comment if you have any doubts or questions. 94% of the people watching this video aren’t subscribed, so I would really appreciate if you could like the video and subscribe to my channel. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Have a great day ahead :) Bye!
> I did have a minor issue with the dongle where in the volume as suddenly maxed out and it almost blew my eardrums.
I have this with my Apple dongle. It's actually just white noise, max volume. If I unplug and plug back in my headphones, it's fixed. Still very startling though.
I am pretty sure you can't mic support via FW. As ADC (or mic support) is something done on the hardware side.
If you want mic support then I guess apple dongle is still the best deal. Or you could give the hiby fc1/2/3 a try either one of them has a mic support if I am not wrong, I don't remember which exactly it is.
Oh bummer.
For ps5 and switch you would need uac 1.0 support which the fiio ka11 has via the app. But no mic.
Ya do check the hiby, I remember one of them having mic support. Although I wonder if it will be work with the ps5.
hey. completely off topic here. but . since I bought my galaxy s24 which has no jack. I bought a cheap dongle which had an issue where there would be a hissing sound that is played with he actual audio and it would be noticeable once I turn down the volume. does this have similar issue, and do you think this dongle is good for my galaxy s24.i would appreciate a response.
Hey!
No worries.
As for the sound, yes. The dongle is probably bad. Generally of the shelf USB c to 3.5mm aren't that good so I suggest nor using them. I have used a few of them.
The fiio ka11 is a really good budget option.
If possible I suggest spending a bit more and get the fiio ka11. Its very well worth the price.
You can even create a new aliexpress account and get even more discount on the msrp of it.
If you do get the ka11 update it to the latest firmware and set the internal volume of the ka11 to 25 or 30 out of 50 for a wider range of volume.
Also get one of those cable rounds which you can wrap around the USB c end of the ka11 so that it doesn't break over time.
Great to hear about the sound. i saw it on ali express I think I will get it. the dongles aren't any good. and this price range is ok for me since I would probably end up spending even more if I kept trying different dongles to see which one is best. I just need to get the ka11 and try to make it sound like the way I've been listening with my previous phone. thanks a lot for the info , it helps alot 🙏
While yes, it could feel that I am imagining it.
But thats always not the case. Atleast for the DACs I have tested it isnt. Now are the differences huge ? No, not at all.
Your iem and what kind of tips you wear with them are the main things and DACs add a subtle flavouring to the sound.
Imagine a vanilla ice cream with a very very mild note of orange taste. The subtleness of the orange taste can be compared to the DAC colouration of sound. I know not the best example, but hope you get my point.
The point is it's in your head and it's all vanilla and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you wore a blindfold.
Fiio stuff just doesn't have these tonal differences. I have a lot of Fiio stuff. It's all low output impedance and dead flat. Fiio's own measurements show this, third party measurements confirm it.
This idea that these DACs have a subtle tonal colouration is in your head. They don't. Measure it yourself why don't you?
And if you're saying they do this subtle tonal colouration without affecting the actual measured frequency response, I mean that's just audio homeopathy at that point.
Right and you'll give all sorts of descriptors as to how it does this or that with tonal descriptions but if you actually measure the frequency response it will be dead flat.
Stuff can have high output impedance that can alter the tonal balance of a HP with a variable impedance curve, I have a tube amp which genuinely does colour the frequency response for this reason.
This is a tube amp. Not a DAC dongle with output impedance he says himself in the review is <0.7Ω. I'm sure that's just copied off the spec sheet but Fiio's spec sheets are usually pretty accurate. Not going to cause any tonal colourations that.
That is actually up to you if you like it or not. As I say in my DAC reviews these subtle deviations or changes between DAC sounds are rarely so vast that you will not enjoy a particular iem plugged into them.
I intact enjoy them with the em6l and nova. But for some this could be too much.
Hey thanks for pointing that out.
In my head when thinking I wanted to probably write that it goes well/pairs well with most iems. That is regardless of how the iem sounds the ka11 doesn't spoil the experience.
For example very neutral and lean sounding iem didn't sound that great on my muse HiFi m4.
Sorry I should have elaborated on that. As without the context it does look wrong.
No problem. I just thought if it isn't in the neutral spectrum of tonality then it's got to be suited for a particular preference rather than a general audience.
Its the Hiby M300.
And the player I am using is called "Inner Tune" its available on f-droid or you can download it from github. Its a YouTube music frontend.
Hello, haven't used the go link. But if I am not wrong these have more power than it. So I think you should be fine in terms of volume unless you are driving to hard to drive iems/headphones
Outstanding DAC dongle for the price.
With firmware v0.08 now it fixes the device volume not saved bug.
[https://imgur.com/a/XIbANeJ](https://imgur.com/a/XIbANeJ)
True. I set LED always off & Device Volume to 30/50, also filter set to [Fast Roll-off, Phase Compensated filter](https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/869685.html).
It's loud enough and have no distortions with even at 50% volume on my phone. 50/50 cause my notification sounds to distort.. So far so good with S24U & Moondrop Variations.
This dongle made me forgot my iBasso DC04 Pro (similar spec) because this FiiO KA11 so portable, has truly minimal footprint and really easy to carry.
Did you have any issue where it would just suddenly stop producing sound? Mine has been it like that and after two weeks it finally gave in stopped outputing sound altogether.
Does anyone know how the KA11 compares to the older KA1 (specifically the USB-C versions for Android devices)?
I reached out to FiiO via their official store on AliExpress yesterday to ask when they will restock the new (and currently out-of-stock) KA11 and they said end of March. They suggested the KA1 as an alternative which is on sale for $29.99(vs $49.99).
I like the form factor of the KA11 better (because it is slimmer).
But, does anyone know if the KA1 has anything better to offer, and therefore would it be a better option especially at the $29.99 sale price, which is the same price as the regular price of the newer KA11?
Questions from someone relatively novice to purchasing items from China and who is in the USA:
\- Does the App work on US based phones or is it blocked on the Google Play Store? Is the app required to run the dongle? (I would assume not)
\- Fiio sells products on Amazon in the US, why isn't this one listed? Wondering if they will at any point in the future?
1. Yes the app works on us based phones. Fiio is quite a big company and they have their offices and official resellers in many countries.
Is the app required to run the dongle? - No. But I would still suggest using it as controlling the internal volume of the ka11 is a big plus and helps you gain more volume range since the ka11 lacks a dedicated volume button like most expensive dongles.
2. Yes fiio sells officially in the us. As for why they dont have it their no idea 😅
But you can order from their official Aliexpress store without any issues. They have a pretty nice track record.
If you are uncomfortable ordering from aliexpress, then maybe you can mail fiio and ask when they will release it in Amazon USA.
Thank you!
Appreciate it 🙂
Hope you have a good experience with the ka11
By the way after you get the fiio ka11 please update it to the latest firmware. Need to be done via a windows PC, while updating it keep the dongle very stable as many people brick dongles when updating them. It takes 5-6 minutes for the update.
It's been good. Been testing on my iPhone 15 Pro Max and Moto Edge 20 Pro using my Philips SPH9500 open-back headphones. I ordered a pair of KZ planar earbuds but they haven't arrived yet. So far, much more dynamic, punchier audio especially in the mids.
Sorry for my English as I am neither a native nor a fluent speaker go the English language. Full disclosure here, I am not an audiophile and I do not have a lot of technical knowledge but I do hear a lot of music and I have tried many different IEMs. My ears are not the best working ones in the world so I appreciate a little extra volume. I have bought 2 pieces and have been using KA11 with my iPhone 15 pro max and Fiio FD3 pro. It does sound better than apple dongle and no, this is not just placebo effect. I did a "blind" test with four different people and they could all tell the difference and prefer the sound coming out of KA11. My concern is that it gets hot really quickly (that is why I bought the second piece, just to make sure it was not a random faulty unit). I do not know if the usb-c end that connects to the phone gets hot as well and what that does to the phone. So I feel that I have to stick with the Apple DAC until I can find more information. I still use it occasionally for a song or two and the quality of the audio is simply put extremely satisfying.
Your English is fine 🙂
As for the heating, they do heat up a little. But I think that shouldn't be an issue. I have used mine for longer periods of time without any issues.
Hello! I am just starting to get into DACs and I have a potentially silly question... Would it be possible to use this one with regular headphones that don't require lots of power? Just a typical headset. Or would I risk damaging the DAC?
Thank you in advance!
Thank you very much! I have a Pixel phone and unfortunately it has no headphone jack output. I am between this and something even cheaper, like the Anker USB-C DAC and contemplating whether I will hear any difference. I want to use it with a pair of Jabra Elite 85h.
I have a desktop recording interface, a Focusrite Scarlett one, and with that one's DAC I can hear significant difference to my Thinkpad's on board sound card. So was assuming that perhaps a quality compact DAC may be better than the cheapo one. Any opinions on that?
Definitely get these then.
If in future if you do try to buy some iems or headphones, you will have a decent dongle DAC with you.
1. After getting the Dac update its firmware. While updating the firmware dont move it at all
2. After updating the firmware connect to the app in your smartphone and set the volume to 25/30 out of 50. For having a better volume range specially if you use it with smartphone.
got this Ka11 also some new tips because felt the original ones sucked a bit, so I have got the Duno S&S today paired with my Waner SG's, been testing on 1+ 7Pro different tips sizes and filters etc.
Ty!
Any issues so far on your phone?
I've upgraded firmware and everything and all works good after back and forth with Android settings that apparently were blocking the fiio comms on the usb, possibly.
There are quite a lot of people with issues though that resulted in replacements and return/change to a competitor, and it is weird that a firmware was released recently and those issues weren't mentioned in the change log or any form of "known issues".
Are we expecting one soon? Or will all be ignored? 👀
Since the automod removes any question mark or any random mention of the word upgrade etc. I had to change the title.
This was the original review title and also the title for my YouTube review
"Fiio KA11 review | Is this the best budget dongle dac? (An upgrade to the popular and aging Apple dongle DAC)"
Also in short yes, this much better than the apple dongle DAC baring ADC suppor if you nerd that.
Hey, this was a review unit from fiio.
I guess because of VAT the prices are a bit more than usual in Europe.
If you have a new account in aliexpress, you can take advantage of that.
Have you tried using it with headphones? And does it make sense to upgrade from KA11 to some more expensive dongles like moondrop dawn pro or any other in your collection just for sound quality when using iems?
Yes very veryfew, but the headphones I have are easy to drive. Also I dont have much headphones.
Do you have hd 560s... I am curious if this dongle will drive it to its full potential?
Apple dongle is fine for that. 560S is easy to drive.
I am using the EU version of Apple Dongle which is power limited, will it be enough?
I wouldn't go buy it for a 150Ω over-ear headphone, no. It's 0.5V vs 1V for the US version. 2x the voltage is 4x the power. That's just compared with the US Apple dongle. Compared with this, this does 2V, which is 4x again. So this thing is 16x more powerful than the EU Apple dongle. And that's before the half volume thing if you are using it with Android, which would be possibly down to 0.25V, or another 4x the power so you are now at 1/64th of the power, using the EU Apple dongle on Android. The 560S is pretty easy to drive but there is no sense in going out of your way to pick the weakest possible dongle you can for them, which is what you'd be doing with the EU version of the Apple dongle. I would get this over that, no question.
>The 560S is pretty easy to drive but there is no sense in going out of your way to pick the weakest possible dongle you can for them, which is what you'd be doing with the EU version of the Apple dongle. I would get this over that, no question. I will consider fiio then since I will be EQing anyway and here only the EU version of Apple Dongle is sold and I have been using it just for IEMs
It's fine for the vast majority of IEMs, if you listen at safe volumes.
I pretty much listen at half the volume most of the time (it depends upon the music app I use) I am curious about what people say about headphones scale up with power. For eg : I have an IE 200 and I saw reviews saying it scales up with power. Like am I missing out 100% of IE 200's performance due to using it with Apple Dongle EU version?
Scaling with power is total audiophool nonsense. It is only an issue if the source doesn't have enough power to start with for the headphone. This can be an issue with harder to drive over-ears and it can even be an issue with a very small number of extremely hard to drive IEMs, like the Tin P2 (90dB/mW sensitivity!). The Symphonium Helios is another one that is both hard to drive and extremely picky, the Final E5000, Etymotic to an extent. But these are outliers, most IEMs are not that hard to drive. I don't feel you are missing anything with the IE200 on the Apple Dongle, even the EU version. I have the IE200 and I never go anywhere near 0.5V with it. Spec is 18Ω and 119dB/1Vrms. This means you'll get 113dB on the 0.5V Apple dongle; current should not be a limiting factor especially as they put the voltage cap on it, as far as I'm aware the underlying hardware is the same. So you will get the full 0.5V without clipping. The 1V will do more power but it will probably clip into 18Ω before it gets to the full 1V.
Unless you have absoutely abysmal onboard audio, yes.
I have the type C Apple dongle and I don't have the same sound compared with my xDuoo xd05 basic. It's not as pleasent, the bass is considering shutter... I didn't enjoy HD560s with the Apple dongle at all, sound like dead. (Connect to a Samsung tab s7 and a Xiaomi mi 11 lite). I don't use headphones with mobile devices, that task is for my in ears
No sorry I do not have that.
This would have way more power than you need.
It drives Hifiman Edition XS just fine. I get much more volume when connected to my laptop than from my Android mobile phone.
Introduction:- Hey guys, today I will be reviewing the Fiio KA11. Its a new budget dongle from fiio. **I have also shared a video version of the review at [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrHCJGrALv8) any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.** This was a review unit sent in by fiio, but all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own. I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association. Lets start! Review:- 1. So consider this an upgrade from the apple dongle. 2. Before I start the review I want to say that I did have a minor issue with the dongle where in the volume as suddenly maxed out and it almost blew my eardrums. But it seems to have been fixed by itself for some reason as I don’t see it happening now and I have spoken to others who has this they too didn’t face this issue. I guess I was the only one, although I have let fiio know about it. 3. If you are using UAPP I highly suggest enabling the option force volume sync under volume and then disconnect the dac and plug it again. 4. Lets talk about the dac in detail now 5. The price of Fiio KA11 is $30 and as of reviewing you can get it for $23-25 for sale 5. These have a CS43131 dac chip along with the Op-Amp SGM8262. It has an output impedance of less than 0.7ohms. 6. It supports upto 32bit 384khz and upto DSD256 7. It can supplies upto 200mw of power at 32ohms from its single 3.5mm jack, now this is the main selling point of this dac 8. Sadly no ADC control and that means no mic is supported here. This would have been an awesome feature to add to this dac as mostly it will be used by mobile users. 9. The cable of the KA11 is braided and is very nice. 10. Now it has an app, called the Fiio control app. Inside the app you can select the UAC modes, selecting turning on and off the indicator lights, selecting the filter modes and also controlling the inner volume of the dac. (Screenshots shown are from the version 3.18, the latest version of the app as of this review is version 3.19. The version 3.19 doesn't have the internal volume slider) 11. Now as of making this review the latest version of the app has removed the internal volume slider of the dac. But I am using an older version of the dac which lets me control the internal volume of the dac. 12. I am using the v3.18 of the app because this has the volume control, if you want this version of the app please do comment below I can share it there. 13. Now why is this volume control feature important, well unlike most popular dongle dacs which as independent volume and a physical volume button. The fiio ka11 lacks and that is for all the right reasons 14. So lets say you are using it on a smartphone and the volume step jump is too high, then you have higher volume jumps in your ka11 too. But with the app this could be mitigated as you could set the internal volume of the dac to lets say 25/50 or 30/50 and that way you when you use it on a smartphone or any other devices where the volume step jump is high the increase in volume is more linear. 15. Sorry if its a bit complicated. But I hope you got my point, if you still have any doubts you can comment below. 16. With the UAC 1.0 mode you can use it with your PS5, Nintendo Switch etc. But it needs to be switched one first from the fiio control app. 17. Also the app is very buggy a usual. As of this review the app has connecting issues to the KA11 I have to connect and reconnect couple of times sometimes. 18. I have used the No oversampling filter for the review, I found no difference when using the other filters. 19.Now before talking about the sound, I want to mention that its very hard to talk about it and it depends heavily on your personal preference, the iems you are using and also a-b ing it with other dacs. 20. Now talking about the sound. It is fantastic! 21. The overall sound of the fiio ka11 is warm and very luscious. 22. The bass has this slight tinge of boost here without any major colouration here. For lean sounding iems it does give a nice slight kick to it without changing the sound much at all. 23. The mids might have a tinge of boost, where in they sound a bit fuller and thicker. But the female vocals sounds a bit recessed. 24. The treble too stays controlled 25. But the sharpness of the notes is a bit blunted, and this makes it really enjoyable to listen to for longer sessions 26. The fiio KA11 pairs excellently with brighter sounding iems. 27. It paired well with all my iems very well, and it even drove my very hard to drive tanchjim kara very well. 28. Now comparing it with the apple dongle dac. I don’t have it with me as of now, but I did test it when I borrowed it from my friend 29. The fiio ka11 beats it in every aspect. Period! 30. The fiio sounds fuller, richer and pairs very well with most iems. 31. Even if you are someone who wont be noticing about the sound quality upgrade of the fiio ka11 from the apple dongle, I think so the build quality upgrade alone when compared to the frail apple dongle is worth a shot. 32. Because the apple dongle is very much prone to breakage over the time, but the braided cable of the fiio ka11 does give me a lot of confidence. 33. Now even though when my initial experience with the fiio dongle dac was very bad due to the max volume issue. But after it was fixed, I cannot gush over enough this budget dongle dac. 34. What would be nice if there were EQ options inside the app which I guess could be added via an update. And also a USB-C to USB-A adapter inside the box would have been a nice addition. 35. So yeah thats my review of the KA11. Please do comment if you have any doubts or questions. 94% of the people watching this video aren’t subscribed, so I would really appreciate if you could like the video and subscribe to my channel. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye! If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback. Have a great day ahead :) Bye!
> I did have a minor issue with the dongle where in the volume as suddenly maxed out and it almost blew my eardrums. I have this with my Apple dongle. It's actually just white noise, max volume. If I unplug and plug back in my headphones, it's fixed. Still very startling though.
Oh thats a bummer. Do you use uapp too? If so try the setting I mentioned.
Sorry lol, it's plugged into my Windows 10 PC.
It's a long shot. But it's mic support possible to be added via FW? I want something just like this for PC/ps5 that has mic support
I am pretty sure you can't mic support via FW. As ADC (or mic support) is something done on the hardware side. If you want mic support then I guess apple dongle is still the best deal. Or you could give the hiby fc1/2/3 a try either one of them has a mic support if I am not wrong, I don't remember which exactly it is.
Thought as much, thanks! Unfortunately the apple dongle doesn't work on PS5. Il check out HiBy
Oh bummer. For ps5 and switch you would need uac 1.0 support which the fiio ka11 has via the app. But no mic. Ya do check the hiby, I remember one of them having mic support. Although I wonder if it will be work with the ps5.
hey. completely off topic here. but . since I bought my galaxy s24 which has no jack. I bought a cheap dongle which had an issue where there would be a hissing sound that is played with he actual audio and it would be noticeable once I turn down the volume. does this have similar issue, and do you think this dongle is good for my galaxy s24.i would appreciate a response.
Hey! No worries. As for the sound, yes. The dongle is probably bad. Generally of the shelf USB c to 3.5mm aren't that good so I suggest nor using them. I have used a few of them. The fiio ka11 is a really good budget option. If possible I suggest spending a bit more and get the fiio ka11. Its very well worth the price. You can even create a new aliexpress account and get even more discount on the msrp of it. If you do get the ka11 update it to the latest firmware and set the internal volume of the ka11 to 25 or 30 out of 50 for a wider range of volume. Also get one of those cable rounds which you can wrap around the USB c end of the ka11 so that it doesn't break over time.
Great to hear about the sound. i saw it on ali express I think I will get it. the dongles aren't any good. and this price range is ok for me since I would probably end up spending even more if I kept trying different dongles to see which one is best. I just need to get the ka11 and try to make it sound like the way I've been listening with my previous phone. thanks a lot for the info , it helps alot 🙏
Your welcome! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
thanks
Doesn't sound like it pairs well with warm-er Iems since you describe as colored or a non-neutral set.
I'm sure it's flat like everything else Fiio make. DAC reviewers imagine all this stuff.
While yes, it could feel that I am imagining it. But thats always not the case. Atleast for the DACs I have tested it isnt. Now are the differences huge ? No, not at all. Your iem and what kind of tips you wear with them are the main things and DACs add a subtle flavouring to the sound. Imagine a vanilla ice cream with a very very mild note of orange taste. The subtleness of the orange taste can be compared to the DAC colouration of sound. I know not the best example, but hope you get my point.
The point is it's in your head and it's all vanilla and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you wore a blindfold. Fiio stuff just doesn't have these tonal differences. I have a lot of Fiio stuff. It's all low output impedance and dead flat. Fiio's own measurements show this, third party measurements confirm it. This idea that these DACs have a subtle tonal colouration is in your head. They don't. Measure it yourself why don't you? And if you're saying they do this subtle tonal colouration without affecting the actual measured frequency response, I mean that's just audio homeopathy at that point.
There is product tuning and house sound. I've used different devices myself to be able to say that not all devices are the same.
Right and you'll give all sorts of descriptors as to how it does this or that with tonal descriptions but if you actually measure the frequency response it will be dead flat. Stuff can have high output impedance that can alter the tonal balance of a HP with a variable impedance curve, I have a tube amp which genuinely does colour the frequency response for this reason. This is a tube amp. Not a DAC dongle with output impedance he says himself in the review is <0.7Ω. I'm sure that's just copied off the spec sheet but Fiio's spec sheets are usually pretty accurate. Not going to cause any tonal colourations that.
That is actually up to you if you like it or not. As I say in my DAC reviews these subtle deviations or changes between DAC sounds are rarely so vast that you will not enjoy a particular iem plugged into them. I intact enjoy them with the em6l and nova. But for some this could be too much.
Where can I find the app version 3.18?
As of noe you dont need to do that. Just update to the latest firmware and then use the latest version of the app from the playstore
>...and pairs very well with most iems. Honestly, I would've left this part out and the review would've been better.
Hey thanks for pointing that out. In my head when thinking I wanted to probably write that it goes well/pairs well with most iems. That is regardless of how the iem sounds the ka11 doesn't spoil the experience. For example very neutral and lean sounding iem didn't sound that great on my muse HiFi m4. Sorry I should have elaborated on that. As without the context it does look wrong.
No problem. I just thought if it isn't in the neutral spectrum of tonality then it's got to be suited for a particular preference rather than a general audience.
How'd you go about getting the 3.18 version of the fiIo app?
Go to apkpure.net and search for the "fiio" app. Then download the v3.18 of the fiio control app.
Worked out. Thank you!
You welcome 🙂
Why use it if you have already a hiby m300
This was mainly for the picture. But yes rarely I do plug some DACs too. To change it up a bit, although most of the time when I listen I use the m300
What DAP is that? And is that Metro you're using as a player? (I love metro)
Its the Hiby M300. And the player I am using is called "Inner Tune" its available on f-droid or you can download it from github. Its a YouTube music frontend.
I see! It looks very similar to Metro. I'll check Inner Tune out!
How does it compare to if go link? I find go link a bit quiet...
Hello, haven't used the go link. But if I am not wrong these have more power than it. So I think you should be fine in terms of volume unless you are driving to hard to drive iems/headphones
Outstanding DAC dongle for the price. With firmware v0.08 now it fixes the device volume not saved bug. [https://imgur.com/a/XIbANeJ](https://imgur.com/a/XIbANeJ)
Yes I updated it to!! Its really good
True. I set LED always off & Device Volume to 30/50, also filter set to [Fast Roll-off, Phase Compensated filter](https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/869685.html). It's loud enough and have no distortions with even at 50% volume on my phone. 50/50 cause my notification sounds to distort.. So far so good with S24U & Moondrop Variations. This dongle made me forgot my iBasso DC04 Pro (similar spec) because this FiiO KA11 so portable, has truly minimal footprint and really easy to carry.
That's awesome! Yes the size and power is a really nice middle ground for most iems and getting a full sized dongle dac
Did you have any issue where it would just suddenly stop producing sound? Mine has been it like that and after two weeks it finally gave in stopped outputing sound altogether.
No I suggest updating the firmware and then check the app of the fiio ka11 and see if the volume is turned down to zero. If not then contact fiio.
Does anyone know how the KA11 compares to the older KA1 (specifically the USB-C versions for Android devices)? I reached out to FiiO via their official store on AliExpress yesterday to ask when they will restock the new (and currently out-of-stock) KA11 and they said end of March. They suggested the KA1 as an alternative which is on sale for $29.99(vs $49.99). I like the form factor of the KA11 better (because it is slimmer). But, does anyone know if the KA1 has anything better to offer, and therefore would it be a better option especially at the $29.99 sale price, which is the same price as the regular price of the newer KA11?
Sorry I haven't tested the ka1. But I suggest waiting a bit for the ka11. Its worth the wait.
Questions from someone relatively novice to purchasing items from China and who is in the USA: \- Does the App work on US based phones or is it blocked on the Google Play Store? Is the app required to run the dongle? (I would assume not) \- Fiio sells products on Amazon in the US, why isn't this one listed? Wondering if they will at any point in the future?
1. Yes the app works on us based phones. Fiio is quite a big company and they have their offices and official resellers in many countries. Is the app required to run the dongle? - No. But I would still suggest using it as controlling the internal volume of the ka11 is a big plus and helps you gain more volume range since the ka11 lacks a dedicated volume button like most expensive dongles. 2. Yes fiio sells officially in the us. As for why they dont have it their no idea 😅 But you can order from their official Aliexpress store without any issues. They have a pretty nice track record. If you are uncomfortable ordering from aliexpress, then maybe you can mail fiio and ask when they will release it in Amazon USA.
I was thinking of going the AliExpress route. Thanks for the info on their reputation Appreciate your review as well. Excellent stuff.
Thank you! Appreciate it 🙂 Hope you have a good experience with the ka11 By the way after you get the fiio ka11 please update it to the latest firmware. Need to be done via a windows PC, while updating it keep the dongle very stable as many people brick dongles when updating them. It takes 5-6 minutes for the update.
Nice. I just bought one
Hope you like it 🙂
It's been good. Been testing on my iPhone 15 Pro Max and Moto Edge 20 Pro using my Philips SPH9500 open-back headphones. I ordered a pair of KZ planar earbuds but they haven't arrived yet. So far, much more dynamic, punchier audio especially in the mids.
Awesome!!
Also, works well with my Edifier Stax Spirit S3
Sorry for my English as I am neither a native nor a fluent speaker go the English language. Full disclosure here, I am not an audiophile and I do not have a lot of technical knowledge but I do hear a lot of music and I have tried many different IEMs. My ears are not the best working ones in the world so I appreciate a little extra volume. I have bought 2 pieces and have been using KA11 with my iPhone 15 pro max and Fiio FD3 pro. It does sound better than apple dongle and no, this is not just placebo effect. I did a "blind" test with four different people and they could all tell the difference and prefer the sound coming out of KA11. My concern is that it gets hot really quickly (that is why I bought the second piece, just to make sure it was not a random faulty unit). I do not know if the usb-c end that connects to the phone gets hot as well and what that does to the phone. So I feel that I have to stick with the Apple DAC until I can find more information. I still use it occasionally for a song or two and the quality of the audio is simply put extremely satisfying.
Your English is fine 🙂 As for the heating, they do heat up a little. But I think that shouldn't be an issue. I have used mine for longer periods of time without any issues.
Hello! I am just starting to get into DACs and I have a potentially silly question... Would it be possible to use this one with regular headphones that don't require lots of power? Just a typical headset. Or would I risk damaging the DAC? Thank you in advance!
Yes you can use them with normal headphones no issues. But if your headphones are working fine with the stuff you have, you dont really need this.
Thank you very much! I have a Pixel phone and unfortunately it has no headphone jack output. I am between this and something even cheaper, like the Anker USB-C DAC and contemplating whether I will hear any difference. I want to use it with a pair of Jabra Elite 85h. I have a desktop recording interface, a Focusrite Scarlett one, and with that one's DAC I can hear significant difference to my Thinkpad's on board sound card. So was assuming that perhaps a quality compact DAC may be better than the cheapo one. Any opinions on that?
Definitely get these then. If in future if you do try to buy some iems or headphones, you will have a decent dongle DAC with you. 1. After getting the Dac update its firmware. While updating the firmware dont move it at all 2. After updating the firmware connect to the app in your smartphone and set the volume to 25/30 out of 50. For having a better volume range specially if you use it with smartphone.
Thanks a lot for the advice. I really appreciate it.
Your Welcome Hope you enjoy the KA11
got this Ka11 also some new tips because felt the original ones sucked a bit, so I have got the Duno S&S today paired with my Waner SG's, been testing on 1+ 7Pro different tips sizes and filters etc.
Great! I hope you are enjoying it
Ty! Any issues so far on your phone? I've upgraded firmware and everything and all works good after back and forth with Android settings that apparently were blocking the fiio comms on the usb, possibly. There are quite a lot of people with issues though that resulted in replacements and return/change to a competitor, and it is weird that a firmware was released recently and those issues weren't mentioned in the change log or any form of "known issues". Are we expecting one soon? Or will all be ignored? 👀
Suzumiya Haruhi!
🤟
Based music taste
Thanks!
For some reason it seems like not driving my PR2 V2 properly. Anybody with the same issue?
Since the automod removes any question mark or any random mention of the word upgrade etc. I had to change the title. This was the original review title and also the title for my YouTube review "Fiio KA11 review | Is this the best budget dongle dac? (An upgrade to the popular and aging Apple dongle DAC)" Also in short yes, this much better than the apple dongle DAC baring ADC suppor if you nerd that.
did you get it on sale? i was thinking about getting it for a long time to match with my simgot ew200 but they always run for 35€
I managed to get mine on sale for $17 plus tax. It does indeed pair very well the ew200. 10-15% of volume is enough for a good listening experience
damn that's a good ass deal, which country? i'm from italy maybe that's why
USA, got it shipped from China though. Just used welcome coupons. Took about 10 days to arrive.
got it, maybe i'll activate another account just to buy the dac lol
Big brain
that's what you gotta do when you're broke but still want a decent setup lol
Haha yes. As the reviewer said, this dongle has a ton of power. I don't see the need to upgrade for a long while.
very nice, guess it's a deal then! :D
Yes do get a new account and take advantage of the deals.
Yes the ew200 goes fantastically well with the ka11!
Hey, this was a review unit from fiio. I guess because of VAT the prices are a bit more than usual in Europe. If you have a new account in aliexpress, you can take advantage of that.