I was originally going to start this thread in the “FiiO” section but decided that it’s just too good not to share more universally.
Setup is as follows:
Source: any mobile device, such as a phone or tablet
DAC/Headphone Amp: The FiiO KA11 which is around $30 and is available with either a Lightening or USB C connection.
Headphones: The FiiO FT1 closed back headphones, which sell for $150.
Please don’t let the low prices fool you into thinking that this set up can’t sound all that good because that would be a mistake. I would say that this set up gets one to about 90% to 95% of set ups costing several multiples of the under $200 price. Is it perfect, well no, nothing in audio is ever perfect, but the sound is just incredible for the low price. While not the most portable set up, it works great for around the house listening. The KA11 provides plenty of power and is capable of driving the FT1s to very loud listening levels. For portable use one can use any of the many highly rated IEMs in the sub $150 range.
For me this set up reveals one of those dirty little secrets of digital audio, which is that even inexpensive digital audio, when done correctly, can sound fabulous.
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AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
2
Perhaps even more interesting is the giant hole that relatively inexpensive Chi-Fi is blowing in the world of mid and high end audio. To the high end audio press I can only say “Lucy you got some splainin to do”
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AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
4
Cans show out of stock at Amazon ATM, mores the pity, the DAC is in stock.
OK the FT1s are here and boy are they impressive. The packaging, the quality of the materials are all top notch and rival my main Focal closed-back headphones which cost many times more. I used the balanced cable that came in the box and plugged its 4.4mm jack into the balanced out of my Astell and Kern DAP. Only listened for a few hours so far but the sound is robust, exciting without being bright. Imaging is great with instruments being easy to pick out positionally in the mix. I found with some bass heavy tracks a slight boom sometimes but that might improve when the drivers are broken in - it’s not an issue in any case as it’s rare and very faint. In summary, if you are in the market for a closed-back with balanced connections give these a try - they are a great headphone at a super price.
I’ve been on the hunt for reasonably priced closed-back headphones, to pair with my Fiio Q3 - this looks exactly like what I needed! Thanks for sharing!
Did you manage to make it work with Roon ARC with higher than 48Kh?
When I turn the USB beta driver mode I can see high res in the audio path but no sound comes out.
When I turn it off, everything is converted to 48Kh.
