Hi folks.
I’ve been looking for and ampdac to be the perfect partner of my roon ready matrix i-mini 3 pro. The only that lately appears was the fiio k9 pro, but not roon ready or tested, and the problems with QC eliminate it of the leadership.
So I’m accepting advice of any dac/headphone amp with this setup:
Thanks in advance.
Daniel.
Hi Daniel what is your use case for this.
I also have a MA Mini I pro 3 and have a couple of streamers that go into Dacs including the Fiio K5 Pro.
Got to say I like the look of the K9 pro even though I have no use for it
Hi Michael.
The matrix is a nice ESS dac, analytical but got some issues on the output impedance (22ohms on the 4.4 connector).
I’m looking for a warmer sound (that’s why I want a AKM dac), with 4.4 connector for headphones.
I could get a headphone amp but I usually like the dac/amps with roon compatibility.
The fiio is just what I’m looking for, but no roon, and the AKM version got some QC and firmware problems
I drive Hifiman Amanda’s from my MA with no issue and happy with the output, though I have seen other feedback like your’s.
Have you looked at feeding a Pi or a Zen Stream into the K9 Pro, I bet that would be quite sweet.
I feed a Stream into the K5 Pro over SPDIF and it sounds great
The output impedance is not an issue with planars, when u drive a low impedance dynamic headphone or a high sensitivity iem.
My aryas are really nice drived by the matrix as well. Anyways, I would like to have an akm controlled from roon.
The pi solution doesnt fit me, but thanks for the advice anyways 
Good luck with your search, and yes I bought the Anandas specifically to play nicely with the MA.
The zen stream or Primare NP5 might also be worth a look, unless you are looking for an all in one solution. Then maybe the Naim Unity Atom HE, but that’s a big jump up in price
Good luck getting any AKM DAC these days since the fire. Several companies have had to switch away to alternatives.
FWIW
RMEs ADI2PRO still uses AKM. I believe they had enough stock.
Not the ADI2DAC where they switched the chip set. Of course the measured specs are the same!
It will drive balanced headphones - but you’d need a cable adapter as the output is two 1/4 jacks. I have adapter for my Sennheisers (although mostly I just use them unbalanced).
Thanks, but k9 pro got stock in all stores, so no luck need, need a dac without QC problems and roon compatible.
Its not roon ready or tested, right?
RME works fine with Roon, you’ll be lucky to find the AKM version new likely 2nd hand. Roon tested means bugger all for DACs really it only means they used and tested it with Roon.
Not that it does you any good today, but I saw an article in the past 2 weeks stating that AKM was expecting to resume production in early 2022. I assume that is by means of foundry production.
Of course, there is then the matter of getting adequate quantities in the pipeline.