FiiO K9 Pro ESS Flagship Desktop DAC with Headphone Amplifier

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849,00 €

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Brand: FiiO

 
Description

FiiO K9 Pro ESS Flagship Desktop DAC with Headphone Amplifier

  • High performance DAC ES9038PRO+2
  • THX AAA 788+ Tech
  • Truly balanced design
  • Supports LDAC/aptX Adaptive/aptX HD
  • Dual voltage linear transformer
  • Wide connector selection

Inside the K9 Pro ESS are two es9038pro day chips, specifically designed for maximum performance in desktop-grade equipment.

One Es9038pro chip, with all of its 8 parallel outputs, is used for each channel to achieve richly detailed sound with minimal distortion.

Pure, clean sound, satisfying even demanding listeners

The THX AAA 788+ chips used in the K9 Pro ESS provide exemplary details and dynamics no matter if you are using low or high-impedance headphones.

The K9 Pro ESS can produce an undistorted 1100mW* under a 300 Ohm load, and an undistorted 2100mW* under a 32 Ohm load, 50% higher than the original THX AAA 788 apmplifier chips.

* As tested in FiiO Labs under balanced out.

Separated analog and digital sections, partitioned design

The PCB of the K9 Pro ESS uses a partitioned layout, wherein not only the power supply and signals are separated, but the analog signal loop is also put in an independent section, guaranteeing the integrity of the audio signal being processed.

Six-stage audio circuit, to reveal every last detail

Every audio signal goes through a mammoth 6-stage circuit to reproduce music as faithfully and as detailed as possible.

Precise Design

Fully differential signals go through the DAC, volume adjustment, ad amp for a truly balanced design.

Such a design ensures minimal interference between different components in order to fully maintain all details and large dynamic swings in music for unmatched sound quality.

Quality and quantity, LDOs for each circuit stage

Besides the special high-performance linear power supply, the power stabilization and filtering within the audio circuit is also a big contributor to the K9 Pro ESS’s excellent sound. Specifically, in each stage of the audio circuit, ultra-low noise LDOs are employed for voltage regulation.

Immensely robust, linear power supply

Electricity is the mother of sound, so special attention was paid to optimizing the K9 Pro ESS’s power supply to ensure excellent sound. The k9 Pro ESS’s linear power supply, with its low-frequency transformer and 4 massive 4700uF capacitors, makes sure that the rest of the system gets abundant clean power.

Just pure sound, isolated digital and analog power delivery

The digital portions of the K9 Pro ESS physically receive power separately from the analog portions, for effective shielding against audio interference between the two circuits. This ensures pure and faithful reproduction of your music.

Dual femtosecond clocks. Precise clock management

A dual-mode clock management design is utilized for the K9 Pro ESS. Under USB and Bluetooth decoding, dual asynchronous femtosecond clocks are used, while under optical and coaxial decoding, automatic PLL clocks are employed. A more precise clock management system makes it easier to handle any kind of source and maintain the maximum quality possible.

MQA Renderer, Lossless sound reproduction

The K9 Pro ESS supports the unfolding of MQA tracks, allowing you to listen to high-resolution audio files that are not only reasonably sized, but also retain master-level sound quality that bring you directly into the recording studio.

*With an appropriate music player supporting MQA, the K9 pro ESS supports up to 8x

Fast and reliable Hi-Res Bluetooth

The K9 Pro ESS employs the Qualcomm QCC5124 to handle Bluetooth duties, with support for formats such as LDAC, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive. This chip ensures that Bluetooth connections are both reliable and quick, satisfying both the low latency needs for games/videos and the high bitrate necessary for high-resolution audio.

*Bluetooth format support: AAC/SBC/aptX/aptX LL/aptX HD/LDAC/aptX Adaptive

Essentially of volume adjustment

Adjusting the volume may look like a simple concept, but a good execution of it is crucial to an excellent audio experience. The ADC curve reconstruction method of volume adjustment used in the K9 Pro ESS effectively minimizes any left-right channel volume imbalance and noise. It also results in a smooth change of volume adjustment is just another layer to making sure you truly savor your music with the K9 pro ESS.

Lighting up the mood

The RGB indicator lights surrounding the volume knob can light up differently depending on the currently playing sampling rate.

Dial it in with three gain levels

Choose between high, medium and low gain with a physical switch to fit exactly your needs when listening to your particular pair of headphones. Thanks to the pure hardware gain circuit, even when listening at low gain with high-sensitivity headphones both dynamic range and musical fidelity remain uncompromised.

Plentiful connectors to choose from

Front: XLR 4-oin, 4.4 mm balanced, 6.35mm single-ended headphones outputs.

Rear: 4.4mm balanced line in; coaxial, optical, Bluetooth, RCA, USB input; RCA SE out and XLR+2 balanced out

Side: USB Type-C port

Refreshingly modern, custom stand

The included custom stand not only reduces the amount of space the K9 ProESS takes on your desktop, it also allows for more efficient dissipation of heat through convention - making the stand a true example of both form and function.

 
Designer

FiiO logo

About FiiO Electronics Technology Co., Ltd.

01 Brand Introduction - HiFi+Fashion

FiiO Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2007.  It is a high-tech enterprise that combines research, development, production and sales, and its sales are mainly based on its own FiiO brand as opposed to OEM/ODM.  It focuses on digital audio, with current mainstay products being portable headphone amplifiers, DAC / amps and portable digital audio players.

FiiO: It is composed of Fi (Fidelity) from HiFi and iO (represents number 1 and 0) which indicates the sincerer feeling and more convenient life the digital tech has brought to us.

飞傲: The Chinese transliteration of FiiO, as well as representing youthful vigor and the active & innovative spirit of the company.

Audio products are meant to fulfill the spiritual pleasure of users.

  1. FiiO provides products and service related to music.
  2. We also hope to bring happiness to our users with the provided products and service, which is also the key value of FiiO.

Customer Service

  1. Good after-sales service, more reliable
  2. Great user experience, more pleasure
  3. Variety of activities, more involved

About products

  1. Affordable: FiiO products are well-known for its feature of high cost-performance. Lowering the entry level to make more customers can afford.
  2. Easy to use: FiiO pays great attention to the user experience. We are not only provide products with high quality, but also easy to use and with long lasting durability.
  3. More accessories bring more fun: Enable to play in a variety way and use under more possible environments.
  4. Updates available: Equipped with a variety of ports, it makes the music players can still connect to external amp/DAC for upgraded enjoyment.
  5. Endless transformability available: With replaceable amp module and expandable storage, the X7 can bring more playability.

02 Company Profile

Research & Development Team

  • Twenty years of R&D experience in audio products
  • Former core R&D team for audio products from OPPO
  • A team of 20 professional R&D engineers in software, hardware, industrial design, structure and electro-acoustic.

Research & Development Investment

FiiO keeps bringing in advanced equipments and high-tech talents so as to ensure the stable growth and long term competitive edge. Up till now, the team size has expanded three times than that of 2007 when we established.

Team Composition

The R&D team is made up of development dep, engineering dep and QC dep, with 60+engineers in total.

Authorized certifications

FC, CE, KC, CCC and ISO9001:2008 ensure the safety and quality of the products.

Production management

FiiO has strict requirements to production with almost “zero tolerance” even to small problems, which is strictly in compliance with the International Quality Management System ISO9001. 

QC Equipment 

  • a. AP audio analyzer (valued at 200,000RMB).
  • b. Life-span test platform against high & low temperature, swing and plug & unplug trial.
  • Aging test carriage towards mass production.
  • Aging test machine under high & low temperature.

Customer oriented

Driven by customers’ needs, we innovate constantly and response promptly to the market changes. We develop new products based on customers’ needs and compete for more market shares.

Company culture - Our Vision

Present the world a better “Made in China”.

Brand Spirit

  • Innovation

the earliest company that designed the minimum volume headphone amplifier. First dockable amp & DAC product. First amp specially designed for iPod/iPhone. First amp with adjustable power supply and power supplied by mobile phone battery. First multifunctional headphone amp & DAC for Android smarphone. First Hi-Res music player at a price lower than 1000RMB supporting 192K music. First Android-based Hi-res music player. 

  • Quality

Repair Rate < 1%. Sound Quality Control system. Original components imported from TI, Wolfson, Maxim. Company-wide quality control. +20 quality engineers and inspectors. Complete testing facilities. 

  • Service

CEO at the frontline of customer service. 100% response to enquiries. The most popular headphone amplifier brand on Head-Fi. First class website and contents in the audio industry. Interaction with and support to customers on Facebook and Microblog (twitter-like social website).

Brand Mission

FiiO designs, produces and sells high-quality products at favorable prices to those who love music and style.

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FiiO K9 Pro ESS Flagship Desktop DAC with Headphone Amplifier

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Comments(2)
08/02/2022

Dac/Ampli FiiO K 9 ESS Pro

Non pensavo che da un DAC AMPLI con un costo contenuto si potesse ascoltare in cuffia la bellezza della musica nella leggerezza delle sue trame nella profondità dei suoni che scuotono alzando sempre il volume perchè non c'è rumore di fondo ne distorsione ma soltanto il suono più forte del tessuto musicale che rimane sempre indistorto
con una eccellente definizione dei singoli strumenti mantenendo la distanza ariosità dei singoli piani sonori in una virtuale scena musicale la cui identità rimane precisa e inalterata anche quando malgrado l'elevato volume non introduce artefatti o rumori anche al limite del clipping.
Il confronto è stato fatto con le cuffie HiFiMan Arya Stealth, Audeze Lcd-X
e Sennheiser 660S Dac Audiolab M-Dac e ampli con valvole NOS Icon HP8 MK2
Ascoltati vari brani rock (Fleetwood Mac, Dire Strait, e altri classici) e
brani Jazz di tendenza tipo Jason Palmer, Tord Gustavsen, Myra Melford ecc.
Passando alla musica classica Claudio Abbado nel Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto & 1812 Overture - Martha Argerich, 2021 DSD64
L'Overture 1812 ascoltata con questo Ampli/Dac è da paura, il FiiO richiede un volume elevato fine a fine corsa per questo DSD ma l'ascolto che rende chiari i piani prospettici dell'orchestra fino alle cannonate rese così bene che mi hanno impressionato e fatto rimanere di stucco!
Per concludere un Ampli/Dac eccellente di grande intellegibilità a un prezzo per la qualità
molto contenuto.
A mio avviso una maggiore potenza non guasterebbe soprattutto per quanto riguarda l'ascolto dei file DSD tipo (The John Coltrane Quartet Play DSD64) che escono con un volume basso fanno scaldare molto il dispositivo.
Comunque a mio avviso a questo FiiO merita dieci e lode!

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08/02/2022

un ottimo AIO

è il secondo esemplare che mi passa per le mani. ammetto di aver approfittato dei periodi prova concessi dal sito, per confrontare alcuni tra gli ultimi prodotti perchè ero alla ricerca di un oggetto che fosse portatile e potente allo stesso tempo. alla fine .... non l'ho trrovato. l'm17 era sì potente e versatilissimo, ma costoso, scomodo anche da tenere in mano visto il peso, e ogni tanto necessitava di un reboot. sicuramente rilasceranno un firmware quanto prima per risolvere questi bug minori. tra l'altro non mi faecva scaricare netflix. io son sempre dell'idea che guardarsi un film su un tablet o simili sia uno spreco ma una puntata di una qualche serie perchè no.
tornando la k9. le info riguardo alla potenza effettiva erogata sono nebulose. non ho trovato le differenze tra sbilanciato e bilanciato ma per le cuffie che ho e che ho in pgroramma di comprare sono sicuro che la potenza non sarà un problema. per la portabilità mi sono dovuto rivolgere comunque alla concorrenza con un ifi diablo in grado di pilotare anche i mattoni senza distorsioni.
l'ifi però , non so se è una fissa mia, ma lo trovo a volte fin troppo "caldo" e privo di dettaglio.
usando la meze elite trovo l'ascolto molto più appagante e con il k9. il crunch delle chitarre elettriche mi piace di più. del soundstage non mi interessa e secondo me dipende poco dalle elettroniche quanto dalle cuffie usate.
la stealth in bilanciato suonava un pò spompa, un cavo bilanciato era consigliabile.
non ho ancora provato il bluetooth perchè non mi interessa. ho provato la funzione pre solo con un giradischi denon preamplificato , uscivo in bilanciato nel mio cambridge audio. pessima esperienza non si sentiva praticamente nulla. proverò la versione sbilanciata quando anche solo scrivere al computer non mi farà grondare di sudore.
sono tutte funzioni che non mi interessano comunque. a me interessa la qualità audio dall'uscita cuffia e per il prezzo non ho niente da dire. ci sono probabilmente in giro degli stack più vantaggiosi, "migliori", lo schiit che qui in italia è introvabile ho letto essere davvero una bomba. ecco una cosa che non sopporto sono le levette per cambiare la fonte o per modificare il gain. piccolissimi e invisibili. quando lo uso la sera devo usare la modalità torcia del telefono per far luce.comoda l'uscita c dal lato che permette di attaccare direttamente un telefono.
caso strano usando tidal non posso spuntare "force volume to max" e "uso esclusivo" insieme come con altri dac/amp.. mistero delle apparecchiature cinesi o simili. sono stati indubbiamenti fatti dei notevoli passi avanti negli ultmi 5 anni. a partire dal packaging fino ai materiali. e non me ne frega niente se gli "AUDIOFILI VERI" li considereranno sempre prodotti cheap. nei prossimi giorni ci attaccherò il marantz e proverò di nuovo la funzione pre in sbillanciato e vedremo . qiuqesta volta però è qui per restare, anche perchè prima o poi non voglio trovarmi il sig ventura sulla porta di casa e rischiare di essere gambizzato. "vacci adesso a fare il reso alle poste scroccone!" ahahah ho visto troppi film.
se comunque non avete ancora capito se lo consiglio o no perchè mi rendo conto di non essere certo heminghway ,la risposta è decisamente si. è molto bello anche da vedere. con il led che fa da contorno alla manopola del volume (molto fluida e precisa,bella grossa)., dovrebbe cambiare il colore in base alla frequenza di ciò che si sta ascoltando mi pare.
a settembre quando mi servirà un dap sicuramente lo prenderò qui.
ps
ordinato su amazon nelle prime ore del pomeriggio arrivato alle 12 del giorno dopo con bartoliini.

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