FiiO KA15
A perfect “retro styled” portable headphone dac amp
FiiO has continued its impressive streak in portable audio this year, and the KA15 is a standout device. It combines a retro “Walkman” aesthetic with modern high-performance features. The FiiO KA15 hits a sweet spot—powerful enough with “desktop” mode to serve as a reasonably good desktop alternative yet small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket.
In lots of ways the KA15 reminds me of another FiiO device from earlier this year, the K11. The K11 similarly was that perfect mix of power, looks, functionality and price. And the K11 at the time seemed like a new “platform” for future devices from FiiO, and we did eventually see the SR11 and ultimately the fantastic K11-R2R using that same platform as far as form factor and menu controls.
I predict we will see many future FiiO usb-c portable headphone DAC’s using variations of the KA15 “platform” as it does all the hardware basics you could want in a small headphone DAC with an excellent screen, responsive buttons, good size and weight and then especially when the “desktop mode” is enabled, it sounds fantastic detailed and powerful from the balanced output for such a small portable device. It basically punches way above its size and price point.
In this review, I aim to give you a detailed look into whether the KA15 might be the right choice for you.
Note: I’d like to thank FiiO for sending me the KA15 for review purposes. You can check out more details about the KA15 on the FiiO website here.
The retail price of the KA15 is $109.99.
What’s in the Box
The KA15 comes packaged in a premium box:
Opening the box you get:
- The KA15 unit
- A USB-C to USB-C cable
- An adapter for broader connectivity
- A leatherette protective case (which matches the color variant of the device)
Build Quality
FiiO has focused heavily on the KA15’s user experience. The device is constructed from an aluminum alloy, making it very durable and efficient at dissipating heat. While the leather case is provided I mostly did not use it as I felt it was solid enough to not have a problem. While compact, it is sturdy and easy to carry. The buttons have a good spring about them with the slide for the desktop mode switch having a satisfying click.
The KA15 also works well with FiiO Magsafe ‘clip’ (which I used with the KA17):
The Display:
The 0.96-inch LCD offers a retro touch, displaying essential information, and is paired with physical buttons for easy operation.
Here is a little video of the menu system - you use the vol+ / vol- and the power buttons to navigate and select different options, I also started playing some music during this video so show the very cool ‘retro’ tape animation shown in the middle of the display when playing music:
One unique option which I really like is the ability to show Voltage and Current options (V and C) in the menu and you can see the current jump from 29mA to 144mA when I start playing some music.
Note: Though after I upgraded to version 1.01 the “current” value never went as low as 29mA anymore, this might just mean a bug in their calculation was fixed with the upgraded firmware, but I thought I should mention it.
I did play around seeing how high I could get the current at I could see peaks of > 280mA with some headphones at very loud listening levels.
Buttons
The buttons have a nice clean design and as I mentioned earlier they have a sturdy feel:
Headphone Outputs
Obviously having both balanced and single ended outputs in such a small device is fantastic:
Features
Here are some of my favourite features from the KA15:
Desktop Mode
Like its more powerful sibling, the KA15 has a Desktop Mode that delivers additional power but unlike the KA17 it will draw that additional power from the ‘source’ device, so you are likely to use more of your smartphone battery if you switch to desktop mode, but its definitely worth it. Think of Desktop mode as much cleaner sounding ‘Gain’ switch.
I tested this mode using my iPhone 15 Pro Max with a USB-C connection and found it worked extremely well and it was a compromise I was mostly willing to take for the extra power. If I was on a long flight or if I knew my phones battery was getting low I would obviously just switch off the desktop mode, but I do think the extra drain of your battery is mostly worth it with your harder to drive headphones. With IEM’s it is plenty powerful without requiring Desktop mode.
In Desktop Mode, FiiO have stated that the KA15’s balanced output reaches up to 510mW per channel, delivering a
performance boost that is comparable to some larger desktop amps. I
I actually found it hard to find a headphone that sounded underpowered with
the KA15 in desktop mode. Though when EQ mode is enabled you do typically loose some ‘gain’ depending on what your
EQ setting is trying to achieve and at that point it would be worthwhile to have a more powerful device like the
KA17.
SPDIF Output
The KA15 offers SPDIF output via its 3.5mm jack, allowing users to connect it to external amplifiers or DACs. This feature is ideal for users who want to incorporate the KA15 into a larger audio setup without sacrificing sound quality. The SPDIF output supports up to 384K/32bit audio resolution. For that situation where you need a more powerful DAC this is a great option
Internal Audio Architecture
The KA15 is powered by dual Cirrus Logic CS43198 DACs, known for their high-quality audio reproduction with low distortion. These DACs can handle PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit and DSD256, making the KA15 ideal for high-resolution audio files.
The device is also equipped with a dual SGM8262 op-amp for amplification and a SPV5048Pro USB controller, ensuring low-latency digital audio performance with no concerns over jitter. This combination provides a clear neutral sound signature with excellent dynamics and separation. You will see this in the measurements section later.
Specialized 10-Band Parametric EQ
FiiO have been doing a tremendous job adding full PEQ to some of their recent devices.
The FiiO Control App (more on this in a second) can be used to change and tweak the various PEQ presets but also provides a set of good presets to start with:
I decided to measure these different out-of-the-box presets so people might have an idea of how they will alter the sound relative to the EQ switched off and normalised at 1000Hz.
To make sense of the different presets I grouped them into 3 different charts, in both graphs the “Red” KA15 is the EQ switched off: You can see that these 5 presets are variations of a V-Shaped sound with the R&B and Rock being very similar.
I group the other presets into this graph:
And as you can see the Pop is also V-shaped but has an emphasis at 1000Hz so this comparison is a more realistic comparison with some of the other Presets:
You can use the App to rename the custom Presets - I thought it was interesting that the 3 custom presets were
all named after current FiiO devices:
The KA15 also features a 10-band parametric EQ, allowing users to customize their audio experience by adjusting gain, frequency bands, bandwidth and even the Q values (in the advanced screen):
The PEQ preset (and the custom ones) can be switched via the LCD screen on the device.
There is also the FiiO Control website from a Chrome ‘based’ browser on Windows and MacOS which can edit the PEQ entries and some of the settings for the KA15 and can even be used to upgrade the KA15 (as I did here to switch to 1.0.1 of the Firmware):
Unfortunately, there is still no iOS app support for this functionality, but I think the inclusion of a good browser application mostly allows users without Android devices to at least edit PEQ presets.
FiiO Control Mobile Application
While less important than other devices due to it excellent display where you can change most settings, the FiiO Control Mobile App (Android Only) has mostly become an excellent and useful application for many FiiO Devices:
Selecting the KA15 you get access to various settings (most of these are also accessible via the screen on the KA15):
Sound Impressions, Equipment pairings and a brief comparison
I used the KA15 with many headphones including some of my harder to drive planars and a few headphones with > 300 Ohm impedance, I found it completely neutral meaning it was able to drive sub-bass heavy tracks on these headphones to the appropriate ’thumping’ levels (some cheaper headphone DAC will roll off badly in the sub-bass). I also found the treble (often also a troublesome area) was accurate with no noticeable loss of fidelity. I also used it with some of my recent favourite IEMS (that I happened to be also reviewing), including the Kiwiears KE4 and the Meze Alba and both sounded exceptional with the KA15.
As well as pairing the KA15 with various headphones and IEMs in a ‘portable’ setup with my iPhone (using the built-in PEQ to solve that typical annoying IOS problem on no system-wide EQ) but also with my Macbook Pro (where it is great to have a simple way to get a 4.4mm headphone input):
And with my WiiM Ultra (whose headphone Jack is poor quality) but that streamer does support an external USB Dac:
This last use-case is one of my favourites uses for the KA15 taking advantage of all that clean power from the desktop mode and providing an excellent sound headphone option to that otherwise excellent streamer.
Finally, here is a size comparison with a few other ‘similar’ devices: So we have:
- the classic Apple usb-c Dongle
- the FiiO JA11 (an excellent PEQ enabled usb-c dongle if your device is easy to drive)
- the new Fosi Audio DS2 (review upcoming - a decent first attempt from Fosi Audio)
- The FiiO KA15
- The also classic qudelix 5k
- The FiiO KA17
While this comparison is more about the size, roughly the power increases from right to left but only 3 left most devices and the JA11 have PEQ capabilities
Specifications and Measurements
Specification | Details |
---|---|
Colors | Black/Blue |
Connectors | Type-C USB 2.0, 3.5mm (SPDIF shared), 4.4mm BAL |
DAC | Dual CS43198 |
Supported Formats | PCM: 768kHz/32bit, DSD64/128/256, SPDIF: 96kHz/24bit |
Dimensions | 52mm × 25mm × 11mm |
Weight | 21g |
Display | 0.96-inch LCD |
SNR (Single-ended) | ≥122dB (A-weighted, 32Ω) |
SNR (Balanced) | ≥123dB (A-weighted, 32Ω) |
THD+N (Single-ended) | <0.00045% (32Ω) |
THD+N (Balanced) | <0.0004% (32Ω) |
Output Power (3.5mm) | 290mW (16Ω), 180mW (32Ω), 19mW (300Ω) |
Output Power (4.4mm) | 510mW (16Ω), 560mW (32Ω), 78mW (300Ω) |
Output Power Breakdown:
Mode | 3.5mm (PO) | 4.4mm (BAL) |
---|---|---|
Desktop (16Ω) | 290mW + 290mW | 510mW + 510mW |
Desktop (32Ω) | 180mW + 180mW | 560mW + 560mW |
Desktop (300Ω) | 19mW + 19mW | 78mW + 78mW |
These output levels are impressive for a device of this size, especially when using Balanced Output in Desktop Mode.
Measurements
Note: These are FiiO own published Audio Precision measurements.
Frequency Response:
The Frequency response is as flat as a pancake:
I thought it would be useful to include a FR measurement from an older FiiO device (K3) from a few years ago to show the progress made with headphone DAC amps in recent years. Notice the rolloff in sub-bass and in upper treble:
Mostly this is why you should mostly ignore subjective opinions about massive difference in sound from different DAC, there used to be (especially in bass and upper treble) and those reviewers still talking about massive difference are still caught in that mindset looking for differences that just aren’t there.
Note: There are other things beyond frequency response that can make a difference, like distortion (see SINAD below), e.g. some distortion can actually sound nice/warm (e.g. Tube ‘Harmonics’) and impedance variations with very hard to drive headphones with high impedance (or super low impedance) where your DAC just runs out of power at lower frequencies but the majority of headphones will be within the 16 Ohm to 300 Ohm range and as long as you give them some headroom they will sound fantastic from the KA15.
SINAD / THD+N:
The KA15 has a very impressive SINAD of 111 dB from the 3.5mm output: Note: the Balanced 4.4mm output was slightly worse with a SINAD of 109 dB.
Both of these values of course beat many expensive desktop DAC’s and are far above the threshold where SINAD will manifest itself as audible noise, so are really only an indication of good internal designs.
Rating
I have given the KA15 a very pragmatic 5-star rating. It has mostly everything I could want in a small portable headphone DAC amp, with 4.4mm as well as 3.5mm, with the very clear and useful LCD screen, the builtin PEQ and the very powerful and clean sounding Desktop Mode.
As I mentioned in the introduction the KA15 reminds me of the K11 Desktop Headphone DAC, in that it does mostly everything you could want and is objective better than much more expensive devices. For example, comparing with the KA17, if you want that little bit of extra power or want to use your smartphone as a source but without draining its battery go for the KA17 but in almost every other way I think the KA15 is a better device, especially for the money.
Conclusion
The FiiO KA15 is a fantastic USB DAC/amps. Its combination of excellent build quality, advanced features like Desktop Mode, SPDIF output, and customizable EQ profiles make it a formidable tool for audiophiles on the go. With power levels approaching those of desktop amplifiers, the KA15 offers an ideal blend of portability, useful features and performance that is not only hard to beat but currently almost impossible to beat.