I own several AMP/DACs like the Astell and Kern XB10, Shanling UP4, Venture Electronics Avani and Abigail dongle DACs, Fiio BTA30 Pro, Fiio Q11, even a Fiio UTWS5 bluetooth AMP/DAC and finally the Fiio KA5.
Out of all of these, if I had to pick the best ones I’ve used (without considering price), it’d have to be the BTA30 Pro and the KA5. The BTA30 Pro is a desktop DAC with no AMP and I use it with a iFi ZEN Air CAN headphone amplifier and it sounds wonderful.
So imagine my surprise when the KA5 sounds just as beautiful, musical and impactful as my BTA30 Pro + iFi Zen Air CAN stack! Sure, it’s not as LOUD but the thing runs off of USB power which is just limited to 500mA and still manges to get VERY LOUD even when powering a Hifiman Sundara on the balanced 4.4mm port.
Since I also have the Q11, I connected my Sundaras to the Q11 as well and they’re marginally louder than the KA5. It’s noticeable sure but it’s not nearly loud enough to justify carrying the bulky Q11 around especially when it claims 650mW @ 32Ω of output power from the balanced 4.4mm output.
Don’t get the wrong, the Q11 has its uses. Mainly it comes with a battery so you don’t have to drain your phone while listening to music. However, despite being noticeably LOUDER than the KA5, the Q11 doesn’t sound BETTER. The KA5 is noticeably more musical. I don’t understand any audiphile words so I’m going to describe it the way I experience it. The Q11 sounds a bit artificial and the sound is ‘in your face’ while the KA5’s sound sounds a bit further away and you can hear and ‘feel’ the nuance in the music that you can’t from the Q11.
For instance, listening to my favorite EDM tracks, it almost feels like I’m right there in Goa grooving to those tracks when I first heard them in that dimly lit shack on the beach with the DJ blasting that song. With the Q11, don’t get me wrong, it sounds marvellous as well but it doesn’t have the nuance and details of the KA5 which makes it feel like ‘you’re right there’. Instead with the Q11, it sounds like you’re having a really high quality listening experience but it’s more ‘clinical’ and you can’t ‘feel’ or ‘connect’ with the music and hear/feel the little things as much as you can with the KA5.
In conclusion, both are excellent DAC/AMPs but for me, the KA5 is just on another level. With the KA5, I can ‘feel’ and enjoy my music far more than I can with the Q11.
Now coming to the BTA30 Pro + Zen Air CAN, it’s superior to the KA5 in that the setup can get louder and I essentially get the same sound quality and ‘feeling’ from this setup as well BUT it’s a desktop setup that far too big and bulky and requires a power adapter, etc. Basically, you can’t take it with you and with the KA5, you can experience almost the same thing when you’re out with just your phone!
All of my experience has been with Spotify set to stream and download tracks at the highest quality level (“Very high”). I do not use FLAC, WAV, DSD, Tidal or what not. I don’t believe in them and frankly, it’s way more of a headache than I’m prepared for. I can happily say that the KA5 makes a noticeable difference even if you’re someone like me who just uses Spotify and Youtube and doesn’t bother with all the FLAC, WAC, MQA, DSD, Tidal, 100+ MB lossless audio file nonsense.
I used the KA5 and the Q11 with Hifiman Sundaras, 7Hz Timeless, Moondrop Chu, Moondrop Aria and QKZ x HBB IEMs. I plan to get a Moondrop Blessing 3 “Dusk edition” when it releases and try it with those as well but that’ll have to wait. The KA5 gets loud enough to drive ALL of these IEMs and headphones to hearing loss levels of loudness (yes, even the Sundaras) when used with the 4.4mm balanced output so I do not for a second believe anyone who claims they’re not loud enough.
As for the difference between the Q11 and KA5 in one sentence, the KA5 is far lighter and more musical and ‘resolving’ than the Q11 while the Q11 is more ‘clinical’ and comes with a giant battery. The Q11 has the same DAC in it as the KA5 but it has only one instead of two in the KA5 and maybe that’s why the KA5 sounds more musical but trust me, there’s a difference and it’s very noticeable.
As for battery drain, since the KA5 uses USB power off of the host (computer or your phone) to power itself, it will drain your phone significantly faster than the Q11 will since the Q11 has it’s own power source. In my testing with a USB multimeter, when being used as a UAC 2.0 device in Class AB mode, I…
==>https://www.headphonezone.in/products/fiio-ka5
