This is a DAC + Amp. It has a nice aesthetic design, and it's not too bulky.

After extensive testing with multiple headphones, i struggle to find fault with this to be quite honest.


Treble range: Plenty of detail, nothing missing.

Midrange: Nicely transparent, and not recessed or forward. Everything sits where it should.

Bass: Tight, well-textured and accurate. Neither too much nor too little.

Soundstage: In a word... Excellent! It has ample spaciousness and good left-right spread. It represents the song competently with good stereo imaging.



Quite frankly, at the price (available for $139 US on Amazon) this E17K would have to qualify as superb value for money. I also have the JDS LABs C5D which costs $249, and when comparing both these side-by-side through the digital Micro USB DAC, well i have to say, i couldn't hear much difference after many hours doing constant A/B testing on the same songs, and actually if i was forced to choose one or the other it would be a very hard choice, that's how similar they sound; True story.

This is quite simply a superb all-rounder. If you only need one superb DAC/Amp, then this will do the job nicely.

This C5D will give you what you want from the get-go.

Bass is beefy.

Midrange is clear and detailed, and neither forward nor recessed.

Treble is tonally accurate with no added harshness.

Soundstage is above average but some Amp/DACs are known to be 'slightly' more spacious.


The C5D certainly outperforms the FiiO X1 and X3 DAPs but has similar performance to the more expensive FiiOX5 DAP ($420). We just need an accurate DAC/Amp that doesn't change the music or add or take away for the sonic signature of the sound, the C5D does exactly this, with powerful 'clean' amplification and good dynamic-range, and the DAC translates the digital zeros and ones superbly. What more do you need?