[vandung2510]

Not sure about the holographic soundstage without having both to compare them directly.

The RU7 is also a very interesting dongle since people claim that sounds so organic and smooth but I am not sure if some of this organiness and smoothness can be replicated by software.

I remember back in the past that i had some more free time to explore i used audirvana with an audio adapter to upscale everything in 64 DSD and the outcome was more smooth and organic because of this upscale and not the DAC per se which i kept the same.

Maybe nowdays there is software (probably there is) that upscales everything and converts in DSD format on the phone directly. So maybe some of this goodness can be replicated here as well.

The way I see it currently and given the prices i would go first for KA17 and if funds allowed then i would look any further.

Personally, i'd go with the KA17. The RU7 may sound good when the song is playing. But outside of that, ie the user experience, not so mich

 

[KaiFi]

I've seen some reviews indicate the RU7 has issues with hiss and popping noises as well. May be a QC issue though.

 

[vandung2510]

I've seen some reviews indicate the RU7 has issues with hiss and popping noises as well. May be a QC issue though.

Not really. It's more of a feature, not a bug

 

[matisa]

Not really. It's more of a feature, not a bug

Does it actually have issues with hissing and popping noises?

 

[KaiFi]

Just got my KA17 today.

I can't believe how teeny tiny it is I thought it would be almost the size of a deck of playing cards, but it's positively wee. That's not a bad thing; it's actually very impressive.

Just listening with my ZMF Bokeh through unbalanced output with desktop mode off is already an improvement over the headphone port on my Mac, and the headphone port on my Mac is no slouch for on-board audio. I'm very impressed with this thing. I've resisted dongles for a while, haven't used one since the Audioquest Dragonfly and you couldn't control that one on-device. I don't have a balanced cable for my Bokeh yet, so can't test how it sounds on that output, but I did plug my Sennheisers into the balanced output with desktop mode on and the sound was excellent; impressed with the detail and the bass I could hear.

The volume step setting is excellent. Every amp should have this. On 60 the intervals are too big, but with 120 I can really fine tune the volume, even on high gain.

My one qualm so far would be that the balanced port feels a little "mushy" when inserting a plug. I prefer more of a click. It does get warm too, but I doubt this will bother me. Otherwise, this might be the device that finally converts me away from battery-powered DAC/amps (which seem to be on the decline across the industry) and toward dongle-fi.

 

[baskingshark]

I've seen some reviews indicate the RU7 has issues with hiss and popping noises as well. May be a QC issue though.

The RU7 has soft clicking sometimes - this is the DSD conversion in play. Some of the 1bit and R2R sources have this, though I think it may be inherent to the tech, compared to the usual Delta Sigma DACs we are familiar with.

 

[sofastreamer]

did anyone already have a chance to compare to the Q15?

 

[rafaelo]

Just got my KA17 today.

I can't believe how teeny tiny it is I thought it would be almost the size of a deck of playing cards, but it's positively wee. That's not a bad thing; it's actually very impressive.

Just listening with my ZMF Bokeh through unbalanced output with desktop mode off is already an improvement over the headphone port on my Mac, and the headphone port on my Mac is no slouch for on-board audio. I'm very impressed with this thing. I've resisted dongles for a while, haven't used one since the Audioquest Dragonfly and you couldn't control that one on-device. I don't have a balanced cable for my Bokeh yet, so can't test how it sounds on that output, but I did plug my Sennheisers into the balanced output with desktop mode on and the sound was excellent; impressed with the detail and the bass I could hear.

The volume step setting is excellent. Every amp should have this. On 60 the intervals are too big, but with 120 I can really fine tune the volume, even on high gain.

My one qualm so far would be that the balanced port feels a little "mushy" when inserting a plug. I prefer more of a click. It does get warm too, but I doubt this will bother me. Otherwise, this might be the device that finally converts me away from battery-powered DAC/amps (which seem to be on the decline across the industry) and toward dongle-fi.

The ka3 was a revolution in comparison to previous generation dongles and dragonflies the ka17 is a revolution to ka3...(And not only...)

I think the big step forward came when they have decided to use extra amps on the dongles and not only utilising the dac as an amp.

I was using it yesterday with Netflix and although dialogues were more or less the same any other sound was explosive and different in an grant way of things. It was like having a home theater in the bed with me...

Also desktop mode with Samsung a52s ot seems with android Samsungs can get as much more as it needs.

 

[Longfellow78]

Just got my KA17 today.

I can't believe how teeny tiny it is I thought it would be almost the size of a deck of playing cards, but it's positively wee. That's not a bad thing; it's actually very impressive.

Just listening with my ZMF Bokeh through unbalanced output with desktop mode off is already an improvement over the headphone port on my Mac, and the headphone port on my Mac is no slouch for on-board audio. I'm very impressed with this thing. I've resisted dongles for a while, haven't used one since the Audioquest Dragonfly and you couldn't control that one on-device. I don't have a balanced cable for my Bokeh yet, so can't test how it sounds on that output, but I did plug my Sennheisers into the balanced output with desktop mode on and the sound was excellent; impressed with the detail and the bass I could hear.

The volume step setting is excellent. Every amp should have this. On 60 the intervals are too big, but with 120 I can really fine tune the volume, even on high gain.

My one qualm so far would be that the balanced port feels a little "mushy" when inserting a plug. I prefer more of a click. It does get warm too, but I doubt this will bother me. Otherwise, this might be the device that finally converts me away from battery-powered DAC/amps (which seem to be on the decline across the industry) and toward dongle-fi.

You'd be surprised then at how much chunkier it feels in hand than the KA13 and KA5, both of which at the moment are better "portable" devices IMO - until they fix the broken software, and ideally make the KA17's multifunction button actually multifunction. Can't believe the step back they took from the ka5 in terms of usability and flexibility as a portable device, power not withstanding. I bought it to combine the best of both worlds with the 13 and the 5 and at the moment for my use case it is worse than both and much more expensive

 

[KaiFi]

You'd be surprised then at how much chunkier it feels in hand than the KA13 and KA5, both of which at the moment are better "portable" devices IMO - until they fix the broken software, and ideally make the KA17's multifunction button actually multifunction. Can't believe the step back they took from the ka5 in terms of usability and flexibility as a portable device, power not withstanding. I bought it to combine the best of both worlds with the 13 and the 5 and at the moment for my use case it is worse than both and much more expensive

I haven't tried the others, so I can't compare them, but it is disappointing that it seems to be a downgrade in some ways. Still, for me it's an upgrade over the last dongle DAC I used and I'm interested to see what else Fiio come out with in this product line.

 

[Longfellow78]

I haven't tried the others, so I can't compare them, but it is disappointing that it seems to be a downgrade in some ways. Still, for me it's an upgrade over the last dongle DAC I used and I'm interested to see what else Fiio come out with in this product line.

I am hopeful they fix the app and add more options to the controls. I think they will. That was what was really cool about the ka5, you could control the music fully with the dongle without having to turn on the phone. For some insane reason they haven't given the replacement device the same functionality on launch. But for high demand headphones, and especially to use as a desktop replacement the ka17 is clearly great, but it seems they bungled the launch. Fiio usually fixes these things. If not, there really is no benefit over the ka13 for portable users.

 

[rafaelo]

Is also possible this to have happened because they use the new XMOS chip whereas the old ones do not. So maybe they need time to provide all the functionalities developing new firmware.

If that is the case still i prefer the new xmos chip as is a step forward and what many people in the past requested.

 

[GroovyAudio]

Received my KA17 today and I'm very disappointed. When I listen to my local music with the samsung music app it keeps changing the sample rate from 192k to 48k and the music stops playing for a second, like a freeze. It happens when I turn off the phone screen or If I try to type something in the music app, like finding a specific song without scrolling down while playing the music. The most annoying bug ever, unbelievable. The music keeps stopping for a second and turns back on stuck at 48k. Then I change for another song, again shows 192k, the music plays fine If I leave the phone screen open and without typing anything, basically don't touch the phone. I have to leave it like that or that freeze will occur again and again. I can't believe this. Has this happen to anybody else using samsung phones?
I've also tried with pulsar music app and same thing happens except that I can actually type without that freeze occuring but If I turn off the phone screen I get that freeze again. Firmware 0.84.
I already send a request to my local store to send it back. This is unacceptable @FiiO . Why are you releasing products on the market with so many bugs? (looking at Q15 thread). This is not the way to make your customers happy.

Anyways, sorry for the rant guys. I actuallly really like this product but I can't with this bug.
What other things I can say about it?
Well, yes, fiio control app only shows EQ, clearly a bug.
On the device itself, another thing that let's say is a nitpicking from me has to do with the filters. There are a lot of options like fast, brick, slow, hybrid but where is "Non OS" option? Fiio KA5 has this option to not use digital filters, why is missing on KA17?
Now the sound aspect. Using my JD7 the sound is not that different from my KA5. What about the desktop mode you ask? Well, I can confirm that it is working without external power so that's a good thing if you have a samsung phone. But is it a big improvement vs KA5? Not really, no. So basically when you activate d.mode the sound becomes fuller, but is not a mind blowing experience. Now it is very possible that is not the fault of KA17 because JD7 is an iem that is very easy to drive so giving it more power doesn't really translate into better sound overall. I wish I had more iems to test but I only have my precious JD7. At the moment i'm waiting for FD15, FA19, FH19, FX17 to see which one I'll choose for my next iem.

That's it, really. If you get the KA17, it means you need a lot power to drive big cans, planars, this is where KA17 truly shines. For regular iems that don't require lots of power the KA5 is enough and the winner for me.

 

[Osaris]

My setup to run the KA17 on desktop mode on the go ft. Shozy P20 and Chimera cable. The 5000mah power bank runs the KA17 with my hifiman he400se at max listening volumes and they play way louder than my btr5 21' (I can get them to distort running off the KA17) and it run for way longer than my btr5 21' using this power bank so it's the perfect portable setup for power hungry users that don't mind the chonkyness and the power bank also has wireless charging so it can charge my phone and run my KA17 at the same time

 

[Longfellow78]

Received my KA17 today and I'm very disappointed. When I listen to my local music with the samsung music app it keeps changing the sample rate from 192k to 48k and the music stops playing for a second, like a freeze. It happens when I turn off the phone screen or If I try to type something in the music app, like finding a specific song without scrolling down while playing the music. The most annoying bug ever, unbelievable. The music keeps stopping for a second and turns back on stuck at 48k. Then I change for another song, again shows 192k, the music plays fine If I leave the phone screen open and without typing anything, basically don't touch the phone. I have to leave it like that or that freeze will occur again and again. I can't believe this. Has this happen to anybody else using samsung phones?
I've also tried with pulsar music app and same thing happens except that I can actually type without that freeze occuring but If I turn off the phone screen I get that freeze again. Firmware 0.84.
I already send a request to my local store to send it back. This is unacceptable @FiiO . Why are you releasing products on the market with so many bugs? (looking at Q15 thread). This is not the way to make your customers happy.

Anyways, sorry for the rant guys. I actuallly really like this product but I can't with this bug.
What other things I can say about it?
Well, yes, fiio control app only shows EQ, clearly a bug.
On the device itself, another thing that let's say is a nitpicking from me has to do with the filters. There are a lot of options like fast, brick, slow, hybrid but where is "Non OS" option? Fiio KA5 has this option to not use digital filters, why is missing on KA17?
Now the sound aspect. Using my JD7 the sound is not that different from my KA5. What about the desktop mode you ask? Well, I can confirm that it is working without external power so that's a good thing if you have a samsung phone. But is it a big improvement vs KA5? Not really, no. So basically when you activate d.mode the sound becomes fuller, but is not a mind blowing experience. Now it is very possible that is not the fault of KA17 because JD7 is an iem that is very easy to drive so giving it more power doesn't really translate into better sound overall. I wish I had more iems to test but I only have my precious JD7. At the moment i'm waiting for FD15, FA19, FH19, FX17 to see which one I'll choose for my next iem.

That's it, really. If you get the KA17, it means you need a lot power to drive big cans, planars, this is where KA17 truly shines. For regular iems that don't require lots of power the KA5 is enough and the winner for me.

Are you playing music locally? I don't know what this Samsung music app is. I'm using an s23 ultra and I use musicolet which for me by far is the best local music player. Try it and see if you get same issue.