FiiO JadeAudio KA1 Headphone Amps Tiny Amplifier USB DAC High Resolution Lossless for Smartphones/PC/Laptop/Players(Lightning, Black)

As a musician, I often need to play recorded material into the mix. The easiest way to do that is by plugging the phone into one of the stereo channels on my mixer. Sadly, phones don't have 3.5mm audio jacks anymore, so like most people, I was using a cheap USB dongle. It worked. More, I cannot say.I finally got sick of the crappy sound and decided to find something that would be better. In the world of the audiofile, spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars is typical for a good audio interface. I wasn't prepared to do that for this application.Enter Fiio. I have used Fiio products in the past and they've always delivered great bang for the buck. The KA1 is no exception! The high end is far more distinct than the cheap dongles, and the sound stage is noticeably larger. Finally, the bass is very natural and well-defined without being boomy.The build quality seems very good. The cable looks to use good materials and the casing on the body is aluminum, not cheap plastic. While this device basically sits on my desk, it is very small and portable if you have a pair of wired headphones you want to use on the go. This will sound much better than what's built into your phone.

This tiny little thing has big sound. I’m fairly new to being a budget audio file, so the only other dac I have to compare this to is the audioquest dragonfly black. This for $65.00 less actually has a better sound signature and soundstage. I would say the amp part of the ka1 is a bit less robust than the dragonfly, but only slightly. The dragonfly actually is a bit too loud and the ka1 is much louder than the normal apple dongle, which is plenty imo. The ka1 is so small, that I’m AMAZED at the sound quality from this thing. If you’re on a budget this is the BEST DAC/Amp you can buy. I’m an audio technica guy, so I’ve been using the M series and the ART series with this. Battery consumption is fairly low as well. Also, I’ve seen a few people say that a budget dongle at $15.95 sounded better, and to them I say to you get your hearing checked. The ka1 is awesome!!!

I was initially wowed by how much the volume increased (Originally was way too low) though disappointed to find there was a clicking and popping sound on my Google Pixel— I was about to disappointedly get a return, but searching for a solution online I found it wasn't necessary. The product is shipped out at version 1.0, but going to the website and getting the firmware 1.3 update fixed the popping issue. Now that it's gone, I am a happy customer! Does just the job and provides enough power for your audiophile headphones, where the apple dongle was too low for my hifi headphones. The volume is amplified so much that before, I'd use an equalizer app to hear anything, now I play music at half volume.Please, before you complain about popping noise, I urge you to save yourself the trouble and check for a firmware update!!!

Use this with my Audio Technica ATH-M50x and my Sennheiser 560s. Listening on Spotify at full quality. The dongle really helped power both pairs of headphones. With the Sennheiser open back cans the sound stage really seems to open up pretty noticeably. The Audio Technica cans have more pronounced highs and mids to go along with the already pronounced lows. For $50 I'm super pleased. I no longer have to max out the volume to get good sound.The dangling cable on this unit seems less than durable but only time will tell. IMHO this is definitely worth a try at such an affordable price. Great addition to my setup, especially for use out in the everyday world.

The sound quality is great, but the fade in before you hear anything is annoying and I returned it for that reason. You don't hear the first couple seconds of anything as the sound fades in.

Works great for a month or so, then breaks, I’ve ordered 2 and both broke, not worth it.

i was looking for a nice portable DAC but settled on this inexpensive one. I have the Android USBc version. It came with a mostly chinese manual. No installation necessary. Just plugged it into my google pixel and plugged my cans in. Way better sound than the cheap headphone USB-c dongles I've been using. Another upside is the fact that there is way more volume now. I used to listen to the loud stuff maxed out and with ear fatigue wished I had a little bit more. I now put the volume well below max with this dongle. I mean, for 50 bucks it did what I wanted.I can't speak for the long term reliability of this yet. I see some reviews where the connection isn't solid. I will modify my review if this thing breaks down earlier than I think it should.

I wanted an affordable dongle DAC AMP to connect with my Grado GW100x headphones to take advantage of Apple Music's high res formats.This was the cheapest dongle Fiio sells and it works super well. I only wish it had a detachable cable since I worry about the durability of the twisted wired connection.But I'll probably be only using this for intentional listening at home and on walks around the neighborhood so it shouldn't take too much of a beating.Fiio has dongle dac amp models with detachable cords, but as a non-audiophile person, I'm not sure what throwing more money will get because this setup sounds incredible.This setup: Apple Music Lossless > Fiio KA1 > Grado GW100x sounds amazing without breaking the bank.