FiiO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card Evaluation Report


FIIO Feiao K1 portable USB sound card

FIIO Feiao K1 portable USB sound card



K1 is a USB sound card device introduced by Feiao. The size of the U disk and the weight of the back clip are only 11.3 grams. This is the smallest size and weight of the external sound card we have evaluated.




FIIO Feiao K1 portable USB sound card



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Clothes Clip

    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-MicroUSB Interface



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Disassembly


    K1 uses a metal profile as the shell, with USB input and earphone output at both ends. The function is very simple. The two screws at the bottom can be removed from the circuit board.


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Disassembly



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Disassembly-BRAVO SA9023A USB Audio Chip


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Disassembly-PCM5102 DAC Chip



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Disassembly-TPA61332A Ear Release Output Chip



    circuit board. BRAVO SA9023A is an audio controller chip with USB interface, which has been used on rhythm Fantasia D/A. This new product supports standard USB audio mode, so it can be used across platforms and theoretically supports various mainstream desktop and mobile operating systems. However, from Feiao's official copy, it seems that there is no mention of supporting mobile platforms. DAC chip is BB PCM5102, dual channel, maximum 112dB dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio. Although the index is not top-level, the performance is not easy to become a bottleneck. PCM5102 is also used in Le Zhibang Monitor 02 US Dragon. Headphone amplifier chip TPA61332A, according to the official statement, is suitable for headphones with 16-100 ohm impedance.

    how will it perform? Our expectation is not too high, and we did not expect it to fight the bricks, but if it is better than the integrated sound card, it will be good. Although the government did not mention the mobile platform, we still tested the corresponding items. The Windows platform test naturally passed smoothly, while the iOS platform had some minor problems. Access to the iPhone 5s is unstable, and it is normal after using the iPhone 6s Plus. There is no problem with using the iPad. The iPod Touch6 test was also passed. The situation of the Android platform is more complicated. Not all mobile phones can be used. Some mobile phones cannot drive K1 normally. The power supply is insufficient and the power lamp cannot be lit. However, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge passed the test. There are also some domestic mobile phones that have no problem with power supply, but cannot be identified normally. These compatibility issues of mobile platforms are probably the reason why Feiao does not want to talk more.


    E-MU 1616M PCIe Digital Audio System


    According to the convention, we carry out a set of tests on the earphone output of K1. The test uses the form of professional sound card entry, and provides intuitive measurement results in combination with common analysis methods. The test found that the output level is -5.5dB, which is consistent under each platform.


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Response Curve



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Response Curve [48kHz]


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Response Curve [96kHz]



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Dynamic Range


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Dynamic Range [48kHz]



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Dynamic Range [96kHz]


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Noise Distribution



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Noise Distribution [48kHz]


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Noise Distribution [96kHz]



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Total Harmonic Distortion


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Total Harmonic Distortion [48kHz]



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Total Harmonic Distortion [96kHz]


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Intermodulation Distortion



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Intermodulation Distortion [48kHz]


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Intermodulation Distortion [96kHz]



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Separation Curve


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Separation Curve [48kHz]



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Separation Curve [96kHz]


    44.1kHz test item

    Galaxy S6 Edge

    iPhone 6s Plus

    PC

    noise level, dB (A):

    -96.3

    -96.2

    -95.7

    Dynamic range. dB (A):

    95.2

    96.0

    95.3

    total harmonic distortion, %:

    0.0049

    0.0052

    0.0050

    intermodulation distortion, %:

    0.0078

    0.0067

    0.0068

    stereo separation, dB:

    -76.8

    -76.7

    -76.4

    48kHz test project

    Galaxy S6 Edge

    iPhone 6s Plus

    PC

    noise level, dB (A):

    -96.3

    -96.1

    -96.2

    Dynamic range. dB (A):

    96.4

    96.4

    96.4

    total harmonic distortion, %:

    0.0053

    0.0053

    0.0050

    intermodulation distortion, %:

    0.0067

    0.0066

    0.0063

    stereo separation, dB:

    -76.9

    -76.8

    -76.3

    96kHz test project

    Galaxy S6 Edge

    iPhone 6s Plus

    PC

    noise level, dB (A):

    -105.4

    -105.4

    -105.5

    Dynamic range. dB (A):

    105.3

    105.3

    105.5

    total harmonic distortion, %:

    0.0053

    0.0053

    0.0050

    intermodulation distortion, %:

    0.0054

    0.0054

    0.0051

    stereo separation, dB:

    -77.0

    -76.6

    -76.3


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan @ iPhone 6s Plus


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan @ Galaxy S6 Edge



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan [48kHz]


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan [48kHz]@ iPhone 6s Plus



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan [48kHz]@ Galaxy S6 Edge


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan [96kHz]



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan [96kHz]@ iPhone 6s Plus

    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Frequency Scan [96kHz]@ Galaxy S6 Edge



    • FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Separation Test


    FIIO Feiao K1 Portable USB Sound Card-Separation Frequency Analysis


    Because the S6 Edge system itself has SRC problems, even if K1 is externally connected, this problem is still unavoidable. Therefore, when the S6 Edge is used, the signal generates many small harmonics. These harmonics have almost negligible influence on RMAA quantization results, but they have an impact on actual hearing, showing that the details should be blurred. In addition, the performance of each platform is consistent, and subtle differences in results can be regarded as test errors. The 24bit/96kHz project passed the test, but all platforms have the same problem, that is, the highest frequency band has a slight overflow phenomenon. Although the project uses 24bit signal test, the separation performance has not improved, which is caused by the performance of the hardware itself.

    the actual listening, we used these devices in the test. K1 is better than the integrated sound card of these devices. Compared with iPhone, the driving force is equivalent and does not dominate in driving force. The sound is also neutral. However, the sound of K1 is relatively soft and delicate, while the transient dynamic performance is still excellent, and the low-frequency performance is relatively flexible. As a result, the hard listening sense of iPhone has been corrected a lot. However, this improvement is only a quantitative change and is not a cross-grade progress. With K1, the headset wire controller and microphone functions will also be lost, which means that the control becomes inconvenient and the K1 needs to be unplugged to answer the call.

    Android platform is worse. One is the SRC problem, and the other is that the equipment will not be connected from time to time, making K1 useless.

    desktop platform went well. Compared with Surface Pro3,K1 is better than its own sound card, with relatively fewer burrs and relatively active overall hearing. SP3 has relatively rigid sound. K1 is the same as on iPhone, and it will not make any big difference due to the change of host sound. Perhaps because SP3 USB power supply is better, its low-frequency hearing will be stronger and more flexible. The sound quality of SP3 can be regarded as a first-line level in notebooks. The use of K1 has improved, but it is not a cross-level change. Therefore, we have also found some commonly designed Windows tablets [based on ATOM] and old notebook devices. The integrated sound cards of these devices perform poorly, especially ATOM-based tablets, most of which also have SRC and use K1. For these devices, SRC can be bypassed and the improvement is more obvious. For such devices, the value of K1 is reflected.

    To sum up, K1 is still not suitable for use on mobile platforms. One is compatibility and the other is convenience loss. However, when used on desktop systems, these problems do not exist. K1 has wide compatibility on desktop platforms, plug and play, microphone function is not so important for desktop systems, and portability is not said. Compared with large USB sound cards, K1 has many deficiencies in sound quality, but compared with most notebook built-in sound cards, K1 still has advantages in sound quality. Even compared with Surface Pro and MacBook series with better performance, K1 is still more delicate and softer. If you don't ask too much, just hope that the words are correct and sound, and you are not willing to toss hard, then K1 is suitable for you.



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