FiiO New K3
The FiiO New K3 brings lush, warm mids, controlled bass weight and a fatigue-free musical flow to desktop listening. Soundnews highlights its natural, forgiving voice, smart balanced output and excellent value, while Audiophilepure praises the tidy, punchy bass with the boost disengaged. Its compact metal build and flexible outputs make it a compelling all-round USB DAC/amp.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
83/100
Build Quality
90/100
Features Usability
87/100
Value for Money
93/100
Pros
Warm, textured midrange and relaxed treble support comfortable long listening sessions.
Bass is controlled, weighty and punchy with the bass boost switched off.
Balanced output provides substantially better drive and control for demanding full-size headphones.
Solid CNC aluminum construction, useful outputs and strong price-to-performance value.
Cons
Single-ended output lacks sufficient power for some full-size desktop headphones.
Upper-treble detail, soundstage depth and imaging are limited compared with more analytical DAC/amps.
Bass boost can make the low end boomy and disjointed.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 83/100
The New K3 favors a lush, warm and forgiving presentation over incisive detail or speed. It delivers satisfying mid-bass weight and works well with both IEMs and desktop headphones, but its softer transients, limited upper-treble detail and relatively flat imaging constrain outright fidelity.
Transparency Resolution
81/100
Soundnews finds the K3 pleasant rather than highly precise or detailed, with treble energy and detail falling away above roughly 12kHz. Treble remains clean, but crowded music can expose its reduced resolution, while imaging is described as mostly two-dimensional.
Tonal Balance Musicality
88/100
The presentation is repeatedly described as lush, slightly warm, romantic and fatigue-free. Its fuller mids and bass make voices and guitars sound thick and substantial, and the forgiving tuning suits both well- and poorly-mastered music, though the bass switch can become excessive.
Dynamics
80/100
Bass has good rumble and slam, and the amplifier gives the HD660S and Quad ERA-1 a noticeably more awake, energetic character. However, note decay is said to run longer than normal and transient response is lighter and slower, so it is not the best fit for listeners seeking maximum kick and attack.
Noise Floor
80/100
The single-ended output is reported to be close to silent with sensitive IEMs. The balanced output has faint hiss with the most sensitive models, making it less ideal for listeners who need a completely black background from every output.
Headphone Compatibility
86/100
The K3 is reported to work well with IEMs and desktop headphones alike, with low/high gain and both single-ended and balanced outputs improving flexibility. It drove the Sennheiser HD660S and Quad ERA-1 convincingly, although sensitive IEM users may prefer the quieter single-ended output.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
90/100
Soundnews describes the CNC-machined black aluminum case and metal volume wheel as solid, elegant and very well assembled. The textured control is also singled out as pleasant to use.
Features Usability
87/100
For a compact USB DAC/amplifier, the K3 offers 3.5mm single-ended and 2.5mm balanced headphone outputs, low/high gain, a selectable bass boost and a line output. USB-C operation and the USB 1.0/2.0 switch add useful computer-audio flexibility, though connectivity is otherwise focused on USB rather than multiple digital or analog sources.
Value for Money
93/100
At around US$110 or €120, Soundnews explicitly calls the K3's price-to-performance ratio awesome. Its broad headphone usefulness, balanced output and integrated USB DAC functionality make the asking price particularly compelling.
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Specifications
Manufacturer's Description — FiiO
Desktop DAC and Amplifier
Two USB AUDIO modes | Flagship-grade PCM 384k/DSD256 decoding
RGB indicator light | Dual headphone outs, dual digital audio outs
ADC volume control
Elevate your computer with powerful decoding
Just connect the new K3 to your computer via USB to instantly upgrade to high-fidelity sound, and enjoy your music the way it was meant to be heard. Equipped with an XMOS USB receiver chip, the new K3 is capable of decoding up to 384kHz/32 bit PCM and native DSD256 – the same as many DACs costing much more. The new K3's dual crystal oscillators ensure that any digital audio signals being fed into the DAC are exactly correct for further enhanced sound quality.
Great "core" improvement
The new K3 employs the flagship portable ESS DAC, the ES9038Q2M. Compared to the AK4452, the signal-to-noise ratio has increased by 14dB and distortion has reduced by 13 dB. The circuit design implementing this DAC has been optimized for a low noise floor and clean sound.
·SNR increased by 12%
·Distortion (THD+N) reduced by 12%
High-performance
low distortion op-amp
Compared to the last generation K3, FiiO has noticeably improved on various performance indicators and overall sound quality, so you can get immersed in your music even more easily.
Not obsolete with
brand new tuning
Model
New K3
K3
Output Power (THD＜1%)
PO
114mW（32Ω）
BAL
200mW（32Ω）
SNR (G=H, A-Weighted + Low Pass)
121dBr
114dBr
120dBr
112.5dBr
LO
Noise
(G=H, Low pass)
≤4μV
≤8μV
≤6μV
≤12μV
≤3μV
≤7μV
Simply reliable USB power
The new K3 adopts the modern USB Type-C input interface for a more reliable and stable connection, including that of power. However, care to ensure an uncompromised power supply doesn't stop there – the new K3 implements overvoltage protection (OVP) and a double-filter circuit to ensure power supply stability, while the digital and analog audio circuits each get their own power supply to greatly reduce crosstalk.
Low and High gains
ADC volume control
The switch for high and low gain meets your listening volume needs of delicacy and large dynamics. Plus an ADC volume control, the user is able to smoothly adjust the volume to a more accurate and finer degree, allowing the new K3 to be used with headphones of all kinds of sensitivity to really make your songs, games, and movies come to life.
Tiny round goodness in the palm of your hand
The all-aluminum black body has been painstakingly CNC-machined, anodized, and sandblasted to ensure that the new K3 feels robust yet perfectly textured for a great feel in your hands. Combined with its small size, you can easily take the new K3 wherever you need to.
Two modes for many situations
Sometimes, you may not have access to a device that can connect to the new K3 via USB Audio Class 2. In these situations, you can go to USB Audio Class 1 mode with just the flick of a switch.
* Using the 2.0 mode requires downloading and installing the FiiO USB driver
* After switching USB modes, you need to either turn the new K3 off and on, or unplug and plug in the USB cable.
In high-performance applications, you can use the 2.0 mode to enjoy up to 384kHz/DSD 256 decoding.
For certain situations, you can use the 1.0 mode to enjoy up to 96kHz/24-bit PCM audio without needing any drivers.
A distinctly cohesive tactile audiovisual experience
The volume knob, with 45° notches etched onto its surface and perfectly sized to allow easy one-finger operation, is designed to perfectly blend in with the curves of the new K3 body for a distinctive touch. Next to the volume knob is an RGB light that indicates what kind of digital audio is being input to the new K3, visually confirming what you are hearing in your music.
48kHz sampling rate and below - Blue Above 48kHz sampling rate - Yellow DSD - Green
Different connection options for different scenarios
Connect it to a desktop computer
Use the driverless 1.0 mode for business trips
Make it a digital turntable connected to an external decoder
Connect it to a speaker, using the New K3 as a DAC
Dual headphone jacks
Being optimized for indoor desktop use, the new K3 is equipped with both 3.5mm single-ended and 2.5mm balanced headphone jacks. Both outputs have audio jack detection, which means that when headphones are inserted into the balanced out, balanced boost automatically kicks in resulting in about a 50% output power increase compared to the single-ended out.
Line out connector
The 3.5mm line out is driven directly by the OPA1612 op-amp, to ensure as little sound quality reduction as possible. The line out output is also adjustable with maximum power output up to 2Vrms, to ensure compatibility with a wide variety of active speakers and external amplifiers.
*When using the line out, please disconnect any headphones
Coaxial and Optical digital outs
The XMOS USB receiver chip in the new K3 directly converts any USB audio input to digital signals output via the coaxial and optical connectors, allowing you to connect to speaker systems, amplifiers, or other external decoders.
*The volume knob does not control digital output volume. The New K3 can output digital audio signals up to 192kHz and DSD64 over DoP. Please adjust the settings of the device you are connecting the NEW K3 to if the device does not support the digitally output format.
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Authorized dealers for FiiO New K3
- 110Hz — online and in-store — Kielce, Województwo świętokrzyskie, Poland (website)
- Acoustic Technologies — online and in-store — Montréal, Québec, Canada (website)
- Addicted to Audio — online and in-store — Epping, Victoria, Australia (website)
- Advanced MP3 Players — online and in-store — Musselburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (website)
- All Elite Audio — online and in-store — Perry Hall, Maryland, United States (website)
- Alpha Audio Pte — online and in-store — Singapore, Singapore (website)
- Apos Audio — online and in-store — Oakland, California, United States (website)
- Audeos — online and in-store — Żywiec, Województwo śląskie (website)
- Audio 46 — online and in-store — New York, New York, United States (website)
- Audio Affair — online and in-store — Deritend, England, United Kingdom (website)
and 59 more verified dealers