FiiO K9 Desktop Headphone Amp/DAC - AKM Edition FiiO K9 Desktop Headphone Amp/DAC - AKM Edition

I bought this reluctantly because the Linn Selekt just purchased doesn’t have a headphone out.I am using it with my Focal clear and Celestee as well as various Bluetooth buds.I am very impressed with the sound and excellent value for money.The FiiO app is abysmal, unable to control the volume from it.I have reinstalled the app and now it doesn’t recognise the amp, an awful app.

I bought the FiiO K9 AKM to light up a pair of Denon D9200 headphones that were frankly unimpressed with the best efforts of a rather wheezy but portable iFi Hip-dac3. Delivering up to 2W at 32 ohms and 780mW at 300 ohms via the balanced outputs, it’s five times more powerful than the Hip3, which is more than enough for those with suitable cables. However, I prefer to use the ones supplied with my headphones because I’m happier with the flexibility and aesthetic. But even unbalanced, the volume is more than enough given the D9200 has a 24 ohm impedance.There are three levels of gain to choose from and I settled on medium because the sound in my ears seemed slightly more natural and relaxed. But frankly, although the jump in volume is noticeable between gains, it’s small enough to make little difference given the headroom available in my setup.Currently, my music source is an iPhone 13, so the USB-C on the side of the AKM version of the K9 was a large factor in my choice of model. I couldn’t find a lightning to USB-C OTG cable anywhere near long enough for my needs so I fitted an OTG adapter to the end of a standard charge-only cable (iFi OTG shown in pic) and it works fine.I did try the Bluetooth input option but the K9 doesn’t offer ALAC so I was limited to using Apple’s lossy AAC codec. Unfortunately, this didn’t showcase the K9’s capabilities very well compared to the wired connection and I soon gave up on that approach. However, this might be different if you use an android phone and can take advantage of the high res aptX codecs available.The product description claims the realistic, detailed, and natural sound transmission makes it feel as if you’re there with the performing artists. It doesn’t - unless you’re in the recording studio wearing headphones like them. But I do accept what I hear seems very clean and unaltered by processing. Exactly how much is down to the K9 or my headphones, I can’t say but I’m happy with the net result.If you want to experiment with tone and balance then you need to download the FiiO Control App. For me, this is where the compromise on quality can be found. There’s EQ, filters, and balance options but after quickly cycling through everything, I struggled to notice any difference except to balance, which didn’t improve my listening experience, but at least confirmed the App was working. I was also surprised there isn’t a volume control on the App but I guess this is where you get what you pay for.Still, don’t let poor implementation of the App put you off. Even without being able to fine tune my music to any noticeable degree, the default settings are good enough and I find it hard to imagine there’s a more neutral DAC/amp for low impedance headphones at this price point.