John Darko
New from FiiO, a fully-reworked KA15 — a dongle DAC that’s unlike other dongle DACs. USB in, analogue out. A pair of Cirrus Logic CS43198 chips takes care of the D/A conversion for PCM support up to 32bit/768kHz and DSD up to DSD256. The dual op-amps that power wired headphones connected to the KA15’s 4.4mm balanced socket promise up to 560mW when fed by a mains-powered PC, Mac or USB-outputting CD transport but 170mW when juiced by a smartphone.
On-device volume control offers 60 steps of quick adjustment and 120 steps of finer control. The unit’s 3.5mm headphone socket additionally supports headphones with in-line microphones and the USB socket – running in UAC1.0 mode – can host digital audio piped from game consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PS5.
So far, so ordinary.
However, the KA15 has a few tricks up its sleeve.
The internal 10-band parametric EQ can be accessed via FiiO’s smartphone app — or via a web console when connected to a PC or Mac. Not only. Users can export and import frequency response profiles to share with others.
By monitoring real-time voltage and current usage, the KA15 can detect when music is not being played to switch itself into a low-power mode for less of a hit to our smartphone’s battery.
Access to the internal menu settings comes by way of a 1″ IPS colour LCD screen that optionally shows a spooling cassette tape animation during audio playback.
The KA15 is shipping now for US$109 or €129.
Further information: FiiO
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