TechAudioFiiO K9 Pro ESS review: desktop DAC actionThe FiiO K9 Pro ESS is a desktop DAC that’s supremely well-made and delivers superior sound – with one caveatWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictFor a product as physically big and heavy as this, the FiiO K9 Pro ESS doesn’t quite muster the sort of bass presence and punch we (and probably you) think is ideal. In every other respect, though, it’s got an awful lot to recommend it - both in the way it sounds and where its functionality is concerned.Reasons to buy+Pacy, articulate and coherent sound+Well specified, well made, well finished+Good control appReasons to avoid-Sound needs more weight and punch-Quite big for a desktop item-Gold trim is, um, divisiveWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechAudioFiiO K9 Pro ESS review: desktop DAC actionThe FiiO K9 Pro ESS is a desktop DAC that’s supremely well-made and delivers superior sound – with one caveatWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictFor a product as physically big and heavy as this, the FiiO K9 Pro ESS doesn’t quite muster the sort of bass presence and punch we (and probably you) think is ideal. In every other respect, though, it’s got an awful lot to recommend it - both in the way it sounds and where its functionality is concerned.Reasons to buy+Pacy, articulate and coherent sound+Well specified, well made, well finished+Good control appReasons to avoid-Sound needs more weight and punch-Quite big for a desktop item-Gold trim is, um, divisiveWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
The FiiO K9 Pro ESS is a desktop DAC that’s supremely well-made and delivers superior sound – with one caveat
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictFor a product as physically big and heavy as this, the FiiO K9 Pro ESS doesn’t quite muster the sort of bass presence and punch we (and probably you) think is ideal. In every other respect, though, it’s got an awful lot to recommend it - both in the way it sounds and where its functionality is concerned.Reasons to buy+Pacy, articulate and coherent sound+Well specified, well made, well finished+Good control appReasons to avoid-Sound needs more weight and punch-Quite big for a desktop item-Gold trim is, um, divisive
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
T3 VerdictFor a product as physically big and heavy as this, the FiiO K9 Pro ESS doesn’t quite muster the sort of bass presence and punch we (and probably you) think is ideal. In every other respect, though, it’s got an awful lot to recommend it - both in the way it sounds and where its functionality is concerned.Reasons to buy+Pacy, articulate and coherent sound+Well specified, well made, well finished+Good control appReasons to avoid-Sound needs more weight and punch-Quite big for a desktop item-Gold trim is, um, divisive
T3 VerdictFor a product as physically big and heavy as this, the FiiO K9 Pro ESS doesn’t quite muster the sort of bass presence and punch we (and probably you) think is ideal. In every other respect, though, it’s got an awful lot to recommend it - both in the way it sounds and where its functionality is concerned.
T3 Verdict
For a product as physically big and heavy as this, the FiiO K9 Pro ESS doesn’t quite muster the sort of bass presence and punch we (and probably you) think is ideal. In every other respect, though, it’s got an awful lot to recommend it - both in the way it sounds and where its functionality is concerned.
Reasons to buy+Pacy, articulate and coherent sound+Well specified, well made, well finished+Good control appReasons to avoid-Sound needs more weight and punch-Quite big for a desktop item-Gold trim is, um, divisive
Reasons to buy+Pacy, articulate and coherent sound+Well specified, well made, well finished+Good control app
Pacy, articulate and coherent sound
Well specified, well made, well finished
Good control app
Reasons to avoid-Sound needs more weight and punch-Quite big for a desktop item-Gold trim is, um, divisive
Sound needs more weight and punch
Quite big for a desktop item
Gold trim is, um, divisive
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Since starting out in 2007, FiiO has been moving carefully but determinedly up-market - but without ignoring the entry level where it established its reputation in the first place. ‘Up-market’ where desktop-friendly headphone amplifiers/digital-to-analogue converters are concerned means this: the K9 Pro ESS.
Its specification is extensive, its functionality and compatibility wide-ranging, and its build quality gives every impression of being good enough to survive even quite sizable detonations. But is it any good? That’s where this FiiO K9 Pro ESS review comes into play…
FiiO K9 Pro ESS: Price & Availability
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The FiiO K9 Pro ESS headphone amplifier/DAC is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it’s priced at £699. In America you can pick one up for $849, while in Australia you’ll have to part with AU$1349.
FiiO K9 Pro ESS review: Features & What’s New?
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
As seems only reasonable in a product like this, especially one that costs this sort of money, the FiiO K9 Pro ESS is thoroughly specified and incorporates more complex abbreviations than you can shake a stick at.
The FiiO uses an over-sized linear power supply with a low-frequency transformer and four hefty capacitors to deliver the power its audio architecture needs. To keep crosstalk and signal degradation to an absolute minimum, the PCB is laid out in a balanced configuration, and is partitioned to keep both the audio signals isolated from the power supply and the analogue signal loop fully independent too.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Getting audio information on board in order for the FiiO to do its thing can be done a number of ways. On the rear panel there’s a USB-B input (good for file sizes up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD256), a digital coaxial (24bit/192kHz) and a digital optical (24bit/96kHz). Line-level stereo RCA ins and outs are here too, along with a super-serious pair of balanced three-pin XLR outputs and a 4.4mm balanced input. Balanced 4.4mm and unbalanced 6.3mm headphones sockets sit beneath a balanced four-pin XLR output. And on one of the sides of the chassis there’s a USB-C socket just for good measure.
FiiO K9 Pro ESS review: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
When you hard-wire the FiiO K9 Pro ESS into a system - whether that’s via USB-B to a laptop, via digital optical to act as a DAC for a CD player, or via its analogue stereo outputs in order for it to become a preamp - its overall attitude and sonic characteristics don’t really undergo much of a change. It’s a swift, manoeuvrable and prodigious detailed listen, and it’s ready to let you have a full and explicit picture of whatever you’re listening to.
With some properly high-resolution content coming aboard via USB-B and a pair of appropriately talented headphones plugged into one of its balanced outputs, the K9 Pro ESS is capable of remarkable insight. Detail levels are impressively high, as is the deft way the FiiO contextualises even the most transient, minor occurrences in a recording - this is no dry tool of analysis, it just doesn’t let any information go astray. The K9 Pro ESS’s overall presentation is unified and explicit, certainly - but it’s also musical and entertaining.
It’s particularly adept through the midrange. Singers get every chance to shine - they have plenty of space on the big, well-defined soundstage in which to operate, and every last drop of their technique, their attitude and their power of communication are expressed. The tonal balance here, as at the top of the frequency range, is neutral and natural - and the low-level dynamic variations apparent in every singing voice are served up just as readily as the broad aspects of performance.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Really, it’s only at the bottom of the frequency range that the FiiO doesn’t sound entirely confident and positive. The same sky-high detail levels are here just as surely as they are elsewhere, and the control the K9 Pro ESS demonstrates means it fairly snaps into and out of bass sounds. There’s good extension, and great variation where texture and tone are concerned. But the FiiO just doesn’t have a great deal of low-frequency presence - the bass it produces is properly realised, but it’s short of weight and substance. It’s not difficult to imagine any number of listeners hankering after greater ‘punch’ than the K9 Pro ESS is willing to deliver. The rapidity of its low-end presentation gives great rhythmic expression, but ironically it doesn’t make the FiiO a great dancefloor proposition.
Switching to Bluetooth with the K9 Pro ESS acting as receiver can impact on those detail levels just a little, and there’s a small knock-on effect to the clarity of the soundstaging too. But the FiiO remains poised and engaging even when used (partially) wirelessly, and is certainly less grumpy about this sort of functionality than some alternatives.
FiiO K9 Pro ESS review: Design & Usability
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
At 70 x 200 x 22mm (HxWxD) and 2.75kg, the FiiO is one of the bigger and bulkier examples of its type. It’s small enough to sit on your desktop without requiring a huge rearrangement of your possessions, though, and if you want to use its preamp abilities in a full-size system it won’t hog too much shelf space. And FiiO provides a little stand in the packaging, so you can position your K9 Pro ESS on its side if you prefer.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
There’s also the FiiO Control App, which is a clean and stable example of the type. As well as confirming the standard of the audio signal the machine is dealing with, it allows you to adjust EQs, audition a selection of filters, check for firmware updates, specify the Bluetooth codecs you’d like to access and so on. It’s free foriOSandAndroid.
FiiO K9 Pro ESS review: Verdict
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
In some ways - the thoroughness of its specification, the aluminium build - the FiiO K9 Pro ESS goes above and beyond.
But unless you’re pairing it with some very bass-happy headphones, its sound is fractionally lightweight and lacking low-end body.
In every other respect, though, there’s an awful lot to recommend the FiiO K9 Pro ESS - both in the way it sounds overall and where its functionality is concerned.
Also consider
The Cambridge Audio DACMagic 200M doesn’t have quite the suite of connectivity the FiiO K9 Pro ESS does - there’s no balanced inputs or balanced headphone output, and it doesn’t have quite as wide a range of Bluetooth codec compatibility either. But it’s usefully cheaper, can go all the way to 32bit/784kHz and DSD512, and is mercifully short of gold accents in its design.
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