FiiO K17 Desktop DAC And Headphone Amplifier Review – All You Need Is…This

The K17 was provided by FiiO for my review – and I thank them for that. You can get it from the FiiO Audio Store.

The $899 FiiO K17 is a versatile, powerful, and great sounding DAC-amp combination with a retro look that leaves nothing to be desired (other than a firmware update). Perfect for the lonely island. Some may just buy it for its looks and the fact that it has real knobs and switches.

Introduction

FiiO have been lately working on a line of well-received retro products. First was the FiiO CP13 personal cassette player, followed by the CM13 BT personal CD player, and the TT13 record player. They are turning it up a notch with the K17 Desktop DAC and Headphone Amplifier.

Apart from the fact that – spoiler alert – it is an excellent sounding, versatile device, many will just buy it for its looks and its physical switches, reminiscent of Hifi components of the 1970s and 1980s. I owned a silver JVC cassette deck and stereo amplifier at the time and was melting away when I saw the first ad of the K17. And when it finally arrived, I could not await holding this silver bullet in my hands.

Unfortunately, my silver K17 was…black. I was unconsolable for a couple of days. If you decide to buy it, get the silver one. Seriously. Any other colour takes away from its retro appeal.

Luckily, the K17’s handling and sound comforted me quickly. Once plugged in and connected to my brand new Mac Mini M4, I could not stop listening to it, so irresistible is this device. In the following, I will lay out what the K17 can do for you (and what not), and how it fares in everyday use.

Let’s first check out the specs. It features AKM chipsets and offers a whopping 4W amplification power per channel. Just have a good look at the table below.

Specifications FiiO K17

Geek alarm: if that’s not enough for you, you find a more extensive listing of specs and detailed measurements here.

Physical Things

In the box you find the K17, a power cable, remote control, 2 USB data cables, headphone adapter, protective cap for XLR socket, fuse, and the usual paperwork. The K17 has the approximate dimensions of an 1970s car radio, which means it is deeper than wide. It is rather heavy at 2.75 kg. The chassis is made of metal and appears to be very robust.

What sets the K17 physically apart from its peers is its physical switches. The screen is colour however the menu is kept monochrome (with a yellow background) to go with its overall retro looks. Other themes will be available after future firmware updates.

Features

The FiiO K17 is feature packed so that it took me some time to figure out the fine details. It does not come with an extensive manual but with a detailed Tech Support online guide.

With the K17, you can:

• play music from wired sources such as your phone/tablet/dap/computer…and thumb-drive
• play music wirelessly (however lossy) via Bluetooth 5.1
• stream music from Roon or (quasi-lossless) from an Apple device via Airplay
• listen with headphones or speakers through balanced or single-ended circuits
• connect another DAC and/or amp
• select between 4 gain levels
• tweak the sound with digital filters and PEQ (and create your own eq profiles with FiiO’s DSP client)

You cannot (yet):

• connect to the FiiO Control App
• set the time. Currently displayed is Beijing time. Welcome to China!
• use the VU meters with all music sources
• customize themes for the display

…a future firmware update will correct this.

Operation

Interfaces

Front Panel

The front panel features three switches (On/Off, Analog Output Selector, Gain Selector), two knobs (Working Menu, Volume), a colour screen, a USB-C port and three headphone jacks (4.4 mm/XLR balanced, 6.35 mm single ended).

The USB-C port is particularly attractive for easily connecting your phone as music source with an OTG cable. The two balanced headphone circuits (4.4 mm & XLR), although they appear to be a double-up, work simultaneously.

The Analog Output Selector lets you activate the ports in the front panel or back panel…or both, and it also can set the Line Out.

The Gain Switch offers four settings, and I only ever used the lowest one when listening with the planar-magnetic FiiO FT1 Pro and the Sennheiser HD 600. The amplification is almost overkill and will handle your least efficient headphones with ease.

The Working Mode knob lets you select the input sources such as streaming (Apple Airplay or streaming services), USB, optical, coaxial, Bluetooth, and local (thumb drive/powered hard drive connected via the USB-A port in the back).

Front Panel, labelled

Source: FiiO

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Back Panel: I/O

The back panel hosts the power switch, electrical power socket, all inputs and outputs, a grounding terminal, a ground switch, and a reset hole.

The inputs comprise 4.4 mm balanced, single-ended RCA line in, optical in, one USB-C and one USB-A port, as well as a 12 V trigger in (=remote on/off) and RS232 (for firmware updates) port. Not to forget the ethernet port.

The digital outputs are optical, coaxial, and XLR balanced (all for connecting to another DAC), the analog outputs feature single-ended RCA and balanced XLR line-outs (for external amplifiers and speakers).

Back Panel, labelled

Source: FiiO

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The Remote

The (somewhat generic) remote control supports the touchscreen and physical knobs and makes some action items easier and quicker. For example, you can switch between eq profiles by the push of a button. You find the complete functionality behind the spoiler.

Remote, labelled

Source: FiiO

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Using the Touchscreen

A retro device with an ultramodern 3.93-inch LCD colour touchscreen? Isn’t that mildly obscene? When swiping right on the display you get the “Working Mode” menu, when swiping left you will see the “Settings” Menu.

In “Working Mode” you select the inputs, be it USB, optical, coaxial, line in, balanced in, Bluetooth, streaming (including Apple Airplay), local play (from thumb drive), and it lets your browse filed and tag favourites. It doubles up with the “Working Mode” knob.

In “Settings” you select play mode (sequential, loop, shuffle etc.), equalizer, digital filters, set a maximum volume, choose L-R balance (if you have an uneven hearing), connect to your wireless network, set display brightness and screen time, choose illuminations around the two knobs (choose from different colours and modes, adjust brightness), set an idle time, even choose between USB 1.1 and 2.0 (useful for connecting old game consoles), set language…and lastly there are some reset options.

In terms of equalization, you find some pre-set parametric ones (rock, pop, hip-hop, jazz, classical etc.) but you can add up to 10 custom profiles, which you create in FiiO’s DSP (“Digital Signal Processing”) client and upload through the RS232 port. Of course can you share these with other users. You get the DSP for free from Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

As to digital filters, you have the choice of 6. The preset one worked for me, good luck with finding some substantial audible differences between them. Your choice will be related to the synergy with the connected equipment

Oh, you can also swipe down to activate the (virtual and somewhat laggy) VU meter, but it currently only works in two modes: streaming/Apple Airplay and local playback (from a thumb drive or powered hard drive).

Presently, you cannot swipe up but I’m sure it will come.

Sound

I tested the K17 with headphones, mainly the FiiO FT1 Pro and the Sennheiser HD 600. The sound characterization is a very difficult one as the K17 has so many variables available, i.e. parameters to adjust the sound: filters, PEQ, etc. But there are characteristics across these choices. For example, the K17 has a velvety, very agreeable, captivating, homogenous presentation.

People who harp on the relationship of chip manufacturer and sound may say that’s the AKM chipset. It is probably not true per se (there are more factors to this such as output stage etc.) but it comes close to what these people expect.

The second valid general statement is that the (prefabricated) EQ profiles work. Switching them off makes the sound “flatter”. Depending on your readiness to fiddle with the software, there are no limits to tweak the sound. Third, I find that the K17 shows excellent resolution across the frequency spectrum. As to “black background” and “noise floor: I never heard any noise in my listening tests.

All this boils down to is that I could not stop listening once plugged in…and thereafter. The K17 sounds so good. Comparing the K17 to the SMSL DO200 MKII DAC (~$400) with the EarMen CH-Amp (originally $1500, now $799), the latter combination sounds “sharper” to the point that it is more aggressive, possibly marginally better resolving, and less balanced, whereas the K17 has more “soul”. The SMSL/EarMen combo also has some tweaking options, but its amplification is way less powerful than the K17.

Considering the price difference of the electronics plus the cost of fancy cables between DAC and amp, the K17 is the much better deal. As to which is better sounding, this depends entirely on taste, but the pricier and very good SMSL/EarMen combo is by no means “objectively” better in my opinion.

Concluding Remarks

The compact and powerful FiiO K17 all-in-one DAC-amp-streamer is a great device for people like me, who don’t want to fiddle with cables and multiple power supplies. It does almost everything you’d wish for: streaming from phone/computer via Apple Airplay (quasi lossless) or Bluetooth (lossy), playing via USB from phone, computer and thumb drive. It features an AKM chip architecture that makes for a silky smooth sound, which can be altered by parametric equalization.

There are virtually no boundaries to the K17…other than the embarrassing basic ones in that the firmware requires an urgent update to show the local time (and not the Beijing one) and that the VU meter should be enabled for all play modes. These are minor teething problems that will be fixed by April 2025, however the device should perhaps not have been released before these have been fixed.

Only one firmware upgrade and the K17 will be the perfect companion for that lonely island experience.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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