Qudelix-5K Bluetooth USB DAC AMP with LDAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, AAC (Dual ES9219 3.5mm Unbalanced & 2.5mm Balanced Output)

I really enjoy the Qudelix 5K both on the go and at home when plugged in. I use it with my Punch Audio Martilo IEMs on a Tripowin 2.5mm balanced cable, and my Hifiman Ananda Stealth V3 using a Meze Audio 2.5mm to 3.5 mono silver-plated copper cable. Both pairings work beautifully in wireless mode at 2 VRMS. I don’t really take the Anandas outside, but around the house the Qudelix makes them surprisingly versatile and easy to use without being tied to a desk setup. The Martilos are my travel set — great for store runs and general out-and-about use. Wired mode is where things really step up. Listening to lossless audio through USB with both headphones sounds wonderful. Some people say you can’t really hear the difference between lossless and Bluetooth, but in my experience you can — especially in clarity and separation. Bluetooth still sounds very good, but wired lossless has that extra clean edge. When it comes to PEQ, this is where the Qudelix 5K really shines. The parametric EQ system is one of the best features. You can build your own custom PEQ profiles or load presets from well-known audiophile sources. It makes it easy to fine-tune both the Martilos and the Anandas exactly how you want them. Battery life has been excellent in my use. With the IEMs I get over 10 hours consistently. With the Anandas it’s shorter — usually around 5–8 hours — but I solve that by using a low-charge battery pack (important — low charge mode). With that setup I can stretch runtime to around 14 hours with the Anandas and close to 24 hours with the Martilos. For anyone who needs something portable but still powerful and flexible, the Qudelix 5K delivers. The fact that all of this comes in such a small device makes it absolutely worth it.

I was looking for a portable DAC/amp for my IEMs, and I found the Qudelix 5k in stock at Amazon. It is a killer Bluetooth DAC/amp, and I cannot recommend it enough. Build Quality and design: The build itself is decent, but the buttons feel cheap. Also, the button placement took me a while to memorize. On one side is the volume up/down button, and on the other side is the power, play/pause, and track skip/rewind button. The latter button has a bump so you can feel it by hand, but it took me a long while to feel the buttons and use the 5k without looking. Power and sound quality: The 5k is rated at 80mw single ended, and 240mw balanced (at 32 ohms.) Yeah, it doesn’t seem like a ton of power, but the 5k can easily power all my headphones and IEMs, ranging from Focal Elear, Moondrop Blessing 2, Moondrop S8, and even the Hifiman Sundara (though out of the 2.5mm balanced output.) As for sound quality, I can’t tell the difference between the Qudelix 5k and my JDS Labs Atom+ stack. App: This is the main reason to buy the Qudelix 5k. It has an app for Android and iOS, as well as a Chrome extension for PC and Mac users. The app has tons of functionality. The eq section of the app is its main selling point. You get a 10-band parametric eq along with all of the AutoEq presets by Jaakkopasanen. It includes all presets from Oratory1990, Crinacle, and others. This is perfect for iOS users who want the AutoEq function. For example, I bought the OG Moondrop Blessing 2, and I wanted to try the Dusk eq profile. I can easily do this via the Qudelix app on my iPhone. Another feature of the app I really like, and one I don’t see people mentioning, is the battery section. It shows you at what rate the battery life is decreasing/increasing, and it also lets you set the battery limit to 80% to prolong battery health. Also, when the Qudelix 5k is plugged in to PC/Mac, it bypasses the battery when in use. Conclusion: I highly recommend buying the Qudelix 5k for portable use. My main gripe is the odd button placement, and that’s it. The app functionality is amazing, the battery life is very good, and it has enough power for all my IEMs.

This is my first DAC/amp. I bought it mostly based on the hype and positive reviews, and because I wanted something portable with a lot of flexibility. Overall this is an excellent DAC/amp for the price with a really strong feature set. Bluetooth supports most of the important codecs, and the balanced 2.5mm output is a big plus for something this small. In 2025 I do kind of wish it used 4.4mm instead, but it’s not a deal breaker. Sound quality is clean and has more than enough power for the headphones and IEMs I’ve tried. It also has battery passthrough and lets you set safe charging limits, which is a nice touch if you care about battery longevity. The app is one of the best parts. There are a ton of options, it’s actively updated, and it feels like the developers actually care about supporting the product. Build quality seems fine for daily use, but it’s basically a chunk of plastic with a clip, nothing fancy. The buttons take some getting used to, and there’s a lot I still haven’t messed with yet. This probably isn’t the device for someone who just wants super simple plug-and-play. But if you want flexibility and control in a small portable DAC/amp, it’s hard to beat for the price.

The Qudelix 5K truly is an awesome product. Don't know if it's exactly worth the price but it certainly is excellent. I've been using it paired with Truthear Hexa IEMs and with an iPhone/Mac/Windows PC over Bluetooth and USB (for each device). It's a great product effectively delivering a GREAT sound quality. I can't hear any difference with my IEMs used directly with the cable. It's awesome for this. With such IEMs, power will never be a problem as you'll completely annihilate your ears before you reach half the full volume of this thing. The volume automatically syncs with your device's so that it always delivers the best audio quality no matter the volume set on the source device (you don't have to worry about absolute volume on Bluetooth). The app is incredibly full of options. There's settings for EVERYTHING. I never had any lag when changing the settings, they're well saved, it's responding lightning fast, you can set an EQ with up to 20 bands... I can't say much about durability yet, but it's very small. I could fit two of these products inside a single hand. The clip is really good so I can attach it to my jeans, vest, or anything really. It's light enough that if it ever falls, the cable of the IEMs will retain it from falling. Oh and also, you can connect (simultaneously) up to 2 devices over Bluetooth as well as an additional device over USB (all 3 at the same time). It switches very intelligently and quickly over these 3 devices. The integrated microphone isn't very good, but I'm pretty sure no one will buy this product for that. If needed, you can plug in an external mic to use with it. It works flawlessly and is also available to set up within the app. If you're wondering whether you should buy this product, just buy it. It's EXCELLENT.

Absolutely solid all around. Measures well, sounds as good as it measures, has features that many more expensive and worse measuring portable DAC/amps don't have. Bluetooth worked well enough for me but I didn't stress test its range or stability. Likewise I haven't really stressed it for battery, it's been plenty good (especially if you're used to typical modern wireless earbuds like AirPods). I'd say only downside is the physical control functionality. It's not terrible and works fine once you learn it, but it could be improved. The physical buttons work fine as well but I'd prefer them to be flush mounted or even recessed with maybe a rotary knob of some sort for volume. Also, thankfully there's a good app that you can use instead which makes the physical buttons less necessary so it could be simplified. Maybe could use a more appealing aesthetic design but it's so compact while still offering so much capability, including an integrated clip, that I'm not gonna complain. But they could easily put the same internals in a more appealing enclosure and charge a lot more fore it. I'm considering upgrading to their 8 channel one so I can use it to playback multi-channel movie audio. I look forward to seeing what else Qudelix comes up with, but this is so good that I'd be waiting for proper next gen Bluetooth (lossless stereo, quality multi-channel) before I'd want to replace this for portable DAC. Hoping maybe they can even add some other options ("spatial" audio), and some noise cancellation.

I have playing with this little dac/amp for about a day. I've connected it to both my home PC (windows 10) and my iPad. I've been streaming from Amazon music HD and Pandora. Here's some initial impressions. The device itself is really small and the buttons are very small and awkward. It's tricky to not misfire because of their placement. It would be great if there were clear labels for each button. Curiously there ARE labels on the box it came in. Almost all of the adjustments are made using the Quedlix app. I've installed it on my iPad as well as the plug-in for Windows chrome. The app has a LOT of settings and the instructions are pretty sparse. I was able to get more information searching around on the web however. Although I was able to establish a bluetooth connection with each device, I've been mostly using a USB cable on both my PC and iPad. On bluetooth the quality is not quite as good 16bit/44.1k according to Amazon music. Hardwired I get 24bit/96k. The shining light on this device is the equalization options. There are many! You can switch between multiple configurations, 10 or 20 graphic equalizer, PEQ or use pre-sets. I have been fine tuning for multiple headphones. My go-to headphones are Beyerdynamic 990's. The amp drives these with ease. Once equalized the sound is quite pleasing with a decent soundstage. It is great to finally have an option to have a full-fledged equalizations for iOS devices. For a little over $100 I'm impressed with value and functionality. A few things I would appreciate: A discrete on/off switch and a discrete, well labeled volume control. This is definitely a device that requires some serious configuration to get the best out of it. I will update if I run into any issues. So far, so good. One additional note. There's a case available from the manufacturer's website but not Amazon. It's $2.00 with a $10.00 shipping fee to my areas. It would be swell for either Amazon to carry the product or for the manufacturer to include in the purchase.

This review is geared towards people like me. I am a music lover. A novice audiophile (maybe?) with a headphone fetish (absolutely!). My wired headphone collection includes a few over ear open back sets, a few Chi-Fi IEMs, and every on-ear with a 60-ohm driver that Koss sells :) I've been toying with the idea of purchasing a DAC/AMP for a while, but only recently discovered the Qudelix-5K. Based on the price point and the shear amount of recommendations that this unit receives on the forums, I knew I had to look into it. Now, if you are reading this review, you are most likely in the same spot that I was in at this point in my research. You have read about the powerful EQ capabilities and the companion app with more options than you can shake a stick at. And, if you are anything like me, you are at least a little hesitant, concerned that the "true power" of this device will be over your head. DON'T BE! Let me break it down for you: 1. The app truly is wonderful. Sure, it doesn't have the fanciest UI, but it is easy to navigate. Yes, there are a lot of options that may seem overwhelming at first glance, but everything is thoughtfully documented within the app. Speaking of thoughtful documentation... 2. The user manual is great. It is accessible right in the app under the DEVICE tab. I suggest spending a few minutes with the user manual right away, before you start listening. The first section provides some valuable information on key setting for the Quedelix-5K which can impact your first impressions of the device. As an Android user, the section up front on how to change the bluetooth codec on your phone to Sony LDAC was invaluable and greatly increased the sound quality. 3. Before purchasing this unit, I was concerned that the EQ functionality would be overwhelming but is absolutely fantastic! Now look: I have a basic understanding of frequencies and equalization and can follow along (to some extent) with the technical jargon, but if I try to EQ a pair of headphones myself from scratch, I will probably do more harm than good. That is where the Auto EQ Presets come in! A) I don't care what they are, there is probably and Auto EQ Preset for your headphones. At least, there is an Auto EQ Preset for every pair of headphones that I own. Amazon Chi-Fi IEMs, check. Cheap Koss on-ear headphones, yup. All of 'em. No kidding. B) Every Auto EQ Present that I've tried made that particular set of headphones sound better. Now I understand that this is subjective. Maybe you don't like the reference curve that was used. Maybe you just want to do it yourself. Can you EQ yourself to make it sound better TO YOU? Absolutely, and Qudelix has certainly given you the tools to do it. But that's not me. I very much appreciate the Auto EQ Presets. I have made some minor tweaks here and there to suit my preferences. For instance, the Auto EQ Preset for my QKZ x HBB IEMs has a low shelf applied to reduce the bass. I understand that this is probably technically correct, but I wanted my bass back! The extra bass fun factor is the main reason I bought these IEMs, and why I listen to them over more expensive IEMs for some music. No problem, save the Auto EQ Preset to a Custom user preset and remove the low shelf! Which brings me to: C) You can use the Custom presents to save the Auto EQ Preset for easy access (whether you tweak it or not). First, look up your headphones on the AUTO EQ PRESET tab. Now go to the EQUALIZER tab and click on the graph to bring up the list of Custon #X presets. Long pressing one of these brings up the "Save Custom Preset" screen, which allows you to name the preset and record the Impedance and Sensitivity. Do this for all of your headphones, and you can easily recall the EQ curve with any modifications that you choose to make. In the future, plug in your headphones of choice, turn on the Qudelix-5K, click on your saved EQ curve for those headphones, and you are off. Easy! 4. Most important, it makes everything sound better. I don't subscribe to Tidal. I listen to YouTube music. I would like to try out high-res or lossless at some point, but for now I am happy with what the Qudelix-5K does to my mainstream sources. So, there you have it. The Qudelix-5K sounds phenomenal and is an absolute no-brainer for its price point. It has all the options that the techy audiophile could wish for, and an "easy mode" for the rest of us that just want a great sound with minimal fuss. If you want your music to sound better, buy it. It's that simple.

The 5k is a one-of-kind, highly configurable, reliable, portable bluetooth dac, which you can fully manage via software, on mobile nonetheless, via its app. The app, as well as the dac itself, really, are just perfect. Fully-featered, contioniously updated, and from an obviously passionate team. What truly distinguishes the 5k from competitors, and seems seldom mentioned, is that this thing just f***ing works, always, just how you want it to, on pc AND mobile. If nothing else, know this. You will not be dissatissfied with the audio listening experience it provides. For Android, especially, it really is the best, dac available, full-stop. There are plenty of competiting products with better specs, but hardware isnt everything. Optimization is essential. Crysis made that clear for video games, and the 5k makes it evident for audio. Such an exquiste, universabaly-reliabile and steadfastly- cohesive listening experience, no matter the enviromment, is offered by none other dac. No matter what operating system, software, or hardware you use it with, it does not dissapoint. Additionally, its support is unrivaled. Built by truly passionate developers. Look at the app's update and dac's firmware update changelogs, really. Now look at those from similar products. Insane. No other competitors offer such frequent, high-quality improvements to the users experience at no extra charge. Just one purchase guarantees users will get years of dependable, optimal use out of their device. Thanks to the frequent, high-quality, and most importantly free, improvements, and fixes to all users experience over time provided by the qudelix team. *Highlights* -Equalizer Settings are stored on device, no need to ever even touch them again after the first time. You get the same sound signature always. No swapping devices and suddenly it changes. -Syncs audio volume PERFECTLY no matter what. Regardless, If you change it via hardware buttons or software bars, on PC or Mobile. ------------ *Important Note for PC users* *Desktop operating systems dont have native support for and need third-party software to unlock full ad2p bluetooth protocol compatbility/functionality. You Can't use ldac on Windows without it. (lookup: "AlternativeAD2P Driver")* *On a side note, using it, you can also force SBC audio/ connection settings, and I was able to get the 5k to maintain an overclocked SBC output bitrate of over ~1.1Mb/s. Sounded better than LDAC. Insane. That software really is a game changer for windows bluetooth listening.