FiiO NEWK3 Amplifier Headphone Amps Portable High Resolution 384kHz/32bit DSD256 USB Type-C Lossless for PC/Laptop/Smartphones/Speaker Home Audio

I purchased year ago, and it still works perfect, it sounds great with my FH7s.

I have had it for about a month and it works perfectly and easily drives the HD6XX (300 ohm) with plenty of room to spare even on single ended output. It goes even louder on balanced output. It also drives the HIFIMAN Edition XS (planars with low sensitivity) easily again from single ended output. As far as operation and function is concerned there have been no issues. The main problem was the packaging. It did not come it the box as expected. It came in a plastic bag with the rubber feet already attached and with the spare feet missing. I am not able to tell if it is a used or new product and if it is a genuine or counterfeit product. Also not able to tell if it has the new ESS chip which I wanted or the older AKM chip. There are no external differences so unless you open it up and read the chip label you wont know what you are getting. It is a good little amp on the whole. It seemed a little pricey at first because you could get a more powerful K5 for around USD150 but think the K3 has its niche considering it takes up much less space and does not need external power.

OK trying to keep it shortFiio k3 Type C (new version)Basically its a good buy if you are able to fix the plagued audio popping issue, which is a file edit in the Fiio driver folder making it to where the option to keep the device always outputting sound is revealed/enabledWithout this fix I cannot recommend, its like trying to drive a car with a lump on a tire.One other issue you will encounter is the maximum audio quality (32bit 384000hz) setting being incompatible with various programs, spotify and bioshock 1 are two for instance. you will have to switch audio sources back and fourth after the program is running for it to pickup for whatever reason.This issue is not present for myself personally on anything below 32bit 192000hzLastly issue-wise I had weird activity with usb 1 mode, two of my computers will only play sound from the left channel on this mode, BUT my other computer will play evenly (all windows 10). There seems to be some lack of software support through windows or it. But what do I know.to wrap up I don't understand why a 110 dollar product is having these issues and with that being said I think you should consider Fiio e10k at 40 dollars less. you could almost buy two e10ks for the price of it and be equally satisfied. think about your life and what you need. personally upgraded because onboard motherboard audio is that terrible.Pros-clear upgrade, miles better than onboard motherboard audio-multiple outputs, can use your headphones and speakers same time (feels like haptic feedback)-harness your headphones potentialCons-cost relative to Fiio e10k (75usd vs 110usd) k3-serious lack of software support (games and programs will freak out if you use max audio quality output depending on use)-audio popping unless fix applied. (tested on four windows installs and one ubuntu)

What sounds good to one, may not to someone else. it's all subjective and highly suggestible as well.+This unit sounds as good or better than the Soundblaster Z and Xonar sound cards it replaced.+It is much smaller than i imagined (which is a good thing)+The box had everything i needed in it.+I plugged it in and it worked flawlessly with no additional steps, downloads or interactions neededI bought this because my SB Z stopped transmitting audio from the optical port. no amount of driver downloads, reinstalls, etc could get it working. i even upgraded to windows 11 with no help there.so enter the Asus Xonar, optical audio worked but would click/pop every time i paused the music or left the computer with no sound playing for more than 10 seconds. Not good.so as a last ditch effort i figured an external DAC would be the solution. sure it's a few dollars more, but came highly rated so i figure - why not.I am NOT sorry that i made that decision. I have high quality working audio with no effort on my part and i can now move on to other things. I wish i had bought this sooner, as the time i spent messing around with the other cards was worth more than the extra $20 i spent on this. just buy it. there is no reason not to. Works with windows 11 also.

Love this little amp. I had the BTR5 and really wanted a volume knob. So I got the k7 and I was disappointed because it basically sounded exactly the same so I returned it. I thought why not give this little k3 a try and boy am I happy I did! It's clear has a volume knob that responds immediately (unlike the k7) and it was a bass boost with makes my Focal Elegia sound sooooo good and creamy. Great buy! I'm keeping it! Technically has clearly reached a peak of some sort and you don't have to spend a crazy about of money to get something good. In fact in the case it was half the price and better!

After less then a year the device no longer plays audio and seems to have some sort of internal problem with the amp. it is completely burned out and only plays music at the lowest of volume and if you turn it up it disconnects from my pc. the issue is present on all modes and does not go away no matter what device is connected. I have to say i am very disappointed as I chose this to suit my needs at a reasonable price and it failed.

I wish the bass boost was stronger. On Mac the software volume control doesn't work on USB2, only 1.1 (asinine Apple thing where high quality audio sources don't get software volume control), and on the 1.1 setting it's really quiet. Need to turn the amp volume to max, but it's still not that loud even with the software volume maxed out. Loud enough for me, honestly, but it feels weird to have both amp and software volume maxed out, and the software volume resolution is very abrupt at that level. My old Fiio amp without dac was better at everything, but it died due to dead battery.