FiiO Q3 Headphone Amps Amplifier Portable High Resolution DAC DSD512 for Smartphones/PC/Laptop/Home/Car Audio Compatible with iOS/Android 2.5/3.5/4.4mm Output (Q3-MQA)

This thing is absolutely amazing. Doesn't work for what I originally purchased it for, but its new use is better than what I had planned. Turns out if you have a pair of Logitech G432 headphones, this amp pushes them right to their limit, and oh boy do they wake up and make some serious BASS! Made these headphones my new go to headphones for when I need loud. I bought this amplifier to use with my Dayton Audio DSP-408 utilizing the balanced outputs from the Q3 into the DSP-408, however the DSP-408 doesn't support a low level balanced input and the output level from the amplifier is a little too low for the high level inputs on the DSP. Not a fault of the amplifier, my fault for not getting a DSP with a digital input. I can not use an unbalanced input due to noise floor issues for that application.

I wanted something to make my good quality Zennheizer 650 headphones work wth my iphone 13 since the iphone does not put out enough sound. I wanted something small and portable which this is. There probably are better dac and amps out there but not this small and portable. Sounds so much better than without it. I like the sound and I like the bass boost. One thing that I didn't know was what the strange silicon objects were in the box and then figured it out that it was a way to attach the amplifier to the back of your phone by strapping it on. I included a photo so you can see how to do this. However I did not want to do this every time so I just ordered an extra inexpensive case for my phone and attached the amp to it with adhesive velcro and now I just need to change cases which takes a few seconds. I included a photo of this. Now it is all very portable. I just put the whole think in my back pocket and I am very portable and listening to music through my high quality headphones. I still use my ear buds and my bluetooth Sony's for traveling and exercising but they aren't as good quality a sound as this. This is for when I want the best quality sound at home from my phone with open back headphones which are best for your ears. Hope this helps.

This is the first portable amp that I bought so I don't have a point of reference or anything to compare it to. I do like the accessories that come with it, however the main cable cannot be replaced easily since fiio does not sell replacement usb c to c cables. However any otg usb c to c cable works perfectly fine with this, you just need to find one that has two right angle bends to route the cable properly. But other than the cables, the rest of the cables are good along with the little carry bag. The device itself is sleek and tiny, definitely smaller than the average smartphone, but not as tiny as those clip on mp3 players. Think of it size as similar to those thin metal battery packs that you can bundle up with your phone and you'll realise how small it is. The connection options are flexible. Usb c for things like your computer or laptop, connect any usb cable and your computer can recognise it as a sound device. For phones and iPhones it works too; just be sure to change the charge switch to off so your phone doesn't try to steal its battery. However, using the 3.5mm input limits the output to the 2.5mm and 4.4mm output. If you don't know what those are, only use the usb c as the input. However I wish the cable included was a bit more sturdy, since it's the main cable used to connect your device. Or at the very least, offer a replacement cable online, the only usb c to c cable I see that they have only got strsight connectors instead of right angle connectors like whats included in the box. For the headphones I use, I only have the "akg" samsung headphones, Grado Sr80e's, SHP9500's, and Sony WH-CH710N. Not the best headphones for testing, but I wasn't going to buy more expensive headphones that would take proper advantage of a better dac amp. Sound quality is hard to judge since my primary phone no longer has a headphone jack, so I had to use my tablet and my computer. The biggest difference is how loud I can crank my headphones. When plugged into the standard headphone jack, I can rarely get my headphones loud enough to make it uncomfortable. Now, this is a good thing for my hearing, but not the best for other stuff. With the amp, I can barely go to max without hurting my ears, which is great. Having extra headroom for volume means that I have more control over the audio of my devices. Of course the thing to remember is to make sure your audio source is at max volume and use the amp's volume knob to fine tune your comfortable listening level. As far as being a dac.. Its hard for me to tell. If I was blind folded and you went back and forth between plugging it into the jack vs the dac amp, there might be a difference I just cant hear. Maybe the sound is cleaner and wider or more defined, but I can't hear it. This device is a much more effective amp. One thing I couldn't test was the 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced ports since none of my headphones support that function and I wasn't going to spend money on balanced headphones that rarely have the balanced cable with the headphones so that I would have to pay more money on top of the expensive headphones I already bought. Technically balanced output is better and more powerful, so there's that. All in all, is $150 too much for this thing? ......Sort of? You have to keep in mind that you can plug this into anything that supports usb audio, plus if you have the headphones that benefit from more power and a decent quality dac, I say get it. If you have headphones with balanced cables then you can try this to power them. But, if you just need to get your headphone jack back, getting a dongle is the easiest solution.

I'm using this run an un-modded pair of DT 990s 250 ohm, and on laptop USBC bus power can seem to run the 990's pretty well. It gets pretty loud around the 1/2 o'clock mark for me. I have read based on the technicals, this may not be built to fully run 250 ohms, but so far it's been able to keep my 990s going. It should be noted, this has the same knob volume curve signatures that their K7's have. So, it ramps the higher up you go, almost silent to about 11, then 11 on-wards the curve gets just goes steep. Almost impossible to keep the headphones on as you reach the 3 o'clock mark. It has a good feel too it and feels well built with quality material. The unboxing of this was very nice, the box it came had some very good quality to it as well, almost like opening an Apple product. It was an experience. Comes with an assortment of accessories, including a number of short cables if you plan to use this with a mobile device. Also includes bands and pads to use with a mobile phone and carry both as a single unit. A lot of thought seemed to have going into the whole product. Very happy with the purchase.

This portable DAC/HPA punches much higher above it's price point, as usual for FiiO products. Paired with IEMs that cost $3100 and $2900 respectively (Empire Ears Legend Evos and Noble Sultans using a 2.5mm Project 8 Plato x Socrates cable by Eletech) and over-heads that cost $4500 each (Audeze LCD-5's and Focal Utopias using a 4-pin XLR balanced with cable with 4.4mm adapter by Cardas), the soundstage is wide enough and the 3D imaging is satisfactory considering this tiny portable only cost $150. It's sound quality is fantastic. Paired with FiiO FDX's, FH9's, and FA9's all were pleasant considering the difference in tier compared to the previously mentioned IEMs. The bass is deep and clear - and does not muddy the mids. Treble is not fatiguing. Pairing something this inexpensive with my higher end gear is something I would only do with FiiO, and perhaps Topping. I think the Q3 competes well with the desktop FiiO K5 Pro (which can support 32/768 and native DSD512) and the DAP FiiO M11 Plus LTD (which in USB DAC mode can support 32/384 and native 256) in terms of cost/value. If you are considering this versus the FiiO K3, I would implore you to buy this, the Q3, hands down. My iPhone, Samsung Fold Z, Windows 11 PC, and Macbook Air recognized the Q3 immediately using Roon. This DAC, like my other (significantly more expensive and similarly spec-ed) trans-portable DAC/amps, turned my iPhone into a fantastic Roon-endpoint. I already had the Windows drivers installed because I own other FiiO DACs and DAPs which use the same ASIO driver (which is required for DSD over PCM sampling). No driver is required for WASAPI. The driver can be downloaded from the FiiO website. Unlike my other portable DACs (Chord Mojo, Chord Hugo2, CEntrance M8, Questyle M15, iFi xDSD, FiiO K3, FiiO M11 in USB DAC mode, FiiO M17 in USB DAC mode), the Q3 is able to unfold MQA files which is an added bonus. While I do not necessarily drink the MQA kool-aid, I do own several hundred MQA files so it is nice to have a portable that is able to completely unfold the files . ~~~ Where the Q3 really shines, for me, is as a portable amplifier for my DAPs using the 3.5mm jack as a line-in and the balanced jacks as the phone-outs. Paired with my FiiO M11… holy buckets! The analog sound is PHENOMENAL for a $699 DAP + $149 portable amp. Blows away DAPs at twice the price without an external amp! This alone makes the Q3 worth twice the price for me.

Great product but I have to go back to docs to remember which switch/button does what. I thought it was meant to be that way until I read another review here about having to need bright light and a 10x magnification glass to see gray markings (only on some of the back controls). The other reviewer and mine obviously missed the paint shop! If this is their quality control then I hope that they do better on the quality of their electronics. My eyesight is 20-20 and only with a 10x jeweler's loop can anything be seen. The 1st photo was a screengrab from Amazon, that is what I expected mine to look like. My photos were taken with iPhone 12 zoomed to 10x. I have attempted to contact FIIO via their Website but its link is broken. I, unfortunately, was out of the country and missed Amazon return time but perhaps someone from FIIO will read this and want to make it right!

Good deck for the money I didn’t know it was a portable dac/amp combo. It goes up to 43,000 Hz so it’s perfect for high-quality audio files or flacs it does have a battery belt into it so if you’re using it on a computer, it’s gonna stay on forever and when it dies after not using it for a while, and you turn your computer on, you have to flick the dac on and off again

Honestly, I figured it would work as expected but some reviews claimed there is hum or buzz and I’ve heard zero. Comes with usb-c (arrowed as from and to) and usb-c to lightning, so it can plug into computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. All devices asked to trust then just remember it so that is a plus. I don’t use the boosted bass but the sound is clear. The volume needs to be cranked sometimes depending on the source file (it seems) but it can be very loud and very clear, and as mentioned the bass is balanced and plenty for me without the booster. For the money, I’d say it is a good value if you know you will use it. If not, you may regret it because it isn’t the most expensive but also not cheap.