DACs — FiiO K17 R2R

The K17 R2R name dates from the June 2026 Vienna High End exhibition, where FiiO first displayed this unit. It went on sale as the K17 R2R, and R2R Pro remains the name of its in-house resistor ladder. It takes the streamer, preamplifier and headphone amplifier platform of the K17 but drops the AKM converter chips, and adds wooden side panels - black walnut on the black version, white ash on the silver one. The US price is USD 989.99.

Key specs that matter

Conversion relies on a segmented 24+5-bit R2R array in which the five most significant bits use 31 thermometer-coded resistors to limit the error that builds up in the upper bits. USB input reaches 768 kHz at 32 bit plus native DSD256, coaxial 192 kHz at 24 bit and DSD64, optical 96 kHz at 24 bit, and streamed audio 384 kHz at 32 bit with DSD256 as DoP. Balanced headphone sockets supply 4000 mW per channel into 32 ohm and 950 mW into 300 ohm, while the 6.35 mm jack gives 1850 mW and 240 mW into the same loads. FiiO specifies SNR of 125 dB or more and THD+N under 0.0052 percent on the balanced output. Line outputs deliver 2.5 Vrms on RCA and 5 Vrms on XLR3. The case measures 245 x 223 x 69 mm and weighs about 2.9 kg.

Engineering and use context

A switch selects NOS operation, where the ladder receives samples without digital oversampling, or OS mode with oversampling applied first. The discrete Class AB current-boosting headphone stage is fully balanced and offers five gain positions, and frequency response stays within 0.15 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The 35 W linear power section combines a bespoke transformer, five 4700 uF reservoir capacitors and a manual selector for 100 to 120 V or 220 to 240 V mains. The network side is Roon Ready and certified for AirPlay and QPlay, handles DLNA push playback, reads NFS or SMB shares and plays files from USB drives, with Gigabit Ethernet and an AP6256 dual-band Wi-Fi module. Bluetooth 5.1 accepts LDAC and aptX Adaptive. A 31-band PEQ with Auto EQ is adjusted through a browser page or the FiiO Control app, and a USB ground loop isolator, a 3.93 inch touchscreen with VU meter view and an aluminium alloy remote are included.

Pairing

The three headphone sockets cover single-ended and balanced cables. RCA and balanced analog inputs accept a phono stage or other line source, balanced XLR3 and unbalanced RCA line outputs drive a stereo power amp or self-powered speakers, while optical and coaxial sockets send digital audio onward. A trigger input, RS232 port and ground lift switch sit on the rear panel.

Alternatives

The FiiO K17 uses the same chassis layout with an AKM AK4191 modulator and two AK4499EX chips instead of the resistor ladder.