ЦАПы — FiiO K11

The K11 is a desktop DAC and headphone amplifier from the Chinese company FiiO, sold at USD 129.99 in the United States and EUR 116.66 in Europe including VAT. It pairs a CS43198 converter with a balanced amplifier circuit in an aluminium alloy chassis, offered in Obsidian Black and Midnight Silver. The unit measures 147 x 133 x 32.3 mm, weighs about 407 g and runs from an external 12 V 2 A adapter supplied in the box.

Key specs that matter

Via USB Type-C the K11 accepts PCM up to 384 kHz and 32 bit and native DSD256. The coaxial input handles up to 192 kHz and 24 bit, the optical input up to 96 kHz and 24 bit. The 4.4 mm balanced jack delivers at least 1400 mW per channel into 32 ohm, 570 mW into 16 ohm and 250 mW into 300 ohm. The 6.35 mm single-ended jack gives 720 mW into 16 ohm, 520 mW into 32 ohm and 60 mW into 300 ohm. Signal-to-noise is at least 123 dB at the headphone outputs and 126 dB at the RCA line out. THD+N is below 0.00059 percent on the 6.35 mm output, 0.0010 percent on the balanced jack and 0.00035 percent at the line out. Frequency response runs from 20 Hz to 50 kHz within 0.2 dB.

Engineering and use context

A GD32F303RE controller runs the system, an SA9312L chip decodes USB and an MS8422N receiver handles S/PDIF, while two pairs of SGM8262 amplifier chips drive the headphone stages. More than 16 low-dropout regulators split the internal supply rails. Output impedance stays below 1.2 ohm single-ended and 2.4 ohm balanced, and residual noise is under 2.8 microvolts and 4.9 microvolts respectively, so sensitive in-ear monitors remain quiet. Crosstalk reaches 106 dB on the balanced output against 71 dB on the single-ended one. Three gain settings each have a separate volume curve, adjusted with a multi-function encoder knob, and a high-contrast LCD reports sample rate, volume, gain and output mode. An RGB logo turns cyan up to 48 kHz, yellow above it and green for DSD. The K11 works without drivers on Windows 10 and later and connects to a PS5 or Nintendo Switch.

Pairing

FiiO rates the single-ended output for headphones from 8 to 150 ohm and the balanced output from 8 to 350 ohm. The RCA line out and coaxial digital out let the K11 feed powered speakers, a stereo amplifier or a separate converter, while a TV, CD transport or game console can connect through the optical or coaxial input.

Alternatives

The FiiO K11 R2R keeps the same desktop format but replaces the CS43198 chip with R2R conversion.