FiiO Q5s

amazon FiiO Q5s reviews

1/ Appearance

For an audio device, especially a portable audio device, the optic is an extremely important point. Both Q5 and Q5s generations seem attractive, powerful, and luxurious. Perhaps largely thanks to the body made of monolithic aluminum that has been sandblasted, so the feeling is quite pleasant.

The back part uses a layer of imitation leather to increase hand grip when holding directly and avoid scratches or use on the table or pressed with the phone. The feeling of holding is also very firm; in general, I often put this music player in my backpack and coat pocket without any difficulty.

In terms of looks, I FiiO Q5s is completely worth my price. A simple, luxurious, and solid flagship product.

Compared to the previous version, the Q5s bring more control when users do not need to use a separate power button like on Q5 but automatically turn the volume knob to open.

Adjusting the input is also very convenient thanks to a separate button, without waiting like the previous generation.

In the period of use for more than a week, I did not see any problems in use. In general, I find the appearance and user experience very good; there is nothing to criticize.

2/ Technical

You can easily read this on the company’s website. However, I will also repeat a bit.

FiiO Q5s uses Dual Dac AK4493 with a new AM3E amp module design. Decode high-quality music up to PCM 32bit/768kHz and DSD256 thanks to an XMOS XUF208 USB Receiver chip. Compared to the previous version of Q5, Q5s upgraded the DAC decoder circuit using a new amp module.

The product is fully equipped with input/output ports for a portable DAC/Amp. One Micro-USB port (can be adjusted between Class 1.0 and 2.0 for different devices, mFI standard), Optical, Coaxial, Analog Line-In port. The output port is also complete with three headphone ports, a single-ended 3.5mm port, balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm ports, and a 3.5mm DAC output line-out port.

The product can also Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity with a full range of AAC/SBC/aptX/aptX Low Latency/aptX HD/LDAC/HWA codecs through the CSR8675 chip. That helps FiiO Q5s achieve two different Hi-Res standards Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless of JAS.

The battery life of this product is also up to 9 hours continuously when used through the USB port. If you use it with a PC, you don’t need to worry because this product uses a smart chip to recognize whether you are plugging in the USB on your computer or your phone. It will both charge and play music on the PC, and on the phone, it will automatically use its battery.

In general, the specifications cannot say anything about sound quality, but what FiiO invests in this product is undeniable. I still haven’t tried replacing the amp module on the Q5s, but I’m pretty sure the AM3D will have a better sound quality than the AM3E amp because I tried it on the M11 Pro with the same amp circuit, and it’s quite impressive. The AM5 amp module will mainly be for more difficult-to-pull headphones with high impedance.

3/ Wireless or wired

If you want the best sound quality, you should plug in the wire using the digital input ports USB, Optical, Coaxial.

If you use a wireless connection via Bluetooth, the sound quality will be greatly reduced, especially if you use high-quality music sources. In general, if you consider plugging in a USB cable with a score of 10, using Bluetooth with the highest codec level is LDAC, only achieving about 6.7. The problem here is that the loss of sound quality feels compressed, lacks dynamics, lacks the sharpness of details, and especially the bass range feels broken.

Even if you listen closely, there is still a slight difference between using the Micro-USB port and the SPDIF port; there is also a small difference. But it will also require listeners to focus very carefully to hear it when the SPDIF port hears a cleaner background sound, a deeper soundstage. The USB port has the advantage of a more open and balanced soundstage; it is extremely important that you can only decode DSD standards, PCM music higher than 192kHz through the USB port.

If you mainly use it for phones, then definitely, if possible, you should use the USB port. In the set of FiiO Q5s also equipped with an OTG Lightning – Micro USB cord for those of you who are using iPhone, and I use Android; I also need a USB OTG Type-C cable.

The most important part of every audio product review is how it sounds. For an objective assessment, I also let the product burn in for more than a hundred hours. In this review, I will use two headphones I still use every day, the Sony IER-M7, the MDR-1AM2 has both single-ended 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm ports in addition to Focal Clear. Then the journey to find the headset that can match the best fit with the Q5s. The music source in this article I mainly use is the Hi-Res Mora Qualitas/TIDAL music streaming service and the Lossless music source on my device via Jriver/Audirvana.

The first impression when listening to my FiiO Q5s is that it has a slightly polished tone, the color is easy to listen to, but there is still a thick, solid bass range and reminds me of the sound color of an audio brand. Another famous one is Accuphase. Bringing a slightly high-end quality but is still easy to listen to most listeners, even those just starting to play audio. The first point, and perhaps for those who have never heard of high-end DACs/Amps, the first impression is probably the soundstage. The sound feels like it is looser, more airy as well as the acoustic details of the instruments are shown much better.

I said the FiiO Q5s have been burned-in for about 100 hours, to be fair. Before burn-in, the bass range of the Q5s feels a bit light, airy but lacks certainty, and after burn-in, the bass range is solid, the sound is much clearer.

I will delve into the negative colors of FiiO Q5s so that you can better visualize:

– Bass range: The first feeling is quite solid, showing good buoyancy as well as depth. The bass style of the FiiO Q5s is quite mature with a sense of slowness, not in a hurry, so that you can listen to classical music such as contrabass, drum, snare or jazz, blues very well. For electronic music like EDM or Trance, in general, music with a lot of basses, you can turn on bass boost mode to be more feeling.

– Midrange: This is the most outstanding feature of the FiiO Q5s; the product has excellent vocal detail. The slight emphasis in the High-Mid range is accompanied by an extremely good clarity, helping the female vocalists perform very glossy, soaring along with a warm tone that is quite flattering. The male voices are also well represented. However, with some recordings, it can show a lot of errors if the recording is faulty, so many recordings feel thin and dazzling.

– High range: This is a “hot” point of FiiO Q5s. In general, the high range of the FiiO Q5s is a bit bright, there is no feeling of glare, but many songs have a rather tight sound, and the instruments feel more energetic than necessary. Another point is that the instrument sound of the high range does not have the feeling of ‘melt’ sometimes feels a bit disjointed with difficult recordings like the symphony Mahler, Wagner. However, to show such a high range of well often requires much higher-priced DACs/Amps.

In general, it is called FiiO Q5s, which has a relatively balanced sound quality with a slight emphasis in the mid-range. The detail is very good; the vocals feel a bit warm and easy to listen.

where can you get a FiiO Q5s online

FiiO Q5S High Resolution DAC and Headphone Amplifier: Buy it now

1/ Balanced or Unbalanced:

In general, this is a point that many of you are quite interested in, and many people think that only when using the Balanced port can they take advantage of the product’s full potential and sound quality. I tried comparing both ports, and really, what I see is simply the difference, not necessarily a better port. In terms of sound quality, the 4.4mm and 2.5mm ports are completely the same, I don’t see any difference, so if I use the converters, it isn’t very meaningful.

Single-ended 3.5mm port: listen to three bands more seamlessly, with a softer, easier-to-hear vocal voice. If you mainly listen to mids and vocals, you will probably prefer the single-ended port.

– Balanced port 4.4: There is a feeling of a more spacious soundstage; the separation of details between the two channels is clearly shown, especially the bass range sounds clear and has better power.

2/ Pairing headphones

Many of you often ask me if these headphones go well with this DAC/Amp; I would like to say honestly, not all headphones I’ve heard. I also only heard a few preliminary samples and did not always have headphones available to the plugin. Here are the headphones I’ve heard of mixing and matching.

Over-ear:

– Sennheiser HD599: It doesn’t sound very convincing when the headset is cheaper than the DAC / Amp. However, in my opinion, this combo is quite musical and easy to listen. If so, you can still upgrade to HD660s. (Note that HD600 or HD650 will be more difficult to pull and require an AM5 module)

– HiFiMan Sundara: This is a combo that I will recommend to you, especially for listening to various genres.

– Sony MDR-Z7M2 (even MDR-Z1R): the sound of both models is quite warm, easy to hear to be able to combine with Q5s. Specializing in slow music genres that need a thick, solid bass range.

– Focal Elear: The voice is quite thick, the voice is sweet and relatively flattering, but still has a good speed. This combo shows the balance between sweetness and technical characteristics of a high-end combo such as clarity, soundstage, speed.

In-Ear

– FiiO FH7: This is a combo that AudioPsycho boss will probably quite like because the sound is quite fun, full of energy, rich in technology.

– Campfire Polaris: I’ve heard people say this is for BassHead; I’ve heard of 3 different ones. I want to confirm that it first did not burn in, the sound has a lot of real basses, but after burn-in, the sound is thick, warm, and very emotional, not like the original (if there is a lot of basses) due to wrong burn-in. In general, this combo, I think the sound will be very suitable for newcomers who want to be fully complete in all three bands and still be thick, easy to hear enough bass.

AKG N5005: In general, this is a combo that I like very much because the ability to show the detail of the vocal is extremely delicate, the feeling is light. In general, to listen to light music, the vocals are extremely good. I still listen to J-Pop and some K-Pop (IU, Heize, Bol4), so this is my favorite combo.

3/ Compare with Q5:

The previous version of FiiO Q5 had a negative color in a strong, violent American style with a solid bass range, with many impacts slightly pressing on the upper bass.

Regarding technical characteristics, perhaps FiiO Q5s have improved a lot in terms of soundstage and detailed clarity. In addition, the sound color also follows a new direction that is more polished and refined in the right audiophile style.

In short, if the FiiO Q5 version is mainly suitable for modern music, EDM, electronic, the FiiO Q5s is suitable for emotional music or specifically audiophile music such as blues, jazz, vocal. That said, it’s not that Q5s has little bass; among Portable DAC/Amp products, this is still one of the best models with the most detailed bass range after Chord Mojo and Micro iDSD.

If you still like the negative color of the FiiO Q5, you can still use it normally, and if you want to upgrade, it is best to buy the AM3D module. If you have listened to the FiiO Q5 and feel that this sound is bold and market, the FiiO Q5s will be a reasonable choice.

4/ Compare with xDSD and Mojo

Each model will have different strengths and weaknesses; you can research to choose the right model:

– FiiO Q5s: The amp module can be replaced, the tone is warm, easy to listen to, and this is also a DAC/Amp model that uses 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced ports. In general, Can be compatible with many types of headphones by changing the amp module.

– iFi xDSD: The soundstage is the airiest, the sound is very airy, suitable for those who listen to many instruments such as a symphony, orchestra. In terms of detail, it is on par with the Q5s Amplifier circuit, although only 500mW, with CyberDrive, the product can pull difficult headphones like R70x, HD660s, or even Planar headphones.

– Chord Mojo: Although the model has been released for the longest time, it is still the best model; although the soundstage is not as busy as xDSD or glossy, the color is like the Q5s, but the sound color is very realistic, with high detail, more technical than two for the competition. If you need a neutral DAC / Amp to show the “true” quality of the headphones, then Mojo is the most reasonable choice. If you want to use it to stream via DLNA, UPnP, Roon, or plug in a memory card, only Mojo will support these features thanks to the Chord Poly module.

5/ Summary

Points I like:

– Simple, powerful design

– Easy to control

– Battery is about 9 hours enough to use throughout a day

There are a full range of input ports (line in/Coax/Optical/USB/Bluetooth) and full output ports from Line Out and headphone out ports like Balanced 4.4mm and 2.5mm.

– Ability to replace the module to upgrade the sound quality

– Sound quality is also gentle, clear, good detail

– Specializes in music genres with many vocals

– Relatively easy to pair with headphones.

Things I don’t like:

– Bluetooth Receiver has unsatisfactory sound quality

The stock amp module gives a quite neutral sound quality, but you can easily change another amp module if you want.