Best compact headphone listening solution?

[RTHerringbone]

Ha! The LED lighting changes based on the sampling rate of the track. Yellow when it's >48kHz 🤓 😎

And (fortunately) I've figured out how to drop the brightness of all the LEDs.

 

[Jasonovich]

The stock cable with the FT7 is a bit overkill though. I don't notice it when sat on the sofa downstairs beside the main Hi-Fi, but it's more noticeably weighty here.

View attachment 10145

Yes those cables do look a little OTT! 🙂

I think your FiiO cables have dual 35mm headphone connection, which have wide compatibility, same as my Hifimans, Amirons and FiiO FT1's; customised ones from cxnnected will transform the aesthetics as well as the sound quality. Little pricy though; I highly recommend them 🙂

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/934153314/hifiman-focal-balanced-cable-dual-35mm?ls=r&ref=pla_similar_listing_bot-1&content_source=3490d020ea710e58ea6f3e06a9417cc8%253ALTde4791a6dcc29ef49f1ba35395ac2a285fa354d5&logging_key=3490d020ea710e58ea6f3e06a9417cc8%3ALTde4791a6dcc29ef49f1ba35395ac2a285fa354d5

 

[Jasonovich]

Ha! The LED lighting changes based on the sampling rate of the track. Yellow when it's >48kHz 🤓 😎

And (fortunately) I've figured out how to drop the brightness of all the LEDs.

View attachment 10147

Looks like the K11 on steroids. Nicely uniform with the WiiM Ultra 😎. Congrats on your purchase really nice.

 

[RTHerringbone]

I've taken a brief look at the NOS / OS decoding modes and they're certainly different. NOS is probably a little more "fun" in the mids but really I think for now I'm happy to stick on OS.

One thing FiiO don't do brilliantly is apps / websites / UI. To access PEQ I can use the app fairly easily to pick from a standard set of PEQ options (Jazz, Classical etc.) or I can create my own. There's a partner website which you can only use if physically connecting the device to your laptop which is cumbersome but the only way to select from preloaded PEQ settings for your specific headphones.

It's clumsy. The apps is just about fine, but for functionality to not be consistent across both feels like bad design and scalability. And the prerequisite of a wired connection to control settings that the app is managing over Bluetooth also feels inconsistent and sub-par.

Excellent hardware; poor software consistency. The core functionality is there and it works, but the UX is not up to what you'd expect these days.

 

[RTHerringbone]

Oh. PEQ is really quite a thing, isn't it? To my mild annoyance, I connected the K13 to my Chromebook via USB just to see what the fuss is about.

I found the FT7 headphones in their database of headphones and used the 2018 Harman Over-Ear target profile and it makes a wild difference. I *do* prefer the overall balance but in the same way as the NOS / OS decoding sounds different, I have just gone back to OS with no EQ because I don't understand *why* it sounds better 🤦‍♂️ 😆

Definitely something for me to look at when I actually understand things. When I was a kid I didn't use EQ at all but can remember having an old "ghetto blaster" with manual equaliser sliders. Always left them dead centre 😁

 

[RTHerringbone]

This was a good decision 😎

I felt a bit impulsive just assuming that the Ultra would need a boost to get the most out of headphones but honestly, the difference with / without external amplification is monumentally large. Sounds great, works well, looks fantastic. And I have actually put batteries in the FiiO remote as it means I don't have to stretch to change the volume now.

I'm also using the NOS decoding as it just feels and sounds "nicer" - warm. Graph lickers can do one.

 

[Jasonovich]

This was a good decision 😎

I felt a bit impulsive just assuming that the Ultra would need a boost to get the most out of headphones but honestly, the difference with / without external amplification is monumentally large. Sounds great, works well, looks fantastic. And I have actually put batteries in the FiiO remote as it means I don't have to stretch to change the volume now.

I'm also using the NOS decoding as it just feels and sounds "nicer" - warm. Graph lickers can do one.

I have my K11 set to NOS, maybe slightly more detail on OS. Nice fatty sound on NOS.
Flac is the basic standard but do try DSD/SACD and this will take you on another level 😊
My Pro-ject Maia S3 is being delivered today. It's Class D, replacing another Class D SMSL A300.

 

[RTHerringbone]

My Pro-ject Maia S3 is being delivered today. It's Class D, replacing another Class D SMSL A300.

Nice! I assume the car service was kind to you.