New Dac the FiiO K13 R2R: Early Impressions

[Stuart.W.D]

Hi everyone,

I recently picked up the FiiO K13 R2R, and I just wanted to share a few early thoughts. I’m still very new to R2R DACs, so take this as simple impressions from someone who just enjoys listening.

The first thing I noticed was the tone. It sounds very natural and relaxed. Nothing feels sharp or forced. This is my first experience with an R2R DAC, and I was surprised by how calm yet detailed it sounds. The small details really stood out to me.

For example, I was listening to O by Damien Rice (a CD I ordered from Discogs), and I could hear little things I hadn’t noticed before -- faint sounds of kids playing in the background, Damien taking breaths between lines, even subtle touches on the guitar touching the wood, and the body to the strings is nicely done. These are small details, but they felt very real. I didn’t notice them before with an older Rega DAC, or my iFi Zen DAC, or the DAC in my Cambridge CXN V2. I found that very interesting.

Vocals sound full and smooth. Female vocals have a gentle sweetness without sounding too soft. Male vocals feel textured and natural, with a nice sense of body.

The treble is smooth and easy on the ears, but still detailed. I’ve tried both NOS and OS modes with my KEF LS50 speakers and Sennheiser HD600, and both sound very enjoyable to me.

The soundstage feels open and nicely layered. Instruments are well placed and easy to follow. So far, I’ve mostly been listening to vocal and acoustic guitar music (like Amble), so I can’t say much about the bass yet. It’s only day three with the DAC.

What surprised me most is how easy it is to just enjoy music with this DAC. I stopped thinking about technical details and just played album after album. For me, that’s always a good sign.

I’ll spend more time with different genres before making any strong conclusions. But for now, I’m very happy with it. It feels like a DAC made for people who simply love music.

Is anyone else here using the K13 R2R? I’d really enjoy hearing your thoughts.


Thanks for reading 🙏

 

[PieterG]

I had the little brother K11 for a few weeks. It's an excellent headphones amp with plenty of power for anything that's not extremely demanding. The K13 is very similar and reviews indicate it's a little more refined.

The reason i returned my unit is that i couldn't quite get the sound to open up. I got the best results with medium gain and oversampling. The sligthly warmer character is something i can appreciate, and although i had doubts originally about its ability to resolve detail, it was fine once i realised using the low gain setting was a mistake.

I should mention i use closed back headphones. These Fiio DACs, and perhaps R2R designs in general, might be better matched with open headphones. I didn't try the line out, which is better quality than the headphone output according to tests on Audio Science Review.

If i had picked the K13 i probably would have kept it. The EQ controls, which the K11 doesn't have, probably would have been enough for me to get the sound i was looking for.

Congratulations and enjoy!

 

[RTHerringbone]

I've had my K13 R2R since mid-October and it just works, which for me is a good thing and aligns with your "I stopped thinking about technical details and just played album after album" comment @Stuart.W.D

It's a perfect DAC / Amp for my office and in my view there are only two issues. The PEQ interface is nasty and if you have a power cut, for some reason the unit turns itself on. That apart, it is a very good option to consider for a headphone setup and appears to offer a good deal of quality for a not unreasonable amount of money.

I use mine with Medium gain (driving open-backed planar headphones with a balanced cable) and having started with the NOS mode, I'm now back on OS. I did find some PEQ settings for my headphones but again, I have elected to use no PEQ at all as I don't want or need to change the defauly settings.

EDIT: Also it's interesting to see yours at a volume of 40! Mine is usually around the 22 mark and it offers plenty of volume.

 

[Stuart.W.D]

I had the little brother K11 for a few weeks. It's an excellent headphones amp with plenty of power for anything that's not extremely demanding. The K13 is very similar and reviews indicate it's a little more refined.

The reason i returned my unit is that i couldn't quite get the sound to open up. I got the best results with medium gain and oversampling. The sligthly warmer character is something i can appreciate, and although i had doubts originally about its ability to resolve detail, it was fine once i realised using the low gain setting was a mistake.

I should mention i use closed back headphones. These Fiio DACs, and perhaps R2R designs in general, might be better matched with open headphones. I didn't try the line out, which is better quality than the headphone output according to tests on Audio Science Review.

If i had picked the K13 i probably would have kept it. The EQ controls, which the K11 doesn't have, probably would have been enough for me to get the sound i was looking for.

Congratulations and enjoy!

Thank you! The real benefit of the K13 over the K11 is better control and refinement. The background will be a little blacker, and there’s more headroom, so the music breathes easier and feels less strained.

What Dac/amp did you settle on in the end!?