Wayback Wednesday: Fiio K1

Disclaimer: This article about the Fiio K1 is part of the Wayback Wednesday series.  Check out the other Wayback Wednesday articles HERE

 

I can hear you thinking:”Why is he featuring the K1 on Wayback Wednesday”? The answer is very simple though. The Fiio K1 review – unexpectedly – is the most visited review of the last 14 months. Pretty amazing right?

The Fiio K1 is still selling for only $39,99 on Amazon, and that’s probably the reason why it’s so incredibly popular on the web: everyone can afford it.

If you remember, I wasn’t very fond of the Fiio K1 ‘s performance but it seems a whole lot of people really do dig it. In the review I said the following:

The Fiio K1 is extremely light, portable and well built. It also is Fiio’s cheapest USB DAC/Amp and in this case you really get what you pay for. While the K1 seems to provide more power and body than an on-board sound card, I’m not sure it will necessarily sound better. The Fiio K1 really is an entry level DAC/Amp – even more so then the Q1 – and therefor you shouldn’t expect a world of difference compared to your stock sound card. If you really don’t have more than $39USD to spend, there aren’t that many options and in that regard Fiio made a smart move. My recommendation however is to save up for the Q1 or the E17K, the upgrade in sound will be much more noticeable with these two.

So did I ever use the Fiio K1 after the review? No I did not, it’s been in storage for most of the time. Have I changed my mind? No, not at all. I still suggest saving up for the Q1, E17K or AudioQuest DragonFly.

Seeing so many people keep looking and searching for the Fiio K1, does that mean I am/was wrong? Not exactly, the thing simply is that I and a lot of you are really spoiled and on top of that the reality is that for even more people, the K1 is the only thing they can afford. Or they simply don’t want to spend more money on better audio, and that’s perfectly fine. The most important thing is to enjoy your music, and of the Fiio K1 makes you do that, than it’s all good for me.

Read the full review here:

4.2/5 - (42 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

1 Comment

  • Reply August 22, 2017

    Zeon

    Same chips as E10k, I think people would go for E10K for better look, sound, and function.

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