This is a Review of FiiO Q1 portable DAC and headphone amplifier. http://www.fiio.net/en/products/44 , available on amazon now: http://amzn.to/2dWMrSZ
FiiO never ceases to… surprise me! Some of their upcoming products, like flagship android based X7 dap and Q5 dac/amp, has been well known ahead of the release, while others like Q1 popped out of nowhere. One thing for sure, their product portfolio is constantly expanding and they always compliment their flagship models with entree level budget offerings. And that’s where I figured Q1 going to fit right in, but ended up being pleasantly surprised once I got it in my hands. FiiO is constantly pushing the “budget” envelope, so let’s find out what you can get for under $70 to satisfy your broad audio needs.
Arrived in a flat square box, common with their other portable amps and the size of a few stacked CD jewel cases, you are greeted with a high res glossy image of Q1 flask-top inside of a "vinyl record" circle. If you think E11k resembled a flask shape, Q1 almost looks like one! Out of the box you will find a quality packaging with secure foam lining that does a good job protecting Q1 from every side while also surrounded by a separate box and an envelope with accessories.
Unboxing.
I guess first surprise was when I got this little guy in my hands. Measuring only 97 mm x 56 mm x 13 mm it was a size of a slim deck of cards, very similar to a footprint of E11k (now renamed to A3) and X3ii (though the dap is a little bit thicker), and it felt very solid yet lightweight at only 100g (which btw includes internal battery). I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with accessories since FiiO usually includes plenty, but they managed to raise my eyebrows this time. Yes, you are getting a detailed manual, a high quality usb to micro-usb charging cable, and a pair of rubber bands to secure Q1 to your DAP or a smartphone. In addition to that they also introduced two new accessories, or at least something I haven't seen with any other FiiO product I reviewed in the past.
First one is a new 3.5mm short audio interconnect, a typical 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable to connect to HO or LO of your source, but this one was only 1.5” in length and with right angle connectors. I wasn’t totally shocked about it since I already have JDS Labs short interconnect of a similar length, but the one from FiiO had a better quality. The problem with JDS labs interconnect is a bit flimsy cable while here you have a beefy flexible short noodle cable with a decent strain relief. Now you don’t need to have an extra wire loop sticking out if you choose to use Q1 as your portable amp. I hope FiiO can sell these separately as an accessory; this little cable is really that good.
Next, I found two semi-transparent grippy (not sticky) frosted finish silicone pads with a stamped FiiO logo name. Again, for those who are familiar with E11k slightly convex body surface (and Q1 has the same) or know the "rubbing" pain when stacking up a metal surface of the DAP on top of a metal surface of the Amp – it's uneven and you either need to use stick-on rubber feet or to keep the DAP in a silicone skin for some padding in between. Here, you just slide in one of these little pads and problem is solved. It’s a very simple and effective solution.
Now, on to a “flask” design. With a slightly convex rounded body surface and a volume knob on the top in the middle surrounded by a guard - Q1 closely resembles a small flask. The body of this dac/amp has a solid aluminum shell, very sturdy, no flex, and a great EMI isolation. The top and the bottom looks like a brushed aluminum, but it feels like plastic which I'm pretty sure it is.
Starting from the top, you have 3.5mm HO gold plated port, LED indicator (blue - power on and running off battery, red - charging, green - charging complete, blinking red - low battery, purple - charging with power on when used as usb dac), Volume knob (smooth operation with good resistance and numbered position), and Bass boost switch. You turn the power on by twisting the volume knob from 0 position thus don't have to worry about blowing off your ears because of the volume setting from a previous pair of headphones if you have to deal with a separate power switch. The only problem here, Bass boost switch has on/off label inside of a small switch cavity which is very hard to read.
At the bottom, you have 2 small philips screws at the corners holding assembly together, Charge switch (to allow charging option while connected to laptop), micro-usb port for charging and usb DAC data input, Gain switch for Low/High, Line In/Out 3.5mm gold plated port. When used as a portable amp, this port is Line In, but when used as usb dac - this port becomes Line Out. Unfortunately, Gain and Charge slider switches also have their values stamped inside of the switch cavity which is hard to read. I just wish Bass (on/off), Charge (on/off), and Gain (high/low) had a more clear marking, maybe stamped outside.
Design.
I usually don't spend too much time on Spec numbers, but when you read >30h of playtime from its 1400 mAh battery - that will get your attention right away! 30h is noted as the best case scenario at a "normal" volume level which is valid for both low and high gains!!! I do need to verify and to compare battery life when used as amp vs dac/amp, but so far I only charged Q1 once and still using it for a week. FiiO suggests that when used as USB DAC, you should expect at least 15h of playback which is fantastic, and I will update my review with final measurement numbers after more charge cycles.
The max power rating of Q1 is >190 mW at 32 ohms which is pretty good for a little Amp, but I noticed right away in low gain output was really underpowered. Once FiiO released the official Q1 spec, I quickly realized the reason. Gain AUX In: -7dB/4.5dB, and USB In: -3.5dB/8dB. Basically in low gain when you use Q1 as pure amp (AUX In) or DAC (USB In) it's more appropriate for sensitive IEMs where you want to keep the power low. With most of my IEMs, I found low gain setting to be useless, but once switched to high gain you get a significant improvement!
After hours of listening, I found Q1 to have a neutral-warmish signature with a good transparency, a nice layering/separation, and a smooth organic tonality with a decent retrieval of details. It's not going to blow your socks off, but it was surprisingly good, down to a black background. As a matter of fact, I found Q1 to be more neutral and a touch more detailed in comparison to E11k which sounds a little bit warmer to my ears. Going up to E12A, you will find Q1 amp section slightly inferior where E12A is a little more transparent and more detailed, but Q1 has an obvious advantage of additional DAC functionality. One particular pair up I found to be quite good was with X3ii (from LO) - besides a perfect footprint match, I found an improvement in retrieval of details, like a very faint veil was lifted off, and as a bonus you get to extend X3ii battery life by using an external amp with a built-in power supply.
Paired up with a lot of my headphones, I found the best synergy with those that have bright sound signature since Q1 was able to smooth out harsh peaks and in some cases a bass boost added more body to a sound. In more brief details, I found Q1 to drive everything I threw at it with a convincing authority, especially in high gain. There was an excellent pair up with Audeze EL-8C (adds a nice body with a bass boost) and PM-3 sounds smooth and detailed, MSR7 has no harsh peaks and sounds smooth over the treble range, and even R70x (470 ohm impedance) is driven with plenty of power but I had to push Q1 nearly to the max of volume on high gain, while VE ZEN (300 ohm) had no issues and still had some headroom left. I found no hissing with sensitive CIEMs, like Inearz P650 – yielding a very detailed sound, W60 had an excellent drive (powerful, no hissing, great level of details), and the same with DN2kJ with no hissing, excellent detailed sound which scaled up with more organic body when I switched bass boost on.
FiiO never ceases to… surprise me! Some of their upcoming products, like flagship android based X7 dap and Q5 dac/amp, has been well known ahead of the release, while others like Q1 popped out of nowhere. One thing for sure, their product portfolio is constantly expanding and they always compliment their flagship models with entree level budget offerings. And that’s where I figured Q1 going to fit right in, but ended up being pleasantly surprised once I got it in my hands. FiiO is constantly pushing the “budget” envelope, so let’s find out what you can get for under $70 to satisfy your broad audio needs.
Arrived in a flat square box, common with their other portable amps and the size of a few stacked CD jewel cases, you are greeted with a high res glossy image of Q1 flask-top inside of a "vinyl record" circle. If you think E11k resembled a flask shape, Q1 almost looks like one! Out of the box you will find a quality packaging with secure foam lining that does a good job protecting Q1 from every side while also surrounded by a separate box and an envelope with accessories.
Unboxing.
I guess first surprise was when I got this little guy in my hands. Measuring only 97 mm x 56 mm x 13 mm it was a size of a slim deck of cards, very similar to a footprint of E11k (now renamed to A3) and X3ii (though the dap is a little bit thicker), and it felt very solid yet lightweight at only 100g (which btw includes internal battery). I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with accessories since FiiO usually includes plenty, but they managed to raise my eyebrows this time. Yes, you are getting a detailed manual, a high quality usb to micro-usb charging cable, and a pair of rubber bands to secure Q1 to your DAP or a smartphone. In addition to that they also introduced two new accessories, or at least something I haven't seen with any other FiiO product I reviewed in the past.
First one is a new 3.5mm short audio interconnect, a typical 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable to connect to HO or LO of your source, but this one was only 1.5” in length and with right angle connectors. I wasn’t totally shocked about it since I already have JDS Labs short interconnect of a similar length, but the one from FiiO had a better quality. The problem with JDS labs interconnect is a bit flimsy cable while here you have a beefy flexible short noodle cable with a decent strain relief. Now you don’t need to have an extra wire loop sticking out if you choose to use Q1 as your portable amp. I hope FiiO can sell these separately as an accessory; this little cable is really that good.
Next, I found two semi-transparent grippy (not sticky) frosted finish silicone pads with a stamped FiiO logo name. Again, for those who are familiar with E11k slightly convex body surface (and Q1 has the same) or know the "rubbing" pain when stacking up a metal surface of the DAP on top of a metal surface of the Amp – it's uneven and you either need to use stick-on rubber feet or to keep the DAP in a silicone skin for some padding in between. Here, you just slide in one of these little pads and problem is solved. It’s a very simple and effective solution.
Now, on to a “flask” design. With a slightly convex rounded body surface and a volume knob on the top in the middle surrounded by a guard - Q1 closely resembles a small flask. The body of this dac/amp has a solid aluminum shell, very sturdy, no flex, and a great EMI isolation. The top and the bottom looks like a brushed aluminum, but it feels like plastic which I'm pretty sure it is.
Starting from the top, you have 3.5mm HO gold plated port, LED indicator (blue - power on and running off battery, red - charging, green - charging complete, blinking red - low battery, purple - charging with power on when used as usb dac), Volume knob (smooth operation with good resistance and numbered position), and Bass boost switch. You turn the power on by twisting the volume knob from 0 position thus don't have to worry about blowing off your ears because of the volume setting from a previous pair of headphones if you have to deal with a separate power switch. The only problem here, Bass boost switch has on/off label inside of a small switch cavity which is very hard to read.
At the bottom, you have 2 small philips screws at the corners holding assembly together, Charge switch (to allow charging option while connected to laptop), micro-usb port for charging and usb DAC data input, Gain switch for Low/High, Line In/Out 3.5mm gold plated port. When used as a portable amp, this port is Line In, but when used as usb dac - this port becomes Line Out. Unfortunately, Gain and Charge slider switches also have their values stamped inside of the switch cavity which is hard to read. I just wish Bass (on/off), Charge (on/off), and Gain (high/low) had a more clear marking, maybe stamped outside.
Design.
I usually don't spend too much time on Spec numbers, but when you read >30h of playtime from its 1400 mAh battery - that will get your attention right away! 30h is noted as the best case scenario at a "normal" volume level which is valid for both low and high gains!!! I do need to verify and to compare battery life when used as amp vs dac/amp, but so far I only charged Q1 once and still using it for a week. FiiO suggests that when used as USB DAC, you should expect at least 15h of playback which is fantastic, and I will update my review with final measurement numbers after more charge cycles.
The max power rating of Q1 is >190 mW at 32 ohms which is pretty good for a little Amp, but I noticed right away in low gain output was really underpowered. Once FiiO released the official Q1 spec, I quickly realized the reason. Gain AUX In: -7dB/4.5dB, and USB In: -3.5dB/8dB. Basically in low gain when you use Q1 as pure amp (AUX In) or DAC (USB In) it's more appropriate for sensitive IEMs where you want to keep the power low. With most of my IEMs, I found low gain setting to be useless, but once switched to high gain you get a significant improvement!
After hours of listening, I found Q1 to have a neutral-warmish signature with a good transparency, a nice layering/separation, and a smooth organic tonality with a decent retrieval of details. It's not going to blow your socks off, but it was surprisingly good, down to a black background. As a matter of fact, I found Q1 to be more neutral and a touch more detailed in comparison to E11k which sounds a little bit warmer to my ears. Going up to E12A, you will find Q1 amp section slightly inferior where E12A is a little more transparent and more detailed, but Q1 has an obvious advantage of additional DAC functionality. One particular pair up I found to be quite good was with X3ii (from LO) - besides a perfect footprint match, I found an improvement in retrieval of details, like a very faint veil was lifted off, and as a bonus you get to extend X3ii battery life by using an external amp with a built-in power supply.
Paired up with a lot of my headphones, I found the best synergy with those that have bright sound signature since Q1 was able to smooth out harsh peaks and in some cases a bass boost added more body to a sound. In more brief details, I found Q1 to drive everything I threw at it with a convincing authority, especially in high gain. There was an excellent pair up with Audeze EL-8C (adds a nice body with a bass boost) and PM-3 sounds smooth and detailed, MSR7 has no harsh peaks and sounds smooth over the treble range, and even R70x (470 ohm impedance) is driven with plenty of power but I had to push Q1 nearly to the max of volume on high gain, while VE ZEN (300 ohm) had no issues and still had some headroom left. I found no hissing with sensitive CIEMs, like Inearz P650 – yielding a very detailed sound, W60 had an excellent drive (powerful, no hissing, great level of details), and the same with DN2kJ with no hissing, excellent detailed sound which scaled up with more organic body when I switched bass boost on.
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