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Fosi Audio K5 Pro Gaming DAC Headphone Amplifier Expired

$56
$79.96
+ Free Shipping
+35 Deal Score
24,380 Views
Fosi Audio has Fosi Audio K5 Pro Gaming DAC Headphone Amplifier on sale for $56 when you apply discount code DEAL30 during checkout. Shipping is free.

Thanks to Community Member brollpixel for sharing this deal.

About this Item:
  • Output Power: 1000mw@16Ω, 500mw@32Ω, 300mw@64Ω, 150mw@128Ω, 80mw@300Ω
  • Headphone Impedance: 16Ω - 300Ω
  • Input Type: USB, Optical, Coaxial, 3.5mm Microphone
  • Output Type: 3.5mm Headphone, RCA
  • USB Sampling Rate: 16bit/44.1KHz to 24bit/96KHz
  • Optical/Coaxial Sampling Rate: 16bit/44.1KHz to 24bit/192KHz
  • THD: <0.003%
  • SNR: ≥110dB
  • Device Dimension: 4.4x3.7x1.2 inch (112*95*30mm)
  • Net Weight: 0.55lb (251g)
  • Power Input Interface: USB Type-C
  • Includes: Headset Microphone Two-in-one Adapter cable, Optical cable and USB Type-C cable

Original Post

Written by
Edited April 26, 2024 at 06:38 PM by
Fosi Audio Official Site [fosiaudio.com] has Fosi Audio K5 Pro Gaming DAC Headphone Amplifier on sale for $56, After applying 30% off coupon code DEAL30 on the product page, Free Shipping, No Tax.
  • The upgraded version for Fosi Audio Q4 adds microphone function, K5 Pro headphone DAC amp combo, next-generation audio converter with unrivaled internals, more outstanding performance, and richer audio details. Born for Gaming. K5 Pro stereo DAC headphone amplifier is perfect for your home gaming system, equivalent to an external sound card, suitable for PS5/Computers/PC/MAC/Nintendo Switch/active speakers, etc;
  • Input: USB-C/OPT/COA/3.5MM Microphone; Output: RCA/3.5mm Headphone
  • OPT/COASampling Rate: up to 24bit/192 kHz;
  • Output power: 1000mw@16Ω, 500mw@32Ω, 300mw@64Ω, 150mw@128Ω, 80mw@300Ω;
  • THD: <0.003%; S/N: >110db; Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz
  • Recommended headphone impedance: 16-300Ω

https://fosiaudio.com/products/fo...2744&_ss=r
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Deal
Score
+35
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$56
$79.96

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Featured Comments

More inputs, better op-amp chips and most importantly, it can be used as a DAC on a HiFi system. DAC, digital to analogue converter, is the device that translates digitally stored information from a PC, mobile phone or other such device into the analogue sound that we can hear. Generally, a DAC can improve sound quality.
I have been using this DAC for a year and a half. It has been dead reliable besides the the port being damaged on the first one I got from Amazon. I use it with my HD 58x Jubilee and it has no issues whatsoever, always sounded good. It is full aluminum and the nobs are premium. Good deal for a headphone DAC.

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Joined Nov 2006
L8: Grand Teacher
> bubble2 3,374 Posts
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Pro
dcpoor
04-27-2024 at 03:02 PM.
04-27-2024 at 03:02 PM.
Quote from fintlewoodlewix :
LOL. Marketed at gamers. Like there's a difference.

It measures terribly: https://www.audiosciencereview.co...iew.40047/

Like, it's broken, it's so bad. Embarrassing for Fosi.
yeah, seems like so many jumped on this deal without reading any reviews or doing research Frown
those measurements from ASR are so wonky laugh out loud
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Guzzardo
> bubble2 1,782 Posts
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fintlewoodlewix
04-27-2024 at 04:19 PM.
04-27-2024 at 04:19 PM.
Quote from dcpoor :
yeah, seems like so many jumped on this deal without reading any reviews or doing research https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/frown.gif
those measurements from ASR are so wonky https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...s/emot-LOL.gif
Oh, those measurements are so awful. It's almost certainly horribly implemented EQ knobs. "Give it to the new engineer," they said.
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Joined Jul 2017
Guzzardo
> bubble2 1,782 Posts
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fintlewoodlewix
04-27-2024 at 04:20 PM.
04-27-2024 at 04:20 PM.
Quote from ElGato01 :
Thank you. Got one. Hope it's good for music.
It is if you like utterly messed up frequency response.
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Joined Apr 2013
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,049 Posts
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brollpixel
04-27-2024 at 05:45 PM.
04-27-2024 at 05:45 PM.
Quote from fintlewoodlewix :
Monoprice is likely much better than this broken DAC that has messed up frequency response. They added analog adjustment to a DAC and ended up with a broken product.

USB, usually.


Redundant and probably much lower quality than your Yamaha.

This will mess up your frequency response. It's a broken DAC.

Some schitt products are terrible and some are quite excellent. Few are a value for the money. Look up measurements.

If you want to listen to music, there are many quality DAC choices out there. A good one will cost a bit more. If you want an all in one solution with quality dac, adc, and headphone amp, you're not going to find it for cheap, and it's sitll going to perform badly with a junky gaming headphone mic. If you're streaming, you should use separates and a proper ADC. If you're gaming, just plug into the headphone plug on the PC.

Consider trying their SK02 if this option doesn't suit your needs. I personally use the SK02 as a DAC and the SK01 as a preamp for my mono HiFi system (2 ZA3s), and they work wonderfully for me. This isn't an all-in-one device; they offer specific products tailored to different needs.
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Last edited by brollpixel April 27, 2024 at 05:51 PM.
Joined Jul 2016
L4: Apprentice
> bubble2 370 Posts
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ssen2004
04-29-2024 at 08:01 AM.
04-29-2024 at 08:01 AM.
Quote from fewlio :
my sennheisers sound just fine plugged right into the computer, how much volume do ya need. you want to end up deaf??
You will ONLY hear the difference if you have a mid or higher range price tag headphone. I use my mid price Massdrop HD 6XX which sounds better with DAC/AMP compared to directly plugged to desktop PC output. However most normal users will not notice a sound quality difference (my wife and daughter does not Smilie)
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L3: Novice
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MarlonU
04-29-2024 at 09:59 AM.
04-29-2024 at 09:59 AM.
Quote from nutriapeluda :
So from my very limited googling, a headphone amp connected directly to let's say a 3.5 mm jack of a laptop would just amplify crummy signals if the manufacturer didn't install a nice dac. This would bypass that integrated dac and in theory provide better audio out of the laptop? Would this also drive or power nice headphones with high impedance or do I still need a headphone amp for that?

Thanks https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...ot-worship.gif
Yes Fosi claims this amp can power all the way up to 300Ω
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MarlonU
04-29-2024 at 10:03 AM.
04-29-2024 at 10:03 AM.
Quote from Azrael_the_Cat :
You would use the USB, Optical or Coaxial input. These are all DIGITAL inputs. The concept of "clean" output is only really relevant to analog signals. As long as the digital signals are good enough to "work" their "cleanliness" is moot. This isn't true if you use the 3.5mm input which is analog and would largely defeat the purpose of the DAC if using it with a PC.
There's actually a lot of debate around the "cleanliness" of digital signals, including for USB which can carry "noise" because of all the other data it's carrying simultaneously.
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Joined Feb 2013
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> bubble2 119 Posts
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MarlonU
04-29-2024 at 10:07 AM.
04-29-2024 at 10:07 AM.
Quote from alxshanti :
Thank you for your detailed response! I am currently plugging my headphones (Philips X2HR) directly into the phones jack on the front panel of the Receiver. It works fine but I feel the headphones aren't opening up quite as well as I think they could; hence, the idea of using a dedicated headphones amp. The reason I want the Receiver to be the source for the headphones amp is because all my devices--TV, PS5 and the SHIELD--are going through it. I'd like to be able to use the headphones with all of them.
Your receiver is acting as the DAC + Amp already. If you want to use this instead you'd need to have the digital source (computer, bluethooth, cell phone, etc) feed into this Fosi instead of your receiver.
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Jedi Engineer
> bubble2 4,513 Posts
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Azrael_the_Cat
04-29-2024 at 11:01 AM.
04-29-2024 at 11:01 AM.
Quote from MarlonU :
There's actually a lot of debate around the "cleanliness" of digital signals, including for USB which can carry "noise" because of all the other data it's carrying simultaneously.
No, there isn't any debate. Not if you are an Electrical Engineer. There is no "other data" on usb it's a single bidirectional twisted pair balanced upstream and downstream serial channel. Lay people may "argue" about "digital noise" and stuff they don't understand (that's why bestbuy can sell monster HDMI cables and say it gives better picture (it doesn't), but I assure you no EEs are scratching their heads or arguing this topic at conferences.

There are concepts in digital signals related to link budget, but that is typically reserved for RF transmissions where signal to noise is an actual parameter in bandwidth derminations and protocol adjustments (like wifi when the speed goes up or down depending on SNR). In these cases you are truly dealing with packet loss and periods of time when the analog signals can't get through and be properly interpreted.

However with something like USB over short differences it's not a thing. The connection is either good or bad and it is expected that the signal integrity is way above any noise floors. That is one of the reasons USB doesn't bother with error correction, just CRC based error detection in case there is catastrophic packet failure (which computers don't really handle gracefully since it isn't an expected behavior to lose USB packets). CRCs on protocols like USB are intended as a hail mary since, again, the transceivers are expected to work, and they do unless something is out of compliance.

TLDR, you will never see a change in audio quality as a result of the USB signal's "noise" outside of the audio dropping out of the device disconnecting. UNLESS you have terrible filtering in your DAC and the noise is leaking into your analog, but that's a whole other topic.
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> bubble2 16 Posts
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MikeP2461
04-29-2024 at 09:01 PM.
04-29-2024 at 09:01 PM.
Quote from dcpoor :
yeah, seems like so many jumped on this deal without reading any reviews or doing research https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/frown.gif
those measurements from ASR are so wonky https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...s/emot-LOL.gif
I don't think the target audience for a device like this are going to care about measurements. They see a $56 dollar 'gaming' AIO with some EQ controls, semi decent power compared to budget dongles and hope for the best.
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Ciderguy
04-30-2024 at 07:47 AM.
04-30-2024 at 07:47 AM.
Quote from brollpixel :
Both PCs and mobile phones typically have built-in lower quality DACs and amplifiers, but many lack sufficient power to drive high-impedance headphones. This device replaces them, offering the capability to drive headphones with higher impedances effectively.
Check out https://www.headphonesty.com/head...alculator/ to see what kind of power your headphones need. 80mw@300Ω is probably not quite enough to satisfy some people, but150mw@128Ω may be okay. 300mw@64Ω is probably fine. It depends on your headphones.
Remember that headphones don't have a linear response to power, so having some headroom is ideal. I prefer to have 2x the power just to be safe, but you probably don't need that much headroom.
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Ciderguy
04-30-2024 at 07:53 AM.
04-30-2024 at 07:53 AM.
Quote from dcpoor :
yeah, seems like so many jumped on this deal without reading any reviews or doing research https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/frown.gif
those measurements from ASR are so wonky https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...s/emot-LOL.gif
It has "gaming" in the product name. The price is very inexpensive. It doesn't have much traction in audiophile circles as a good deal. I expected it to be not great. The alternatives are what? A Schiit Fulla/ Hella (which has a reputation for not being reliable and costs significantly more) or other gamer products that also tend to be not great.
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chubbypops
04-30-2024 at 11:44 AM.
04-30-2024 at 11:44 AM.
Quote from resseeker :
Is this good for something like the beyerdynamic 770 250 ohm? I've used them for a long time on a regular audio output, but wondering if this will make a noticeable difference in quality.

Not really
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Joined Dec 2012
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bansh77
05-01-2024 at 06:33 PM.
05-01-2024 at 06:33 PM.
I have an 80 dollar fiio from 2015 or 2016 that isn't that great. Is this any better?
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