Qudelix-5K Bluetooth USB DAC AMP with LDAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, AAC (Dual ES9219 3.5mm Unbalanced & 2.5mm Balanced Output)

This is my first DAC/amp. I bought it mostly based on the hype and positive reviews, and because I wanted something portable with a lot of flexibility. Overall this is an excellent DAC/amp for the price with a really strong feature set. Bluetooth supports most of the important codecs, and the balanced 2.5mm output is a big plus for something this small. In 2025 I do kind of wish it used 4.4mm instead, but it’s not a deal breaker. Sound quality is clean and has more than enough power for the headphones and IEMs I’ve tried. It also has battery passthrough and lets you set safe charging limits, which is a nice touch if you care about battery longevity. The app is one of the best parts. There are a ton of options, it’s actively updated, and it feels like the developers actually care about supporting the product. Build quality seems fine for daily use, but it’s basically a chunk of plastic with a clip, nothing fancy. The buttons take some getting used to, and there’s a lot I still haven’t messed with yet. This probably isn’t the device for someone who just wants super simple plug-and-play. But if you want flexibility and control in a small portable DAC/amp, it’s hard to beat for the price.

The Qudelix 5K truly is an awesome product. Don't know if it's exactly worth the price but it certainly is excellent. I've been using it paired with Truthear Hexa IEMs and with an iPhone/Mac/Windows PC over Bluetooth and USB (for each device). It's a great product effectively delivering a GREAT sound quality. I can't hear any difference with my IEMs used directly with the cable. It's awesome for this. With such IEMs, power will never be a problem as you'll completely annihilate your ears before you reach half the full volume of this thing. The volume automatically syncs with your device's so that it always delivers the best audio quality no matter the volume set on the source device (you don't have to worry about absolute volume on Bluetooth). The app is incredibly full of options. There's settings for EVERYTHING. I never had any lag when changing the settings, they're well saved, it's responding lightning fast, you can set an EQ with up to 20 bands... I can't say much about durability yet, but it's very small. I could fit two of these products inside a single hand. The clip is really good so I can attach it to my jeans, vest, or anything really. It's light enough that if it ever falls, the cable of the IEMs will retain it from falling. Oh and also, you can connect (simultaneously) up to 2 devices over Bluetooth as well as an additional device over USB (all 3 at the same time). It switches very intelligently and quickly over these 3 devices. The integrated microphone isn't very good, but I'm pretty sure no one will buy this product for that. If needed, you can plug in an external mic to use with it. It works flawlessly and is also available to set up within the app. If you're wondering whether you should buy this product, just buy it. It's EXCELLENT.

I was looking for a portable DAC/amp for my IEMs, and I found the Qudelix 5k in stock at Amazon. It is a killer Bluetooth DAC/amp, and I cannot recommend it enough. Build Quality and design: The build itself is decent, but the buttons feel cheap. Also, the button placement took me a while to memorize. On one side is the volume up/down button, and on the other side is the power, play/pause, and track skip/rewind button. The latter button has a bump so you can feel it by hand, but it took me a long while to feel the buttons and use the 5k without looking. Power and sound quality: The 5k is rated at 80mw single ended, and 240mw balanced (at 32 ohms.) Yeah, it doesn’t seem like a ton of power, but the 5k can easily power all my headphones and IEMs, ranging from Focal Elear, Moondrop Blessing 2, Moondrop S8, and even the Hifiman Sundara (though out of the 2.5mm balanced output.) As for sound quality, I can’t tell the difference between the Qudelix 5k and my JDS Labs Atom+ stack. App: This is the main reason to buy the Qudelix 5k. It has an app for Android and iOS, as well as a Chrome extension for PC and Mac users. The app has tons of functionality. The eq section of the app is its main selling point. You get a 10-band parametric eq along with all of the AutoEq presets by Jaakkopasanen. It includes all presets from Oratory1990, Crinacle, and others. This is perfect for iOS users who want the AutoEq function. For example, I bought the OG Moondrop Blessing 2, and I wanted to try the Dusk eq profile. I can easily do this via the Qudelix app on my iPhone. Another feature of the app I really like, and one I don’t see people mentioning, is the battery section. It shows you at what rate the battery life is decreasing/increasing, and it also lets you set the battery limit to 80% to prolong battery health. Also, when the Qudelix 5k is plugged in to PC/Mac, it bypasses the battery when in use. Conclusion: I highly recommend buying the Qudelix 5k for portable use. My main gripe is the odd button placement, and that’s it. The app functionality is amazing, the battery life is very good, and it has enough power for all my IEMs.

I had a bad cable on my IEMs which ended up damaging one of the amplifier chips in my EarStudio ES100 MkII (some crackling in the left channel on both 2.5mm balanced and 3.5mm unbalanced). When looking for a suitable replacement, I wanted something that was at least the same level of functionality and configurability as the ES100 but with USB-C. The decision came down to the Fiio BRT5 and the Qudelix-5K as both had USB-C and a 2.5mm balanced output (BRT15 was out since it did not have 2.5mm balanced). After seeing how configurable the 5K was through the app, it was a no brainer for me. SOUND QUALITY: In terms of sound quality, I cannot tell a difference between the ES100 MkII and the 5K. Granted, I have only used one set of IEMs for daily listening (Etymotic ER2XR) and cannot do A-B testing since my ES100 is damaged, so far from a scientific comparison. There is no hissing at all that I can tell when things are quiet or music paused. The volume goes higher than I would ever want to go. I have absolutely no complaints about the sound quality. It is honestly incredible how much value you get from something so small and portable! Definitely in the top of this price bracket! ANDROID APP: In terms of the app, it is a function over form sort of affair. It isn't the most intuitive layout with each section or page having multiple tabs. Sometimes it takes a bit of hunting around to find the setting you want to mess with. Also, there is a lot of plain text with little styling to distinguish between a simple status or reading and a configurable option. It is a simple black background with white, grey, and red text. The functionality is all there and I have no complaints about what it is capable of, just that it could use the touch of someone who specializes in user interfaces to take it to the next level. 5/5 on functionality, 3/5 on ease of use. BATTERY: As for battery life, this is really where I wish things could be better. Compared to my 2.5 year old ES100 MkII, I get significantly less battery life out of the 2.5mm balanced output on the 5K. I'm using the 5K in much the same way I did with the ES100: LDAC from my phone (44.1KHz sample rate, 24-bit, adaptive bitrate that often sits at 909/990), 2.5mm balanced output, ER2XR IEMs, similar listening volumes, no DSP/EQ enabled, no oversampling, battery charging limited to ~80%. With the ES100 MkII I could get 10-12 hours of listening on the balanced output. With the 5K, I'm only getting around 7-8 hours. I am charging every day or two which is too frequent for me (battery capacity will degrade to 80% of nominal in only a few years at this rate). That pushed me to create an adapter to turn my 2.5mm balanced cable into a 3.5mm unbalanced cable to see if I could notice a difference in audio quality and battery life. Using 3.5mm unbalanced with normal gain (1V RMS) and performance mode at the exact same listening volumes on the same IEMs, I get 10-11 hours of listening from an 80% charge (3-4 hours more than before). The audio quality is slightly worse as far as I can discern with everything being slightly more muddy and less refined, but I can only tell when looking for a difference, not during casual listening. Considering the gain in battery life is significant and I cannot make the 2.5mm balanced output battery life any better, I think I will continue to use my custom adapter cable that way I can choose between balanced and unbalanced at any time. I may also resort to simply plugging the 5K into a charger while sitting at my desk and disable charging so the battery doesn't experience any unnecessary wear. That is one thing I do really like about the 5K, the behavior when plugged into USB is very configurable and does not disconnect or interrupt the bluetooth connection unlike the ES100. I can plug into or disconnect from USB, change most settings, enable or disable charging, etc. all at will without interrupting my listening session. OVERALL: For me, the Qudelix-5k is a no-brainer for IEMs! The price is spot on for the features, sound quality, portability, and and flexibility you get out of this device. The battery life is less than I would like but I would consider myself a heavy user with 4-8 hours of listening most days of the week. Either way, this is certainly a device I can recommend!

I have playing with this little dac/amp for about a day. I've connected it to both my home PC (windows 10) and my iPad. I've been streaming from Amazon music HD and Pandora. Here's some initial impressions. The device itself is really small and the buttons are very small and awkward. It's tricky to not misfire because of their placement. It would be great if there were clear labels for each button. Curiously there ARE labels on the box it came in. Almost all of the adjustments are made using the Quedlix app. I've installed it on my iPad as well as the plug-in for Windows chrome. The app has a LOT of settings and the instructions are pretty sparse. I was able to get more information searching around on the web however. Although I was able to establish a bluetooth connection with each device, I've been mostly using a USB cable on both my PC and iPad. On bluetooth the quality is not quite as good 16bit/44.1k according to Amazon music. Hardwired I get 24bit/96k. The shining light on this device is the equalization options. There are many! You can switch between multiple configurations, 10 or 20 graphic equalizer, PEQ or use pre-sets. I have been fine tuning for multiple headphones. My go-to headphones are Beyerdynamic 990's. The amp drives these with ease. Once equalized the sound is quite pleasing with a decent soundstage. It is great to finally have an option to have a full-fledged equalizations for iOS devices. For a little over $100 I'm impressed with value and functionality. A few things I would appreciate: A discrete on/off switch and a discrete, well labeled volume control. This is definitely a device that requires some serious configuration to get the best out of it. I will update if I run into any issues. So far, so good. One additional note. There's a case available from the manufacturer's website but not Amazon. It's $2.00 with a $10.00 shipping fee to my areas. It would be swell for either Amazon to carry the product or for the manufacturer to include in the purchase.

This little DAC is incredible! The Bluetooth is reliable and has great range, along with the ability to control almost any settings you can think of. The battery lasts as long as I could reasonably want and its wonderful to be able to simply unplug it from my computer to switch from USB mode to BT mode. The custom EQ is obviously a huge selling point of the device, and it doesn't disappoint. While audiophiles will argue to the ends of the earth about how various BT modes might sound, nobody could reasonably pretend that any of that makes half as much of an impact as a good eq! The audio quality is incredible, and the ease of use is even better. Near instant device switching, a fantastic app, easy to use EQ, and a convenient form facto really make this the one adapter to ruel them all.

This is an amazing product for the price. It supports bluetooth, with a battery life that will last hours at a good volume. It also works over USB-C, and you can even use it while it is charging. It can drive high resistance headsets and IEMs, and has a clean output. It can connect with both 3.5mm and balanced 2.5mm, if you prefer. While I would have preferred a 4.4mm option, the Qudelix 5k is quite small and wouldn't have room for it. It has two rocker buttons, visually identified by the notch on one, and by the light colors, red and blue. Each button has an up and down. The app gives you an amazing amount of control, with a parametric EQ and a whole library of profiles for popular headsets and IEMs. It also allows versatile and in-depth control over all the protocols, audio quality, and functions, so you can redefine what the buttons do with optional controls. Qudelix also gives you a 1 year warranty out of the box, which is reassuring.

I came from the Fiio BTR7 which was usually crowned as the absolute best portable bluetooth dac amp that money can buy. It packed quite a punch of power for how small it was. unfortunately thats its biggest selling point. As the battery degraded to the point that it needs to be permanent plugged in to actually work and function. The firmware and software are genuinely awful, Unable to even just play music without the start of the song fadinh in and their seemingly being no actual way to fix it. And dont even get me started on the user repairability being absolutely nonexistent with the fact that the 2 backs are glued glass, So you at the bare minimum need a heat gun just to even get the glass off. which why not buy a new one at that point? You might be asking yourself "Ok, Why does this matter?" and thats a great question! The Btr7 is 200$, Meanwhile this Qudelix-5k is 100$, Has AMAZING software, Packs a good enough punch to use pratically any reasonable headphone with it. AND, is even more repairable than the Btr7. Sure, It doesnt have an Oled screen like the btr7, But does it need one? I mean a screen takes power yknow. and every watt of power possible should go straight to making sure the device can be what it was intended to be, a bluetooth dac amp that works as just that. Simplicity is better. Iv been using this with my brand new sennheiser Hd560S and it works like a charm and gets even very loud if I want it to be loud. Did I also mention the software? you can have individual EQ profile's for whatever device you are using. Built directly into the the device itself through its app. Lemme tell you, It works alot better and was far easier loading a profile than the janky setup I had for my android. which also caused lots of popping and distortion. But not here! That means the clarity of what im listening to is very very very clear to the source media and I dont have to worry about if the device itself is gonna do weird things to the audio and mess with it in ways I may not intend for it to mess with. Unlike the Brt7 which does the exact oppisate and even allows me to have fine control over what I might wanna hear from the EQ. instead of some vague preset options that I have no idea what they are doing to the audio itself. Its time to talk about the actual design and it is very thoughtfully designed. It actually feels like it was made with the intended purpose of being used by actual real people and not for the sole purpose of looking cool. to think that a 100$ device can somehow someway beat a device in straight up function without needing to buy extra accessories this hard is quite laughable. With all that being said I do wish that instead of a 2.5mm balanced output we instead got a 4.4mm balanced output port. Something the Btr7 does have over the Qudelix-k5. I know in this review I talked about the btr7 alot, Probably more than the k5 itself but I seriously need to get across to you the reader that this device far outperforms the in my own personal experience frustrating to use, far more expensive and in my own opinion wasteful device. You spend about double the price for just a bit more power and a funny little screen which is nice but it is not needed and it CERTAINLY is not 100$ more worth it in my personal opinion. In all honesty as far as I can tell you just simply can't beat this tiny little monster for its price to performance. The amazing software, amazing audio quality, amazing bluetooth connectivity. The sheer thoughtfulness of the designers of this product made a product for you with the intention that you are going to use this daily and you will not be disappointed in what you paid for.