FiiO JadeAudio KA2 4.4mm Balanced Headphone Amps USB DAC DSD256 32bit/384kHz PCM for Android/iOS/Windows/Mac (USB Type C)

This is a tiny little DAC which only has a 4.4mm balanced output. This means that you would need an adaptor for 3.5mm jacks that may or may not work with your headphones (depending on whether they are balanced or whether they will short across the terminals) This isn’t a fault just what it is designed for. To be certain if you aren’t into audiophile systems and know about the right connectors you should get either the KA1 or KA3 as both have standard 3.5mm jack outputs for any headphones meaning no issues.

I'm not going to get into detail, anyone wanting that will likely already know. This is a great DAC/AMP, coming from FiiO I'm not surprised, they do make great products. The sound quality is really good, using with my DT 770 80 and WH-XM4 and TiDAL and offline via Roon and USB Audio Player Pro. The portability is fantastic, the KA2 is very small, coming in a small rectangle shape. You will need a 4.4 adapter if you don't have one already. Now..... Unfortunately this just randomly stopped working yesterday, it is still in new condition and barely six weeks old. Fortunately Amazon accepted a return. That doesn't affect my recommendation, it's probably just a faulty unit or something and other than that my experience has been great. I'd encourage anyone looking for a USB C to 2.5/3.5/4.4 DAC to spend a little money one, at least £15 and up to £100 depending on the headphones you plan to use. I am going to replace the KA2 with KA3 or maybe.the BTR5, so sticking with FiiO. I'd you are an iPhone user i would do some research, Apple doesn't play nice with third party products, of course what do you expect from Apple. I also have an iPhone and the only way to get these working properly is starting from the lightning port with the official Apple USB-A camera adapter.Edit: After purchasing a couple ( FiiO K3 and KA3 ) I went with KA3 and it's fantastic!

For the short bursts of audio I heard, it didn’t sound any better than a standard Apple flash drive to 3.5mm adaptor for my Sony MDR-7506 headphones, just slightly louder. However, after 2 minutes of use, the amp kept cutting out out like a bad Norman Collier sketch and got extremely hot to the touch. This is the second DAC amp I have tried, with disappointing results. Emperor’s new clothes? What a waste of money - had to get a separate 4.4mm to 3.5mm adapter too. I just want a simple out of the box solution to enhance my IPhone listening experience. This isn’t it 😢

I have had this DAC a couple of days and it has effortlessly driven two HifiMan Planar magnetic with wonderful sound and also my Moondrop Aria IEM headphones.As expected it does put an additional drain on the battery life, and remember this is a balanced 4.4mm Pentacon connector so if driving many headphones you will need a 4.4mm to 3.5mm adapter.

Unit just got very hot and made no sound difference at all.