Happy New Year. Wishing you much success in 2022. You are easily the most underrated audio/headphone reviewer on KZfaq and deserve way more attention and subs imo.

What an awesome video, considering these exact 2 before even finding this video

Old 'K5 Pro' that you got used is now replaced with 'K5 Pro ESS' with ES9038Q2M chip, old one discontinued, slightly different specs.

Eyeing the K5 ESS to power my hifiman. Every review gave very good reviews on the K5 but its an old unit. Thats the only thing holding me back, the K11 is another option. But i will have to get balanced cable for that. Additional cost😮.

Thanks for the review Lachlan! All the best for 2022!

i have the k5 pro last 2020 priced on sale $120 and have been very satisfied with it, i paired it with beyer dt990 pro

Nice review, but your going to get lots of comments about the ifi zen dac, it really is a killer product for the money 💰 add the zen can and you can drive 99% of headphones 🎧.add a HD600 and all i can say is aw my god, if Ifi read this please send one to passion for sound, you keep sending muppet reviewer's your products, how about sending one to a real reviewer thanks...

Loved the nice and calming voice although looking at you I imagine hardened MMA fighter. Thanks for sharing

Great review, sir! And Happy New Year!

I’ve been happy with the K 5 pro

Thank you for your review. I have the COS engineering H1 and really like it as a DAC/amp, primarily because the amp sections isn't just an afterthought as with many such units. Only issue is that it needs to be fed clean power- it really does not sound very good at all otherwise.

fiio is going to update the K5 Pro with using an ESS dac chip from now on due to the AKM factory caught on fire recently, so hoping that you will review the updated version of it soon

Really like the new intro. Have a Happy New Year. Great review as usual.

A very happy new year to you Lachalan, thank you for your clean and detailed review, as usual

Happy New Year Boss! Excited to see what you’ve got in store for us this year🙌🏾

The glamour video looks very nice.

Very balanced and well thought through review mate. Cheers and happy new year Lachlan! 🌟

Starting off the new year as a subscriber :) Cheers

DAC-M1 into K5 Pro.... I think I would have tried it for curiosity's sake. Enjoyed the review.

Digging the new intro, happy new year !

Love the design of dac-m1, its unique.. 😀

I believe the K5 Pro is not available for sale anymore. Because of the international chip shortage, this model was substituted by the K5 Pro ESS, built around a more featured chip, and its price is over 200 dollars now.

The newish Topping DX3 Pro+ is a direct competitor to these products. It's a $200 AIO.

Happy New Year Lachlan! Nice review as usual. I saw a few comments about iFI Zen Dac, and know you’d said it’s difficult to get one where you are. If you can, do the zen DAC V2, it’s a DAC amp. iFi has an amp for Hifiman called HFM and another amp called 6XX too.

Hi, thank you very much for all your wonderful reviews. How would the DAC from the K5 pro stack up against the DAC from Dragonfly Red in your opinion?

K5 pro ESS still $199. local in NYC retail at B&H. For bedside micro system, still to add smallest CD player or transport with digital out, which will be more pricey. Forced online otherwise. Not much choice in NYC for in store audio except for a few high-end, by appointment only small audio boutiques. It is a poor situation in audio and recordings availability in-store here in NYC.

In Vietnam FX Audio DAC M1 costs 140-170 USD, Fiio K5 Pro 170 USD.

Lovely video mate. I have the k5 pro AKM chip version paired with Sennheiser HD660s which sounds great. I'm thinking of getting the Sundaras (37 Ohm / 94 DB) or the new hifiman edition XS (18 Ohm / 92 DB) Do you think the K5 would be enough to power those planars ? Thanks!

happy new year, Speaking of amp / dac combo, have you heard TOPPING D30 PRO DAC + A30 PRO AMP?

Hello, I like to ask what dac/amp combo in 200 dollars range can you recommend? Im looking for something that didn't sound to much in top end with all this sparkling noises, I like more juicy , fat, vibrant and warmish sound over crystal clear , clinical one, or something between. I was thinking about Topping dx3 pro plus but what I see in another reviews people saying that Topping is very top end sounding. I will use it for my laptop and mostly for not expensive Iem's.

Have you tried any opamp rolling with the dac-m1? Any suggestions? :) I'm looking for something that can tame the upper midrange a bit and make it overall a bit more balanced/ natural sounding.

Happy New Year

Hey, I'm thinking of buying the M1 but I have one question that you might be able to answer: I have read that in some of these chinese DAC/AMPs, if you double press the mute button it switches the outputs from headphone to RCA and vice versa. If you still have this DAC can you test if a double press of the on/off button or the volume knob it switches the outputs? I need that feature for my setup. I would expect it to only work in the "RCA or HPO" output option. Thanks!

actually the new Fiio K5 Pro ESS uses the same chip ESS9038Q2M cause Fiio can't source the AK ones anymore and it's been out for 1 year wht are you reviewing the Old K5 Pro version and Not the New who knows

Not sure if you can advise on this one but I already have the fiio k5 pro and I'm considering to buy the arya stealth as I can get it only a very good deal (new @ £800). Do you think it's "worth" getting a stronger dac/amp such as the k9 pro or will the k5 pro be enough.

It'd have been an even more interesting comparison with the Ifi ZEN DAC (either V1 or V2) added

hi.. the k5 pro you tested was the ESS version? thanks

Wondering if it can work with Foobar for DSD512 native playback?

"Spending you more lets you explore."

Draco R2r should be everybody's first dac. Don't do measurements route with sigma delta. Sound better is always better than measure better in dacs but not so much with preamp or amplifiers.

Fiio K5 Pro vs Topping DX7 Pro

No hip dac, no party 🤣

Those cheaper brands use fake chips. Take those op amps out and put real ones in there.