It’s been two years since FiiO launched their K9 PRO ESS and AKM versions, and many of you are probably still rocking those beasts today. But time marches on, and in the meantime, both Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) and ESS Technology have unleashed new flagship DAC chips. Plus, the world of top-of-the-line headphones is populated by power-hungry monsters these days. FiiO needed to step up to the challenge and respond with something that wouldn’t just surpass the K9 PRO, but cater to the new generation of gamers, audiophiles, cinephiles, and studio mixers with a whole arsenal of features. Enter the freshly released K19 which offers additional features, and quadruples the power output while upping the price to $1300.
I’ll be trying it out with a bunch of headphones, IEMs, and loudspeakers, via its internal switching power supply and lately with an overkill external linear power supply, and I might even throw in a comparison at the end of the video, so be sure to stick around!
