When I began my Hi-Fi journey more than 20 years ago, I disliked the idea of using outdated technology in my digital-to-analog converters, and I overlooked R2R DACs for a long time. But once I started experimenting with all those Denafrips, Musician, Audio-GD, Laiv Audio, MSB, and Rockna units, I slowly realized that only these were capable of awakening some of my old memories from when I used to spin vinyl and cassettes a long time ago. There’s something about them that makes the music sweeter, more palpable, more human in nature, and more real.
I gave up the fight about four years ago, and since then, I’ve been rocking only R2R ladder DACs, and I still believe they sound best if you’re searching for audio nirvana rather than perfect measurements.
Today, I’ll be testing the most affordable R2R DAC I’ve ever encountered, the FiiO K13 R2R, which retails for $319 abroad or €319 locally. Let’s take a look at it in the usual fashion.
