FIIO has a peculiar knack for reinventing audio accessories with a modern twist. The CP13 cassette player released at the beginning of 2024 is one of them. That’s probably inspired FIIO to design a DAC and headphone amplifier that’s modern on the inside but carries a distinct retro appeal on the outside. Yes, a classic tape recorder on the outside spices up the otherwise contemporary Digital-to-Analog Converter players.
The portable DAC amps up your audiophile-grade music listening experience if analog is your thing – both audio-wise and visually. The FIIO K15 DAC has an inch-wide LCD that emulates the look of a cassette player, replicating the spinning six-toothed spools and music information.
Designer: FIIO
Unlike your high-end phone, the audio accessory has two Cirrus Logic chips and dual op-amps with support for 32-bit/768-kHz and DSD256 decoding. This results in crystal clear sound reproduction even with high-impedance headphones. The companion app lets you toggle the high-precision 10-band parametric equalizer (found mostly on affordable digital audio devices) to fine-tune the listening experience. Since we are talking about audiophile-grade audio accessories, connectivity with your smartphones, PC, handheld gaming device or gaming console is possible with a USB-C jack. Those who use high-end wired headphones get the option to plug in the amplifier via a 3.5mm jack or the balanced 4.4mm jack.
The pocketable audio accessory stands out from its competitors with the unique display interface, while other features are more or less similar to current generation DACs. These include options like real-time voltage and current monitoring to make any dynamic power adjustments. An inline mic also gives you the liberty to take calls or attend Zoom meetings when connected to a phone or laptop. For a price tag of $109, the K15 portable DAC by FIIO is the perfect accessory to own if you’ve got bored with the usual stuff.
