FiiO KA17
$ BudgetTrending Down$164.99
tldr; Flagship dongle DAC. Insane power, great PEQ, runs hot. The dongle that ate your desktop stack.
$164.99 on AmazonSentiment Breakdown
37%Positive
Positive
37%Neutral
56%Negative
7%Based on 166 Reddit opinions
Strengths & Weaknesses
Scores based on sentiment analysis of topic-related comments
Key Features
- The KA17 is a professional HiFi USB headphone audio adapter designed for connecting to mobile phones, tablets, and computers. With high-spec configuration, functionality, performance, and experience at HiFi level, it offers a high-quality listening experience.
- The latest USB dongle product, equipped with two ES9069Q DAC chips, further reduces the digital noise inside the DAC, achieving a dynamic range of 130dB and total harmonic distortion of -120dB, providing a purer sound background.
- The KA17 is equipped with desktop mode and dual Type-C interfaces. When powered by USB, it can operate in desktop mode with a single-end output power of up to 270mW+270mW and balanced output power of 650mW+650mW, capable of driving most headphones.
- You can connect your phone, tablet, or computer through the Type-C interface and enjoy high-quality music playback with the powerful decoding and driving capabilities of KA17.
- Adjusting the PEQ through the FIIO Control APP to personalize the sound. This allows you to correct any deficiencies in the headphone frequency response curve and smooth out any peaks and dips. Additionally, you can simulate the frequency response curves of some famous headphones.
- The KA17 utilizes a four-channel fully balanced THX AAA 78+ headphone amplifier architecture, featuring a new design that significantly increases the output power. XMOS 16-core XU316, supporting 768kHz/32bit, DSD512 and full MQA decoding.
- ⚡ Powers planars
- 🔧 Full PEQ onboard
Sentiment Over Time
Historical Price Data
FiiO KA17
FiiO KA17
All-time low: $144.99(2025-11)
What Redditors Actually Say
What Redditors Say
Best praise vs top criticism for FiiO KA17
Best Praise
+4 pts“Your hearing the intended tuning rather than the changes that come with your high output impedance sources. Run it balanced and use EQ. The KA17 is just straight up miles ahead of onboard audio, no matter what. And using almost all Bluetooth headphones wired bypasses the built in DSP that makes their tuning not total crap.”
r/HeadphoneAdvice
ViewTop Criticism
+3 pts“I agree. I absolutely love the knob, it's a very welcome upgrade (the buttons on my KA17 annoyed me a lot, as did my previous bt receivers). The play/pause and the dedicated next/previous buttons are also super convenient. It's really excellent overall.”
r/headphones
View11 more quotes available below
Related Products
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the FiiO KA17 worth buying?
Flagship dongle DAC. Insane power, great PEQ, runs hot. The dongle that ate your desktop stack.
What do Redditors love about the FiiO KA17?
Redditors highlight: ⚡ Powers planars. 🔧 Full PEQ onboard. 🔥 Gets hot under load.
What are the downsides of the FiiO KA17?
Some criticisms include: "I’m experiencing popping and clicking sounds in the Tidal app when playing music in Exclusive Mode.
I'm using a FiiO KA17 connected via a high-quality USB cable. I’ve also tried using a Type-C connec..."
How accurate are these ratings?
Our sentiment analysis is approximately 80-85% accurate compared to manual review. Products with more mentions (FiiO KA17 has 166) tend to have more reliable scores.
166 Reddit opinions analyzed • Last updated 4/4/2026