31 minutes ago, georgehifi said:

Both dacs have that typical huge wide deep rich sound-stage, with masses of dynamic slam and tight rich upper and lower bass and sweet transparent upper mids and highs, speakers just disappear, (it's as though they can be taken out of the room and the sound will stay with you) no Delta Sigma "whiteness/coldness" that can attract your listening-sight to the speakers drivers, with either of these R2R dacs

An accurate review @georgehifi 🙏

 

Yes the inclusion of the LPS gives huge a step up in performance.

Could not agree more with your comments, love the disappearing act when it comes to hifi. ……and the…. “take the speakers away, and the music could remain”,….

I love that description 🙏😃

Cheers Jeff.

Edited November 23, 2025Nov 23 by Mr 57

After my war and peace listening review on this little wonder. 

https://www.stereonet.com/forums/topic/627452-fiio-k13-r2r-fully-balanced-discrete-dac-with-balanced-preamp-ability/#findComment-6516869

 

I thought it was right to do separately a post of an A/B of NOS vs OS which can btw be changed while listening within a couple of seconds, and what I found is I like both with different material, this is what I found .

"Using the simple to change in 5 second "oversample or non-oversample" on the K13 was interesting, on simple "non electronic" music with acoustic instrument maybe a one or two voices (eg: Sade Diamond Life, Cat Stevens etc), I preferer the NOS mode, more up front in the mids and meatier (tub'ish?)

But when things got more complex (eg: Pink Floyd, big orchestral etc) it was the OS mode that was preferred for it's better transparency top to bottom, separation., sound staging, and bass"

 

In a coupled of weeks I'll I'll do another review and measure the speakers/room bass abnormalities and use the digital domain PEQ in the K13 for bass EQ'ing only, to see if does or doesn't screw around with the mids and highs and stays just as transparent through there as it is now.

 

Cheers George

 

Edited November 27, 2025Nov 27 by georgehifi

Nice endorsement, George. Does the L-R balance work when in Line-Out mode?

1 hour ago, was_a said:

Does the L-R balance work when in Line-Out mode?

 

Just tried it for you, yes it does, but the "high/ medium/low analogue gain switching"  only works on the headphone amp output/s (TPA6120) and not the XLR balanced line output, it just has the analogue domain volume control.

 

I did try the front (TPA6120 output) "balanced headphone output, so I could try those 3 x gain options with analogue domain volume control  straight into my Hypex NC500 monoblocks used as a line out, and the (TPA6120) as a line out sounds a "little smeared" in comparison to the (OPA1642) balanced rear line output/s.

So to me you get this more to drive power amp/s not for it's headphone stage which while good, is not as transparent as the rear line output/s. 

 

I can now say the PEQ in this K13 (while not as advanced and precise as my miniDSP SHD-Studio) was adjusted to my speaker/room same as the SHD-Studio shows my speakers/room have, 2 x narrow dips at 63hz and again at 125hz so I adjusted the PEQ to the same as the SHD-Studio to

+3dB-Q3.5 at 63hz 

+5dB-Q3.5 at 125hz

And bought the Global Gain back -8dB (so there's no digital clipping)

It sounds even better now in the bass for my setup and it has no ill effects on the mids or highs as you can switch it in and out on the fly.

 

Cheers George

Edited December 4, 2025Dec 4 by georgehifi
pic

Thanks very much for that detailed explanation. How interesting though—two different Addicted To Audio branches tested the L-R balance in line-out mode and, contrary to the SAI (silly artifical intelligence) Google answer, they told me it is deactivated in this mode. Pre-amp mode allows L-R to function, they said.

 

Regardless, the K13's favourable comparison with your MSB DAC is praise indeed. Regarding Fiio's new Warmer R2R DAC with its tube output stage, I can see the attraction for folks with solid-state amps; plenty of setups pair solid-state upstream components with tube amplification, after all.

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2025Dec 7 by was_a

If anyone is interested in getting one of these, Addicted to Audio has just put them on sale for $399 ($100 off) as part of their Christmas sale.

Edited December 8, 2025Dec 8 by DazzS

@georgehifi George........With the 10 band PEQ and plenty of power on tap, can you compare it to a RME ADI-2 Dac FS?

What LPS did you settle on?

Regards Cazzesman

Edited December 10, 2025Dec 10 by cazzesman

9 hours ago, cazzesman said:

With the 10 band PEQ and plenty of power on tap, can you compare it to a RME ADI-2 Dac FS?

What LPS did you settle on?

Sorry haven't got a RME to compare with.

As for the LPS I was going to make my own then saw this deal and thought why bother it's got the goods in it, 50w Black Friday deal for $100 shipped

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008668821601.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.35.70391802dOKO14

Cheers George

Edited December 10, 2025Dec 10 by georgehifi

5 hours ago, georgehifi said:

As for the LPS I was going to make my own then saw this deal and thought why bother it's got the goods in it, 50w Black Friday deal for $100 shipped

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008668821601.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.35.70391802dOKO14

good choice. i have several of these powering the nbn modem, mesh units around my joint. Cheap but effective, runs hot though.

41 minutes ago, MrBurns84 said:

Cheap but effective, runs hot though.

Odd, mines just lukewarm powering the FiiO K13 feeling under the chassis where the regulator ( attached in yellow ) is mounted to the chassis bottom, and the transformer is stone cold so are the bridge rectifiers.

Cheers George

50 minutes ago, MrBurns84 said:

Cheap but effective, runs hot though.

Edited December 11, 2025Dec 11 by georgehifi

Hi George and other K13 owners,

Just interested to get people's thoughts on sound quality using the K13 running straight into their amps ie using K13's volume control.

George, you rate the K13 (with LPS) very similar to your MSB dac which is amazing. That's very high praise indeed!!!! You mentioned using both dac's internal volume control.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Regards,

Paul

25 minutes ago, paulk said:

Just interested to get people's thoughts on sound quality using the K13 running straight into their amps ie using K13's volume control.

The volume control in the K13 is about as transparent as you can get as it is a chip based series/shunt balanced resistor ladder network NJW1195A. https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/294/NJW1195A_E-259014.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOor36QJ8_VlWVVd1YRMhRUG2rvuSx1yYyCsZcEdP_bm_M-sum2g1

25 minutes ago, paulk said:

George, you rate the K13 (with LPS) very similar to your MSB dac which is amazing. That's very high praise indeed!!!! You mentioned using both dac's internal volume control.

R2R dacs have always had a sound signature that "musically appeals" to me, it's a richer denser sound to me with a "bigger/richer" dynamic sound. To me Delta Sigma does not, sure it "seems" to have more detail but it's like looking at it through a microscope, and it's too lean for me to enjoy.

Yes the K13 is series/shunt balanced resistor based volume control NJW1195A is in the analogue domain perfectly matched from the OPA1642's output coming into it and a leaving into another OPA1642's input. (no problems with it)

The MSB had a digital domain volume control which was also very good, but I tried to use it (with other system gain adjustments) at or above 75% just in case it "bit striped" below that 75%

Cheers George

Edited December 11, 2025Dec 11 by georgehifi

Thanks George for the info. Just what I was hoping to hear. I can run the K13 straight into my amps and/or via my preamp.

As Darran pointed out the K13 is now only $399.....at that price pretty much a no brainer.

I think I'll be joining the Fiio K13 team soon.

45 minutes ago, paulk said:

As Darran pointed out the K13 is now only $399.....at that price pretty much a no brainer.

Yeah wish I'd waited could of got the power supply as well for $499, I rang ATA head office this morning and they had 1 in NSW and 3 in Vic with free shipping, I had to get mine from HK

Cheers George

Edited December 11, 2025Dec 11 by georgehifi

Geez that's interesting George.

Bummer you had to get yours from HK!!!!

I usually ring up and order gear over the phone because I like to talk to someone, a bit old fashioned I know!!! I might give Sydney A2A a ring tomorrow and see what they say. Do you have a preference with either shop?? Sydney or Melbourne.

Regards the LPS I saw Fiio are bringing out a matching unit to the K13, I might wait for that to be released.

Once again thanks for the heads up regarding where the units are.

Regards,

Paul

51 minutes ago, paulk said:

Do you have a preference with either shop?? Sydney or Melbourne.

being from Sydney and like to pickup, Sydney (Newtown) had 1 this morning

Cheers George

53 minutes ago, paulk said:

Regards the LPS I saw Fiio are bringing out a matching unit to the K13, I might wait for that to be released.

It will be called the "Darkside" from what I was told, but I think the 50w 4 amp one I got when it was Black Friday for $100 is probably as good and cheaper.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008668821601.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.35.70391802dOKO14

Cheers George

Edited December 11, 2025Dec 11 by georgehifi

Thanks again for the info George.

I'll give the Sydney shop a ring tomorrow.

I'll live with the unit without the LPS for a while to get a handle on the sound. I know you mentioned there are sonic gains to be had with the external LPS and I will get one in the future whether it's the Fiio or something else.

Anyway thanks again for your help, appreciate it.

Now I've just gotta get one!!!!!!

Im watching this thread and waiting with much interest....firstly because im astounded that a $399/$499 Dac could possibly even compete with a high end Dac like the MSB, and also because im wondering if further improvement has ocurred after a bit more burn in time, and also from the utilisation of the K13s PEQ settings.

Having an RME ADI2 FS Dac myself, which has 5 band PEQ, and using a Wiim Ultra as streamer, with 10 Bands of PEQ, Im pretty familiar with and somewhat fascinated by how different its possible to make things sound, so im interested to know your thoughts on the K13s PEQ.

George, assuming you do utilise the K13s PEQ settings, would you perform room measurements or recommend taking measurements before making PEQ adjustments, or would you be doing it "by ear" with a trial & error kind of process ?

Im also wondering which speakers you use and if you have any acoustic treatments in place.

Im sure the PEQ could assist in evening out any peaks etc that may exist, if you wanted, but im more interested in knowing if you can manage to improve on your initial sound impressions ?

On 04/12/2025 at 2:52 PM, georgehifi said:

 

Just tried it for you, yes it does, but the "high/ medium/low analogue gain switching"  only works on the headphone amp output/s (TPA6120) and not the XLR balanced line output, it just has the analogue domain volume control.

 

I did try the front (TPA6120 output) "balanced headphone output, so I could try those 3 x gain options with analogue domain volume control  straight into my Hypex NC500 monoblocks used as a line out, and the (TPA6120) as a line out sounds a "little smeared" in comparison to the (OPA1642) balanced rear line output/s.

So to me you get this more to drive power amp/s not for it's headphone stage which while good, is not as transparent as the rear line output/s. 

 

I can now say the PEQ in this K13 (while not as advanced and precise as my miniDSP SHD-Studio) was adjusted to my speaker/room same as the SHD-Studio shows my speakers/room have, 2 x narrow dips at 63hz and again at 125hz so I adjusted the PEQ to the same as the SHD-Studio to

+3dB-Q3.5 at 63hz 

+5dB-Q3.5 at 125hz

And bought the Global Gain back -8dB (so there's no digital clipping)

It sounds even better now in the bass for my setup and it has no ill effects on the mids or highs as you can switch it in and out on the fly.

 

Cheers George

Just re read the thread and saw i overlooked the part where room measurements were taken and Peq adjusted accordingly....apologies.

As other reviewers on youtube have said, the K13 should be more expensive !

It all sounds (pardon the pun) almost too good to be true at its price point.

I guess the question now is......George are you planning on keeping the MSB Dac ?

8 hours ago, Grog Monster 2 said:

George are you planning on keeping the MSB Dac ?

Read point 1 & 2

https://www.stereonet.com/forums/topic/627452-fiio-k13-r2r-fully-balanced-discrete-dac-with-balanced-preamp-ability/#findComment-6516869

Cheers George

Edited December 19, 2025Dec 19 by georgehifi

8 hours ago, Grog Monster 2 said:

George are you planning on keeping the MSB Dac ?

It's gone now because I'm downsizing.

Cheers George

On 21/11/2025 at 5:10 AM, georgehifi said:

Got my 50w (4amp) regulated LPS yesterday and yes it's immediately better in all respects than the internal SMPS of the K13.

 

Cheers George

On 11/12/2025 at 5:42 PM, georgehifi said:

It will be called the "Darkside" from what I was told, but I think the 50w 4 amp one I got when it was Black Friday for $100 is probably as good and cheaper.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008668821601.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.35.70391802dOKO14

Cheers George

I use a 12V battery

2 hours ago, les.mandy said:

I use a 12V battery

Trouble with that is I read somewhere the K13 has an auto reject/shutdown on the dc input if it sees over 12.8v from memory and batteries on full charge "can" get up to 14v

I've got one of these that only gets to 12.5v no matter how long it's been on charge, but it lasts only about 1hr before it's too low for the K13 and it shuts down, it was good.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Talentcell-Rechargeable-12000mAh-Multi-led-Indicator/dp/B00ME3ZH7C?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ACPREFKW02DTJ

That's what made me get the 50W 4.2amp linear in my post back a few.

The specs say you need a DC supply that can give 2.5A continuous

Cheers George

Edited December 21, 2025Dec 21 by georgehifi

Well, nice as the K13 is I find I much prefer the FiiO Warmer as a USB DAC feeding something else.

I use the Warmer with an iBasso Kunlun GaNFET amp and Verum I MK2 headphones. Simply stunning sonics. I've Foilflex RCA's connecting the 2 components and have replaced the Verum headphones cables with Aurealis litz copper XLR cables.

The weather runs really very hot so definitely don't stack components.

Edited December 31, 2025Dec 31 by MattyW