Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
The FiiO Q3 was partner to the iOs brothers—iPhone and iPad—and output through the following IEMs and headphones—iBasso IT00, FiiO FH5, Meze 99 Classics, and the VISION EARS EVE2020.
We also like a no-brainer device; plug and play are how FiiO Q3 and iFi Hip DAC 2 work with your phone or computer. There is no issue when connecting the device to Mac or Win 10 computers as they instantly recognize it. But, some people may want to install the firmware, especially with the iFi, if you will listen to MQA so we can get full support. If you have an older computer or Win 7 and below, the FiiO may require installation for the USB driver. Q3 is a simple wired DAC and headphone amplifier, but if you want to go wireless with your smart devices, I recommend their BTR5 that will offer you wireless freedom and almost the same sound quality. Moreover, since FiiO provides both Apple and Android/rest of the world cables, you will be able to use it with almost any available smartphone. I tried it on my good old iPhone X and a fresh new OnePlus, both worked flawlessly once linked through the USB port. Perfect! Perhaps these two beautifully designed pieces of FiiO equipment were voiced together, as they scaled exceptionally well, provided tight, prodigious bass, a beautiful midrange, increased transparency, and a smooth, sibilance free treble. There is nothing to complain about given the level of musical engagement and the technicalities that this combination provides. Shoutout to Sunny Wong from FiiO for sending me the Q3 to test and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects my review.On the phone side, iPhone users may want to buy a suitable cable, especially for Hip DAC 2, for it doesn’t provide the cable, but once you get the correct cable, they will work seamlessly too. We instantly prefer the FiiO because of its accessories, so you can hook the device regardless of whether you have an iPhone or Android phone. FiiO Q3 and iFi Hip DAC 2 Battery Life I tried the Empyrean too, even if this was overkill. It sounds good and the Q3 had no issue reaching out surprisingly high volumes, but it didn’t feel as refined as the Q5S. Still, 99% of the time, I’m sure that the Q3 will be more than enough for everyone. Tonality The FiiO Q3 features 2 (Dual) x AK4462 DAC (Digital to Analog Converters) Chips of the company Asahi Kasei. AK4462 is a power efficient VELVET SOUND DAC with decoding support up to 768kHz/32-bit PCM and DSD512. It is very clear and can portray a naturally structured and spacious stage that can do justice to most headphones and iems used. One more note, the Q3 does support MQA, but I do not use Tidal or a similar service that delivers MQA; I use Apple Music which does support Lossless but not MQA. So I did not test this feature. Battery Life
There are small improvements here and there: smoother mids, better bass control, and a fairly wider soundstage. Layering is definitely better though and 3D effects seemed more natural, even more with the FA9. No distortion whatsoever, even when you max out the volume to drive high-end headphones. The FiiO Q3 is catering for all your needs with its three headphone outputs. It features 4.4mm and 2.5mm fully balanced output ports as well as a 3.5mm single-ended port. As for the pairing, the FiiO Q3 and iFi Hip DAC 2 should work well for most people but also depends on your listening device. The DAC 2 is not ideal for sensitive headphones or monitors. Its balanced output is 400Mw@32Ohm; 6.3V@600Ohm, and if you have a headphone that is more on the sensitive side and prefers to listen to the music in a quiet tone, the DAC will be too loud. But, on the other hand, it is better if your can is very demanding. FiiO Q3 and iFi Hip DAC 2 Connectivity Once again, the dual headphone output is a true blessing, even if the Q3 MQA keeps the crown with THREE different output/inputs. This allowed me to test various headphones, even when I forgot my adapters. Just remember that the FiiO Q11 comes with a 3.5mm port and a 4.4mm Pentaconn, so no 2.5mm TRRS here, unless you use an adapter. Bonus point for the 3.5mm port that doubles as a coaxial output. Las siguientes marcas NO están disponibles para envío internacional: Abyss, AKG, ALO Audio, Astell & Kern, Audeze, Audio-Technica, Blon, Bluesound, Bowers & Wilkins,In sum, the THX AAA™ technology appears to reduce overall distortion, increase efficiency and thus battery life, while being able to scale—requirement match—“any headphone or in vehicle amplifier.” My review experience with the Q3 would appear to validate the above. Last but not least there is the long awaited and missing from the Q1 mkii charge on/off switch that is very helpful when we do not want the Q3 to drain the battery of the connected device it's being connected to. Campfire Audio, Chord Electronics, Dan Clark Audio (antes MrSpeakers), EAR Micro, Eleven XIAudio, Enleum, FiiO, FIR Audio, Focal, Focusrite, Fostex, Grado, HarmonicDyne, HeadAmp, Hifiman, JBL, Kefine, Kiwi Ears, Klipsch, LETSHUOER, Mark Levinson, The Q3 sound incredibly smooth and natural. The soundstage places sound tastefully around your head without overdoing it. The 3D image is enhanced only slightly to give a solid yet natural feeling presence that wasn't there before. The bass feels more impactful, especially with the Bass switch in the On position. The mids are slightly smoothed out but in a way, that enhances the overall clarity of the sound and helps it accommodate a variety of mixing styles. The highs are especially crisp and clear, thanks in no small part to the extended frequency range on the Q3. The noise floor is incredibly low and that helped give the dynamics a cinematic feel. Rather than distort or alter what's there, the Q3 subtly enhances it to improve your listening experience exponentially. If you think about it, every musical instrument has its birth, grows its shape, as it chooses its skin—metal, wood, glass, reeds—and develops its own unique tone / timbre. Though there are various families—woodwinds, brass, strings, keyboard, idiophones, friction instruments, and percussion—that share, within families, similar to overlapping voices. And there are literally hundreds of different instruments with unique voices. Perhaps, the various HiFi and headgear companies in world are much like musical instrument makers, in that they attempt to give a voice—warm, neutral, bright, detailed, Class A, transparent, a combination thereof—and a form—tubed, solid-state, reflex loaded, planar, etc.—to their various creations, recreations. Think of a company. Now think of its voice and its form. They all have voices, they all have forms. This brings us to a relatively new voice and form for me—FiiO.
The bass gain was stupid in the Q1 mk2, not in a matter of being an exaggerated gain, but it feels like the low-shelf starts at 500Hz, because a lot of frequencies are amplified instead of just the bass. With the Q3, I feel it's a little bit more refined but still exaggerated to my taste. If I had to guess, I'd say the low-shelf now begins at 400Hz... It might sound good with certain IEMs and it's definitely good with the 4XX, but it screws up with the FH3's amazing region between ~500Hz down to the mid bass (mid bass is where the low-shelf was supposed to begin IMHO) Short answer, yes… If you want to pair it with big cans on the go. Going from the AKM4452 to the AK4462 doesn’t sound that big of a difference, even head-to-head. It’s slightly more refined, less grainy in the upper range but, honestly, it’s not massively different. The various DAC/Amps were partnered to a MacBook Pro, or an iPAD, or a Samsung S10, all were ROON enabled, with the Meze 99 Classics, the FiiO FH5, and the VISION EARS EVE2020 as selected headphones/IEMs. As far as portable DACs go, FiiO's Q3 is one of the better ones I've tried. Especially at this price range, this thing is a serious contender. The way it simply yet elegantly enhances the sound was a great surprise for me. If you're looking for Hifi listening on the go without destroying your bank account, then the FiiO Q3 is definitely for you. I'm very excited about how FiiO will improve in the future. I didn't catch this during my write up but I did the final testing of the Q3 connected to the official Apple usb camera dongle. While that dongle will allow the Q3 to charge from my IPhone 12 pro, the Q3 can't be charged from the included FiiO lightning to usb-c cable. Thanks to FiiO for catching that.Can the FiiO, on the other hand, scale with an IEM nearly nine times its price?! The short answer to that is yes, absolutely. The combination, though not "real world" from the perspective of cost, was open, transparent, musical and together they cast a broad, deep soundstage. And bass? Thumping-tight, foundationally deep(!) and well differentiated, while the midrange, via the fortuitous placement of the dynamic driver at the EVE2020's midrange (not BAs), was rich, beautifully engaging, and also very transparent. The highs were sweet, quite extended, and completely free of sibilance. Again, not a real world marriage, but an incredibly successful marriage, nonetheless.
Q3 is also Apple MFi (Made For iDevices) certified meaning that it will work exceptional with any of their portable or desktop units. It is USB-C certified too, meeting standard specifications to ensure a wider compatibility with Android smart devices. The sound of the FiiO Q3 will depend on the headphones you’re using. This section should really only be about performance, as the Q3 is designed to improve the sound of your headphones. The Q3 itself doesn’t produce the sound, but it does process the signal from your source. At the top of the FiiO Q3, you’ll find the power/volume knob. This is also made of metal and is knurled, giving it a nice feel when rotated. The RGB indicator is next to the knob, which relays some information about the operation. Reduction of harmonic, intermodulation, and crossover distortion by up to 40dB, resulting in a realistic and fatigue-free listening experience The FiiO Q3 is an outstanding performer and helped to give my HD 58X headphones an even better soundstage experience. The Q3 is an excellent piece of kit for those just starting in the audiophile world.A headphone DAC and amp are not a requirement to enjoy the sound from your various devices, but sometimes they can help. Many mobile devices have a DAC (digital audio converter) built into their included dongles, which work reasonably well. But for serious audio listeners, with serious headphones, a DAC/amp like the FiiO Q3 is going to enhance the audio experience further. I used the Sennheiser HD 58X headphones to test the Q3. I also used the AirPods Max and the Bowers & Wilkins Px8, but both of those are less than 40ohm headphones. While the sound quality was better with the Q3 on those headphones, it was significantly more noticeable on the 150ohm HD 58X. Top end is on the clinical side. Nowhere near as bright or cold as the M11 but details were very good coming through without ever becoming harsh. I really liked the way drums came through as well as other high frequency instruments. There is still a nice sparkle up top but it holds well on not crossing into a splashy treble territory.
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