FiiO Q3 Headphone Amps Amplifier Portable High Resolution DAC DSD512 for Smartphones/PC/Laptop/Home/Car Audio Compatible with iOS/Android 2.5/3.5/4.4mm Output (Q3-MQA)

This little guy is badass. Great sound, drives everything I've plugged in really well, and even has range with the gain switch for higher impedance. The fact that it can also charge mobile devices is a huge bonus

This portable DAC/HPA punches much higher above it's price point, as usual for FiiO products. Paired with IEMs that cost $3100 and $2900 respectively (Empire Ears Legend Evos and Noble Sultans using a 2.5mm Project 8 Plato x Socrates cable by Eletech) and over-heads that cost $4500 each (Audeze LCD-5's and Focal Utopias using a 4-pin XLR balanced with cable with 4.4mm adapter by Cardas), the soundstage is wide enough and the 3D imaging is satisfactory considering this tiny portable only cost $150. It's sound quality is fantastic. Paired with FiiO FDX's, FH9's, and FA9's all were pleasant considering the difference in tier compared to the previously mentioned IEMs. The bass is deep and clear - and does not muddy the mids. Treble is not fatiguing. Pairing something this inexpensive with my higher end gear is something I would only do with FiiO, and perhaps Topping. I think the Q3 competes well with the desktop FiiO K5 Pro (which can support 32/768 and native DSD512) and the DAP FiiO M11 Plus LTD (which in USB DAC mode can support 32/384 and native 256) in terms of cost/value.If you are considering this versus the FiiO K3, I would implore you to buy this, the Q3, hands down.My iPhone, Samsung Fold Z, Windows 11 PC, and Macbook Air recognized the Q3 immediately using Roon. This DAC, like my other (significantly more expensive and similarly spec-ed) trans-portable DAC/amps, turned my iPhone into a fantastic Roon-endpoint. I already had the Windows drivers installed because I own other FiiO DACs and DAPs which use the same ASIO driver (which is required for DSD over PCM sampling). No driver is required for WASAPI. The driver can be downloaded from the FiiO website.Unlike my other portable DACs (Chord Mojo, Chord Hugo2, CEntrance M8, Questyle M15, iFi xDSD, FiiO K3, FiiO M11 in USB DAC mode, FiiO M17 in USB DAC mode), the Q3 is able to unfold MQA files which is an added bonus. While I do not necessarily drink the MQA kool-aid, I do own several hundred MQA files so it is nice to have a portable that is able to completely unfold the files .~~~Where the Q3 really shines, for me, is as a portable amplifier for my DAPs using the 3.5mm jack as a line-in and the balanced jacks as the phone-outs. Paired with my FiiO M11… holy buckets! The analog sound is PHENOMENAL for a $699 DAP + $149 portable amp. Blows away DAPs at twice the price without an external amp! This alone makes the Q3 worth twice the price for me.

I use this primarily with my desktop but I wanted something portable if needed. I don't know if it's a problem with my phone (S24 Plus) but a lot of the times it takes a few unplugs and replugs to get it to work. And sometimes on my desktop the volume knob stops working until I turn the DAC off and back on twice.I'm using this with my beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X headphones and have no issues powering them. I leave the bass off because it's too much. I wish it was either a slider or another knob but with how compact and slim this DAC is, it's fine.

You can hear your music in a way you've never heard it before!

served me well over the past 2 years, they drive my sundaras like a champ, shortly after getting those I got a pair of focal elex's, dolby atmos WITH THX is pretty amazing, when playing oldies it sounds like its live, at a concert venue!unfortunately, while playing some spotify during my lunch break, at a low volume mind you, the hi gain channel suddenly blew out and seemingly caused damage to the right channel's voice coil on my elex's, I get an occasional pop when powering on any dac their connected to with additional "ticks". can't say I'm too happy about that, seeing that their $700+.I cannot recommend this for long term ownership and usage, running them hard may play a roll in their lifespan, but for a dac to fail that catastrophically without any sort of protection in place is a definite no go.

Amp is great you can use the 3.5mm port as input and then get a 4.4.mm or 2.5mm adapter to 3.5mm out to connect to regular headphones or a wireless transmitter wonderful great product