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FiiO QX11 Review: The Swiss Army Knife Dongle for Music and Games

  General / Packaging / Build The QX11 is FiiO's newest USB DAC/amp dongle, and it sits at the top of their dongle range now. It is not your typical music-only dongle though. FiiO calls it a HiFi DAC/amp and a gaming sound card in one. Inside are dual ESS ES9069Q DACs and an all-TI analog stage. Two OPA1692 op-amps handle voltage gain, and four OPA1622 run in parallel for the headphone output. It decodes up to 768kHz/32-bit PCM and native DSD512 in HiFi mode. The body is aluminium alloy with a gradient finish, in Dark Green or Vintage Gold. It measures about 64 x 28.8 x 13mm and weighs roughly 36g. Small enough to live on the back of a phone. There is a 1.14-inch colour LCD on it as well, and the interface changes depending on whether you are in HiFi or Gaming mode. Two USB-C ports. One for data, one dedicated for power. Outputs are 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced. In the box: USB-C to USB-C data cable Protective case Quick start guide Warranty card Specifications Dual ESS ES...
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Letshuoer DZ4's Review - Oddly Satisfying Bass

 


General/Packaging/Build/Comfort

Letshuoer is a company that most in the community would be familiar with. Particularly with their hit release such as the S12 Planar IEM which is widely received even up till today. I have reviewed their S12 as well as D13 in which both I favored and have positive experience with. Today I have their latest release which is the DZ4, which features 3DD+1PR(passive radiator) configuration. Passive radiator is more commonly used on speakers to create a deeper sounding bass. Letshuoer is fitting their DZ4 with this tech and let’s find out how does it perform. As with most of Letshuoer’s packaging, the unboxing experience is always positive, greeted with premium packaging which consist of a black premium looking storage case, IEM cable (too bad they are not available in 4.4 termination as an option), otherwise the cable itself is very good and solid, two types of eartips, namely the vocal and balanced. The shell is 3D printed with a semi open metallic faceplate, which in a way contributes to the soundstage as well. The nozzle, however, is slightly big which might be an issue for some. Overall i’m comfortable wearing the DZ4 for a long period of time.



Gears used for this review

  • Earmen Angel Dac/Amp

  • Earmen Colibri

  • Earmen CH-Amp

  • IFi Gryphon

  • DZ4 Stock cable and eartips



Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far


Sound Impression

The first thing that I noticed when I put on the DZ4 is the soundstage, it sounds open and in fact, it is quite capable technically. The bass is also satisfying as well, I noticed the PR is mostly affecting the mid bass as the mid bass has more body and packs a little more punch to it. Timbre is very natural which is expected from a dynamic driver, no odd/metallic sounding instruments here. It also sounds quite neutral to my ears.


Bass

  • Bass has good texture and control, has very good speed

  • Speed is good and handled Metallica’s Lux Aeterna without sounding bloated

  • Bass doesn’t bleed into the mids

  • Sub bass does have some rumble when the track calls for it, it doesn’t go really deep but it is good enough for EDM enjoyment, tested this listening to Ping Pong by Armin


Mids

  • Mids are not recessed nor overly forward, quite detailed to my ears

  • Male’s vocal sounded a little lacking in terms of body, overall it's not too bad, i tested this with Zhao Peng’s song, it doesn’t sound that full, but its not bad either

  • Female vocal such as Faye Wong does sound fuller compared to male’s, very enjoyable

  • Lower to upper mid range are very lush and enjoyable, even at high volume, it doesn’t get harsh


Treble

  • Treble is smooth and not fatiguing, energetic enough but not excessive to the point where its harsh

  • Extension is good and it has good amount of air, i believe the design of the faceplate also contributed to this

  • Detail retrieval is good, higher expectation is just nitpicking in my opinion



Soundstage/Imaging

  • Good sense of width and height, depth as well, it doesn’t sound boxy and very open sounding to my ears

  • Imaging is quite good, instruments can be pinpointed easily


Driveability

  • DZ4 is not hard to drive, but it does scales with power as with most dynamic drivers

  • Amping it does exhibit better bass control in terms of tightness and a little bit of refinement on the top end

  • However it does scale with source, in terms of how the dac/amp affect it in terms of colorization of the sound


Final Thoughts

Letshuoer has once again hit the right spot balancing between good sonic performance and pricing it right. At 89$ a pair, this is an absolute steal in my opinion. You get a high quality IEM with solid build quality, good technical performance and it is versatile enough for various genres. Bass has sufficient quantity and good quality, treble that’s energetic yet not fatiguing. Highly recommended! 


If you are interested in grabbing a pair, head over to the following link in getting one:
Letshuoer DZ4 - Non affiliated



*Received the review sample from Letshuoer, however, i am in no way influenced by them in producing this review, all thoughts are of my own, big thanks to them for the support as always

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