Fiio Q15's Review - Versatile and Musical
General/Build/Packaging
Fiio needs no further introduction. I have tested and reviewed several products from the brand and I have good experience with their products in general. I have their latest portable dac/amp with me today, the Fiio Q15 which houses AK’s flagship DAC, the 4191+4499EX as well as a plethora of components within the Q15.
The build quality is very solid and premium looking, front and back glasses, good thing it came with a protector pre-applied, the rear glass is in matte finishing and it looks very good. The buttons and the volume knob has very good tactile feedback to it and the buttons are not wobbly. The volume button also acts as a button to enter the menu and input selection (click and long hold).
The packaging itself is good and nothing to complain about, long and short type C cable included, a storage pouch and some silicon strap for you to stack and keep your device secure while stacking, sadly, there isn’t any case included and it has to be bought separately. Let’s take a look at the specifications below:
Specifications (Full Specs here)
DAC: AKM AK4191 + 4499EX
Sample rate : PCM : 8Hz – 768Hz (8/16/24/32bits) native – DSD64/128/256/512 MQA full decoding
System clock: Full synchronisation technology with TI Cortex M4 Processor
Outputs: 4.4mm Pentaconn // 6.35mm TRS
Input: USB-C // Coaxial // Bluetooth
Screen: 1.3″ IPS Screen from LG
Bluetooth support: SBC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX adaptive, LDAC
Battery: 3.8V 55000mAh Li-Polymer
Quick Charge: yes, PD2.0
Battery life: 9h with wired headphones (3.5mm), 8h with a Balanced headphone
Charging time: around 3.5h
Size : 143,5mm x 71,75mm x 21,75mm
Weight: 305 g
IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review
Letshuoer Soloist
Spirit Torino Twin Pulse IEM
7Hz Legato
Macbook Air M2 -> Fiio Q15 -> Tidal
Macbook Air M2 -> Fiio Q16 -> foobar 2k (tracks ranging from 16-44 to 24-192)
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
Features
Desktop Mode
The Q15 comes with a desktop mode toggle, and also a type c port specifically for power/charging
The desktop mode is enabled when the toggle is on and a powered via PD charger, this will enable the Q15 to deliver up to a whopping 1.6w on 4.4 balanced out
With the desktop mode on, the dynamics are a step higher when paired with transducers that scale well with power
Fiio App Compatibility
PEQ is supported via Fiio’s control app
The app allows you to customise the LED on the volume knob (breathing or steady)
Firmware update
Battery Life
Normally i take the battery life claim from the manufacturer with a pinch of salt, but the Q15 does surprised me and the battery life is actually very good
On high gain and volume level 40 /120, looping through DSDs and Flac files, it lasted approximately 8 hours +-, which in my opinion is good
Sound Impression (Fast Filter and no EQ/PEQ USB in Mode)
The Q15 has been aged for approximately 50 hours prior to writing this impression. The sound of Q15 is nothing but amazing. Dead silent background, zero noise. I’m not saying it will make a bad sounding/ badly tuned IEM turn good, it simply makes what is already good a step further and eeking out every bit of hidden potential your IEM/headphone have. I wouldn’t say the Q15 is neutral, there’s a slight lift on the lows, but the overall listening impression to me is that it is natural and the technicalities are very impressive.
Soundstage is largely dependent on the transducers and mastering of the songs, but Q15 does render the soundstage very open and let you have a good perception on the stage size in terms of depth, width and height.
Imaging is absolutely excellent with very good separation and layering, instruments can be pinpointed easily and they sound like they each have a space of their own and not mushed together.
Pairings
Letshuoer Soloist
Pairing the Soloist with the Q15 is nothing but fun, the bass is definitely elevated, it has more punch now and better extension, it is tight and the texture is good as well, all these without messing with the mids and highs, this is evident when listening to Gojira’s Amazonia, the double paddle especially has more punch
The mids are slightly forward and doesn’t sound that recessed
The treble sounds more open and the imaging and detail retrieval is just amazing, i can definitely hear the notes that i need to focus more previously in order to hear it, the Q15 does it with ease, Hans Zimmer’s Why So Serious ( The Dark Knight )
Soundstage has more width and depth, doesn’t sound that 2D anymore
Spirit Torino Twin Pulse IEM
The Twin Pulse is neutral with slight warmth on its own, based on my listening impression pairing it with Q15, the soundstage is definitely “bigger” than before, imaging that is already good has been taken a step further with excellent separation as well as layering, simply amazing
Bass is slightly faster, but the rendered texture is also improved
Not much changes on the mids
Improved detail retrieval, listening to Why So Serious, the notes that used to sound faint can be heard easily now
7Hz Legato
This particular pairing is the most interesting to my ears
Legato itself is quite warm and bassy to my ears, pairing it with Q15, the dynamics are improved as well as the treble
Bass has better control and tighter, while retaining the punch
Not much improvement on the detail retrieval, but slightly better, afterall Legato isn’t tuned to be analytical in the first place
Soundstage has very good width and depth to it and seems to image better as well
Comparison (iFi Gryphon)
Uses different DAC chip (Burr Brown) and has lesser power output compared to Q15
Different sound signature compared to Q15, more coloured sounding compared to Q15, slight neutral and warmish signature
In terms of size, Gryphon is smaller and slimmer in profile
Analog stage EQ, xBass and xSpace, and also the ability to taylor the level of both xBass and xSpace to your preference
Feature wise, iFi does have the IEMatch which allows you to use sensitive IEM without any hissing noise when enabled, also the ability to use the Gryphon as amp only
Q15 definitely has more power compared to Gryphon, 1.6w vs 1w on balanced output
Having used both and swapping around for A/B test, i definitely prefers the Q15 than Gryphon for the sound signatures, it has better dynamics and also very good technicalities yet it doesn’t sound analytical
Final Thoughts
Having tested and used the Q15 for quite some time prior to publishing this review, Q15 definitely has what it takes to make the statement in the fast moving market with various competition. Q15 is a very versatile product and I find the use case is very suitable for portable users and also headphone users that don't use overly power hungry headphones.
The power output is definitely sufficient for most IEMs out there and also headphones that aren’t overly power hungry (Tested with the headphones which I owned, Hifiman Sundara Open Back, Hifiman Edition XS, Hifiman Sundara Closed Back, as well as Aune AR5000). In terms of sound, it is definitely not neutral yet the coloration is somewhere in between and quite balanced overall, which I personally enjoyed and find it rather easy to pair with most transducers. The only gripe that i have with it is the size, if only it has a slimmer and shorter profile, then it is definitely an undisputed portable power house, however, it is also understandable that packing so much tech and features into the Q15, there are definitely some limit in terms of the size. All in all, if you enjoy a dynamic sound yet you don’t like an overly colored signature, Q15 is definitely highly recommended!
*A big thanks to Fiio for sending this over for the purpose of this review. I thank them for their support.
Head over to their official AliExpress Store and official website if you are interested in getting one:
Fiio Q15 Purchase Link - Non Affiliated
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