Fosi Audio K7's Review

 

General/Packaging/Build

Fosi Audio is a brand that hails from the mainland of China, relatively well known in providing affordable audiophile solutions with affordable price tag. They have products ranging from home audio to personal audio, i have the K7 with me today, which Fosi Audio touts as a gaming dac/amp. We shall take a look at it and determine whether it is worthy of the gaming moniker.

Build quality of the K7 is very solid, the chassis feels like aluminium with angled design for better ergonomics. There’s a small LCD that displays the sampling rate, mode, as well as tone control’s level. Buttons have very good tactile feedback and they’re not wobbly.

Packaging itself is fairly good, big box with plenty of protection to protect the K7 from impact during transportation from the courier. Within the box, you will find the power adapter, bluetooth antenna, type c cable as well as the K7 itself. 

Technical Specifications grabbed from Fosi Audio’s product page

Chipset -XMOS XU208+AKM4493SEQ+QCC 3031+TPA6120

Headphone lmpedance -16-300Ω

Input -Coaxial, Optical, USB-C,Bluetooth,3.5mm Microphone

Output -RCA, 3.5mm Single-Ended,4.4mm Balanced

Firmware Upgrade -XMOS firmware can be updated via the Type-C interface

Bluetooth Version -5.0

Bluetooth Connection Distance -≤13m

Noise Floor - ≤2.5μV

Bluetooth Transmission Audio Format -SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX LL

Input Voltage and Current -DC 12V 2A

USB Compatible Devices -Windows 7,8, 8.1,10,11 (Driver required)Mac OS X, Linux (No driver required)

Full specification please refer to this page

IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review

• Final Audio Heaven II

• Dita Mecha

• Tanchjim Origin

• Aune S17 Pro Evo Amp

• Aune SR7000

*K7 is sent by Fosi Audio for the purpose of this review, i thank them for the support and opportunity

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. I have used the Angel for several months prior to writing this review.

Notable Features

• No loud popping sound upon switching the amp on or off

• Clean and dark background, no audible noise floor

• Adjustable Bass, and Treble level on the 2nd knob

• Switchable between UAC1 and UAC2

Sound Impression (Bypass Mode without Tone Control)

The K7’s tonality is tilting towards slight warmth with very good tonal weight across the spectrum. Bass has good body, mids doesn’t sound thin, treble has good enough energy and it doesn’t sound dark

DAC Amp Combo

• Utilising the internal dac of K7, which is the AK4493SEQ, the DAC exhibited clean lows with good texture, sufficient punch and good resolution and dynamics, tonality wise, it is on the slight warm side and it has very good synergy with my transducers that has neutral and slightly bright signature, for those with neutral signature, the sound is very dynamic and enjoyable when you feel the need to tap your foot

K7 + Aune S17 Pro Evo 

• Operating as DAC only, the K7’s DAC is quite capable with good dynamics and technicalities. Pairing it with the S17 Pro Evo seems to take the K7’s sound to the next level

• Soundstage is bigger with better width, height and depth perception

• But, do keep in mind that S17 Pro Evo is a flagship Class A headphone amp from Aune

Pairing impression with various Transducers (only K7 itself)

Final Audio Heaven II

• Heaven II is a single BA IEM and the tonality is slightly on the warm side and bass lacks a little extension due to it being a single BA

• Pairing it with the K7, somehow the bass sounds fuller and has a bit more extension, Heaven II is also very adaptable to EQ, pushing the Bass to +4, it has more thump and overall more fun to listen to

• Treble doesn’t change fun, mids sounds full and not thin

• Soundstage is slightly bigger and also imaging, easier to identify and pin point the instruments

Dita Mecha

• Mecha is a very powerful sounding IEM, big bass and very musical

• Big has better control and more enveloping kind of experience when using it with balanced out high gain

• Treble has slightly better extension

• Not much changes on the mids, remains thick but not muddy

• Imaging seems to be improved and also the soundstage

Aune SR7000

• Fairly efficient headphone with neutral warm tonality

• The SR7000 can be driven even with a mid tier dongle, but when paired with a more powerful source, bass exhibits better control, tighter and better texture and speed

• Mids are slightly forward with this pairing, but not in your face kind of presentation

• Treble has slightly better extension and air

• Instruments can be pin pointed easily during gaming, footsteps coming behind and moving to left or right on the rear

Tanchjim Origin Stock Nozzle

• A single DD set will scale well with good source and more power, Origin is no exception either, it is a neutral with slight warmth kind of sound profile

• Pairing it with the K7 does make the mids slightly thicker and a little bit more air

• Very good imaging and soundstage

Gaming with it

• Using the Tanchjim’s Zero Ultima with K7 for gaming, the imaging is definitely improved so as the soundstage, sub bass does rumble a little more during explosions or when they are a lot of actions going on

Final Thoughts

My experience with Fosi’s product has been good, the K7 is no exception. As a Dac/Amp combo, the AK4492SEQ does the job fairly well and also has the ability to put out up to 2.1w of power from the balanced output. It provides good enough sonic performance for users who are conscious about desk space or just want something that is all in one without spending extra on a headphone amp.

Despite bearing the gaming moniker, the K7 doesn’t have much gaming feature, only the ability to switch from UAC 2 to UAC1 for compatibility with the gaming console.

Still, without any doubt, I absolutely recommend the K7 for those who are looking for a clean and dynamic sounding dac/amp without breaking their bank.

Head to the link below if you are interested in getting a unit yourself

Fosi Audio K7 - Non Affiliated

Fosi Audio K7 Kickstater’s Page - Non Affiliated