I finally retired my LG V30 phone after five and a half years. And of course there are no phones with 3.5mm jacks. I also decided I wasn’t chasing flagship phones anymore.
I picked up a few Motorola Edge (2022) phones for my wife and I.
So, I starting researching dongles and found THE dongle website:
I watched and read a ton of reviews. Also, since I live in Canada, availability was an issue.
I was interested in the FiiO KA5, Shanling UA3, iBasso DC04Pro and Fosi Audio DS1.
I ended up ordering the FiiO KA5 and Fosi Audio DS1 from Amazon.ca. The DS1 would not work as the included cable would not attach to my phone. I tried the KA5 and it worked fine. I then used the FiiO cable with the DS1 and it powered up fine. Right away, I didn’t care for the sound, compared to the KA5. Also with a non-functional cable my options were: 1) Wait a while for a replacement cable and hope it works or 2) Go out and buy my own cable. I didn’t care for either option and decided to send it back to Amazon and it will be going in the mail tomorrow.
I downloaded the FiiO Control app and set up the dongle and I am pretty happy. No, it can’t come close to my desktop system, but it sounds pretty damn good. I will only use the phone for some YouTube and music when out and about or at work. I was using the iBasso SR2’s and it was a nice combo.
I use Rocket Player for my audio, but am curious about trying out UAPP for a better sound. I will look into that.
I am really surprised that there is not a Lot more info on dongles as just about any phone, or even cheap DAP user needs them for headphones and earphones.
As Andy says the KA5 has tons of features for those that love to tinker. High and low gain, 3.5mm /4.4mm jacks, buttons for volume and skipping tracks, display/pause button, five different filters, etc.
I will post more as I go and hopefully other folks that have this model will join up and post about their experiences and favourite features.
Forgot to mention pricing. List price is $129.00US and I paid $180.00 in Canuck bucks to Amazon.ca