dude… are you like my evil doppelganger? 
we both have olina, BTR3K, considered buying 5k and waiting on xinhs graphene cable 
jokes aside, please let me know if you tried 5K and noticed the upgrade over 3K. maybe I go for it as well … looks like we have similar tastes LOL.
if you can get a refund for 3K , I think 5K is a nice consideration…! if you can have them both for a while and compare them together it’ll be easier to decide.
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Lol for real! I ordered the Q5K and it should be here in a week or so. I’ll A/B for a week and let you know what I think! Unfortunately my balanced cable won’t be here for a couple weeks so it will have to be comparing the SE inputs
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it’s ok… my cable should be in my hand by tomorrow and I’ll let you know if I could hear the upgrade
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I have had both in my opinion use the Qudelix. It is better as I have owned both or in my opinion it definitely id
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do you mind answering some questions?
did you A/B them or you judged based on your memory?
did you use balanced output of 3k or SE?
which IEM do you use mainly?
- What is the default DAC filter for the Q5K?
The Qudelix-5K thread | Page 14 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org - How easy is it to get LDAC working with your phone (Android 8 and above, looks easy enough)?
- Can PEQ filters be imported (if limited to 10 bands)?
- Do you like oversampling to 96 kHz or will you stick to 44.1 kHz?
- How quickly can you enable Performance Mode?
- What IEMs, etc. do you plan on on running Balanced (mainly for the power boost)?
(I guess this should probably get all moved over to the Q5K thread 🔷 Qudelix-5K - #84 by pylaczynski)
Sure I was working. I listened balanced and some single ended. I had both so not memory. Blessing 2 Mele borrowed Dusk and a ISN H 40 The ease of use and battery life when charged was all in Qudelix favor. Sound quality well both are nice and that what your ears tell you All things in consideration outside of looks the Qudelix is just easier to use You wired dac or Bluetooth. I always say when you have them trust your ears not mine 
have fun
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So far the best tip-rolling I’ve found for the Penon Serial has been the EP00 small size deep inserted for a warmer lilt, and AE07 (or clones) of medium size for a little more air.
I’ve tried inverted KZ Starlines beig before on other sets without enjoying the sound change particularly.
On the Serial it is the most spacious sounding configuration yet. I don’t think any bass is lost, and none of the detail is fatiguing. It’s also incredibly comfortable.
You have to try for yourself to see what it does for stage.
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thanks for the answer.
correct me if I’m wrong, so basically what you’re saying is sound was fine on both and comparable for IEM use , but the user experience and overall quality of life was better on Q5.
I don’t know if my 3K is broken or all of them are like this. but battery won’t last more than 4 Hrs. no matter the volume and IEM I use on it…!
but the sound is fine and I feel it tames the brightness of my CCA CRA
That is typical on battery life and I am leaving sonics up to you and your ears. I will say in my mind this is not really a contest.
The battery life on my 3K isn’t great either. Especially in balanced. It’s slightly annoying but I always try to charge it as much as possible when I’m on the go. The BTR7 looks interesting, and I wonder what different features it has over the 5.
I think something is wrong with your 3K. I use mine for a whole work day (~8 hours), either listening to music or doing video meetings. My IEMs never leave my ears until the end of the day and I usually have >20% batter ly left according to my phone
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What’s the battery difference you see between SE and BAL?
Tbh I barely use it in SE however, in the off chance that I have in the past, I notice that it’ll probably last me about an hour longer than usual. Please not that I have mine in the high performance mode, on about 24-26 volume. I assume this drains the battery a hair faster.
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Damn that’s sexy
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This really hypes me up for my cable! Mine should be here in two weeks. I look forward to your review!
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im legit going to have to find a well tuned 50 bucks and under IEM and one that will ship soon… i have the blon and like it but the cable sticking out is a major issue for me (maybe the mele will work), also i know the T2 plus is a recommended option too
As others said before, the difference and value for such dac/amp lies in your use case.
I don’t have the btr3k, but I have a dying es100 and received my new q5k a week ago. I didn’t find the courage to A/B them yet, but here is what I can say:
- the sound shouldn’t be much different. I think we can safely say it will be 5% diff max.
- if you want to drive headphones, more powerful should be better, but then, I could get my hp loud enough with my es100 already (in balanced, I don’t recall having tried SE)
- what is important, then, is convenience, friability and ease of use. Fiability/robustness is hard to tell, but I would trust fiio a little bit more on this: bigger company = more test capabilities. On convenience, the q5K buttons can be a bit odd to use and feel a bit fragile. I don’t know fiio app, but q5K app hat a shitload of options for things like battery managing, sources, peq,… And it is a joy, even though a little cluttered to my taste.
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The Fiio just drained battery faster. It needed charged after every listening period. The Qudelix is just a better version of the idea. You get so much more. I know the Fiio looks nicer but my Qudelix is still looking good and working well after a year. They do update it alot with downloads. If you do not want portability and blue tooth then there are many options. I rarely use Bluetooth so something like the new Moondrop is interesting to me but the K5 is a quality product and the buttons are easy to use after a bit of time.
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