Qudelix 5K Reference DAC AMP

Phenomenal piece of kit. Sounds amazing when paired with decent headphones and works wired (Hi-Res) and via Bluetooth (Hi Res if Sony LDAC codec enabled on the android phone). Extremely tweakable using the iOS or Android app. The onboard mic works ok but not brilliant for calls because it pics up any noise made when holding the device. Minor irritant only. A must have for anyone who wants great sound quality when out and about - worth every penny!

This little technological marvel looks so small and diminutive, but is such an amazing thing. I managed to get it tuned in and putting out the most wonderful music. Was blown away by the sheer amount of customisation available, it has a very large headphone database that included my AKG533. Not having a display and doing everything with the app has so many advantages.

This has become part of my life very quickly. After the initial hurdle of getting to know how the app works, which isn't that daunting after a few days, I'm finding that I have this on me all the time when I'm out and about. I use the Bluetooth mode when I'm on public transport and then plug it into my MacBook when working/studying.It's mad how quickly it's became an item that I've got in my pocket just about all the time.I'd advise getting the official TPU case for it, because the buttons are too easily caught when you don't mean to press them, and putting it in the case makes this mistake harder to make.If Qudelix follows this up with a newer model with better buttons I'd buy one straight away. Really brilliant gadget if you're someone who uses audio a lot.

Purchased a couple of simliar priced amps to this that all claimed to be able to drive my sennheiser HD800 but none of them came close really. Had to return them, purchased this little piece of wizardy that is barely the size of a matchbox. I honestly didn't have high hopes upon opening it and thought there was no way.This Is quite simply a masterpiece of technology, I'm so so impressed, not just the audio it puts out but the app support, customization, size, weight, everything.Had it almost 24 hours now and I've barely slept from tinkering with the settings and eq's and listening to all sorts of different music.I have it linked up to my desktop both wired and bluetooth, when wired it automatically uses it as a wired amp, unplug it to go make a cuppa? No problem, it seemlessly switches to bluetooth and chugs along fine and you can use your headset wirelessly. The thing weighs next to nothing, you can take it with you anywhere and fit it in any pocket.Ten out of ten.

well pleased with this small but powerfull dac, sound is great, with good settings for tweaking the audio.Using this with a pair of ATH-R70XA Headphones, the DAC handles these very well, only slight complaint with this DAC is the buttons on the dac, they get hit very easy, but you can turn these off, in the DAC software, which i have done.

With the accompanying iPhone app equaliser, the sound is excellent and you can set up the sound precisely to your system/liking. My old Boss Quite Comfort 35 II have a new lease of life now with rich bass, as well as crisp treble and mids, no need to upgrade. The unit has also given life to my manufacturer supplied car stereo, I previously just thought it was poor quality even when playing CDs, it now has a bass kick that was not there prior and the treble and mids now sound good. You could save a lot on a quality sound system, or headphones, by starting with this unit and seeing how well connected sound systems or headphones work with it.As it also works via Bluetooth you can make standard studio headphones wireless. Obviously Bluetooth is not as good quality as the cabled connection, but quality appears increased when compared to typical Bluetooth connections ( I understand it connects as 2 Bluetooth devices to increase data bandwidth and therefore quality, at least this is how it’s displayed in my iPhone Bluetooth settings and Bluetooth quality is improved - just to note most, if not all steaming service apps, throttle data bandwidths when they identify your listening using Bluetooth limiting data connections, so this can bottleneck data quality although to me, the sound quality is still greatly improved with the assistance of the equaliser app, unit etc, when compared to Bluetooth without the unit.The one big downside is the poor quality outer material. The unit looked like a badly looked after, 2 year plus old unit after just one day in my pocket. While I did have keys in my pocket, so partly my fault for scratching, I would never have expected it to look so bad after just one day in my pocket. The resale value dropped off a cliff. Considering how bad the outer finish is, I would expect the manufacturer to supply a rubber case as standard to protect the unit.You do need to purchase an apple lightning to usb camera adapter, if your using an iPhone 14 or lower (15 has usb c so can be plugged in directly with suppled usb c cable), to get the data transfer speeds required for high quality audio. I advise getting the camera adapter with USB and additional power socket to plug in or use with a power bank on the go, as the unit drains the iPhone battery quickly, so you will need to power/charge it when using for reasonable amounts of time.Overall the sound is excellent for this price point and therefore I highly recommend getting one.