FiiO Q3 Headphone Amplifier Portable High Resolution DAC

I shopped for a DAC/headphone amp that would work as cleanly as possible with an iPhone.
I did not want to buy a bunch of cords, cables and dongles just to connect as that would defeat the whole purpose of a portable set up.

I stumbled across this almost by accident.
First impressions: unboxing revealed nice packaging with multiple accessories.
– 2 small and 2 large clear silicone bands to secure it to its source.
– a very short *directional* fabric sheathed USB-C to Lightning cable.
– a very short USB-C to USB-C cable.
– USB-A to USB-C charging cable.
– Silicone butterfly strap. I am assuming to secure it to a phone but it doesn’t work well for that.
– A nicely bound instruction manual.
I did not get the fabric pouch that I’ve seen in some photos.

After charging it up and downloading some tracks off of both Apple Music and Tidal I plugged in my headphones, my iPhone, turned it on, hit play and……. nothing. hmmm
After messing around with everything for a while I realized the USB-C – Lightning is directional. Once it was plugged in correctly it worked!
My very first impression was how very quiet it was. There was no hiss, static or even any pop or click when turning it on.

The sound is very very good and the amp has enough headroom to drive my Etymotic ER4SRs over the volume of an airplane cabin.

The Q3 can also be set to function strictly as a headphone amp. I have not tested that configuration though.

The RGB light on mine has not ever changed to magenta for MQA files or green for DSD. I’ve downloaded and played both. I’m not sure if the fault is mine or the Q3’s.
*Edit: Just want to add that the RGB LED still has never been anything other than Blue or Red. So, it might be faulty. I’ll try to contact FiiO support.

My only other complaint is, as others have mentioned, the USB-C cable is sensitive to bumps. I mean slight bumps. The music will stop playing and often you’ll assume it’s between tracks because there is no pop or click.

Overall I am very happy with the Q3, it’s a solid, inexpensive pick that pairs easily with an iPhone or iPad.

This portable DAC/HPA punches much higher above it’s price point, as usual for FiiO products. Paired with IEMs that cost $3100 and $2900 respectively (Empire Ears Legend Evos and Noble Sultans using a 2.5mm Project 8 Plato x Socrates cable by Eletech) and over-heads that cost $4500 each (Audeze LCD-5’s and Focal Utopias using a 4-pin XLR balanced with cable with 4.4mm adapter by Cardas), the soundstage is wide enough and the 3D imaging is satisfactory considering this tiny portable only cost $150. It’s sound quality is fantastic. Paired with FiiO FDX’s, FH9’s, and FA9’s all were pleasant considering the difference in tier compared to the previously mentioned IEMs. The bass is deep and clear – and does not muddy the mids. Treble is not fatiguing. Pairing something this inexpensive with my higher end gear is something I would only do with FiiO, and perhaps Topping. I think the Q3 competes well with the desktop FiiO K5 Pro (which can support 32/768 and native DSD512) and the DAP FiiO M11 Plus LTD (which in USB DAC mode can support 32/384 and native 256) in terms of cost/value.

If you are considering this versus the FiiO K3, I would implore you to buy this, the Q3, hands down.

My iPhone, Samsung Fold Z, Windows 11 PC, and Macbook Air recognized the Q3 immediately using Roon. This DAC, like my other (significantly more expensive and similarly spec-ed) trans-portable DAC/amps, turned my iPhone into a fantastic Roon-endpoint. I already had the Windows drivers installed because I own other FiiO DACs and DAPs which use the same ASIO driver (which is required for DSD over PCM sampling). No driver is required for WASAPI. The driver can be downloaded from the FiiO website.

Unlike my other portable DACs (Chord Mojo, Chord Hugo2, CEntrance M8, Questyle M15, iFi xDSD, FiiO K3, FiiO M11 in USB DAC mode, FiiO M17 in USB DAC mode), the Q3 is able to unfold MQA files which is an added bonus. While I do not necessarily drink the MQA kool-aid, I do own several hundred MQA files so it is nice to have a portable that is able to completely unfold the files .

~~~

Where the Q3 really shines, for me, is as a portable amplifier for my DAPs using the 3.5mm jack as a line-in and the balanced jacks as the phone-outs. Paired with my FiiO M11… holy buckets! The analog sound is PHENOMENAL for a $699 DAP + $149 portable amp. Blows away DAPs at twice the price without an external amp! This alone makes the Q3 worth twice the price for me.

I have had this for 6 months now and love the improved sound to the music on my iPhone as a result of this higher quality Digital to Analog Converter than the onboard DAC of the iPhone. I like its compact size that makes it very portable. My main use is to connect it to my IPhone and put the combo in a belt bag and run wired ear buds with it. It would have been nice to have labels or symbols on the various control buttons for easier navigation. Without these it is necessary to constantly get out the manual (a hard copy is thankfully included) unless you have very good memory or use the control buttons often enough to get on to them. Nice touch that a variety of connectors are included as described on the Amazon web site. Delivery was excellent. I would buy this product again now that I have experienced the quality of sound improvement for this investment of money, and am very happy with this purchase now that I have experienced what a separate DAC can do to improve sound quality,

Voy comenzando en el mundo de la audiofilia y me decidí por este DAC/AMP debido a su costo-beneficio. Venía de usar unos Audio Technica M50x y en estos momentos tengo los Msr7b, por lo cual he notado la diferencia entre un buen dac, ya que anteriormente escuchaba música en un galaxy s10 plus. La diferencia es abismal, el DAC suaviza mucho las frecuencias altas (sin quitarle detalle) lo cual es muy bueno con mi tipo de audífonos que tienen los agudos algo fatigantes si lo escuchas por largos períodos de tiempo, con esto lo soluciona muy bien.
Sentí que la escena sonora aumentó ligeramente, y su separación instrumental es buenísima. Realmente puedes oír cada instrumento en sus diferentes frecuencias.
Recomendaría este DAC para personas como yo que van comenzando en el mundo de la audiofilia. Su sonido es de alta calidad, se siente muy refinado y muy balanceado.

El paquete llegó antes de lo esperado, en excelentes condiciones y sellado.

Importante: totalmente compatible con TIDAL, el led cambia a color magenta cuando decodifica MQA.

Take with a grain of salt. For the size and all the accessories in box. This is a steal for the price. I am using this with iem. Shure and rha
& Sennheiser they all come to life. Shure is only one I am using 4.4. The bass I do not use someone m8ght. But is is such a clean sound. It will power open backs. As I did use it to test but this was for my portable iem enjoyment. Note I did have to replace 1st one due to a. Issues. But Amazon replacement was next day and this thing is a portable clean clear with power