FIIO QX13 Portable DAC and Headphone Amplifier

The FiiO QX13 opens FiiO’s new QX series, bringing more than a decade of FiiO’s experience together in a high-end USB-C dongle: the power of the Q-series portable amps with magnetic, attach-anywhere convenience. An eight-channel ESS ES9027SPRO DAC and six Texas Instruments amplifier chips deliver up to 900mW per channel balanced, an XMOS XU316 handles PCM 768kHz and DSD512 with a 10-band PEQ, and a large 1.99-inch colour screen sits in a body of carbon fibre (or aluminium) weighing about 34g. A magnetic leather case is included, and it won a VGP 2025 Summer award.

An extra-large colour display

The 1.99-inch IPS screen, rare on an audio dongle, sits under Corning third-generation high-strength glass for durability and scratch resistance. A 32-bit processor drives several newly designed themes, including VU meters and a cassette deck, in portrait or landscape, and shows the sample rate, gain, filter, volume, coaxial output, channel balance and more at a glance.

A desktop-grade ESS SABRE PRO DAC

The ES9027SPRO comes from ESS’s SABRE PRO family, mainly used in high-end and professional audio equipment (alongside the ES9038PRO and ES9039PRO). Its fully differential architecture runs eight channels in parallel, and a pair of ultra-low-noise ES9312 regulators gives each channel precise, efficient power while reducing clock jitter, so the audio signal is restored accurately.

Six TI amplifier chips

Four wafer-level precision INA1620 chips, laid out to minimise crosstalk even under extreme conditions, and two low-noise, low-distortion OPA1692s keep the dynamics strong with any load. The signal passes through low-pass filtering with voltage gain, buffer current boosting and parallel current expansion, the kind of architecture found in full-size DAC/headphone amplifiers, for a 124dB signal-to-noise ratio and distortion as low as 0.0004%.

Patented desktop mode: 900mW

Connect power to the side USB-C port and FiiO’s patented desktop mode (ZL202321946664.8) unlocks power comparable to full-size headphone amplifiers: 900mW per channel into 32Ω balanced and 310mW single-ended, without draining your phone, while using about 23% less power than FiiO’s KA17. Without extra power it still gives 605mW balanced and 250mW single-ended. A high-precision power meter assesses each USB source and adjusts the gain and output to suit.

Separate, shielded digital and analogue boards

The digital and analogue boards are separated, with shielding covers, insulation and anti-interference sheets between them and thermally conductive silicone to carry heat away, so the QX13 can sustain high output with clean, dynamic sound.

XMOS XU316 and a 10-band PEQ

A 16-core XMOS XU316 brings pro-grade USB audio with low latency: up to 768kHz/32-bit PCM, native DSD512 and full MQA decoding, with two ultra-low phase noise, low-drift femtosecond oscillators. It also runs a 10-band lossless PEQ, which you can set in the FiiO Control app on Android or in FiiO’s web tool, with custom curves, presets and a sharing community (with PEQ on, the maximum rate is 192kHz/24-bit).

A magnetic ecosystem

The included leather case has two curved magnets that line up with MagSafe iPhones; for Android, a magnetic ring is included. The QX13 also works with FiiO’s ESTICK mini power banks: turn on the charging function and you have a pocket-sized desktop-grade setup. An 8-strand cable (6 monocrystalline copper + 2 silver-plated monocrystalline copper) comes in the box.

Everything you need

The 3.5mm output doubles as an S/PDIF coaxial output; volume has 60- or 120-step scales; temperature regulation, DC output protection and a maximum volume limit protect you and your headphones; and a UAC 1.0 mode works with Nintendo Switch, PS5 and other devices. The black version is a fully carbon fibre body (up to 21 layers); titanium is aluminium alloy.

Good to know

• Desktop mode needs power on the side USB-C port; without it, the QX13 runs from your phone or computer.
• Add a FiiO ESTICK for desktop-mode power on the go, and the case for the QX13 and ESTICK combo to carry them together.
• In the box: QX13, USB-C to USB-C cable, magnetic leather case, screen protector, magnetic ring, USB-C plug and quick start guide.