Next-Gen DAC/Amp Now Powered by ESS

The K5 Pro ESS uses the ES9038Q2M DAC chip, a flagship portable chip made by American manufacturer ESS. Compared to previous generation, the K5 Pro ESS Edition's distortion is 50% lower, its crosstalk for LO is 6dB higher with greater channel separation, and its dynamic range is 3dB greater.

Your audio hub is here

With its many inputs, outputs, and features, the K5 Pro ESS can be used for a variety of use cases. Plug in your favorite full-sized headphones and use it as a DAC/Amp. Plug in a pair of active speakers and use it as a pre-amplifier. Connect your phone via USB or a player via coaxial.

Extremely powerful headphone amplification

The carefully-tuned feed forward amplifier circuit design increases the power output of the TPA6120 op-amp by more than 60%, for a total power output of up to 1.5 W under a 32Ω load, and up to 20Vpp at 300Ω.

Precision toggle switches

Both the input selection and gain are controlled by tactile toggle switches, which are clearly labelled allowing you to easily control your music.

Safe, secure, and robust external power supply

The K5 Pro ESS uses a DC 15V power supply designed to minimize noise. The incoming DC power is filtered through a secondary power supply, which then independently supplies power to the amplification part of the audio circuit and the rest of the circuit. This effectively suppresses power supply ripple and minimizes power supply crosstalk between the two major sections of the circuit.

Accurate volume adjustment

With the K5 Pro ESS, you can comfortably use various headphones with all kinds of sensitivities. The K5Pro ESS’s volume control allows you to smoothly adjust volume at extremely fine increments without any undesirable noise nor with any channel imbalances.

RCA line-out for high quality output to other sources

Besides the wide variety of digital inputs, the K5 Pro ESS also features a traditional analog RCA line-in. The RCA line-in is not only more robust and less prone to breakage than 3.5mm line-in, it also has better resolution. The RCA line-out line signal is adjustable up to a maximum of 2V, allowing the K5Pro ESS to be used with a variety of active speakers and external amplifiers.

Product highlights

• High-performance DAC ES9038Q2M
• XMOS decoding
• Specially-designed audio architecture
• Supports 768k/32bit, DSD512
• 3 gain levels
• 1.5W large power
• Coaxial/Optical/RCA line inputs 6.35mm/RCA line outputs
• RGB indicator lights

Specs

• DAC chip: ES9038Q2M
• USB decoding chip: XMOS XUF208
• Headphone output power: ≥1.5W (32Ω)
• Output impedance: 1.2Ω (PO)
• THD+N: ＜0.0009% (UAC IN/SPDIF IN)
• Noise floor: ＜8uV (A-weighted)
• SNR: ≥118dB
• Channel separation: ＞80dB (USB DAC/OPT/COX)
• Audio out: RCA/6.35mm
• Audio in: USB-B/OPT/COAX/RCA
• DSD: supports native DSD 64/128/256/512
• Weight: About 1lb (480g)
• Dimensions: 4.7" x 5.76" x 2.1" (120mm*146.5mm*55mm)

What's included

• K5 Pro ESS
  
• USB data cable
• Power adapter
• Power cable
• Rubber feet x4
• Quick start guide
• Warranty card
• Headphone jack adapter