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The Quedelix-5K DAC/Amp is an engineering marvel on several levels. The most impressive of these is the actual 10- and 20-band PEQ found in its companion app. Add high-resolution Bluetooth audio, MEM microphones for phone calls, and balanced and single-ended (2.5mm) outputs, and you have one of the most versatile mobile DACs on the market.
Qudelix-5K: Price and availability
The Quedelix-5K is available directly from Quedelix for $109, or on Amazon for $110. You probably won’t find it on sale, but for everything you get with the Quedelix-5K, and compared to its competition, $110 is a fair price.
Some people may have issues with the plastic body at this price, but it doesn’t look cheap and there’s a reason for that build decision. We’ll talk about that in a moment.
Qudelix-5K: build and fit
The Qudelix-5K feels very light in the hand, although it has many hardware and software features. It has a plastic body, ensuring a solid Bluetooth connection to your music source. Metal bodies tend to attenuate radio frequency signals. look at the building your home routerFor example. Metal or plastic? Internally, you get a lot for $110. The 5k is equipped with a Qualcomm BT 5.0 chipset and a dual ES9219 SABER HiFi DAC, which supports balanced and single-ended outputs and high-sensitivity MEM microphones for phone calls.
Externally, you’ll find the single microphone port on the top of the unit alongside the 3.5mm and 2.5mm ports. There’s a handy spring-loaded aluminum clip on the bottom of the unit and two confusing buttons on the sides. Neither are labeled, and that’s the only problem I have with the external configuration. One button is the volume rocker, and on the other side of the unit is the power button, which also controls the Bluetooth functions: pairing, playback, track skipping, and phone calls. Once turned on, the buttons illuminate red and blue when pressed, making them easier to use. The blue illuminated button controls the Bluetooth functions.
Aside from the button labeling, my only other issue is the choice of a 2.5mm port instead of a 4.4mm port. I’m sure this decision was based on the size of the drive, but I would go with a larger 5k for the 4.4mm port. When reading online forums, a common complaint is that quite a few people have broken those little 2.5mm pins. Your mileage may vary.
Qudelix-5K: Features
The Qudelix-5K offers excellent codec support for Bluetooth streaming, which iPhones will not be able to take advantage. In addition to standard SBC and AAC, you also get support for aptX Adaptive, LDAC, and aptX HD. This is an important note because app support for the device extends to your computers through a Chrome browser add-on. Even with iOS’s lack of high-resolution Bluetooth codec support, you still have to download the app because iOS and iPad OS don’t have EQ support that works in all your apps. However, the Quedelix app settings are ubiquitous and are saved directly to the 5k’s internal storage. That is, once you have it configured to your liking, that sound profile will be persistent on all the devices you connect to it: car, phone, tablet, computer, etc. That also means it’s persistent no matter what music apps you use on your mobile devices.
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The biggest feature of the app is the 20-band PEQ, which can also be set to a separate 10-band left/right PEQ. This is where the 5k shines. As you dive into the world of “coloring” your audio to your liking, this is a great way to hear how fine changes to the EQ curve affect your audio in real time. This is a welcome feature for audiophiles and a brilliant teaching tool for neophyte audiophiles. Best of all, you can save up to 20 of your EQ settings and there’s an extensive database of automatic EQ presets you can access in the DSP tab of the app.
Sure, other manufacturers offer EQ support, but it’s often not a true PEQ. You usually get EQ presets or simple 3- or 5-band EQ support with no option for things like pre-gain, dynamic headroom, peaking filters, high or low shelf filters, and Q-factor (frequency bandwidth) adjustment.
The app will also show you the status and statistics of your current input (BT or USB-C), show you important power/battery consumption statistics, give you control over gain and coarse and fine control over volume with separate sliders for phone volume and 5k. Note that you can also control the volume directly from the 5k.
Quedelix 5k: Sound quality
On its own, the Qudelix-5K reproduces audio perfectly. It doesn’t have as big a soundstage or that brightness that my current favorite iFi GO blu has, but that one does not have the PEQ. But, I repeat, that is the strong point of the 5 km. I plugged in $1500 Sennheiser IEMs, the IE900, all the way up to the Quedelix 5k, and the first listen through the 3.5mm cable was wonderful. The sound is well balanced and full of nuances, a delight.
Next, I plugged in the 2.5mm cable for balanced output power, turned on the PEQ and added a little background to the sub-bass and bass at the 31 and 63 Hz frequencies, and, Sweet Christmas, I grinned ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat when I played “Start a Riot” from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack. It’s a delightful mix of Dolby Atmos that shows what can be achieved when a producer knows how to use those tools effectively. The IE900s are not at all an IEM for bass heads. With the PEQ of the 5k, they become that, but the clarity of the mids and highs is not diminished. The bass on that track gets downright dark and nasty and makes me want to get in the ring and hit leather with one of my Muay Thai friends.
The right PEQ setting can make music enjoyable and make it transcendent. They can take you from having a listening session to having a listening experience. With the right headphones or IEM of course.
This is one last note on the Qudelix-5K. I threw it some sensitive, low- and high-impedance headphones and IEMs, and it handled everything with aplomb.
Quedelix 5k: Competition
There are some other options at $100, but none of them offer true PEQ like the Qudelix-5K. For example, the FiiO options will give you EQ customization through their app, but the level and variety of customization is greater with the 5k.
The closest device is FiiO’s BTR15, which has MQA support and native DSD support for the same $110. It also includes an OLED display, which the 5K doesn’t have, and uses a 4.4mm balanced output instead of 2.5mm. Shanling has its UP4 2022, which is larger, has a larger battery, and includes codec support for LHDC. They all feature balanced and single-ended outputs, but the app makes the difference, which is why I’d choose the Quedelix 5k over its competition.
Qudelix-5K: Should you buy it?
You should buy the Qudelix-5K Bluetooth DAC/Amp if…
- Are you interested in adjusting the audio?
- Cost is a major factor in purchasing your DAC
- You want a DAC for almost any source
You shouldn’t buy the Qudelix-5K Bluetooth DAC/Amp if…
- You don’t need Bluetooth connectivity
- Do you prefer 4.4mm outputs?
The Quedelix-5K is worth it for the parametric EQ alone! When you consider all the other features of the unit, I think this device is an obvious choice for those who want to learn how to create their ideal sound curve or those who already know how to do it but want a device they can take anywhere and connect to almost any audio source. You can even use the 5K as a preamp.
If the real PEQ piques your interest, look no further. This is the one.
