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FiiO announces launch of new E17K Alpen 2 portable USB DAC and amp

By Marcus Wong - on 11 Mar 2015, 2:12pm

FiiO announces launch of new E17K Alpen 2 portable USB DAC and amp

It’s been about five years since the launch of the FiiO E17 Alpen USB DAC, and the popular USB DAC has finally been revamped, now with the ability to act as a standalone amplifier to work with another DAC, or a standalone DAC to work with another amplifier, thanks to the inclusion of line-in and line-out ports.

The E17K Alpen 2 shares the original E17's good looks.

The E17K Alpen 2 sports a similar look to the E17 Alpen before it with brushed metal crafting for a sleek, modern feel. However, the number of buttons has been cut down to just two, with a multifunctional wheel that responds to both turns and presses for easy navigation. The E17K weighs just 110g, measures 104.1mm x 62.2 mm x 12.8mm and has a battery life that’s rated over 15 hours.

You can scroll and select items with the multifunctional wheel.

Thanks to a new SA9027 USB receiver, the E17K can now be used as an external sound card, supporting up to 96kHz/32 bit USB and DSD decoding (with ASIO driver and SACD plugin). It also comes with the T1’s PCM5102 audio converter, giving it a better signal-to-noise ratio, lower distortion and more linear digital-analog conversion characteristics.

The E17K also adds a microUSB socket for charging, data exchange connectivity, and to allow it to dock with future FiiO desktop products. Included in the pack is a 3.5mm to coaxial converter plug, allowing you to take full advantage of the 192 kHz/24bit PCM input. Besides your regular audio jack port, the E17K also features a dual-function in/line out port for maximum convenience.

A dual function in/line out port saves on the number of ports on the top of the E17K Alpen.

The USB port for sync and charge is on the bottom.

The recommended retail price for the FiiO E17K Alpen 2 Portable USB DAC & AMP is S$219.00, and its available now at all recommended retail partners. However, there will be a special IT Show 2015 Price of S$199 (that's $20 off the usual price) if you get it from the FiiO Booth (6337) next week.

For more details, check out the FiiO page

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