FiiO K7 vs iFi Zen DAC 3

Short answer

More power: the FiiO K7, with 1.22 W into 32 Ω; the iFi Zen DAC 3 has 210 mW (balanced: 2.00 W against 300 mW). The FiiO K7 drives 3 headphones to 100 dB that the iFi Zen DAC 3 cannot (Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Titan).
Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the iFi Zen DAC 3 publishes no noise figure.
Price: the FiiO K7 costs $30 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the iFi Zen DAC 3 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are desktop DAC/amps, $199 against $229.

The FiiO K7 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the iFi Zen DAC 3 on 564.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

Specification	FiiO K7	iFi Zen DAC 3
Power into 32Ω	1.2 W	210 mW
Power into 150Ω	269 mW	50 mW
Power into 300Ω	140 mW	28 mW
Power into 600Ω	70 mW	18 mW
Output impedance	1.0 Ω	1 Ω
Output noise	3.1 µV	not published
Price	$199	$229
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	564

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	FiiO K7	iFi Zen DAC 3
Socket	4.4mm	4.4mm
Power into 32Ω	2.0 W	300 mW
Power into 300Ω	560 mW	106 mW derived
Output impedance	1.0 Ω	1 Ω
Output noise	5.1 µV	not published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	565

Through the balanced sockets the FiiO K7 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here and the iFi Zen DAC 3 on 565. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

Load	FiiO K7	iFi Zen DAC 3
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Published	Derived
600 Ω	Derived	Published

Both makers publish a power rating. FiiO K7 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; iFi Zen DAC 3 at 32 Ω and at 600 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω only the FiiO K7 figure is the maker’s own and at 600 Ω only the iFi Zen DAC 3 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

3 headphones reach 100 dB on the FiiO K7 but not on the iFi Zen DAC 3 — Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Titan.

564 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

On real headphones

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Shure SE846: FiiO K7 has +39 dB of headroom there against +32 dB. 8 dB is about 5.8 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for iFi Zen DAC 3 because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	FiiO K7 headroom	iFi Zen DAC 3 headroom	FiiO K7 hiss	iFi Zen DAC 3 hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+39 dB	+32 dB	24 dB	not published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+19 dB	+12 dB	4 dB	not published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+29 dB	+21 dB	2 dB	not published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+24 dB	+17 dB	-2 dB	not published
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+21 dB	+13 dB	-3 dB	not published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+18 dB	+11 dB	-9 dB	not published
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+13 dB	+6 dB	-13 dB	not published
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+11 dB	+4 dB	-15 dB	not published

What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The iFi Zen DAC 3 costs $30 more than the FiiO K7, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the iFi Zen DAC 3 handles and the FiiO K7 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper FiiO K7 drives 3 models to 100 dB that the iFi Zen DAC 3 does not.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Both pages in full

Each in full: FiiO K7 and iFi Zen DAC 3.

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