When I first heard about the FiiO K7 being not just an upgraded version of the successful K5 Pro with balanced headphone output, but also sharing a very similar volume control and amplifier section as on the excellent K9 Pro ESS, I was expecting to see it cost somewhere in the $350 range. This was before the likes of TOPPING and S.M.S.L came out with more aggressively priced stacks and DAC/amp combo units, but still, to see a $200 price point was a pleasant surprise and then some! The FiiO K7 effectively makes the K5 Pro ESS somewhat redundant unless you absolutely want an ESS Sabre DAC for whatever reason. I suppose there is no MQA support here but that also means you aren't paying extra either. FiiO also saved some money by using slightly older hardware, including a USB Type-B input and an XMOS XU208 USB controller, but neither of those are really holding the device back.

If anything, that list of cons above is mostly a wish list rather than genuine complaints. The LED ring will probably be one thing you need to consider, at least given there is no word from FiiO on whether it will put out a firmware for disabling the lights, but even that is easily remedied by the foam cutout provided in the box now. This is a quantifiable upgrade over the K5 Pro ESS in offering more input options too, and the front is re-designed to be more user-friendly at the same time. There are no filters or sound color modes here, no display or remote control, no app support or wireless inputs either. The FiiO K7 is far more barebones in this regard, but does execute the basics very well to merit not only an easy recommendation but even my top award. It's certainly a new $200 benchmark for desktop DAC/amps today.