Combo units are all over the place. We’ve telephones with cameras, earbuds with health trackers, and watches with altimeters, so why not a keyboard with a built-in digital-to-analog converter (DAC)? That’s the premise behind the Fiio KB3, a mechanical, wired keyboard that options two devoted headphone outputs, audiophile-grade DAC chips, and a built-in quantity dial to manage what you’re listening to. It hits retail in December for $149 in two coloration choices: black or silver.
The Fiio KB3 makes use of quite a lot of dampening layers in its building, together with an aluminum-magnesium alloy prime cowl. The semitransparent keycaps are swappable and sit atop Gateron G Professional 3.0 yellow switches, and all the 75% design is RGB backlit.
On the again aspect, you’ll discover that the KB3 does triple obligation as a USB hub, with a single USB-C port and two USB-A ports for issues like wired mice.
For the all-important DAC portion, the KB3 makes use of a pair of Cirrus Logic CS43131 DACs feeding two low-noise SGM8262 operational amplifiers producing 550 thousandths of a watt (mW) per channel of output energy while you use the 4.4mm balanced headphone jack. The three.5mm unbalanced jack will get 170mW per channel. Fiio claims that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is 122 decibels, with a complete harmonic distortion (THD+N) of lower than 0.0005% — the sort of specs you’d count on to see on a devoted DAC costing as a lot as $300.
To present credit score the place credit score is due, Fiio wasn’t the primary to create a keyboard-DAC combo. Earlier in 2023, the Commodore 64-inspired Moondrop Sprint arrived with an virtually similar set of options to the KB3, however at twice the value.
Different variations of the KB3 exist as effectively: a wi-fi model that doesn’t provide DAC capabilities and a customized package model that features the DAC, however lacks key switches and keycaps so that you could provide your individual.
Most mechanical keyboards are aimed on the gaming neighborhood, a bunch of oldsters who additionally occur to favor wired audio for its ultralow latency. However given the KB3’s audiophile specs, it’s truthful to say this keyboard might effectively enchantment to anybody who desires to declutter their desktop and nonetheless get nice sound for his or her headphones or earbuds.
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