Qudelix 5K User manual

Copyright ©2020 by Qudelix, Inc. All rights reserved.
AUG 2020
Qudelix-5K
User Guide

Key Specification
•Bluetooth 5.0
•Class 2 (2.5mW 4dBm) up to 10m
•2.4GHz
•Qualcomm QCC5124 Bluetooth Chipset
•Dual ES9218P SABRE HiFi® DAC
•3.5mm output works with single DAC only.
•Dual DAC is available with 2.5mm output.
•High Precision Audio Clock
•aptX Adaptive, LDAC, AAC, aptX-HD, aptX, SBC
•High-Resolution USB DAC 96KHz / 24-bit
•USB Audio Class 1.0
•Windows/MacOS/Linux (No Device Driver)
•Android Device through C-to-C or OTG cable
•10-band Double Precision GEQ/PEQ
•High Sensitivity 3-D LDS (Laser Direct Structuring) Antenna
•Bluetooth Range more than 10 meters
•Qualcomm® cVc™ noise cancellation technology
•High Sensitivity MEMS Microphone
•Four Multi-functional Buttons & Two LEDs
•Over-the-Air firmware update
•Material
•Plastic Body (Black) with anti-scratch UV Coating
•Aluminium Clip (Dark Gray)
•52.8 x 26.7 x 15.6mm (including Clip)
•26 grams

Key Specification
•Output Power
•3.5mm 80mW per channel
•2.5mm 240mW per channel
•SNR (A-weighted)
•3.5mm -118dB
•2.5mm -122dB
•THD+N
•3.5mm 0.004%
•2.5mm 0.002%
•Separation
•3.5mm 79dB
•2.5mm 117dB (1KHz/32-ohm)
•Output Impedance
•Less than 1-ohm

Buttons - BLUE
BU(Blue Upper)
BL(Blue Lower)

Buttons - RED
RL(Red Lower)
RU(Red Upper)

Pairing with Android
1. Power On 5K
•BL button long press more than 3 sec.
2. Enter Pairing Mode
•BU button long press more than 3 sec.
•Red, Blue LED blink when pairing mode
3. Go to your Android Bluetooth menu
•Scan Bluetooth devices
•Select Qudelix-5K
4. Enter Qudeilx-5K option
•Enable LDAC (Android 8.0 or higher)
BU(Blue Upper)
BL(Blue Lower)
*Enable Sony LDAC after pairing

1. Power On 5K
•BL button long press more than 3 sec.
2. Enter Pairing Mode
•BU button long press more than 3 sec.
•Red, Blue LED blink when pairing mode
3. Go to your iOS Bluetooth menu
•Scan Bluetooth devices
•Select Qudelix-5K
4. Paired
•Once connected(Paired) to iOS device, you will see Qudelix-5K Connected ⓘ in MY DEVICES list
Pairing with iOS
BU(Blue Upper)
BL(Blue Lower)
Scan and select
Connected with ⓘ
Qudelix 5K Bluetooth Audio Connection

•https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qudelix.qudelix&hl=en_US
•https://apps.apple.com/kr/app/qudelix/id1515641059?l=en
•5K allows the APP connection with one device at a time.
•iOS App uses the BLE link. So, you will see Qudelix-5K Connected without (i) when the app is connected.
•Android App uses the BR/EDR link. So, Android App requires 5K paired to the system before the app
connection.
BL(Blue Lower)
Mobile App
A2DP Audio
Connection
BLE App
Connection
*The Red Bar indicates the app is connected to the device, gray otherwise.

•The app displays the current battery and charger status.
•Battery Log Graph
•Instantaneous battery level
•The battery voltage is just for reference.
•Please use 5V Standard USB Charger or PC USB port.
•The 5K built-in charger will limit the maximum charging current to 200mA.
•500mA Battery (2H 30MIN charging time from empty to full)
BL(Blue Lower)
Battery

•Please note that the battery times may differ across each use case.
•The battery time varies across the codec, sample rate, power profile, and the output mode. The
sensitivity of the connected earphones/headphones and the output volume level also can make the
battery time longer or shorter.
BL(Blue Lower)
Battery Time
AAC 44.1KHz
LDAC 44.1KHz @ 909Kbps
LDAC 96KHz @ 990Kbps

•2V RMS mode vs. 1V RMS mode (Output Power)
•High or Low Amplifier Gain Selection
•Both modes provide the same sound performance.
•2V RMS mode provides a +6dB greater output level at a little higher background noise floor.
•Both modes could sound a little different from each other. But, it doesn't mean that which one is
better.
•In most cases, it is highly recommended using the 1V RMS mode, which provides longer battery time
and the lower noise floor.
•For high sensitivity IEM, the 1V RMS mode offers the best noise performance and power efficiency.
There's no reason to keep the low gear on the highway.
•To prevent sudden amplification, the FW is designed to compensate the volume level, upon 1V and
2V HPAMP Gain change. You will experience no difference in loudness when switching the mode to
2VRMS, but you will have the max volume extended by +6dB.
•Statndard vs. Performance (DAC Profile)
•5K sets and drives ES9218p DAC in two different ways: one for the best sound quality and the other
for the efficiency.
•STANDARD provides the best trade-off for battery time and sound quality, while PERFORMANCE
does the best sound quality with lesser battery time.
•USB connection to the device overrides the current profile and switches it to PERFORMANCE
temporarily.
•3.5mm UNBAL works with a single DAC only. (Max. 2V RMS)
•2.5mm BAL works with dual DAC (Max. 4V RMS)
•8-Different Type of DAC LPF provided
In addition to the output power mode option, 5K provides two different operating profiles, to trade
off the battery time and Sound Quality,
BL(Blue Lower)
ES9218P DAC/AMP

UNBALANCED (Single-Ended) 3.5mm
•Works with Single ES9218p
•Max. 2V RMS output
•3-Wire Output from Source Device
•2 ch DAC/AMP for Stereo Audio
•1-pin Ground
•Common Ground
•Ground Pin goes to both Speaker-L and Speaker-R
•Ground ripple(noise) affects both L & R channel
•Both AMP_NOISE and GROUND_NOISE affects the Sound Quality
•VL = L + AMP_NOISE + GROUND_NOISE
•VR = R + AMP_NOISE + GROUND_NOISE
R
L
Ground
VL
VR

BALANCED (Full-Differential) 2.5mm
L+ Positive
•Works with Dual ES9218p
•Max. 4V RMS output
•4-Wire Output from Source Device
•4ch DAC/AMP required for Stereo Audio
•Original Signal (L+/R+) and Inverterd or Negative Signal (L-/R-)
•Free from Ground Noise
•Common Mode Noise Reduction
•Common AMP_NOISE is canceled out easily
•VL = (LP+ AMP_NOISE) - (LN+AMP_NOISE) = LP-LN = 2L
•VR = (RP+ AMP_NOISE) - (RN+AMP_NOISE) = RP-RN = 2R
•Relatively better Sound Quality
•Better Linearity
•Better Channel Separation
•2x more power and driving capability
VL
VR
L- Negative
R+ Positive
R+ Positive
*With any given hardware device, supporting both UNABL and BAL, BAL always provides relatively
better performance then UNBAL.
R-
R+
L+
L-

•Absolute Volume Control
•5K offers 2-way associative control for optimal sound quality. It always keeps and guarantees the full
precision audio stream over Bluetooth or USB. In either way, via smartphone source volume or 5K
device volume, you can control the loudness level without any loss. It is highly recommended to turn
on the Absolute Volume for the best sound quality.
In addition to the output power mode option, 5K provides two different operating profiles, to trade
off the battery time and Sound Quality,
BL(Blue Lower)
Volume
Source
Volume
5K Device
Volume

•The 5K provides a higher output power than other portable audio devices.
•An accidental volume up may damage your ear and IEMs. For high sensitivity IEMs, we strongly
recommend limiting the device volume.
•Absolute volume and volume protection are highly recommended in all use case.
Volume Option
Highly Recommended

•SONY LDAC
•Available with Android 8.0 or higher.
•In general, LDAC 606/660kbps or higher provides excellent sound quality comparable to the wired
interface. If you don't get sufficient sound quality, please set a higher LDAC bit rate in the Android
Developer Options menu.
•Some specific Android smartphones may not be able to provide reliable 990kbps streaming. Turning
off the smartphone display, or using 5GHz WiFi might help the LDAC streamed a little better.
•The LDAC 660kbps is the best trade-off for reliable streaming and sound quality. In most cases, you
would get good enough sound quality with LDAC 660kbps.
•Enable SONY DAC
•Bluetooth Menu —> Paired Devices —> Qudelix-5K —> device option -> LDAC
•Setting LDAC Bitrate & Sample Rate
•Enable Android Developer Option
•https://developer.android.com/studio/debug/dev-options?hl=en
•Please refer the link above and enable the developer option menu.
•System Setting —> Developer Option —> LDAC Quality
Bluetooth Codec

USB DAC & Power Source
Battery
Built-In
Charger
Power
Switch
System
QCC512X
ES9218P
SMPS
LED
Battery
Built-In
Charger
Power
Switch
System
QCC512X
ES9218P
SMPS
LED
Battery
Built-In
Charger
Power
Switch
System
QCC512X
ES9218P
SMPS
LED
Battery Powered
USB Powered & Charging
USB Powered & Charging Completed
•Automatic Battery Care when working as a USB DAC
•Keep the battery life longer
•The same Battery charging time even at streaming audio
200mA
300mA
500mA
500mA

•5K provides 64-bit double-precision embedded 10-band Equalizer.
•Every setting, including EQ, are kept and preserved in 5K's internal flash memory. 5K reloads the settings
at boot-up and continues the same condition as configured before.
•Touching the EQ plot window will show you up the preset menu. There are ten custom presets, and long
press would save the current EQ setting on each, respectively. Please note that the EQ custom presets
are save to 5K's internal flash memory.
BL(Blue Lower)
Equalizer
Touch Plot Window

•10-band PEQ or GEQ supported
•PEQ Filter Type
•PEAK / LPF / HPF / LSHELF / HSHELF
BL(Blue Lower)
PEQ & GEQ
GEQPEQ

•10 Custom User Presets
•All Presets are saved in the 5K’s internal flash memory.
BL(Blue Lower)
EQ Preset
Long Press to save the
current EQ profile