FiiO Jade Audio Gigas 1 Amplifier Review – Gigantic Sound In A Silver Packet
FiiO’s Jade Audio Gigas 1 is a $49 USD Desktop Headphone Amplifier with an insane 4600mW + 4600mW max driving power, two gain levels and both a 3.5mm single ended and a 4.4mm balanced headphone output. Today we will review the Gigas 1 and explore how it fits in your pocket as a transportable amp but why you can’t use it portably.
Introduction
FiiO is expanding their Jade Audio entry-level sub-brand, and now we have the Gigas 1 delivering a power that was never heard of in this size and shape. You can purchase Gigas 1 from Amazon, Aliexpress and other HIFI outlets, each offering their own warranties and t&cs.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://link.amazon/B05Bq8BF6
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c42LT7w1
Build Quality – Design
FiiO built the JAde Audio Gigas 1 around a discrete Class AB architecture and overpowered it with a transistor current-ampification. With a smart design, it allows the very small and portable DAC AMP to achieve power levels up to 4600mW + 4600mW.
Inside the Gigas 1 you will find a very unique combination of onsemi MJE243G / 253G. One very interesting feature it has is a 3.5mm output with CTIA compliant mic pass-through. This means that you can theoretically use the 3.5mm jack on the back for line in, and plug in headphones with a mic and it would work, but i do not know any DAC that would work well since that would mean you’re using a DAC with AMP and the final sound would have quite a bit of distortion. Still very neat to have this.
Power input is controlled fully by the host so the power brick will change the sound quality, as well as the noise floor. I have used UGreen Nexode 500W to actually deliver power to it and achieve the max sound quality, and batteries have a quieter noise floor, but they might be unable to allow for max volume and driving power to be achieved.
Subjective Usage
Using Gigas One is rather simple, and the aspect you mostly need to consider is that it needs a separate type-C power input, which you can feed from both a 5V PD12V battery or power converter. Since it can deliver a huge power, it actually would work better with a wall outlet power delivery than it would with a portable battery, but it works ok with both. This being said, it really is not that practical to take it, a DAC, a battery and headphones portably, so I see it as a desktop unit that is really easy to carry around.
It does get quite hot during usage, but it takes so little space on your desk that you really don’t notice that you have it unless you are looking for it. It is extremely sensitive to the power delivery current quality, so if your power brick is noisy, you will hear that in the final sound. It also uses the Single ended input, which makes it even more susceptible to inherited noise from the DAC, as RCA does inherit noise compared to 4.4mm and XLR balanced inputs. It is very sensitive to DAC noise too, which is to be expected really, given how much driving power it has.
All of this being said though, it is very simple and convenient, it cannot go wrong or break, no software, no issues, and the volume wheel has a really nice orange LED ring around which makes it nice to use. One thing you will not notice from photos, but the volume wheel has a bit of sway / play. When you turn it, it feels a bit like a joystick, it moves around quite a bit, and you can play with it, which on one hand felt weird at first, but feels kinda nice after you understand this is supposed to happen. It is a few mm of lateral movement.
Sound Quality
Pairings – FiiO Gigas 1 has so much max driving power that I had to test it with both easy and hard to drive headphones to make sure I fully experience it. The list includes Lily Audio Genesis One, Artpical Blue Planet, Faith Audio E1000, Lily Audio Genesis One, KBEar Cepheus, Crosszone CZ-10 Enhanced, NFAudio NE4, Sivga Peng, Crosszone CZ-8a Enhanced, Soundz Flame, Dunu Vulkan 2, Moritz Aura, Hiby Digital Yume, Westone Mach 80, BQEYZ Winter II, Fosi Audio IM4, Aune AC55, iBasso Cookie Ti Jr.
You can expect to drive basically everything you might have minus the very highest peaks. This means that HE6 Remastered is easily drivable out of the Gigas 1, you don’t even reach max volume and power and they already play nice, and the only pair of headphones it was not able to drive satisfactory is Lily Audio Genesis One, and even Susvara unveiled was easily drivable out of Gigas 1. Thing with Genesis One and Susvara OG is that while the sound was ok, max loudness got to around 90dB, which is too low for me to consider that it can drive them. For IEMS, it inherits all of the noise of the DAC, Power Brick, and generally has quite a bit of audible noise, so i do not recommend it as much, and you also have less volume control, as even with the two gain levels, it getsd really loud really fast. For today’s review I have used FiiO K17, Luxin X9 and Sedny Audui Kylin as the DACs to power the Gigas1.
Overall Signature – Gigas 1 is a really transparent, fast and clean sounding amplifier without much defining sonic signature, color or anything that defines it. It is on the neutral side of things, has a bright treble, and a strong vocal range, bass being on the neutral / clean side of things. I find it enjoyable with most headphones, except for HE6 Remastered and He6 series which are brighter by nature and which require a wartmer, colored source to shine, or rather to bass.
Bass – Starting from the low-end, Gigas1 is quite neutral, has a fast bass with good control, and low distortion, but it inherits the signature of the dac in a large portion which makes it really good if you have a warmer DAC or a DAC with EQ. Since EQ would theoretically be limited more by the headroom of the AMP than the DAC itself, a good DAC with EQ will truly be amazing with Gigas1.
Midrange – Vocally, Gigas1 is quite forward, present and vivid, with a strong female and male voicing, no tilting towards upper or lower treble, and with a good control for all styles. It tends to have a smoother texture, but even that is heavily in herited from the DAC, so anything you feed into it, it will project transparently. This is desirable in certain scenarios, but as it does not change the tuning much, it is more of a power addon than a way to fine tune the sound of your system. It feels almost as if gigas1 was made a bit for studio, it can be very hard or softer, but does not impose a certain level of texture. Fun, but a bit on the clinical side unless the DAC is intentionally colored.
Treble – Top end is mostly bright and open, it will allow the cymbal crashes presented by the dac to traverse it and shine into the headphones, having a fairly metallic tinge in the treble, but in general it is transparent. With most headphones you will like what G1 is doing to the sound if they were smoother or darker, but if they were bright and open, it might exaggerate the treble a bit.
Dynamics And Textures – Dynamic range is generally natural, without a strong compression or a particularly widening effect. Textures are natural, it tends to be transparent relative to the DAC, but if you’re using extremely high-end DAC and headphones, you might notice that it tends to be a tiny tiny bit sluggish in the texture response and speed, and it will feel a but smooth and less edgy / less textured than what absolute transparency would sound like.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – Loudness is good, even at max, giga1 has no added noise or distortion which i find surprisingly nice. This being said, it does tend to sound louis with IEMS and sensitive headphones, since it is mainly designed for very hard to drive headphones and the max driving power is huge. I find it best for harder to drive planars and dynamics rather than sensitive IEMs.
Soundstage – Staging is natural, and for most DACs, you will not notice that you are using Gigas 1. It can extend nicely both in width and depth, but it has a neutral bass, so depth feels less than width, as the presentation ends up being holographic, wide, and nicely layered. It has a good control for all instruments and even complex song.
Value – Conclusion
From a price performance perspective, you really can’t go much better if you need raw power. This is a 49 USD AMP that can drive he6se, it has a transparent tuning, and generally will not add any distortion or noise of its own, being basically the ideal entry-level amp. It is not portable, but it can be powered anywhere you have a battery, or type-c wall outlet for it. I find it really good as long as you need the power and nothing in this price point offers the same technical performance and clarity.
At the end of the day, Gigas 1 is a brilliant amplifier, it is too good to be true, and if you need raw power and need it literally cheap, it will deliver a transparent and excellent clarity. I fully recommend it if you’re budget limited and need the best sound you can get for 50 USD.
PROs
- Excellent driving power even at max volume with no self-noise and no added distortion
- Small and convenient, beautiful and neat design
- Simple and effective, nothing to go wrong and nothing to break
- Nice LED around the volume wheel
- Both 4.4mm and 3.5mm headphone outputs
- On / Off switch on the front , for convenient control
- Gain switch included
- Transparent and good even for studio usage
- Can drive very demanding headphones, up to Susvara unveiled or HE6Remastered
Cons
- A bit neutral – bright, does not combine perfectly with bright and fatiguing headphones
- Gets really hot during usage
- Very sensitive to both DAC and power converter noise, audible with IEMS and even with sensitive headphones
- The output power depends on how much current the charger / battery can deliver to it
Product Link
Amazon – https://link.amazon/B05Bq8BF6
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c42LT7w1
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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