I sent my Fiio E17K Alpen 2 to a friend after upgrading to the Chord Mojo but we couldn't get the iMac to recognize the Fiio whatsoever. Connecting the device to several USB ports on his iMac after disconnecting every other USB peripheral device, resetting the SMC and NVRAM/PRAM, restarting the OS, using the "Audio Midi Setup" in OSX yielded the same result: the DAC would power on but fail to populate under the "Output" tab in "System Preferences > Sound". We tested the each USB port and found them all to be fully functional. I have used ~10 different USB-A to USB-micro cables with this DAC without issue. Under Fiio's support page, Fiio indicates the following:
Q: Why does the USB socket on the E17K look different from usual Micro USB ports?
A: The E17K utilizes a 11 pin USB socket, which is expandable beyond the usual charging and data exchange capabilities to include docking with future FiiO devices, realizing functions such as line output and automatic power-on/off together with docked device.
My recommendation to him was to use a USB-A to USB-micro cable from Audioquest because I know that AQ cabling will work even though I don't know whether it is 5-pin or 11-pin, or what manufacturer even makes an 11-pin.
Another question: Fiio will not guarantee that the E17K will work with iPhone or Android, but there are some reports that it might with an iPhone using a genuine Apple CCK connection. Can anyone here confirm this?
Robert
Author
Topic: USB-micro 5-pin or 11-pin, Fiio E17K Alpen 2, iPhone 6 (Read 3257 times)