FiiO comes with a mechanical keyboard with built-in headphone amplifier and DAC

Audio company FiiO has released its KB3. This mechanical keyboard has a built-in headphone amplifier and DAC. The FiiO KB3 will be available as a barebone keyboard for $130, or as a pre-built version with keycaps and switches for $150.

The FiiO KB3 according to the manufacturer about an amp/dac combination in the keyboard, which can be connected to a PC via USB. This is done with the same USB cable that is also used to connect the keyboard itself. On the side of the KB3 are a 3.5mm jack and a 4.4mm balanced jacks, to which users can connect headphones.

The keyboard used for the audio two CS43131-dacs and two SGM8262amplifiers, from Cirrus Logic and SGMicro respectively. The headphone jacks can therefore deliver an output power of 550mW, according to the manufacturer. The keyboard supports 32bit/384KHz audio and it DSD256-format. FiiO uses the same components in its KA13 amplifier, which is available for around 85 euros, notes Tom’s Hardware.

The KB3 also has a 75% layout and can be supplied with linear Gateron G Pro 3.0 Yellow switches, which can be swapped by the user with hot swap sockets. The housing is made of aluminum-magnesium alloy with a gasket mount, which should provide a relatively smooth and quiet typing experience. There is a volume rocker on the right side of the keyboard. The keyboard also supports Windows and macOS.

FiiO sells the keyboard via AliExpress. A barebone variant without keycaps and Gateron switches costs 151 euros. A variant with switches and keycaps costs approximately 174 euros. There is also a wireless variant with keycaps and switches. It costs 151 euros, but does not have a built-in headphone amplifier and DAC.