The Fiio KA17 is a very small and lightweight portable Headphone Dac/Amp selling at around 149€ in the EU.

The device comes in a very nice packaging. The box holds the Dac, a tiny USB-C cable, an USB-C to A adapter and a (P)leader case
to protect the unit during usage

Even though the dongle is very light it feels very sturdy when holding it in my hands, the build quality and design is excellent for the
price. The display is small but very sharp which makes it easy to read and cycling through the menus. The volume, the menu buttons
and the switch to enable the desktop mode are located in the right side. The menu itself is very straightforward and there some functions
that can be adjusted here like rotation display which turns the display 180 degrees, Display timeout setting in 5 increments between 5 and 60 seconds,
2 USB compatibility modes UAC1/2, Language selection English or Chinese, gain modes etc.

The KA17 has two outputs on top, a single ended 3.5 and 4.4 balanced connector for headphones & IEM's so basically every standard connection needed.
There are 2 USB-C inputs, one located on the bottom for audio and one the side for desktop mode which will be needed for harder to drive full size headphones.
Speaking about power the THX AAA 78+ headphone amp chip delivers a maximum output at 650 mw from 4.4 in Desktop mode! which is quite a lot and a respectful 300mw from 4.4 in normal mode.
On the single ended connection it delivers 270mw in desktop and 140mw in normal mode, all ratings at 32Ohm Load. So there should be enough power to drive most IEM's and Full Size Headphones out there.
the DAC chips inside are 2 times ES9069Q in dual mono configuration supporting up to DSD512, 768kHz/32bit and full MQA unfolding for those ho still need it and finally for USB decoding an XMOS XU316 chip.

                                         So basically all ingredients are there to make for a good sounding device and i think it doesn't lack in that department.                                                                      If i would have to describe the sound in a few words i would say that it is neutral very technical capable and leaning a bit on the brighter side, not in a way that it feels too analytical, dry sounding or fatiguing but none the less should be taken into account
when pairing it to the right category of headphones and IEM's to get a good synergy unless you want to mess with EQ. Yes the KA17 has an ace up it's sleeve that is not so common in the price range. It has 10-band Parametric EQ (with 7 presets and 3 user presets) that can be accessed via the Fiio Connect app on Android/IOS devices so headphones and IEM's can be tuned to your preferences to a certain degree. The soundstage & imaging of the KA17 is also very good for the price.

But it's not all roses either, almost neither device is perfect so to consider here is that the KA17 has no internal battery and is quiet power hungry it will drain the battery of the mobile device more so than the average dongles. Also as above mentioned the desktop mode can come in handy when the need is there to drive headphones that need more juice but in that case also 2 USB cables need to be connected to the device to enable it. For those who are looking
for Bluetooth capabilities the KA17 doesn't have any of it, it's a pure USB dongle. Lastly the KA17 can run very hot to the touch especially when used in desktop mode.

Quick comparisons: The Fiio KA17 is a very capable and great sounding device comparing it to the other dongles i have on hand it performs very well indeed, it is step up over the below 100€ Fosi DS1 Dongle not so in terms of
power output but more on technicalities and versatility, it is quiet more resolving than the DS1, going up a notch in price against the 200€ Ibasso DC07pro, i would say that technically right out of the box without any EQ applied on the KA17 they are both on par but the Ibasso having the overall more enjoyable sound signature for my taste leaning towards a warmer presentation.

Last Word:
My final thoughts on the Fiio KA17, it is really small and great sounding versatile device, it isn't perfect but very well positioned in it's price range. It is very powerful and with it's customisable Eq functions it has
the edge over it's competitors, at least for those who like tweaking their headphones and Iem's. All in all a great device from Fiio brand.