Schiit Fulla 3 Review

What is the Schiit Fulla 3?

Essentially, Schiit’s Fulla 3 is one of the most well-rounded mid-priced digital-to-analog converter units on the market. It’s remarkably easy to use, it sounds powerful, and it performs marvelously well in the hands of both beginners and professionals.

I’ve made the Schiit Fulla 3 review for people who are on the market, looking for a quality DAC to pair up to their speaker system; without any further ado, let’s get straight to it.

What are the main specs of Fulla 3?

How is the Fulla 3 designed?

Fulla 3 features a rather plain, straightforward design. It features a sturdy casing and two inputs (microphone and headphone) on the front panel, and four additional inputs at the back (two USB, two aux);

It has a strikingly small footprint that makes it very rewarding for people who don’t have much space to go about. On top of that, it weighs barely 9 ounces, which means that it’s just as portable as it is compact.

In terms of durability, the casing is pretty tough and rugged, although it’s not impervious to physical damage. For as long as you don’t drop it from a couple of feet, you should be fine.

How does the Fulla 3 sound and perform?

Fulla 3 packs AKM’s AK4490 chipset supplied with the TI-OPA1662 filter stage; this particular chip model is remarkably strong and reliable, so you should expect quite a lot from it.

With a massive frequency response range, perfect crosstalk parameters, and relatively low gain, you can rest assured that Fulla 3 delivers nothing but Hi-Fi sonic performance fit for most demanding audiophiles.

What benefits does Schiit Fulla provide?

Schiit Fulla 3 versus Fulla 2

In short, Fulla 3 can be considered as a ‘minor upgrade’ of the Fulla 2. They share a ton of similarities, and even though most of the differences between them are palpable, you’ll hear people that these two are almost exactly the same.

The first notable similarity between Schiit Fulla 2 and 3 is that they are designed in the same way. Both of these DAC units have the same casing, the same type of connections, and the same volume control knob on top of the casing. On top of that, they’re roughly the same size and weight, so in terms of portability and compactness, these two are equals.

Secondly, both Schiit Fulla models come supplied with an identical chipset – the AKM AK4490. Although they don’t sound and perform exactly the same, most non-professionals wouldn’t really be able to tell the difference.

At first glance, Fulla 2 sounds and looks exactly the same as Schiit Fulla 3, so are they even remotely different from one another?

It takes a trained ear to notice the slight differences in the sonic performance of these two DAC units. While Fulla 2 is your average desktop DAC meant to improve the sound quality of your audio, Fulla 3 is substantially more versatile and well-rounded.

Fulla 3 packs a bit more power, a deeper bass, and way more presence; this means that Fulla 3 is, actually, a professional-grade digital to analog converter whereas Fulla 2 isn’t.

Last, but not least, let’s talk about the controllability of these two DAC units. Fulla 2 is pretty good as is, but it won’t give you the ability to completely alter and shape your game audio, music, or tracks. Fulla 3, on another hand, possesses such ability.

Schiit Fulla vs FiiO E10K

Comparing Schiit’s Fulla 3 with FiiO’s E10K was quite a challenge. Both of these USB DACs are of tremendous quality, even though they both belong to the budget price point category.

Let’s begin with the similarities between these two digital to analog converters. First and foremost, both Fulla 3 and FiiO’s E10K are portable DAC devices. FiiO’s E10k is roughly the same size as Fulla 3, but it’s significantly lighter, weighing only 2.72 ounces (in comparison to Fulla’s 9 ounces).

Both of these DAC units are remarkably easy to use as they both come supplied with a single volume control knob. The only difference here is that the knob of FiiO’s E10k is slightly more sensitive.

The last notable similarity between the two is that they both boast a formidable level of connection. They pack several inputs of different types, and even though they were designed as desktop DACs, their portability affords them increased versatility as well.

Now, let’s see how they’re different from one another; FiiO’s E10k is cheaper than Fulla 3 by quite a bit; they both belong to the same price range, though.

On the flip side, Fulla is superior in the field of durability. While E10K has a hardwood body, Fulla 3 packs a robust machined-aluminum construction. Due to their low weight, both should be able to endure quite a bit of punishment.

In terms of sound quality and sonic performance, E10K and Fulla sound drastically different. E10K features the PCM102 chipset while Fulla 3 packs the AKM AK4490; these chips are made by different brands who utilize different kinds of technology, but in terms of objective comparison, Fulla 3 seems to sound just a bit better.