This mechanical keyboard has a headphone jack you might actually want to use

He KB3 is a new mechanical keyboard from audio brand FiiO with a built-in headphone jack that has a good chance of sounding better than the existing 3.5mm output on your desktop or laptop. This is because the headphone jack not only passes through your computer’s analog audio, but is connected to a combination DAC and headphone amplifier that is built into the keyboard.

So instead of having a headphone cable snaking across your desk to get to your machine, or cluttering your workspace with a separate DAC and headphone amp, in theory all of these devices can be integrated directly into the keyboard. which is under your hands. And it comes from a company that knows a thing or two about audio (even if its keyboard-making skills are less proven).

I can understand the argument that you’ll get better results by purchasing gear like this separately, but the KB3’s audio and keyboard specs don’t contain any major red flags for an all-in-one device at this price. On the audio side, the keyboard is equipped with two Cirrus Logic CS43131 DACs and supports up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 audio. In addition to the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, there is also a 4.4mm balanced output. Tom Hardware grades that the audio specs seem to match FiiO’s $80 KA13 headphone amp.

The peripheral doesn’t seem to be a slouch in the keyboard department either. It’s board mounted, with hot-swap switches (meaning they can be replaced without soldering), is compatible with Mac and Windows, includes RGB lighting, and is compatible with the popular VIA configuration software. It’s available in a basic option that comes without switches or keycaps, but if you want them included, you’ll get Gateron G Pro 3.0 yellow switches and what appears to be a set of translucent keycaps. It uses the ever-popular 75 percent compact design, similar to what you’ll find on many laptops, and of course, there’s a dial on the top right to control the volume.

FiiO is far from the first brand to have thought about incorporating a 3.5mm headphone jack into a keyboard. He Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2016, for example, could plug into your computer’s 3.5mm jack and pass audio to a port on the keyboard itself. But the general wisdom has been not to rely on headphone jacks like these because of the audio interference that passing an analog signal through a keyboard could add. By taking a digital audio signal from a computer and converting it using a built-in DAC, FiiO’s approach is similar to Moon Drop Dashanother recent keyboard with built-in headphone jack.

FiiO is selling the KB3 via aliexpress, where you can get it for $129.99 without switches or keys, or $149.99 as a fully assembled model. It’s also available as a wireless keyboard, for $129.99 fully assembled, but this model doesn’t have any of the cool audio features.