I'm a music lover and also quite new to the Hi-FI world, and haven't really tried higher end DACs/Amps, although I've been using the FiiO E10 long enough to have an idea of what it is capable of.
Starting with the first impressions:
This is a pretty small and light Amp/DAC, even lighter than you might think. The first time I held it, I was kind of surprised how light it was, thinking it wouldn't be able to make much difference on the sound produced by my headphones and laptop.
Build:
It is quite well built. I wouldn't say it is an impressive build quality, but it does feel solid and nice with its aluminum outer casing and rubbery feet.
It has a headphone output, a bass enhancing switch and the volume knob with a bright blue led on the front.
The back has a USB input (mini USB), a coaxial output (comes covered with a yellow rubber cap) and a line out (to connect to your stereo, bypassing the amp section).
The under side shows the gain switch (which is prone to becoming loose after only a few times being fiddled with).
The upper side has nothing but the FiiO logo and the name of the model (in this case, Olympus).
The volume knob turns well, offering some resistance, but it's not a smooth 'oily' turn.
The inputs and outputs are well placed and allow you to connect your source (mainly the USB input), your stereo (through the Line Out) and your set of headphones (through the headphone output).
BRIGHT is what I'd say about the front LED. I mean, it is alright if you're not using your device in the dark, but if you turn off the lights, that little blue LED sends some seriously heavenly rays of light through the darkest of the rooms.
The bass enhancing switch is quite nice. It does enhances the bass, although I don't really like using it, since I prefer neutrality. It enhances the sound across all the spectrum, adding an emphasis in the low frequencies. The bass gets more punch and depth, but becomes a little bit bloated.
There is not much to say about the outputs and inputs on the back, other than that they do their job properly.
Sound:
I cannot compare this to any other amp/dac, since this is still the only one I have and used.
In my rookie audiophile opinion, this is a very good entrance into the Hi-Fi world. I've felt a huuuge difference between listening to music straight from the headphone jack from my Macbook Air and listening to music through the FiiO E10, not only using headphones, but also using my stereo (Logitech z623).
This small device is able to bring life to your music. It adds depth to the soundstage, strengthens the bass and defines and clarifies the trebles and all the other frequencies. It also eliminated the hiss that I used be able to hear when listening straight from the headphone jack from my laptop, thus, improving the listening experience drastically.
As I said before, I prefer neutrality over colourful sound, so I dislike turning the bass enhancing on. It does help to add punch and power to the low end, and, to a lesser extension, to mids and highs, but I feel like the sound gets a little bloated and loses its definition and clarity. I leave it off at all times.
The gear I use with the FiiO E10 are, in order of acquisition:
- Logitech z623;
- Superlux HD668B (with 100+ hours of burn-in);
- Shure SRH840;
- AKG K702.
The Logitech z623 is not a monitoring set, nor it is considered an audiophile grade set of speakers, but when plugged in the FiiO E10, they did sound better, more defined and with that special touch of clarity that the FiiO E10 adds up to the sound.
Thought the Line Out on the back, the sound changes little, loses very little definition (almost inaudible difference). The only difference would be that the volume will be fixed, and the volume knob in the FiiO E10 won't have any effect. The volume will be controlled using the knobs on the stereo instead.
I prefer always using the headphone out, either for listening with headphones or with the stereo, since it does add that subtle touch to the sound quality (in case of using the stereo).
The Superlux HD668B, and also the Shure SRH840, really came alive with the FiiO E10, benefiting in every frequency across the listenable spectrum. The highs got clarified, the bass defined and extended and the mids came forward, but all in a neutral manner, each one staying where it should stay, without invading the other frequencies. There was some improvement to the soundstage, mainly with the Superlux, since it is semi-open and already has a wider soundstage signature than the Shure, but there was also an audible difference with the Shure, and it surprised me how good the soundstage could be in a closed-back set of headphones.
At first, I thought the FiiO E10 wouldn't be powerful enough to feed the AKG K702, since I had read in many threads that this set of headphones is power hungry, but I was surprised on how well it did power them, even using the 'low gain' option.
If there was a change with the sound, the AKG K702 is the one which showed it the most. It is quite famous for its sound quality and brightness, but through the FiiO E10, I've heard a very nice improvement, mainly to the soundstage. It felt like I was in the middle of the stage, with the orchestra playing around me. I could hear every single detail in each instrument, even the breath that the players took to blow the air-instruments, and the slightest of touch in the cymbals, as well as the creaking of the chairs.
It might be an exaggeration coming from my rookie audiophile perception, since I am new to this hobby, but I can say that this little FiiO E10 adds quite a resolution to the sound produced by the AKG K702, which became my preferred all around headphones.
If you're a bass head and you, like many others, think that the AKG K702 lacks bass, just turn on the bass enhancing switch or use an EQ to add some punch to the low frequencies.
Are you on a budget?
Are you, like me, new to the audiophile world?
Have you been looking for a good entrance level amp/DAC?
Then, I highly recommend you the FiiO E10.
Not that I tried other amps/DACs, but I tried and bought this one and I regret nothing.
Hope this helps the fellow audiophile rookies that are considering buying this amp/DAC as their first/second/budget/whatever the reason amp/DAC.
