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FiiO E5 amp (E3 upgraded) - Page 52

post #766 of 1733
12/17/08 at 3:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by boomy3555 View Post
The "Hong Kong Post" tracking number can be entered into the USPS tracking system, so that is convenient but I still find my packages arriving before the tracking even shows it leaving Hong Kong.
Thanks for that tip!
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

FiiO E5 Headphone Amplifier
$15.01 at
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post #767 of 1733
12/17/08 at 4:55am
Anyone have anything to say about battery life yet?
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post #768 of 1733
12/17/08 at 7:19am
Can anyone come up with a conclusive review of the E5 yet? I went to a shop here in AU and asked the guy working there about the Fiio E5, and he just told me that it simply amplifies the volume of the music, and has no significant effect on the SQ of the music coming through. He says that most users mistake louder volume for increase sound quality, which isn't so far-fetched at all since music really is more enjoyable at higher volumes.

I'm a little bit skeptical about the E5 and would like to see a complete review on it where the reviewer isn't just trying to rationalize his/her purchase by praising the product undeservingly.
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post #769 of 1733
12/17/08 at 8:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by iareConfusE View Post
Can anyone come up with a conclusive review of the E5 yet? I went to a shop here in AU and asked the guy working there about the Fiio E5, and he just told me that it simply amplifies the volume of the music, and has no significant effect on the SQ of the music coming through. He says that most users mistake louder volume for increase sound quality, which isn't so far-fetched at all since music really is more enjoyable at higher volumes.

I'm a little bit skeptical about the E5 and would like to see a complete review on it where the reviewer isn't just trying to rationalize his/her purchase by praising the product undeservingly.
I think the main issue is that most mp3 players have lots of harmonic distortion when you add a load, such as a headphone (a friend of mine has measured this qualitatively on an iriver, by playing sine tones, and you could clearly see the harmonics). Especially at high volumes, the harmonic distortion is huge! Since the amp is usually current limited but has plenty of volts, the results were poorer for low impedances (I think this was demonstrated this quite clearly, although I didn't keep the graphs...).

An amp kind of fixes this. At high volumes with my mp3 player, there is no doubt that the E5 (with flat EQ, i.e. it should do 'nothing' besides raise the volume) improves the sound.
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post #770 of 1733
12/17/08 at 8:56am
Thread Starter 
If you looking for a review that tells you this $25 amp sounds like a $100 amp than I am almost certain that the reviewer is either lying or has no idea of what his is talking about. E5 is fun to have and use, cheap enough not to break the bank, good enough (and maybe a bit more) for its price tag, and small enough that can be carried around without feeling like a dead weight. It is not Pico, iQube, or P-51 and it should never be mistaken as one. What other things do you want that you think will justify the $25 price tag? Do you really think $25 will actually give you a significant effect on the SQ? If it does, I am sure it won't be sold for $25 anymore.

If you must, you can imagine E5 as the E3 with more functions, less warm, synergistically more friendly, and slightly better on detail - I think it is as conclusive as it can ever be. Whether it worths your $25 is really up to your own judgment.
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post #771 of 1733
12/17/08 at 10:16am
Does the rediculous belt clip come off the E5...either by screw or by force?

I am going to get one but would like to reduce the bulk even more by removing the clip.
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post #772 of 1733
12/17/08 at 10:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClieOS View Post
If you looking for a review that tells you this $25 amp sounds like a $100 amp than I am almost certain that the reviewer is either lying or has no idea of what his is talking about. E5 is fun to have and use, cheap enough not to break the bank, good enough (and maybe a bit more) for its price tag, and small enough that can be carried around without feeling like a dead weight. It is not Pico, iQube, or P-51 and it should never be mistaken as one. What other things do you want that you think will justify the $25 price tag? Do you really think $25 will actually give you a significant effect on the SQ? If it does, I am sure it won't be sold for $25 anymore.

If you must, you can imagine E5 as the E3 with more functions, less warm, synergistically more friendly, and slightly better on detail - I think it is as conclusive as it can ever be. Whether it worths your $25 is really up to your own judgment.
I wasn't trying to compare the E5 to a $100 amp anywhere in my post. I was just trying to ask if there really is any noticeable difference in sound quality. I don't just mean an ever so slight tweak in a single frequency that some of you seem to be able to pick out, I mean a crystal clear difference in sound quality. The SQ gap doesn't have to be as big as you might find with a more expensive amp, but it just has to be there to be worth it IMO.

The point that I'm trying to get across is that I'm not sure if many reviewers are giving an honest review, or if they are just telling themselves (as well as others) that the product is good, to make themselves feel better about buying a product they my have some internal doubts about.
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post #773 of 1733
12/17/08 at 10:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by akki007 View Post
Does the rediculous belt clip come off the E5...either by screw or by force?

I am going to get one but would like to reduce the bulk even more by removing the clip.
The clip will come off with a screw but having the unit in person it really is not obtrusive. I thought the first thing I would do with the unit is take that off but it really does not cause any problems with the E5. The clip is very flush to the unit and is not a hinderance.
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post #774 of 1733
12/17/08 at 10:41am
Well I did some listening to my E5 last night and have some impressions.

Compared to the E3 the E5 has less hiss more clarity and more deep bass while not as much mid range bass. The E5 sound like a more detailed device I attribute that to the better S/N ration which also leads to it having less hiss.

It may not be the best portable amp in the world but it does it's job well and music from it sound really good and not low end at all.

I'm a basshead even though I do not listen to rap or hip hop and I found I do like the bass boost feature even with my Atrio M5 version 2's. Some people with the Atrio's felt the bass boost was to much I felt it was just right for my taste and enjoy the hard hitting home stereo sounding effect the Atrio's combined with the E5 give you.

Fiio has done a great job with the E5, it sounds very good and for 25$ sounds much better than it's price.

so in summary compared to the E3

Less background noise than the E3
Better Clarity
Better low end Bass
Not as much mid range bass
Better stereo separation

I'm very happy with the E5.
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post #775 of 1733
12/17/08 at 11:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by iareConfusE View Post
...
Here lie two problems.

First, there will almost always be a SQ gap b/w amp and no amp, and judging the size of that gap is fundamentally an subjective call (not to mention you still have to consider whether that person has the right headphone and source to benefit from the amp). A person who don't have any experience with amp might think the gap is big but a person who own multiple top-end amp might think the gap is miniscule. The only thing that can be certain is their opinions are all valid for themselves. Second, you are right that some of us sometime try to justify our expensive hobby. However, it is hard to believe that so many head-fi'ers need to justify a $25 purchase when they have already spent hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on other gears. At least I don't think $25 is a strong reason for self-justification.

Do you know whether that guy on the shop have heard the E5 or not? If he did, how do you know he isn't talking as a person who own multiple top-end amp and think the gap is miniscule (while you might think oppositely like the other person)?
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post #776 of 1733
12/17/08 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by swanlee View Post
The clip will come off with a screw but having the unit in person it really is not obtrusive. I thought the first thing I would do with the unit is take that off but it really does not cause any problems with the E5. The clip is very flush to the unit and is not a hinderance.
I really wouldn't recommend removing the clip, even though it comes off easily.
It's actually the only thing holding the everything together and without it the amp itself would slide off the case.
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post #777 of 1733
12/17/08 at 2:11pm
As to whether the FiiO amps do anything apart from volume, and noticeably:

As to the E3 (and presumably the E5; I'm waiting for delivery right now), yes, it changes the nature of the sound (the store guy is wrong)--with my set-up and to my ears, a 10-20% positive change in the fullness and clarity of the sound, totally apart from the volume increase. And at the price, IMHO, a positive deal.
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post #778 of 1733
12/17/08 at 2:15pm
just received. charging and playing at the same time.
nifty feature. it really is small... anyone been burning theirs in? or is everyone just assuming the sound signature out of teh box?
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post #779 of 1733
12/17/08 at 4:00pm
Most people who would buy just a 25.00 Fioo and nothing else are probably using a small inexpensive source such as a shuffle. If you start out with such a small entry level source yiou probaly won't hear much difference between a 25.00 Fiio and a larger amp such as a Pico, or Nuforce Icon mobile, Simply because of the limitaions of you source. Not to mention, it is not likely, the same person would have any better cans or IEM's than say Koss porta-pro or Senn CX500's or Skull candy.
In My Opinion they are simply have a good quality to cost ratio. but don't expect them to perfom beyond that.
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post #780 of 1733
12/17/08 at 4:20pm
How is the NuForce Icon Mobile boomy?
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

FiiO E5 Headphone Amplifier
$15.01 at
See it »
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