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[Impression] FiiO E7 (warning: lot of pics!!!) - Page 6

post #76 of 195
2/13/10 at 11:38pm
i'm not sure how much the pl30 costs but it should probably be like 30-40 dollars? For most earphones you dont want a much more expensive amp. There are some exceptions if your earphones are good and have been discounted. Some people have been using much more expensive amps with earphones like the RE0.

I would just get some better stuff with that 80 dollars or however much the E7 is going to cost.
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post #77 of 195
2/13/10 at 11:42pm
PL30 is $20-25. They are also extremely sensitive (12Ω / 102dB/mW) and there are a couple of amps they don't like (e.g. the E3). Not saying that they will hiss with the E7 as I really don't know; just a possibility to be aware of.
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post #78 of 195
2/13/10 at 11:47pm
Hi. Like many people on this thread, im trying to figure out which would be the best DAC solution (the best value) for (trans)portable use with a laptop and, like so many others, i've been mainly considering the FIIO E7 and the uDAC among other options.
I've started a thread thats struggling to get anybody's input but it looks (based on reading this thread) like many people are in the same boat.

Clieos, could you please give it a look? You dont need to have heard all the options to maybe have some thoughts about this (of course its perfectly fine if you dont have any) Thanks!
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post #79 of 195
2/14/10 at 12:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xuan87 View Post
your amp shouldn't cost more than your earphones.
what about those high-end amps? like the pico slim, RSA P-51? Those easily cost $400+ whereas most earphones don't cost that much unless you're going customs
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post #80 of 195
2/14/10 at 12:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by EraserXIV View Post
what about those high-end amps? like the pico slim, RSA P-51? Those easily cost $400+ whereas most earphones don't cost that much unless you're going customs
Some people (me included) don't think that it's worth the money for the difference that these amps bring. I try to live by the rule that my headphones should cost more than my amps too (at least until I try out some electrostats and some higher end dynamics. ).

I just believe that there's a bigger difference in upgrading your headphones/earphones. For example, why get a Pico or a RSA P-51 (I'm sure they're great amps.) when you could upgrade to a lower level custom?
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post #81 of 195
2/14/10 at 1:51am
the only reason i would object 2 me getting new headphones is that, i would have too many pairs. right now i have the E3 amp that came free with my pl-30. and i also know that the iphone doesnt have that great of a built-in amp, so therefore, i cant get any better quality with better headphones because the iphone doesnt allow it. ive tried a pair of SE530's, and they sound no better than my sm pl-30(with e3). so this is basically all a matter of the iphone sucking at music playing basically.
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post #82 of 195
2/14/10 at 2:52am
i thought that had to do with the built in headphone jack... have u tried running a LOD from your iphone to your amp?
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post #83 of 195
2/14/10 at 3:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dannyv View Post
the only reason i would object 2 me getting new headphones is that, i would have too many pairs. right now i have the E3 amp that came free with my pl-30. and i also know that the iphone doesnt have that great of a built-in amp, so therefore, i cant get any better quality with better headphones because the iphone doesnt allow it. ive tried a pair of SE530's, and they sound no better than my sm pl-30(with e3). so this is basically all a matter of the iphone sucking at music playing basically.
If you didn't hear a difference between the SE530 and PL30 straight out of your iphone I doubt the E7 will help. The iphone is not the limiting factor.
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post #84 of 195
2/14/10 at 3:19am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeonWho View Post
Some people (me included) don't think that it's worth the money for the difference that these amps bring.
Like many things in Audio world, once you go pass the sweet spot the increment of performance no longer stays proportional to the increment of price. Personally I find (around) $300 to be the point of diminishing return for portable amp. Unless you are very serious about getting the best possible sound regardless of price, I would think that is the best-bang-for-the-bucks price point for most users.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dannyv View Post
the only reason i would object 2 me getting new headphones is that, i would have too many pairs. right now i have the E3 amp that came free with my pl-30. and i also know that the iphone doesnt have that great of a built-in amp, so therefore, i cant get any better quality with better headphones because the iphone doesnt allow it. ive tried a pair of SE530's, and they sound no better than my sm pl-30(with e3). so this is basically all a matter of the iphone sucking at music playing basically.
The thing is, a decent amp needs a decent headphone to drive. I tend to agree with other that you don't need an extra amp to drive PL-30 as the return will not be that significant (for the money you paid for the amp). A more reasonable investment will be either FiiO E1, or the lesser E5 (with a cheap LOD). If you do plan to use E7 with PC, then buying it will make more financial sense if you have no plan to upgrade your headphone.
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post #85 of 195
2/14/10 at 5:59am
So do we have any update on availability / comparison to the uDac? It looks like that one would cost me close to twice the price of the E7 after shipping and customs
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post #86 of 195
2/14/10 at 8:41am
Great review as always, ClieOS.
i maybe interested to the Fiio E7 as DAC, i actually own a Corda 2Move and from your review my amp seems better, but the Fiio maybe very good solution as a small home DAC for my pc.
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post #87 of 195
2/14/10 at 9:05am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by buz View Post
So do we have any update on availability / comparison to the uDac? It looks like that one would cost me close to twice the price of the E7 after shipping and customs
I am waiting for the local NuForce dealer to pick it up. NuForce has a regional distributor here so it shouldn't take too long. The question seems to be whether NuForce has enough uDAC stock for the Asian market. I don't want to import it myself since shipping is going to cost a lot.

Quote:
Originally Posted by archigius View Post
Great review as always, ClieOS.
i maybe interested to the Fiio E7 as DAC, i actually own a Corda 2Move and from your review my amp seems better, but the Fiio maybe very good solution as a small home DAC for my pc.
2MOVE (or 3MOVE in my case, which is basically the same thing) definitely has a better amp section, but not that great of a DAC section.
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post #88 of 195
2/14/10 at 10:58pm
I will be using it out of a laptop as a dac also. Would it be enough to drive some Logitech Z-2300?
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post #89 of 195
2/14/10 at 11:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dannyv View Post
I will be using it out of a laptop as a dac also. Would it be enough to drive some Logitech Z-2300?
The z2300s have their own built in amp, so the e7 would do nothing but feed it a signal.
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post #90 of 195
2/15/10 at 12:54am
Interesting... I wasn't even really wanting to get an external amp/DAC (damn this place).. But now I'm wondering:

1) any opinions on how nicely the E7 would pair w/ a 160Gb iPod Classic (Sept '09 revision) & Klipsch S4's?
2) assuming that setup "makes sense", can anyone suggest a good LOD for my Classic (willing to spend up to $60-$70USD if needed)?
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