The Official Fiio E9 Thread with Video Unbox-Review - Page 49

No, in this A1 clone which is called "Breeze Audio E3":
http://www.ebay.pl/itm/E3-headphone-amplifier-kit-UPC1237-Protection-WLX-4-/200611097126

Very nice design, but sound a little disappointing - not match for superior "Breeze Audio E4".

Edited by borizm - 12/22/11 at 5:48pm

I use this funny-looking 4 x TDA1543 DAC directly driving DT880 600 ohm for 100% of the time in home:

and mine Breeze Audio E4 is on the pipeline, because of little lack of control over the headphones (these DACs give only 8 mA) and problems with more complex recordings.

FiiO E9 (stock, unmodified) had its chance to run with it (and with other DACs and CDs I have), but had lost it, few other amps win over it, and this JFET/MOSFET based discrete "Breeze Audio E4" was clearly the best - difference was really huge (like high-end vs hi-fi).

Edited by borizm - 12/23/11 at 1:16am

I just got the e7 e9 combo. Mainly I got this for the portable amplifier to make my headphones bump while on the bus, but oh what more I learned. I realize now that all the years I have been playing my media off of my computers that i have been amplifying crap. I have an ear for details, and right now I'm listening to some crystal clear audio coming from my laptop like i have never heard from a computer. For 200 bucks i am totally ecstatic about this product. It makes my home stereo rage, and my headphones sing. Gone are the days of amplifying microphone to rca adapters. Until someone comes out with some quality hifi  computer sound output, this product is a must for anyone who wants to make there pc, laptop, or ipod the center of the entertainment. Maybe there is better stuff out there, but this sounds really ******* good to me. I'm hearing things in my music that I never knew where there. Fiio makes good stuff!

Still very impressed with my E9 though I was having distortion issues with certain songs off my DT990/600 (didn't happen when I had my DT990/600 a year ago. I have abused the hell out of this E9, so I guess it's time for a replacement. Just when I want to replace it, it's behaving itself and sounds absolutely perfect now. ARGH.

So I got the L7 cable for the E7, and hooked it up to the line in on the E9 to see how it sounds undocked vs docked. Largely the same, though I do detect a hint of warmness over the more neutral sound when the E7 is docked. My guess is that the 3.5mm male/male cable I'm using adds a slight hint of warmth.

E7 docked to E9 ... or ... E7+L7 connected through 3.5mm with E9 is exactly the same (although 3.5mm cable introduces losses and/or colorisation).

Better replace E9 - it causes a lot of losses to music quality. Use L7 for connection to some new decent amp to skip unfaumous TPA6120 (the same is in E9) in E7 headphone output. High quality and shortness of this 3.5mm cable is really impotant.

 

 

Edited by borizm - 1/11/12 at 2:14pm

No need to bash the E9, I've already compared it to the Schiit Lyr, and I still prefer the E9 for most headphones. Causes a lot of losses to music quality. WTF? Just...no.

No loss of music quality here. Still like my E9 just by itself or with the E7. The E10 is another punchy , kicking butt for hard rock.

I've been holding out on replacing the E7... it's about that time, as it's definitely my bottleneck. Would've bought the E10 or Alpen/E17, but I'm going non-Fiio for my upgrades. I love Fiio, but I just wanna try something new. XD

Anyone know what to do about the bad 3.5mm jack? So frustrating slight movement of the jack distorts the sound. I tried an adaptor for the 6.35mm jack and it also seems to have a problem to a smaller extent.

I've heard of some people having a problem with the 3.5mm jacks, but not the 6.35mm and certainly not both at once.

 

Is it too late to exchange for a new one?

yeah, I would say the faulty 3.5mm jack is the only thing that has disappointed me with the E9 so far, I thought I was only one of the few who were unfortunate enough to have a model with this problem, as none of the reviews seem to mention it, but obviously its more widespread. However, I have found that rotating the plug clockwise once it is inside the jack until there is no noise distortion, does seem to solve the problem, even when there is a slight movement of the cord.

I was thinking the same thing for a while, and wasn't sure if the e17 would pair well with the e9 so I recently ordered the Hrt Music Streamer ii.  I was worried about clipping and distortion at first but I haven't noticed any, it appears to work just fine for me at least.  The higher voltage out of the Hrt msii also has given my e9 greater power in amplifying my hd650, as now the dial is turned to around 10 o'clock as opposed to 12 in low gain mode.  Also I would hear a slight hiss from the e9/e7 combo which is now nonexistent.  Overall I would say that the hrt msii is a nice, reasonably priced upgrade to the e7, with a noticeably larger soundstage, better instrument separation and tremble.  

I am having an issue with the 1/4" jack on my E9. I first noticed that the line out of the E9 was not working but the headphone outputs work. After some debugging it became apparent that the auto-sensing of the jack seems to be broken (I can get line out to work if I fidget the jack a bit). Now the question is how good (or bad) is Fiio warranty service? If it was a huge hassle I might just try to repair it myself. Thanks.

Question here, can the E9 be used as a pre amp to a power amp to drive loudspeakers? If so are there any power amps that pair well at a budget price?