FiiO E9 Review - Page 32

I have employed CRC contact cleaner, at the first moment the static noise became horrible during a pair of days, after that the noise return to be like in the begining, that means there was no improvement. I have observed also that at the first 15-20 minutes when I switch on the E9 the noise is more noticiable than after. I live in Spain, and here is not to cold, but little wet. I wish you find a solution, for me that noise is quite dusturbing; I bought my E9 early in november from Lambayrules in Ireland because I found no autorized dealer selling the E9 in my country.

You must be a volume jockey who is dj-ing with the volume knob.

Disturbing? Wow. Talk about blowing up a small annoyance into an ordeal.

I move the volume knob as many times as I need, but don't forget that this noise  is not my fault, it is a defect of the E9.    I wont tell you how frecuently should you adjust the volume. Thanks anyway.

I am not sure it is fair to call it a defect of the E9 as it is really more of a reality of using an analog POT as opposed to using digital volume adjustment.  Virtually any analog POT will have some level of noise because it is mechanical in nature. I have several friends who have a multi thousand dollar guitar amps and there is almost always some level of crackle and noise when their adjust the various POTs on the amps.  However the control and smoothness of an analog POT is something that IMHO cant be matched by digital technology.  So it is somewhat of a trade off.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbiker 

I move the volume knob as many times as I need, but don't forget that this noise  is not my fault, it is a defect of the E9.    I wont tell you how frecuently should you adjust the volume. Thanks anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisbrock 

I am not sure it is fair to call it a defect of the E9 as it is really more of a reality of using an analog POT as opposed to using digital volume adjustment.  Virtually any analog POT will have some level of noise because it is mechanical in nature. I have several friends who have a multi thousand dollar guitar amps and there is almost always some level of crackle and noise when their adjust the various POTs on the amps.  However the control and smoothness of an analog POT is something that IMHO cant be matched by digital technology.  So it is somewhat of a trade off.  

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbiker 

I move the volume knob as many times as I need, but don't forget that this noise  is not my fault, it is a defect of the E9.    I wont tell you how frecuently should you adjust the volume. Thanks anyway.

I use a Audiolab 8000SE amp as well as a Cmoy years ago and I have never heard any noise from the potentiometer.
 

Hello guys!

So, my situation is that I have a Sennheiser HD 598 and a IE7 and no real amp. I use the headphone on my computer with an Asus Xonar D1 soundcard. For the IEM I've an Ipod Classic first generation (120GB). So this combination of a desktop amp, portable amp and even a DAC for ~200$ seems very promising, but would I really profit from such an update? If so, would that profit worth the cost? (Yeah, that's kinda subjective, but still...)

Hope this is the right place to ask, didn't want to make a new topic. :-)

Short answer; yes absolutely.

The FiiO E7/E9 is outstanding to the point where you really wont need to upgrade beyond it unless you want to either go down the tube avenue or spend exponentially more for a marginal increase in performance.

And worth the cost? I don't think there's anything subjective about a $129 amp being able to power $1,399 headphones... As I said earlier, that kind of price to performance ratio was UNHEARD of until the E9 came along.

have any one ever open op their E9 if so does it has a Dip-8 socket, I wondering because I like to try different op-amps from time to time.Because of the E9 looking so temping since I thought about a External USB DAC/amp In The Future, So I could change op-amps without having to open my comp every time.

Also can the DAC be disabled so it could be used with another source thru the Line In. Like if I wanted to use my STX as a DAC and the E9 as the Amp.

I agree, the value is amazing.

Riku, have you seen any more E9 comparisons? I've been reading the A/B amp thread, but nothing about the E9 yet.  ( http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/521988/amp-a-b-comparisons/75#post_7158012 )

What I have noticed is that all the solid state amps are pretty darn good. It appears that the differences in solid state sound are minute. On the other hand, the OP of that forum seems to think that there can be greater differences in tube.

The E9 being a solid state amp thus appears to be equally as good as any other quality $500+ solid state amp.

Therefore, it seems reasonable that an E9 would have such high value.

Hey all, I'm getting paid tomorrow and i'm going to be purchasing HD650's. I need a amp/dac setup and sounds like the fiio combo would be ideal since i'm low on budget. I can only buy either the e7 or e9 immediately and buy the other later in the year when i save up. Would it be wise to buy the e7 first or the e9? i don't have any amps or dacs to use currently. 

If you are using a PC with onboard sound, probably the E7 first.

If your PC has a decent soundcard already with a line out, or you are using a portable device or other dedicated music player, the E9 will be more useful.

Thanks! sounds like the e7 will be more of use for now. Another quick question, how does the e7+e9 combo compare to the hifiman ef2a?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riku540 

And worth the cost? I don't think there's anything subjective about a $129 amp being able to power $1,399 headphones... As I said earlier, that kind of price to performance ratio was UNHEARD of until the E9 came along.

Actually, the PS1000 is $1.7k and is exactly as sensitive as an SR60. More expensive /= harder to drive.

But I'm just nitpicking. And you're glaring at me.

Sorry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoetheArachnid 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riku540 

And worth the cost? I don't think there's anything subjective about a $129 amp being able to power $1,399 headphones... As I said earlier, that kind of price to performance ratio was UNHEARD of until the E9 came along.

 

Actually, the PS1000 is $1.7k and is exactly as sensitive as an SR60. More expensive /= harder to drive.

But I'm just nitpicking. And you're glaring at me.

 

Sorry.

Yes yes. To clarify, I am not speaking price alone. If you go back a page, I am talking specifically the Beyerdynamic T1, Sennheiser HD800, and AKG K1000 which are all power hungry flagship headphones and have all been tried by Head-Fi'ers using the E7/E9.

I can obviously see that they are trying to look after their customers even if they haven't sold me my unit. I wasn't really looking for convincing there ? As has been mentioned by feiao, the sheer demand for the amp may have led to 1 or 2 QC issues.

feiao "Also I should admit that there do have some defecitve prducts because we sold out so many amp per month! but we will try to improve our QC constantly and solve the problem if it happen!"

That is what I was referring to when I mentioned the odd 'bug' in new products.

I read that the E9 can run the 'big guns' but I'm running some RS-1's so apart from making sure the current is 'good to go', I don't need that much power. when I did try it, I noticed I couldn't have the volume past 10-11.

I still haven't heard anything from the seller on amazon (Fiio UK) so I am assuming they have just used the 'Fiio' name as they also are not mentioned in the list of UK suppliers here. I will have to file a returns with amazon and let them take up the issue. I appreciate your help feiao but will try to resolve it with the seller first.