I'm a complete noob to all of this, I have no current knowledge of audio, but really want to enhance my listening experience.  So I thought that it would be as easy as buying a nice pair of headphones.  I bit the bullet and got the GMP Maestro 400 on ear headphones, a review on this forum helped me come to this decision.
 
Like all things one wants to do right, one continues to probe around for more info.  Not so hard find, but more difficult decipher.  I think I need a portable amp. to get a great experience from my ipod. Looking around I find the FiiO E5 and the FiiO E7.  Are they the same except for soundcard bit for the 7?
 
One more question, for the cable that will connect to the player to the amp., should it be a LOD or a plain line-out jack cable?
 
Thank you for any info one can provide, I suppose I should also add that I'm on a about $100 budget, so if there is a superior setup than this please add your 2 cents, but not if way off my budget.
 
Thanks and Greetings,
Chris

bump...anybody got any experience with these headphones.

I myself don't know a lot about amps, but I know that 300ohm is quite a lot of resistance for a pair of headphones, thus you'll probably need a powerful amp. I'd be surprised if a FiiO E5 or an E7 could do them justice. If you're looking for portability, you would have been better off getting a pair that's easier to drive. Nonetheless, there are portable amps that will suffice, but they will cost you more than 100, I think. I heard that the Headstage Arrow amp can drive 300ohm headphones very well, but it will cost you 200 euros. It's also ultra portable

Thanks for the reply, I was sort of worried about that as well, but not knowing much, I made a very impulsive buy.  They were only $109 with shipping, I thought that was a good deal.  I think I will be waiting for fiiO E11 to come out, if I can hold onto the spare cash I have for that long!!!

E9 might be better for a full sized. It have much higher output than E7, but won't have the USB DAC (unless you pair it with E7)

$109 is a very good deal, considering that they retail for a lot more. I haven't heard anything about these headphones, so your impressions would be much appreciated. ^^ Nonetheless, I think you need an amp as soon as possible, as 300ohm headphones require one. I'd suggest the arrow amp, as the waiting time is greatly reduced and it seems to be a GREAT amp. You should also bear in mind that an amp is versatile and long lived; you don't want to be stuck with a half-arsed amp.  Go for something good and you won't regret it, especially when you upgrade headphones in the future and you don't necessarily need to upgrade your amp. I'm pretty sure the Arrow amp will outclass the E11, but that's just my hypothesis

Quote:

clieos said:

E9 might be better for a full sized. It have much higher output than E7, but won't have the USB DAC (unless you pair it with E7)

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I think you meant E11 the new yet-to-be-released portable amp instead of E9 the desktop amp
 


Quote:

solenopsis said:

Thanks for the reply, I was sort of worried about that as well, but not knowing much, I made a very impulsive buy.  They were only $109 with shipping, I thought that was a good deal.  I think I will be waiting for fiiO11 to come out, if I can hold onto the spare cash I have for that long!!!

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$109 for a used Headstage Arrow?

 
 
Quote:

Could you stop omitting the "E" in all the Fiio amp/dac product names, it really bugs me. It's Fiio E5, not Fiio 5 for example. That way your thread can appear in the search results.

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Went back and edited the fiio products for ya.  The $109 price tag was for GMP maestro 400, not the Arrow amp.  There is one still available on e-bay if anybody is still interested.

I doubt the e5 will be enough for those cans having owned one last year.  I have heard good things though about the e7, there should be many other posts in this forum that will answer the question about it driving a 300 ohm headphone.
As for the lod, I would definitely recommend one.  I started using one a couple years back and have never gone back to the headphone jack.