Thinking of buying the Fiio E7 and E9 right now. - Page 4

Yes, correct. The D6 is completely portable, but can also be used as a "full-sized" desktop amp/dac just like the docked E7 on E9 without the need for connecting 2 units. If anything, the D6 saves you some space over the E7/E9, while still retaining all of the latter's important functions.

The only thing I don't know is the sound quality of the E7/E9 versus the D6. Not too many reviews have been made on the D6 yet since its a very new product, but I'm pretty sure the DAC in the D6 beats the DAC in the E7. Just look at the specifications -- it can also do 24bit/92kHz. You're getting more than it appears with the D6 -- bigger is not always better in this case. Furthermore you can modify the D6's opamps, which you cannot do in the E7/E9 (potentially making the sound quality even that much better). Worth an extra $75? Quite possibly, in my opinion.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croozer 

The iBasso D6 is a portable amp, I looked at one before I got my E7/E9 but the FiiO gives me both a portable and a full size in one package and it was $75 cheaper.

Regarding the D6 vs. e7/e9 comparison, wouldn't the e9 provide much more power since it is a dedicated desktop headphone amp as opposed to the D6 being a portable combo? I was thinking about the rather expensive high end portable amp headstage arrow HE but I was under the impression a dedicated headphone desktop amp would be much more effective for less (obviously loosing the advantage of portability).

First I want to apologize for being slightly biased in my previous post: the E7 by no means has a bad DAC. In fact, the difference between the DAC in the D6 and E7 is is that the former has two Wolfson WM8740 D/A chips, not just 1 like the latter. So I feel kinda dumb for drawing the conclusion that the D6 must be better in that regard. They're both good. And considering the E7's price, you can't really go wrong.

As far as the power output, yes the E9 does have a pre-amp and therefore I presume is going to be able to go louder than the D6 ever will. The D6 however is no slouch either and puts out a lot  of juice, especially on battery power (the most of any portable amp to date). Now, I'm not good at math, so take this with a grain of salt (I'm merely comparing numbers here):

E9 Output power: 1W (16Ω); 80mW (600Ω) with a line out of 2.0V rms, with a pre out of 0-2V rms

D6 Output power: Up to 650mW+650mW (1.3W) into 32Ω, with a line output of 1.5V rms with a recommended impedance of 8~300Ω

Again, I don't even know if these are the right numbers to be comparing, but yeah. The D6 is not weak by any means and will drive almost any headphone it seems to me.

My decision between the E7/E9 and D6 came down to a couple of factors. One, I just didn't want to deal with two things -- I wanted one small, simple unit on my desk that didn't take up much space. Two, I wanted to be able to have the option of swapping opamps to increase my amp's sound and potential. The D6 did it for me in those two things. Three, I'm getting the HD600s, and from what I've heard, the D6 is great for 650s and 600s alike.

Tough call! Not sure, to be honest. For you, you should just be honest with yourself and what you need. Focusing on the portability aspect alone since you said that was important when you visit your dad, the D6 should beat the E7 hands down. Is it worth the extra ~$225 (after taxes and shipping)? Holy moly I sure hope it is, otherwise I just wasted a lot of money for nothing!