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clieos said:

Yes, it is perfectly normal. All analog pot of similar kind to that inside of E10 will exhibit similar behavior in low volume because they are generally not perfectly matched in low position.

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thanks! i was getting worried that i had a bad unit 

what's everyone using their e10 with?

I mainly use it to feed into my Creative Gigawork T40 Series II speaker and a Creative powered-sub. I don't really listen to music that much on my PC so it is mainly for movies and games.

Quote:

melvins said:

what's everyone using their e10 with?

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Laptop and Ultrasone DJ1. Might pick up a LD I+ and pair the DAC with it. Sort of as an intro to valve amps and tube rolling.

Desktop - Fiio E10 - Sennheiser HD555's

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washedupred said:

Still holding out for the newest version but haven't heard any news of people reporting they have received the new version. I have noticed the price lowered to 76$ at amazon but i will stay patient until i hear about the revised e10.

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Anyone get the new version yet?  I just returned mine to Amazon for a flaky headphone jack.  Not sure how to tell whether I'll get the new version or if I just have to keep buying and returning them..?
 

If you are talking about the 3rd batch of E10, mp4nation has them in stock according to their forums.
 
Edit: It turns out that they don't have the 3rd batch. They just think they do

 
Quote:

clieos said:

I mainly use it to feed into my Creative Gigawork T40 Series II speaker and a Creative powered-sub. I don't really listen to music that much on my PC so it is mainly for movies and games.

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Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do you connect your speakers to the headphone out or the line-out?
 

realslimseto said:

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do you connect your speakers to the headphone out or the line-out?

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Line-out of course. Both Creative are self-powered and have their own volume control, so line-out makes best sense.

Quote:

clieos said:

Line-out of course. Both Creative are self-powered and have their own volume control, so line-out makes best sense.

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Thank you. Looks like I'll be able to connect my T3 to it as well.
 

Well after having my E10 for a few weeks I feel ready to give my initial impressions on it.
 
I really wanted an upgrade on the stock sound I was getting out of my desktop rig. I had splurged on every aspect of building the damn thing, except for the soundcard. I decided using the on-board realtek was good enough. WRONG.
After hooking up my M-Audio AV-30's to it I was less than impressed and felt that I had made a mistake in my speakers. It wasn't until I got brave one day and hooked up my Cowon J3 to the Aux In on them that I found out that they were VERY capable little boxes. So what now? Search for a better on-board. However after a lot of looking I decided that a DAC/Amp might be a better fit, since I would like to move it back and forth between my laptop and desktop. 
When I first got it hooked up I originally tested in with just my headphones, despite my main use of it being for use as a USB DAC as opposed to an amp.
I tried out everything in reach, and was mighty impressed. I even plugged in my brothers Aviators and held down the mute button on the inline just to hear what it would sound like. The story was the same. A very strong but detailed low end, with a great level of separation between everything. Nothing sounded messy, and I was able to pick out a lot of new detail. The mids were very clear and vocals sounded fantastic. How you Like Me Now by The Heavy was a great first track to try out.
After sampling through various headphones including my Monster Turbine Pro Coppers, I was very pleased. So I plugged my AV-30's through the line out, and found a very satisfying sound coming through. Detailed mids, pleasing lows, and the highs sounded more refined and less shrill. When I through on LMAO's Party Rock Anthem for my niece to listen to I found that Lauren Bennett's voice lacked the hiss that it had previously contained.
 
Taking what the E10 had done for my computer sound I got to thinking that I should buy a portable amp to use with it, instead of using the EQ on my J3 to listen to my music. 
So the hunt begins again.
 

Do I have to unplug my headphones whenever I want to use my speakers through the line out? I don't want the headphones playing when I'm not using them.

syrk said:

Do I have to unplug my headphones whenever I want to use my speakers through the line out? I don't want the headphones playing when I'm not using them.

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Line-out and headphone-out operate independently. If you don't want you headphone to make sound, unplug or turn the volume all the way down.

Hi everyone
Just got my E10 a couple of days ago to go with my Acer 5920 and Senn HD497s.
The Acer has a Realtek ALC888 soundcard and I've been fairly happy with it using the 497s.
I'm using Winamp in Vista to listen to 320 cbr mp3s.
 
After reading lots of views on how an external DAC is generally a step up to an onboard soundcard, I decided to go with the E10.
Initial impressions out of the box was that I couldn't hear any improvement in SQ at all doing back to back tests.
I also tried comparing the same songs in flac and 320 mp3 - no difference.
The only difference is that I get less interference from other programs opening and closing.
 
Does anyone else use a similar setup who did or didn't hear an improvement?
Is the Realtek ALC888 card so good that I didn't need the E10?
Does anyone know for a fact whether the E10 will improve with burn-in ?
Have I got lousy ears and I'm going to save myself lots of money in the future by not upgrading ? 
 
Great thread, keep it going.
 
mogwhye
 
 
 

Hi there,
 
I have the exact same ALC888 chipset on my few years old MSI motherboard. And just like you I notice little to no difference in the sound with my Fiio E10. I even invited two of my friends over to test it. One guy would change the source and the other two would then try to guess correctly, which audio source was being used. We could not with high percentage tell the difference between ALC888 and Fiio E10.
 
If you listen really carefully you can distinguish that the E10 is just slightly warmer sounding and doesn't sound that open thanks to that, when compared to ALC888. But like I said the difference is very subtle. I would also like to point out that last year I had my hearing checked and the result was that I have near perfect hearing. So hearing isn't the problem. I don't know if the ALC888 is just really good audio chipset or if the E10 is just really over-hyped product.
 
E10 does amplify your signal quite well. It allows you to turn the volume a lot louder than the motherboard would. So I don't know, I have kind of mixed feelings about this product. It does amp well, but the change in sound quality that people have been praising about, just isn't there.
Quote:

mogwhye said:

Hi everyone
Just got my E10 a couple of days ago to go with my Acer 5920 and Senn HD497s.
The Acer has a Realtek ALC888 soundcard and I've been fairly happy with it using the 497s.
I'm using Winamp in Vista to listen to 320 cbr mp3s.
 
After reading lots of views on how an external DAC is generally a step up to an onboard soundcard, I decided to go with the E10.
Initial impressions out of the box was that I couldn't hear any improvement in SQ at all doing back to back tests.
I also tried comparing the same songs in flac and 320 mp3 - no difference.
The only difference is that I get less interference from other programs opening and closing.
 
Does anyone else use a similar setup who did or didn't hear an improvement?
Is the Realtek ALC888 card so good that I didn't need the E10?
Does anyone know for a fact whether the E10 will improve with burn-in ?
Have I got lousy ears and I'm going to save myself lots of money in the future by not upgrading ? 

 
Great thread, keep it going.
 
mogwhye
 
 
 

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